The combustion control and diagnostics sensor (CCADS) continues to be developed as an in-situ combustion sensor, with immediate application to natural gas fired turbines. In-situ combustion monitoring is also expected to benefit advanced power plants of the future, fueled by coal-derived syngas, liquified natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, or hydrogen blend fuels. The in-situ monitoring that CCADS provides can enable the optimal operation of advanced, fuel-flexible turbines for minimal pollutant emissions and maximum efficiency over the full operating range of an advanced turbine. Previous work has demonstrated CCADS as a useful sensor for in-situ monitoring of natural gas combustion, including detection of important combustion events such as flashback and lean blowoff, in experimental combustors without thermal barrier coatings (TBC). Since typical TBC materials are electrical insulators at room temperature, and CCADS operation requires conduction of electrical current to the walls of the combustor, a TBC on the combustion liner was identified as a potential barrier to CCADS operation in commercial application. This paper reports on CCADS experiments in a turbulent lean premixed combustor with a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thermal barrier coating on the combustor wall. The tests were conducted at 0.1 MPa (1 atm), with a 15V excitation voltage on the …

Annealed type 316LN stainless steel in the (1) carburized and the (2) carburized plus nitrided conditions was evaluated for cavitation-erosion resistance in ambient temperature mercury using a vibratory horn method. The results indicated that, relative to the specimens receiving only the carburizing treatment, the specimens that received both surface treatments exhibited substantially greater weight loss, general thinning, and profile development as a function of sonication time - with all observed degradation limited to the nitrided layer. Further, the nitride layer was observed to be susceptible to extensive cracking (occasionally leading to spallation), but the cracking was never observed to penetrate into the carburized layer. These screening test results suggest there is no improvement in cavitation-erosion resistance associated with augmentation of the carburizing treatment with plasma nitriding.

This paper addresses issues associated with the effects of daughter product in-growth on the hazard categorization of facilities in accordance with DOE-STD-1027-92, “Hazard Categorization and Accident Analysis Techniques for Compliance with DOE Order 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports.” There is a list of issues that occur when performing facility hazard categorizations at DOE facilities. The first issue is when radionuclides are concentrated outside of their natural decay schemes, and the resulting daughter products exceed the hazard category three threshold quantity values (HC3 TQVs) while their parents do not. The second issue is if a parent nuclide is evaluated for the inhalation pathway, and the daughter product is evaluated using a different pathway and methodology. The third issue is when the parent and daughter are evaluated using the same pathway for exposure, but the daughter is significantly more radiotoxic than the parent. Lastly, when the TQVs were derived for hazard categorization, the methodology used involved a 24 hour exposure period during which, for the sake of simplicity, no consideration was given to decay and the subsequent in-growth of daughter products. Facility hazard categorization is a snapshot in time and does not provide an accurate inventory for long term operations and/or storage.

Since sensitivity to contamination is one of the verities of solid state joining, there is a need for assessing contamination of the part(s) to be joined, preferably nondestructively while it can be remedied. As the surfaces that are joined in pinch welds are inaccessible and thus provide a greater challenge, most of the discussion is of the search for the origin and effect of contamination on pinch welding and ways to detect and mitigate it. An example of contamination and the investigation and remediation of such a system is presented. Suggestions are made for techniques for nondestructive evaluation of contamination of surfaces for other solid state welds as well as for pinch welds. Surfaces that have good visual access are amenable to inspection by diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy. Although other techniques are useful for specific classes of contaminants (such as hydrocarbons), DRIFT can be used most classes of contaminants. Surfaces such as the interior of open tubes or stems that are to be pinch welded can be inspected using infrared reflection spectroscopy. It must be demonstrated whether or not this tool can detect graphite based contamination, which has been seen in stems. For tubes with one closed …

One in a series of tip sheets to help manufacturers optimize their industrial pumping systems

The combination of high oil costs, concerns about oil security and availability, and air quality issues related to vehicle emissions are driving interest in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). PHEVs are similar to conventional hybrid electric vehicles, but feature a larger battery and plug-in charger that allows electricity from the grid to replace a portion of the petroleum-fueled drive energy. PHEVs may derive a substantial fraction of their miles from grid-derived electricity, but without the range restrictions of pure battery electric vehicles. As of early 2007, production of PHEVs is essentially limited to demonstration vehicles and prototypes. However, the technology has received considerable attention from the media, national security interests, environmental organizations, and the electric power industry. The use of PHEVs would represent a significant potential shift in the use of electricity and the operation of electric power systems. Electrification of the transportation sector could increase generation capacity and transmission and distribution (T&D) requirements, especially if vehicles are charged during periods of high demand. This study is designed to evaluate several of these PHEV-charging impacts on utility system operations within the Xcel Energy Colorado service territory.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) are a novel type of direct repeat found in a wide range of bacteria and archaea. CRISPRs are beginning to attract attention because of their proposed mechanism; that is, defending their hosts against invading extrachromosomal elements such as viruses. Existing repeat detection tools do a poor job of identifying CRISPRs due to the presence of unique spacer sequences separating the repeats. In this study, a new tool, CRT, is introduced that rapidly and accurately identifies CRISPRs in large DNA strings, such as genomes and metagenomes. CRT was compared to CRISPR detection tools, Patscan and Pilercr. In terms of correctness, CRT was shown to be very reliable, demonstrating significant improvements over Patscan for measures precision, recall and quality. When compared to Pilercr, CRT showed improved performance for recall and quality. In terms of speed, CRT also demonstrated superior performance, especially for genomes containing large numbers of repeats. In this paper a new tool was introduced for the automatic detection of CRISPR elements. This tool, CRT, was shown to be a significant improvement over the current techniques for CRISPR identification. CRT's approach to detecting repetitive sequences is straightforward. It uses a simple sequential scan of a …

A standard approach to cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) uses Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) in conjunction with a multilingual parallel aligned corpus. This approach has been shown to be successful in identifying similar documents across languages - or more precisely, retrieving the most similar document in one language to a query in another language. However, the approach has severe drawbacks when applied to a related task, that of clustering documents 'language-independently', so that documents about similar topics end up closest to one another in the semantic space regardless of their language. The problem is that documents are generally more similar to other documents in the same language than they are to documents in a different language, but on the same topic. As a result, when using multilingual LSA, documents will in practice cluster by language, not by topic. We propose a novel application of PARAFAC2 (which is a variant of PARAFAC, a multi-way generalization of the singular value decomposition [SVD]) to overcome this problem. Instead of forming a single multilingual term-by-document matrix which, under LSA, is subjected to SVD, we form an irregular three-way array, each slice of which is a separate term-by-document matrix for a single language in the parallel …

The generally acknowledged sources of renewable energy are wind, geothermal, biomass, solar, hydropower, and hydrogen. Renewable energy technologies are crucial to the production and utilization of energy from these regenerative and virtually inexhaustible sources. Furthermore, renewable energy technologies provide benefits beyond the establishment of sustainable energy resources. For example, these technologies produce negligible amounts of greenhouse gases and other pollutants in providing energy, and they exploit domestically available energy sources, thereby reducing our dependence on both the importation of fossil fuels and the use of nuclear fuels. The market price of renewable energy technologies does not reflect the economic value of these added benefits.

The D{O} Level 3 data acquisition system for Run II of the Tevatron has been reliably operating since May 2002. Designed to handle average event sizes of 250 kilobytes at a rate of 1 kHz, the system has been upgraded to be able to process more events, doubling its typical output rate from 50 Hz to 100 Hz, while coping with higher event sizes at the beginning of high luminosity collider stores. The system routes and transfers event fragments from 63 VME crates to any of approximately 320 processing nodes. The addition of more farm nodes, the performance of the components, and the running experience are described here.

Using data collected by the high energy photoproduction experiment FOCUS at Fermilab we performed a Dalitz plot analysis of the Cabibbo favored decay D{sup +} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}. This study uses 53653 Dalitz-plot events with a signal fraction of {approx} 97%, and represents the highest statistics, most complete Dalitz plot analysis for this channel. Results are presented and discussed using two different formalisms. The first is a simple sum of Breit-Wigner functions with freely fitted masses and widths. It is the model traditionally adopted and serves as comparison with the already published analyses. The second uses a K-matrix approach for the dominant S-wave, in which the parameters are fixed by first fitting K{pi} scattering data and continued to threshold by Chiral Perturbation Theory. We show that the Dalitz plot distribution for this decay is consistent with the assumption of two body dominance of the final state interactions and the description of these interactions is in agreement with other data on the K{pi} final state.

The SuperNova Acceleration Probe (SNAP) instrument is being designed to collect image and spectroscopic data for the study of dark energy in the universe. In this paper, we describe a distributed architecture for the data acquisition system which interfaces to visible light and infrared imaging detectors. The architecture includes the use of NAND flash memory for the storage of exposures in a file system. Also described is an FPGA-based lossless data compression algorithm with a configurable pre-scaler based on a novel square root data compression method to improve compression performance. The required interactions of the distributed elements with an instrument control unit will be described as well.

The Demand Response Spinning Reserve project is a pioneeringdemonstration of how existing utility load-management assets can providean important electricity system reliability resource known as spinningreserve. Using aggregated demand-side resources to provide spinningreserve will give grid operators at the California Independent SystemOperator (CAISO) and Southern California Edison (SCE) a powerful, newtool to improve system reliability, prevent rolling blackouts, and lowersystem operating costs.

This paper analyzes three simulation architectures from the context of modeling scalability to address System of System (SoS) and Complex System problems. The paper first provides an overview of the SoS problem domain and reviews past work in analyzing model and general system complexity issues. It then identifies and explores the issues of vertical and horizontal integration as well as coupling and hierarchical decomposition as the system characteristics and metrics against which the tools are evaluated. In addition, it applies Nam Suh's Axiomatic Design theory as a construct for understanding coupling and its relationship to system feasibility. Next it describes the application of MATLAB, Swarm, and Umbra (three modeling and simulation approaches) to modeling swarms of Unmanned Flying Vehicle (UAV) agents in relation to the chosen characteristics and metrics. Finally, it draws general conclusions for analyzing model architectures that go beyond those analyzed. In particular, it identifies decomposition along phenomena of interaction and modular system composition as enabling features for modeling large heterogeneous complex systems.

Coalbed methane is a significant natural resource in the Appalachian region. It is believed that coalbed methane production can be enhanced by injection of carbon dioxide into coalbeds. However, the influence of carbon dioxide injection on coal permeability is not yet well understood. Competitive sorption of carbon dioxide and methane gases onto coal is a known process. Laboratory experiments and limited field experience indicate that coal will swell during sorption of a gas and shrink during desorption of a gas. The swelling and shrinkage may change the permeability of the coal. In this study, the permeability of coal was determined by using carbon dioxide as the flowing fluid. Coal samples with different dimensions were prepared for laboratory permeability tests. Carbon dioxide was injected into the coal and the permeability was determined by using pressure transient methods. The confining pressure was variedto cover a wide range of depths. The permeability was also determined as a function of exposure time of carbon dioxide while the confining stress was kept constant. CT scans were taken before and after the introduction of carbon dioxide. Results show that the porosity and permeability of the coal matrix was very low. The paper presents experimental data and …

The AGR-1 experiment is a fueled multiple-capsule irradiation experiment being conducted in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) in support of the Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Development and Qualification Program. A flow experiment conducted during the AGR-1 irradiation provided data that included the effect of flow rate changes on the decay of a short-lived radionuclide (23Ne). This data has been analyzed to determine the capsule-specific downstream transport volume through which the capsule effluents must pass before arrival at the fission product monitoring system spectrometers. These resultant transport volumes when coupled with capsule outlet flow rates determine the transport times from capsule-to-detector. In this work an analysis protocol is developed and applied in order to determine capsule-specific transport volumes to precisions of better than +/- 7%.

The AGR-1 experiment is a multiple fueled-capsule irradiation experiment being conducted in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) in support of the Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Development and Qualification Program. The experiment began irradiation in the ATR with a cycle that reached full power on December 26, 2006 and ended with shutdown of the reactor for a brief outage on February 10, 2007 at 0900. The AGR-1 experiment will continue cyclical irradiation for about 2.5 years. In order to allow estimation of the amount of radioiodine released during the first cycle, purge gas flow to all capsules continued for about 4 days after reactor shutdown. The FPMS data acquired during part of that shutdown flow period has been analyzed to elucidate the level of 135I released during the operating cycle.

The era of publicly mandated GHG emissions restrictions inthe United States has begun with recent legislation in California andseven northeastern states. Commercial and industrial buildings canimprove the carbon-efficiency of end-use energy consumption by installingtechnologies such as on-site cogeneration of electricity and useful heatin combined heat and power systems, thermally-activated cooling, solarelectric and thermal equipment, and energy storage -- collectively termeddistributed energy resources (DER). This research examines a collectionof buildings in California, the Northeast, and the southern United Statesto demonstrate the effects of regional characteristics such as the carbonintensity of central electricity grid, the climate-driven demand forspace heating and cooling, and the availability of solar insolation. Theresults illustrate that the magnitude of a realistic carbon tax ($100/tC)is too small to incent significant carbon-reducing effects oneconomically optimal DER adoption. In large part, this is because costreduction and carbon reduction objectives are roughly aligned, even inthe absence of a carbon tax.

The on-site generation of electricity can offer buildingowners and occupiers financial benefits as well as social benefits suchas reduced grid congestion, improved energy efficiency, and reducedgreenhouse gas emissions. Combined heat and power (CHP), or cogeneration,systems make use of the waste heat from the generator for site heatingneeds. Real-time optimal dispatch of CHP systems is difficult todetermine because of complicated electricity tariffs and uncertainty inCHP equipment availability, energy prices, and system loads. Typically,CHP systems use simple heuristic control strategies. This paper describesa method of determining optimal control in real-time and applies it to alight industrial site in San Diego, California, to examine: 1) the addedbenefit of optimal over heuristic controls, 2) the price elasticity ofthe system, and 3) the site-attributable greenhouse gas emissions, allunder three different tariff structures. Results suggest that heuristiccontrols are adequate under the current tariff structure and relativelyhigh electricity prices, capturing 97 percent of the value of thedistributed generation system. Even more value could be captured bysimply not running the CHP system during times of unusually high naturalgas prices. Under hypothetical real-time pricing of electricity,heuristic controls would capture only 70 percent of the value ofdistributed generation.

B-band light-curve rise times for eight unusually well-observed nearby Type Ia supernova (SNe) are fitted by a newly developed template-building algorithm, using light-curve functions that are smooth, flexible, and free of potential bias from externally derived templates and other prior assumptions. From the available literature, photometric BVRI data collected over many months, including the earliest points, are reconciled, combined, and fitted to a unique time of explosion for each SN. On average, after they are corrected for light-curve decline rate, three SNe rise in 18.81 {+-} 0.36 days, while five SNe rise in 16.64 {+-} 0.21 days. If all eight SNe are sampled from a single parent population (a hypothesis not favored by statistical tests), the rms intrinsic scatter of the decline-rate-corrected SN rise time is 0.96{sub -0.25}{sup +0.52} days--a first measurement of this dispersion. The corresponding global mean rise time is 17.44 {+-} 0.39 days, where the uncertainty is dominated by intrinsic variance. This value is {approx}2 days shorter than two published averages that nominally are twice as precise, though also based on small samples. When comparing high-z to low-z SN luminosities for determining cosmological parameters, bias can be introduced by use of a light-curve template with an unrealistic …

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The purpose of this monograph is to provide information on drug retention times in the human body. The information provided is based on plausible illegal drug use activities that might be engaged in by a recreational drug user

The purpose of this monograph is to provide information on drug retention times in the human body. The information provided is based on plausible illegal drug use activities that might be engaged in by a recreational drug user.

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), working for the United States Department of Energy (DOE), has conducted a preliminary evaluation of the potential of very low fuel input capacity Simplex type pressure atomizing nozzles for use with oil burners designed for residential boilers, furnaces and water heaters. These nozzles under suitable conditions can be sufficiently reliable to enable new heating system designs. This would allow for the design of heating appliances that match the smaller load demands of energy efficient homes built with modern components and architectural systems designed to minimize energy use. When heating systems are installed with excessive capacity, oversized by three to four times the load, the result is a loss of up to ten percent as compared to the rated appliance efficiency. The use of low capacity nozzles in systems designed to closely match the load can thereby result in significant energy savings. BNL investigated the limitations of low flow rate nozzles and designed long-term experiments to see if ways could be determined that would be beneficial to long-term operation at low input capacities without failures. In order to maximize the potential for success the best possible industry practices available were employed. Low flow rate nozzles primarily fail …