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The objective of this project is forewarning of machine failures in critical equipment at next-generation nuclear power plants (NPP). Test data were provided by two collaborating institutions: Duke Engineering and Services (first project year), and the Pennsylvania State University (Applied Research Laboratory) during the second and third project years. New nonlinear methods were developed and applied successfully to extract forewarning trends from process-indicative, time-serial data for timely, condition-based maintenance. Anticipation of failures in critical equipment at next-generation NPP will improve the scheduling of maintenance activities to minimize safety concerns, unscheduled non-productive downtime, and collateral damage due to unexpected failures. This approach provides significant economic benefit, and is expected to improve public acceptance of nuclear power. The approach is a multi-tiered, model-independent, and data-driven analysis that uses ORNL's novel nonlinear method to extract forewarning of machine failures from appropriate data. The first tier of the analysis provides a robust choice for the process-indicative data. The second tier rejects data of inadequate quality. The third tier removes signal artifacts that would otherwise confound the analysis, while retaining the relevant nonlinear dynamics. The fourth tier converts the artifact-filtered time-serial data into a geometric representation, that is then transformed to a discrete distribution function …

With the Nation's coal-burning utilities facing tighter controls on mercury pollutants, the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting projects that could offer power plant operators better ways to reduce these emissions at much lower costs. Sorbent injection technology represents one of the simplest and most mature approaches to controlling mercury emissions from coal-fired boilers. It involves injecting a solid material such as powdered activated carbon into the flue gas. The gas-phase mercury in the flue gas contacts the sorbent and attaches to its surface. The sorbent with the mercury attached is then collected by a particle control device along with the other solid material, primarily fly ash. We Energies has over 3,200 MW of coal-fired generating capacity and supports an integrated multi-emission control strategy for SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x} and mercury emissions while maintaining a varied fuel mix for electric supply. The primary goal of this project is to reduce mercury emissions from three 90 MW units that burn Powder River Basin coal at the We Energies Presque Isle Power Plant. Additional goals are to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO{sub x}), sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}), and particulate matter (PM) emissions, allow for reuse and sale of fly ash, demonstrate a reliable …

The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, inhabited by the Arikara, Mandan and Hidatsa Tribes (now united to form the Three Affiliated Tribes) covers a total area of 1530 mi{sup 2} (980,000 acres). The Reservation is located approximately 15 miles east of the depocenter of the Williston basin, and to the southeast of a major structural feature and petroleum producing province, the Nesson anticline. Several published studies document the widespread existence of mature source rocks, favorable reservoir/caprock combinations, and production throughout the Reservation and surrounding areas indicating high potential for undiscovered oil and gas resources. This technical assessment was performed to better define the oil exploration opportunity, and stimulate exploration and development activities for the benefit of the Tribes. The need for this assessment is underscored by the fact that, despite its considerable potential, there is currently no meaningful production on the Reservation, and only 2% of it is currently leased. Of particular interest (and the focus of this study) is the area under the Lake Sakakawea (formed as result of the Garrison Dam). This 'reservoir taking' area, which has never been drilled, encompasses an area of 150,000 acres, and represents the largest contiguous acreage block under control of the Tribes. Furthermore, …

As Kraft pulp mills move toward minimum impact manufacturing, one of the most difficult challenges is the development of strategies for dealing effectively with buildup, carryover, and recovery of cationic and anionic non-process elements (NPEs). Even at low concentrations, NPEs present a serious concern due to scaling and other reactions caused by Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu, phosphates, silicates, and aluminates. The drivers behind NPE removal include environmental regulatory issues (e.g., Mn), scale formation, reduced bleaching efficiency, and corrosion. Before closure can be achieved in the bleach cycle, methods must be developed for efficient and cost-effective removal of NPEs from bleach filtrate streams. To be commercially viable, a highly selective, high-capacity, and regenerable media must be developed. In addition, limited prefiltration and high resistance to attrition of exchange material will significantly reduce costs, which is key to widespread commercial application. This project accurately determined the chemical composition of a Weyerhauser bleach plant effluent in the Eop, D0, and D1 stages. Due to environmental regulatory concerns, Mn was the principal target of this study. Mn was found to be present in these samples in the range of 0.16 to 3.97 ppm. The Mn was found to be in the divalent oxidation …

Delayed coking evolved steadily over the early to mid 1900s to enable refiners to convert high boiling, residual petroleum fractions to light products such as gasoline. Pound for pound, coking is the most energy intensive of any operation in a modern refinery. Large amounts of energy are required to heat the thick, poor-quality petroleum residuum to the 900 to 950 degrees F required to crack the heavy hydrocarbon molecules into lighter, more valuable products. One common misconception of delayed coking is that the product coke is a disadvantage. Although coke is a low valued (near zero economic value) byproduct, compared to transportation fuels, there is a significant worldwide trade and demand for coke as it is an economical fuel. Coke production has increased steadily over the last ten years, with further increases forecast for the foreseeable future. Current domestic production is near 111,000 tons per day. A major driving force behind this increase is the steady decline in crude quality available to refiners. Crude slates are expected to grow heavier with higher sulfur contents while environmental restrictions are expected to significantly reduce the demand for high-sulfur residual fuel oil. Light sweet crudes will continue to be available and in even …

The purpose of this memo is to lay the groundwork for non-destructively determining the position and ultimately the concentration of Cu gradient steps in sputtered Be capsules (or Ge steps in CH capsules) by ''simple'' radiography. A second personal objective was for me to learn something about radiography, and for that reason this memo may be more detailed than necessary. Steve Haan has suggested a design for Be capsules that makes use of a gradient of Cu-doping in a sputtered Be shell. The capsule for a 300 eV design is shown in Figure 1. The question that this memo wants to address is whether the copper concentration boundaries (and ultimately the concentration itself) can be seen and measured with our radiography system. I will focus only on the relative opacities, and not get into the practicalities of film reading, lateral resolution and the like. I will assume a monochromatic 8 keV source; clearly there are other sources and filters that can be used, as well as the fact that the source is not monochromatic. So given all these approximations lets proceed.

We report results from studies of spin dynamics in the NLC Main Damping. Our studies have been based on spin tracking particles through the lattice under a range of conditions. We find that there are a number of spin resonances close to the nominal operating energy of 1.98 GeV; however, the effects of the resonances are weak, and the widths are narrow. We do not expect that any significant depolarization of the beam will occur during the store time.

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An ignition source was constructed that is capable of producing a pulsed corona discharge for the purpose of igniting mixtures in a test chamber. The corona generator can also be used as the ignition source for one cylinder on a test engine. The first tests were performed in a cylindrical shaped chamber to study the characteristics of the corona and analyze various electrode geometries. Next a test chamber was constructed that closely represented the dimensions of the combustion chamber of the test engine at USC. Combustion tests were performed in this chamber and various electrode diameters and geometries were tested. Higher peak pressures and faster pressure rise times were realized consistently in all test chambers versus standard spark plug ignition. A test engine was purchased for the project that has two spark plug ports per cylinder to The data acquisition and control system hardware for the USC engine lab was updated with new equipment. New software was also developed to perform the engine control and data acquisition functions including cylinder pressure monitoring. A ceramic corona electrode has been designed that fits in the new test engine and is capable of withstanding the pressures and temperatures encountered inside the combustion chamber. …

Results from the first use of Focused Ion Beam (FIB) technology to section Bacillus spores at LLNL in a dual-beam (electron and ion) instrument is presented and discussed. With the use of a dual-beam instrument, high resolution imaging of single spores using low voltage scanning electron microscopy followed by FIB sectioning, SEM imaging of internal structure of the same spore is demonstrated to be possible. Additionally, FIB is shown to be able to precisely micro-machine spores thus potentially facilitating micro-scale experiments on single spores.

Successful operation in NSTX of two prototype fast-response micro ionization gauges during plasma operations has motivated us to install five gauges at different toroidal and poloidal locations to measure the edge neutral pressure and its dependence on the type of discharge (L-mode, H-mode, CHI) and the fueling method and location. The edge neutral pressure is also used as an input to the transport analysis codes TRANSP and DEGAS-2. The modified PDX-type Penning gauges are well suited for pressure measurements in the NSTX divertor where the toroidal field is relatively high. Behind the NSTX outer divertor plates where the field is lower, an unshielded fast ion gauge of a new design has been installed. This gauge was developed after laboratory testing of several different designs in a vacuum chamber with applied magnetic fields.

We present the concept for a ''smart'' highly efficient dynamic window that maximizes solar heat gain during the heating season and minimizes solar heat gain during the cooling season in residential buildings. We describe a prototype dynamic window that relies on an internal shade, which deploys automatically in response to solar radiation and temperature. This prototype was built at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from commercially available ''off-the-shelf'' components. It is a stand-alone, standard-size product, so it can be easily installed in place of standard window products. Our design shows promise for near-term commercialization. Improving thermal performance of this prototype by incorporating commercially available highly efficient glazing technologies could result in the first window that could be suitable for use in zero-energy homes. The unit's predictable deployment of shading could help capture energy savings that are not possible with manual shading. Installation of dynamically shaded windows in the field will allow researchers to better quantify the energy effects of shades, which could lead to increased efficiency in the sizing of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment for residences.

Gas Technology Institute is developing a novel concept of membrane gasifier for high efficiency, clean and low cost production of hydrogen from coal. The concept incorporates a hydrogen-selective membrane within a gasification reactor for direct extraction of hydrogen from coal-derived synthesis gases. The objective of this project is to determine the technical and economic feasibility of this concept by screening, testing and identifying potential candidate membranes under high temperature, high pressure, and harsh environments of the coal gasification conditions. The best performing membranes will be selected for preliminary reactor design and cost estimates. To evaluate the performances of the candidate membranes under the gasification conditions, a high temperature/high pressure hydrogen permeation unit has been constructed in this project. The unit is designed to operate at temperatures up to 1100 C and pressures to 60 atm for evaluation of ceramic membranes such as mixed ionic conducting membrane. The unit was fully commissioned and is operational. Several perovskite membranes based on the formulations of BCN (BaCe{sub 0.8}Nd{sub 0.2}O{sub 3-x}) and BCY (BaCe{sub 0.8}Y{sub 0.2}O{sub 3-x}) were prepared by GTI and tested in the new permeation unit. These membranes were fabricated by either uniaxial pressing or tape casting technique with thickness ranging from …

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is under the leadership of ConocoPhillips Company (COP), after it acquired Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC) and the E-Gas gasification technology from Global Energy in July 2003. The project has completed Phase I, and is currently in Phase II of development. The two project phases include: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility at Global Energy's existing Wabash River Energy Limited (WREL) plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana, and for a fence-line commercial embodiment plants (CEP) operated at Dow Chemical or Dow Corning chemical plant locations; and (2) Research, development, and testing (RD&T) to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues. The Phase I of this project was supported by a multi-industry team consisting of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation, while Phase II is supported by Gas Technology Institute, TDA Research Inc., and Nucon International, Inc. The WREL integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) facility was designed, constructed, and operated under a project …

The objective of the proposed work is to develop an intelligent distributed fiber optical sensor system for real-time monitoring of high temperature in a boiler furnace in power plants. Of particular interest is the estimation of spatial and temporal distributions of high temperatures within a boiler furnace, which will be essential in assessing and controlling the mechanisms that form and remove pollutants at the source, such as NOx. The basic approach in developing the proposed sensor system is three fold: (1) development of high temperature distributed fiber optical sensor capable of measuring temperatures greater than 2000 C degree with spatial resolution of less than 1 cm; (2) development of distributed parameter system (DPS) models to map the three-dimensional (3D) temperature distribution for the furnace; and (3) development of an intelligent monitoring system for real-time monitoring of the 3D boiler temperature distribution. Under Task 1, improvement was made on the performance of in-fiber grating fabricated in single crystal sapphire fibers, test was performed on the grating performance of single crystal sapphire fiber with new fabrication methods, and the fabricated grating was applied to high temperature sensor. Under Task 2, models obtained from 3-D modeling of the Demonstration Boiler were used to …

During this quarter, work was focused on testing layered composite membranes under varying feed stream flow rates at high pressure. By optimizing conditions, H{sub 2} permeation rates as high as 423 mL {center_dot} min{sup -1} {center_dot} cm{sup -2} at 440 C were measured. Membrane stability was investigated by comparison to composite alloy membranes. Permeation of alloyed membranes showed a strong dependence on the alloying element. Impedance analysis was used to investigate bulk and grain boundary conductivity in cermets. Thin film cermet deposition procedures were developed, hydrogen dissociation catalysts were evaluated, and hydrogen separation unit scale-up issues were addressed.

The Chemical Engineering Division is one of six divisions within the Engineering Research Directorate at Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. government's oldest and largest research laboratories. The University of Chicago oversees the laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Argonne's mission is to conduct basic scientific research, to operate national scientific facilities, to enhance the nation's energy resources, to promote national security, and to develop better ways to manage environmental problems. Argonne has the further responsibility of strengthening the nation's technology base by developing innovative technology and transferring it to industry. The Division is a diverse early-stage engineering organization, specializing in the treatment of spent nuclear fuel, development of advanced electrochemical power sources, and management of both high- and low-level nuclear wastes. Additionally, the Division operates the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, which provides a broad range of analytical services to Argonne and other organizations. The Division is multidisciplinary. Its people have formal training in chemistry; physics; materials science; and electrical, mechanical, chemical, and nuclear engineering. They are specialists in electrochemistry, ceramics, metallurgy, catalysis, materials characterization, nuclear magnetic resonance, repository science, and the nuclear fuel cycle. Our staff have experience working in and collaborating with university, industry …

The incompressibility of the phase flow of Hamiltonian wave-plasma interactions restrains the class of realizable wave-driven transformations of the particle distribution. After the interaction, the distribution remains composed of the original phase-space elements, or local densities, which are only rearranged (''restacked'') by the wave. A variational formalism is developed to study the corresponding limitations on the energy and momentum transfer. A case of particular interest is a toroidal plasma immersed in a dc magnetic field. The restacking algorithm by Gardner [Phys. Fluids 6, 839 (1963)] is formulated precisely. The minimum energy state for a plasma with a given current is determined

Predictions of increasing levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) and the specter of global warming have intensified research efforts to identify ways to sequester carbon. A number of novel avenues of research are being considered, including bioprocessing methods to promote and accelerate biosequestration of CO{sub 2} from the environment through the growth of organisms such as coccolithophorids, which are capable of sequestering CO{sub 2} relatively permanently. Calcium and magnesium carbonates are currently the only proven, long-term storage reservoirs for carbon. Whereas organic carbon is readily oxidized and releases CO{sub 2} through microbial decomposition on land and in the sea, carbonates can sequester carbon over geologic time scales. This proposal investigates the use of coccolithophorids single-celled, marine algae that are the major global producers of calcium carbonate to sequester CO{sub 2} emissions from power plants. Cultivation of coccolithophorids for calcium carbonate (CaCO{sub 3}) precipitation is environmentally benign and results in a stable product with potential commercial value. Because this method of carbon sequestration does not impact natural ecosystem dynamics, it avoids controversial issues of public acceptability and legality associated with other options such as direct injection of CO{sub 2} into the sea and ocean fertilization. Consequently, cultivation of coccolithophorids could …

The MuCool Test Area (MTA) is an intense primary beam facility derived directly from the Fermilab Linac to test heat deposition and other technical concerns associated with the liquid hydrogen targets being developed for cooling intense muon beams. In this shielding study the results of Monte Carlo radiation shielding calculations performed using the MARS14 code for the MuCool Test Area and including the downstream portion of the target hall and berm around it, access pit, service building, and parking lot are presented and discussed within the context of the proposed MTA experimental configuration.

In the radioactive slurries and solutions to be processed in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), hydrogen will be produced continuously by radiolysis. This production results from alpha, beta, and gamma rays from decay of radionuclides in the slurries and solutions interacting with the water. More than 1000 research reports have published data concerning this radiolytic production. The results of these studies have been reviewed in a comprehensive monograph. Information about radiolytic hydrogen production from the different process tanks is necessary to determine air purge rates necessary to prevent flammable mixtures from accumulating in the vapor spaces above these tanks. Radiolytic hydrogen production rates are usually presented in terms of G values or molecules of hydrogen produced per 100ev of radioactive decay energy absorbed by the slurry or solution. With the G value for hydrogen production, G(H2), for a particular slurry and the concentrations of radioactive species in that slurry, the rate of H2 production for that slurry can be calculated. An earlier investigation estimated that the maximum rate that hydrogen could be produced from the sludge slurry stream to the DWPF is with a G value of 0.45 molecules per 100ev of radioactive decay energy sorbed by the slurry.

The purpose of this report is to document the geologic framework model, version GFM2000 with regard to input data, modeling methods, assumptions, uncertainties, limitations, and validation of the model results, and the differences between GFM2000 and previous versions. The version number of this model reflects the year during which the model was constructed. This model supersedes the previous model version, documented in Geologic Framework Model (GFM 3.1) (CRWMS M&O 2000 [DIRS 138860]). The geologic framework model represents a three-dimensional interpretation of the geology surrounding the location of the monitored geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain. The geologic framework model encompasses and is limited to an area of 65 square miles (168 square kilometers) and a volume of 185 cubic miles (771 cubic kilometers). The boundaries of the geologic framework model (shown in Figure 1-1) were chosen to encompass the exploratory boreholes and to provide a geologic framework over the area of interest for hydrologic flow and radionuclide transport modeling through the unsaturated zone (UZ). The upper surface of the model is made up of the surface topography and the depth of the model is constrained by the inferred depth of the Tertiary-Paleozoic unconformity. …

The goals of this study were: (1) survey the microbial community in soil samples from a site contaminated with heavy metals using new rapid molecular techniques that are culture-independent; (2) identify phylogenetic signatures of microbial populations that correlate with metal ion contamination; and (3) cultivate these diagnostic strains using traditional as well as novel cultivation techniques in order to identify organisms that may be of value in site evaluation/management or bioremediation.