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The subject report summarizes the results of solid oxide fuel cell development conducted by UTC Power in conjunction with Delphi Automotive Systems under a cost-share program with from October 2008 through March of 2013. Over that period Delphi Automotive Systems developed a nearly four times larger area solid oxide fuel cell stack capable of operating on pre-reformed natural gas and simulated coal gas with durability demonstrated to 5,000 hours and projected to exceed 10,000 hours. The new stack design was scaled to 40-cell stacks with power output in excess of 6.25kW. Delphi also made significant strides in improving the manufacturability, yield and production cost of these solid oxide fuel cells over the course of the program. Concurrently, UTC Power developed a conceptual design for a 120 MW Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell (IGFC) operating on coal syngas with as high as 57% Higher Heating Value (HHV) efficiency as a measure of the feasibility of the technology. Subsequently a 400 kW on-site system preliminary design with 55% Lower Heating Value (LHV) efficiency operating on natural gas was down-selected from eighteen candidate designs. That design was used as the basis for a 25kW breadboard power plant incorporating four Delphi cell stacks that was …

Advanced small modular reactors (aSMRs) can provide the United States with a safe, sustainable, and carbon-neutral energy source. The controllable day-to-day costs of aSMRs are expected to be dominated by operation and maintenance costs. Health and condition assessment coupled with online risk monitors can potentially enhance affordability of aSMRs through optimized operational planning and maintenance scheduling. Currently deployed risk monitors are an extension of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). For complex engineered systems like nuclear power plants, PRA systematically combines event likelihoods and the probability of failure (POF) of key components, so that when combined with the magnitude of possible adverse consequences to determine risk. Traditional PRA uses population-based POF information to estimate the average plant risk over time. Currently, most nuclear power plants have a PRA that reflects the as-operated, as-modified plant; this model is updated periodically, typically once a year. Risk monitors expand on living PRA by incorporating changes in the day-by-day plant operation and configuration (e.g., changes in equipment availability, operating regime, environmental conditions). However, population-based POF (or population- and time-based POF) is still used to populate fault trees. Health monitoring techniques can be used to establish condition indicators and monitoring capabilities that indicate the component-specific POF at …

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Biomass conversion catalyzed by methanogenic consortia is a widely available, renewable resource for both energy production and waste treatment. The efficiency of this process is directly dependent upon the interaction of three metabolically distinct groups of microorganisms; the fermentative and acetogenic Bacteria and the methanogenic Archaea. One of the rate limiting steps in the degradation of soluble organic matter is the dismutation of acetate, a predominant intermediate in the process, which accounts for 70 % or more of the methane produced by the methanogens. Acetate utilization is controlled by regulation of expression of carbon monoxide dehydrogensase (COdh), which catalyzes the dismutation of acetate. However, physiological and molecular factors that control differential substrate utilization have not been identified in these Archaea. Our laboratory has identified sequence elements near the promoter of the gene (cdh) encoding for COdh and we have confirmed that these sequences have a role in the in vivo expression of cdh. The current proposal focuses on identifying the regulatory components that interact with DNA and RNA elements, and identifying the mechanisms used to control cdh expression. We will determine whether expression is controlled at the level of transcription or if it is mediated by coordinate interaction of transcription …

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This document reports the results of a boil down study using a composite created from supernatant liquid grab samples retrieved from tank 241-AW-I06 in December of 2012. The composite was made using predetermined volumes of the grab samples which accounted for layering of the supernatant liquid in the tank. The finished composite was a clear, yellow liquid containing no visible solids at hot cell ambient temperatures (24 - 27°C). The density of the test composite was measured in the hot cell immediately before the boildown study and was 1.266 g/mL at 27.1 °C. The boiling temperature of the composite was measured at three different pressures (40, 60, and 80 Torr) throughout the volume reduction, and the results show steadily increasing boiling temperatures with increasing volume reduction and no significant discontinuities. Moderate foaming was observed at the onset of the boildown. The foaming disappeared during the first reduction step, and minimal foaming was observed throughout the rest of the study. The bulk densities at 18.0 °C (D{sub Bulk}{sup 18 °C}) and quantities of settled and centrifuged solids were measured on samples of the boildown concentrates. Estimated values of the bulk densities at the 60-Torr boiling temperatures (D{sub Bulk}{sup 60 Torr}) were …

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This quarterly report summarizes the status for the project planning to initiate all the legal and contract documents required for establishing the subcontracts needed and a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Autodesk, Inc., Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America (Toyota), and Magna Exterior and Interiors Corporation (Magna). During the first quarter (10/1/2012 to 12/31/2012), the statements of work (SOW) for the subcontracts to Purdue University, University of Illinois, and PlastiComp, Inc. were completed. A draft of the CRADA SOW was sent to Autodesk, Toyota, and Magna for technical and legal reviews. PNNL Legal Services contacted project partners’ Legal counterparts for preparing legal documents for the project. A non-disclosure agreement was drafted and sent to all the parties for reviews.

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This report documents the initial feasibility tests performed using a commercial acoustic emission instrument for the purpose of detecting beetles in Department of Energy 9975 shipping packages. The device selected for this testing was a commercial handheld instrument and probe developed for the detection of termites, weevils, beetles and other insect infestations in wooden structures, trees, plants and soil. The results of two rounds of testing are presented. The first tests were performed by the vendor using only the hand-held instrument’s indications and real-time operator analysis of the audio signal content. The second tests included hands-free positioning of the instrument probe and post-collection analysis of the recorded audio signal content including audio background comparisons. The test results indicate that the system is promising for detecting the presence of drugstore beetles, however, additional work would be needed to improve the ease of detection and to automate the signal processing to eliminate the need for human interpretation. Mechanisms for hands-free positioning of the probe and audio background discrimination are also necessary for reliable detection and to reduce potential operator dose in radiation environments.