This project sought to address six objectives, outlined below. The objectives were met through the completion of ten tasks. 1) Solidify the theoretical understanding of the binary CO2/H2O system at reaction temperatures and pressures. The thermodynamics of pH prediction have been improved to include a more rigorous treatment of non-ideal gas phases. However it was found that experimental attempts to confirm theoretical pH predictions were still off by a factor of about 1.8 pH units. Arrhenius experiments were carried out and the activation energy for carbonic acid appears to be substantially similar to sulfuric acid. Titration experiments have not yet confirmed or quantified the buffering or acid suppression effects of carbonic acid on biomass. 2) Modify the carbonic acid pretreatment severity function to include the effect of endogenous acid formation and carbonate buffering, if necessary. It was found that the existing severity functions serve adequately to account for endogenous acid production and carbonate effects. 3) Quantify the production of soluble carbohydrates at different reaction conditions and severity. Results show that carbonic acid has little effect on increasing soluble carbohydrate concentrations for pretreated aspen wood, compared to pretreatment with water alone. This appears to be connected to the release of endogenous …

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Our work focuses on the use of microorganisms to recover petroleum hydrocarbons that remain entrapped after current recovery technologies reach their economic limit. Capillary forces between the hydrocarbon and aqueous phases are largely responsible for trapping the hydrocarbons in the pores of the rock and large reductions in the interfacial tension between the hydrocarbon and aqueous phases are needed for hydrocarbon mobilization (1-3, 10, 11). Microorganisms produce a variety of biosurfactants (4), several of which generate the ultra low interfacial tensions needed for hydrocarbon mobilization (4, 5, 8). In particular, the lipopeptide biosurfactant produced by Bacillus mojavensis strain JF-2 reduces the interfacial tension between hydrocarbon and aqueous phases to very low levels (<0.016 mN/m) (8) (9). B. mojavensis JF-2 grows under the environmental conditions found in many oil reservoirs, i. e., anaerobic, NaCl concentrations up to 80 g l{sup -1}, and temperatures up to 45 C (6, 7), making it ideally suited for in situ applications. However, anaerobic growth of B. mojavensis JF-2 was inconsistent and difficult to replicate, which limited its use for in situ applications. Our initial studies revealed that enzymatic digests, such as Proteose Peptone, were required for anaerobic growth of Bacillus mojavensis JF-2. Subsequent purification of …

Diverse microorganisms were screened for biosurfactant production and anaerobic growth at elevated salt concentrations to obtain candidates most suitable for microbial oil recovery. Seventy percent of the 205 strains tested, mostly strains of Bacillus mojavensis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus sonorensis, produced biosurfactants aerobically and 41% of the strains had biosurfactant activity greater than Bacillus mojavensis JF-2, the current candidate for oil recovery. Biosurfactant activity varied with the percentage of the 3-hydroxy-tetradecanoate isomers in the fatty acid portion of the biosurfactant. Changing the medium composition by incorporation of different precursors of 3-hydroxy tetradecanoate increased the activity of biosurfactant. The surface tension and critical micelle concentration of 15 different, biosurfactant-producing Bacillus strains was determined individually and in combination with other biosurfactants. Some biosurfactant mixtures were found to have synergistic effect on surface tension (e.g. surface tension was lowered from 41 to 31 mN/m in some cases) while others had a synergistic effect on CMD-1 values. We compared the transport abilities of spores from three Bacillus strains using a model porous system to study spore recovery and transport. Sand-packed columns were used to select for spores or cells with the best transport abilities through brine-saturated sand. Spores of Bacillus mojavensis strains …

Current technology recovers only one-third to one-half of the oil that is originally present in an oil reservoir. Entrapment of petroleum hydrocarbons by capillary forces is a major factor that limits oil recovery (1, 3, 4). Hydrocarbon displacement can occur if interfacial tension (IFT) between the hydrocarbon and aqueous phases is reduced by several orders of magnitude. Microbially-produced biosurfactants may be an economical method to recover residual hydrocarbons since they are effective at low concentrations. Previously, we showed that substantial mobilization of residual hydrocarbon from a model porous system occurs at biosurfactant concentrations made naturally by B. mojavensis strain JF-1 if a polymer and 2,3-butanediol were present (2). In this report, we include data on oil recovery from Berea sandstone experiments along with our previous data from sand pack columns in order to relate biosurfactant concentration to the fraction of oil recovered. We also investigate the effect that the JF-2 biosurfactant has on interfacial tension (IFT). The presence of a co-surfactant, 2,3-butanediol, was shown to improve oil recoveries possibly by changing the optimal salinity concentration of the formulation. The JF-2 biosurfactant lowered IFT by nearly 2 orders of magnitude compared to typical values of 28-29 mN/m. Increasing the salinity increased …

This analysis evaluates the radiological consequences of potential Hanford Tank Farm waste transfer leaks. These include ex-tank leaks into structures, underneath the soil, and exposed to the atmosphere. It also includes potential misroutes, tank overflow

The empty interior cavity of fullerenes has long been touted for containment of radionuclides during in vivo transport, during radioimmunotherapy (RIT) and radioimaging for example. As the chemistry required to open a hole in fullerene is complex and exceedingly unlikely to occur in vivo, and conformational stability of the fullerene cage is absolute, atoms trapped within fullerenes can only be released during extremely energetic events. Encapsulating radionuclides in fullerenes could therefore potentially eliminate undesired toxicity resulting from leakage and catabolism of radionuclides administered with other techniques. At the start of this project however, methods for production of transition metal and p-electron metal endohedral fullerenes were completely unknown, and only one method for production of endohedral radiofullerenes was known. They therefore investigated three different methods for the production of therapeutically useful endohedral metallofullerenes: (1) implantation of ions using the high intensity ion beam at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Surface Modification and Characterization Research Center (SMAC) and fullerenes as the target; (2) implantation of ions using the recoil energy following alpha decay; and (3) implantation of ions using the recoil energy following neutron capture, using ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) as a thermal neutron source. While they were unable …

The distortion behavior of graphite as a function of irradiation temperature is reviewed. The behavior of needlecoke and CSF graphite was examined over moderate exposures in the GETR. Results showed needle-coke to be less contracting than CSF. Details of contraction show a minimum contraction rate per 10/sup 21/ nvt at 600 to 800 deg C for both types. Limitations to be placed on the data presented are listed. (P. C.H.)

This report talks about Bends and Momentum Dispersion during Final Compression in HeavyIon Fusion Drivers

The Thermogravimetric Analyzer-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer-Mass Spectrometer (TG-FTIR-MS) system was used to identify molecular chlorine, along with HCl, CO, CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, and various hydrocarbons in the gaseous products of the combustion of PVC resin in air. This is a significant finding that will lead us to examine this combustion step further to look for the formation of chlorinated organic compounds. The combination of TG-FTIR and TG-MS offers complementary techniques for the detection and identification of combustion products from coals PVC, cellulose, shredded newspaper, and various blends of these materials. The pilot atmospheric fluidized bed combustor (AFBC) at Western Kentucky University has been tested. The main purpose of these preliminary AFBC runs were to determine the compatibility of coal and pelletized wood in blends and to explore the effects of flue/air ratio. Our objective is to conduct AFBC burns with 90 percent sulfur capture and more then 96% combustion efficiency.

The objective of this quarter of study was to prepare fuel pellets containing PVC, newspaper and plastics to be co-fired with coal in the AFBC combustor. The Western Kentucky University atmospheric fluidized bed combustion system requires the fuel to fall from a bunker into a lock-hopper, and from there into a mixing box where the fuel is auger-fed under pressure into the bottom of the fluidized bed. The fuel must flow freely out of the bunker and through the lock- hopper for proper feeding into the combustor. In order for the fuel to continuously fall through these units and into the mixing box during combustion, the density of the fuel and the size of the particles must meet certain requirements. The particles must be no larger than 3/8 inches in diameter and must have a density approaching that of coal. Loose materials such as sawdust, shredded paper products and most shredded plastics do not feed properly in the WKU AFBC system. Bridging and blockage of feed chutes result, even with constant vibration of parts of the feed mechanism. It is not possible to run the AFBC system powered solely by these loose materials.

The objectives for this quarter of study on the co-firing of high sulfur coal with refuse derived fuels project were two-fold. First, the organic compounds tentatively identified as combustion products in the previous report were confirmed by comparing retention times with pure samples. Secondly, a reduced amount of unburned carbon in the fly ash and an oxygen concentration at about 3--6% in the flue gases were achieved by the addition of removable heat exchange tubes in the AFBC system.

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Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and high energy density physics (HEDP) research are being conducted at large laser facilities, such as the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics OMEGA facility and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF). At such facilities, millimeter-sized targets with micrometer structures are studied in a variety of hydrodynamic, radiation transport, equation-of-state, inertial confinement fusion and high-energy density experiments. The extreme temperatures and pressures achieved in these experiments make the results susceptible to imperfections in the fabricated targets. Targets include materials varying widely in composition ({approx}3 < Z < {approx}82), density ({approx}0.03 to {approx}20 g/cm{sup 3}), geometry (planar to spherical) and embedded structures (joints to subassemblies). Fabricating these targets with structures to the tolerances required is a challenging engineering problem the ICF and HEDP community are currently undertaking. Nondestructive characterization (NDC) provides a valuable tool in material selection, component inspection, and the final pre-shot assemblies inspection. X-rays are a key method used to NDC these targets. In this paper we discuss X-ray attenuation, X-ray phase effects, and the X-ray system used, its performance and application to characterize low-temperature Raleigh-Taylor and non-cryogenic double-shell targets.