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As part of this involvement Solar intends to design and commercialize a unique gas turbine system that promises high cycle efficiencies and low exhaust emissions. This engine of approximately 12-MW will be targeted for the dispersed power markets both urban and rural. Goals of 50% thermal efficiency and 8 parts-per-million by volume (ppmv) nitrogen oxide emissions were established. Reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) will continue to be the most important factors in the competitive marketplace. The other major goal adopted was one of reducing the cost of power produced by 10%. This reduction is based on the cost of power (COP) associated with today`s engines that lie in the same horsepower range as that targeted in this study. An advanced cycle based on an approximation of the Ericsson Cycle was adopted after careful studies of a number of different cycles. This advanced intercooled, recuperated engine when fired at 2450{degree}F will be capable of meeting the 50% efficiency goal if the cooling air requirements do not exceed 7% of the total air flow rate. This latter qualification will probably dictate the use of ceramic parts for both the nozzle guide vanes and the turbine blades. Cooling of these parts will probably …

This report discusses various selected scientific research studies that have explores possible causes of homosexuality. Some investigations examining biological factors are described, as well as studies that consider possible environmental influences.

An annual weapon`s grade Pu disposition goal should be stated and related to the amount of Pu that needs to be disposed of. It needs to be determined to what extent it is possible to destroy Pu without building up any new Pu, i.e., how realistic this goal is. The strong positive Doppler coefficient for a Pu core might require the addition of some fertile material to ensure a negative Doppler coefficient. This in turn will affect the net Pu disposition rate. If a fertile material is required throughout the life of the ABC to ensure a negative Doppler coefficient, the difference between the molten salt ABC and other reactors in regard to Pu disposition is not a principled difference anymore but one of degree. A rationale has then to be developed that explains why {open_quotes}x{close_quotes} kg production of fissile material are acceptable but {open_quotes}y{close_quotes} kg are not. It is important to determine how a requirement for electricity production will impact on the ABC design choices. It is conceivable that DOE will not insist on electricity generation. In this case advantage has to be taken in terms of design simplifications and relaxed operating conditions.

The primary objective of this CCT project is to evaluate the use of Gas Reburning and Low NO{sub x} Burners (GR-LNB) for NO{sub x} emission control from a wall fired boiler. It is anticipated that, if the demonstration is successful, the GR-LNB technology could become commercialized during the 1990`s and will be capable of (1) achieving significant reduction in the emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide (another acid rain precursor) from existing facilities to minimize environmental impacts such as transboundary and interstate pollution and/or (2) providing for future energy needs in an environmentally acceptable manner. Low NO{sub x} burners are designed to delay the mixing of the coal fuel with combustion air to minimize the NO{sub x} formation. Typically, one may obtain up to 50% reduction in NO{sub x} emissions through the use of LNB. For LNB applications, the technology is developed and a number of LNB designs are commercially available.

The objective of this project is to evaluate and demonstrate a cost effective emission control technology for acid rain precursors, oxides of nitrogen (NO{sub x}) and sulfur (SO{sub x})on two coal fired utility boilers in Illinois. The units selected are representative of pre-NSPS design practices: tangential and cyclone fired. The specific objectives are to demonstrate reductions of 60 percent in NO{sub x} and 50 percent in SO{sub x} emissions, by a combination of two developed technologies, gas reburning (GR) and sorbent injection (SI). With GR, about 80--85 percent of the coal fuel is fired in the primary combustion zone. The balance of the fuel is added downstream as natural gas to create a slightly fuel rich environment in which NO{sub x}is converted to N{sub 2}. The combustion process is completed by overfire air addition. SO{sub x} emissions are reduced by injecting dry sorbents (usually calcium based) into the upper furnace. The sorbents trap SO{sub x} as solid sulfates that are collected in the particulate control device. This project is conducted in three phases at each site: (1) Design and Permitting, (2) Construction and Startup, and (3) Operation, Data Collection, Reporting and Disposition. Technology transfer to industry is accomplished through the …

This report briefly discusses the following research: magnetically modulated systems, inelastic magnetotunneling, ballistic transport review, screening in reduced dimensions, raman and electron energy loss spectroscopy; and ballistic quantum interference effects. (LSP).

The objective of this project is to evaluate and demonstrate a cost effective emission control technology for acid rain precursors, oxides of nitrogen (NO{sub x}) and sulfur (SO{sub x}), on two coal fired utility boilers in Illinois. The units selected are representative of pre-NSPS design practices: tangential and cyclone fired. Work on a third unit, wall fired, has been stopped because of funding limitations. The specific objectives are to demonstrate reductions of 60 percent in NO{sub x} and 50 percent in SO{sub x} emissions, by a combination of two developed technologies, gas reburning (GR) and sorbent injection (SI).

A new reactor system was constructed which can be used for CVD Of SiO{sub 2} layers on porous Vycor tubes. The system is suitable for the usual one-sided deposition and for alternating (or layer-by-layer) deposition whereby the silylating agent and water are passed one at a time in alternating periods. The main advantage of alternating deposition is that it allows membrane deposition using silica precursors for which the homogeneous hydrolysis is fast. As we have demonstrated in earlier work, fast homogeneous reaction interferes with membrane formation. The disadvantage of alternating deposition is the longer time required for membrane formation. Figure 1 is a schematic of the new reactor constructed for homogeneous deposition. In each silylation period the space inside and outside of the support tube is evacuated and a small and accurately controlled amount of reactant (e.g. SiCl{sub 4}) is allowed to flow from a storage glass flask 4 into the reactor annulus by opening valve 5 for a few seconds. The silylation reaction is allowed to proceed for the desired time interval (about one minute) after which the reactor is evacuated and flow of water vapor commences by opening valve 7. After the completion of one cycle of silylation …

In December 1992, the US Department of Energy (DOE) directed that the Plutonium-Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant be shut down and deactivated because it was no longer needed to support the nation`s production of weapons-grade plutonium. The PUREX/UO{sub 2} Deactivation Project will establish a safe and environmentally secure configuration for the facility and preserve that configuration for 10 years. The 10-year span is used to predict future maintenance requirements and represents the estimated time needed to define, authorize, and initiate the follow-on decontamination and decommissioning activities. Accomplishing the deactivation project involves many activities. Removing major hazards, such as excess chemicals, spent fuel, and residual plutonium are major goals of the project. The scope of the PUREX Transition Project is described within.

Objective of this 3-y study was to conduct creep and creep-fatigue crack growth experiments and to characterize the crack tip damage mechanisms in a model material (Cu-1wt%Sb), which is known to cavitate at grain boundaries under creep deformation. Results were: In presence of large scale cavitation damage and crack branching, time rate of creep crack growth da/dt does not correlate with C{sub t} or C{sup *}. When cavitation damage is constrained, da/dt is characterized by C{sub t}. Area fraction of grain boundary cavitated is the single damage parameter for the extent of cavitation damage ahead of crack tips. C{sub t} is used for the creep-fatigue crack growth behavior. In materials prone to rapid cavity nucleation, creep cracks grow faster initially and then reach a steady state whose growth rate is determined by C{sub t}. Percent creep life exhausted correlates with average cavity diameter and fraction of grain boundary area occupied by cavities. Synchrotron x-ray tomographic microscopy was used to image individual cavities in Cu-1wt% Sb. A methodology was developed for predicting the remaining life of elevated temperature power plant components; (C{sub t}){sub avg} was used to correlate creep-fatigue crack growth in Cr-Mo and Cr-Mo-V steel and weldments.

Clean Coal Technology (CCT) implies the use of coal in an environmentally acceptable manner. Coal combustion results in the emission of oxides of nitrogen (NO{sub x}), which are precursors of both acid rainand ozone formation. The primary objective of this CCT project is to evaluate the use of Gas Reburning and Low NO{sub x} Burners (GR-LNB) for NO{sub x} emission control from a wall fired boiler. It is anticipated that, if the demonstration is successful, the GR-LNB technology could become commercialized during the 1990`s and will be capable of (1) achieving significant reduction in the emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide (another acid rain precursor) from existing facilities to minimize environmental impacts such as transboundary and interstate pollution and/or (2) providing for future energy needs in an environmentally acceptable manner. Low NO{sub x} burners are designed to delay the mixing of the coal fuel with combustion air to minimize the NO{sub x} formation. Typically, one may obtain up to 50% reduction in NO{sub x} emissions through the use of LNB. For LNB applications, the technology is developed and a number of LNB designs are commercially available. With GR, about 80--85 percent of the coal fuel is fired in the …

The European Tracer EXperiment (ETEX). The ETEX program involves two tracer experiments each comprising from distinct elements: (a) long-range atmospheric tracer release, sampling, and analysis; (b) real-time model operation and evaluation; and (c) post-release model operation and evaluation. The experiments consist of the release of a non-buoyant tracer from a location in western Europe and sampling of the atmospheric concentration by a network of about 200 stations located in 17 countries. Twenty-three institutions from 19 countries are expected to participate in the real-time modeling program including the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) of the US Department of Energy`s Savannah River Site (SRS). Notification of the release will occur only after the initiation of the release. Participants will be required to provide 60-h concentration predictions as quickly a possible (within 6 h of being notified) and updated predictions every 12 h after the notification. In 1993 two ``dry runs`` for the real-time modeling component of the program were conducted; the actual tracer release experiment is scheduled for the fall of 1994. This paper describes the modeling approach employed by SRTC and presents some of the results of the second ETEX real-time dry run.

The overall goal of this project is to find biological methods to remove carboxylic functionalities from low-rank coals and to assess the properties of the modified coal towards coal liquefaction. The main objectives for this quarter were: (1) continuation of microbial consortia development and maintenance, (2) crude enzyme study using best decarboxylating organisms, (3) decarboxylation of lignite, demineralized Wyodak coal and model polymers, and (4) characterization of biotreated coals.

The SNODOG Glossary is used by the DOE-supported life-span beagle studies to describe medical observations in a standardized format. It is an adaptation of the human medical glossary, SNOMED, which lists 107,165 terms. Each of the five laboratories, Argonne National Laboratory, the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, the University of California at Davis, and the University of Utah, has selected an appropriate subset from the published SNOMED glossary and added beagle and research-specific terms. The National Radiobiology Archives is the coordinator of these enhancements, and periodically distributes SNODOG to the respective laboratories. Information donated by Colorado State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been related to SNODOG and is available in a standardized format. This document is designed for the database manager and the scientist who will be managing or coding medical observations. It is also designed for the scientist analyzing coded information. The document includes: an overview of the NRA and the SNODOG glossary, a discussion of hardware requirements, a review of the SNODOG code structure and printed lists of the 4,770 terms which have been used at least once. Instructions for obtaining electronic copies of the glossary and for nominating additional terms are provided. …

This plan describes the mission, workload, site population, site and regional information, program projections and requirements, master plan, five-year construction plan, and management considerations.

This safety assessment (SA) addresses each of the required elements associated with the installation, operation, and removal of a rotary-mode core sampling (RMCS) device in flammable-gas single-shell tanks (SSTs). The RMCS operations are needed in order to retrieve waste samples from SSTs with hard layers of waste for which push-mode sampling is not adequate for sampling. In this SA, potential hazards associated with the proposed action were identified and evaluated systematically. Several potential accident cases that could result in radiological or toxicological gas releases were identified and analyzed and their consequences assessed. Administrative controls, procedures and design changes required to eliminate or reduce the potential of hazards were identified. The accidents were analyzed under nine categories, four of which were burn scenarios. In SSTS, burn accidents result in unacceptable consequences because of a potential dome collapse. The accidents in which an aboveground burn propagates into the dome space were shown to be in the ``beyond extremely unlikely`` frequency category. Given the unknown nature of the gas-release behavior in the SSTS, a number of design changes and administrative controls were implemented to achieve these low frequencies. Likewise, drill string fires and dome space fires were shown to be very low frequency …

This report is a compilation of submitted abstracts of scientific papers presented at the second Department of Energy-supported workshop on the use and applications of biomarkers held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from April 26--29, 1994. The abstracts present a synopsis of the latest scientific developments in biomarker research and how these developments meet with the practical needs of the occupational physician as well as the industrial hygienist and the health physicist. In addition to considering the practical applications and potential benefits of this promising technology, the potential ethical and legal ramifications of using biomarkers to monitor workers are discussed. The abstracts further present insights on the present benefits that can be derived from using biomarkers as well as a perspective on what further research is required to fully meet the needs of the medical community.

The overall objective of the project is to develop an integrated two-stage fermentation process for conversion of coal-derived synthesis gas to a mixture of alcohols. This is achieved in two steps. In the first steps, Butyribacterium methylotrophicum converts carbon monoxide (CO) to butyric and acetic acids. Subsequent fermentation of the acids by Clostridium acetobutylicum leads to the production of butanol and ethanol.

The objectives of this project are to study the effect of pretreatment methods on the two-stage liquefaction process. In particular, the effects of dispersed catalysts and carbon monoxide atmospheres on a coal liquefaction process. The project is divided into three technical tasks. Task 1 and 2 deal with the analyses and liquefaction experiments, respectively, whereas Task 3 deals with the economic impact of utilizing the pretreatment methods. This quarter the authors concentrated on Tasks 1 and 2, which are summarized below.

This report lists the steps that are required to calculate deceleration ramps for all relevant Accumulator devices. The ramps used for the 1996-97 fixed target run (experiment E835) are saved in files associated with ACNET console application PA1627 (PAUX RAMP DEVELOP). These ramps cannot be re-used because the Accumulator {gamma}{sub t} upgrade has significantly changed the lattice since the last time the ramps were used. Consequently, new deceleration ramps must be calculated and commissioned before the next fixed target run. The deceleration ramp for a particular device is a table that gives the sequence of set values sent to the device as the ramp is executed. The 1997 ramps consist of ramp tables for 100 devices. Appendix 1 gives a list of the devices ramped. Most of these devices will still require ramps for the next fixed target run. Future decelerations will also require ramps for the quadrupole magnet shunts that were installed as part of the {gamma}{sub t} upgrade. Additionally, ramps must be constructed for the two skew-sextupole magnets that will be installed during the summer of 1999.

The objectives of this three-phase project were to design, develop, and demonstrate a monitoring system capable of detecting and quantifying tritium in situ in ground and surface waters, and in water from effluent lines prior to discharge into public waterways. The tritium detection system design is based on measurement of the low energy beta radiation from the radioactive decay of tritium using a special form of scintillating optical fiber directly in contact with the water to be measured. The system consists of the immersible sensor module containing the optical fiber, and an electronics package, connected by an umbilical cable. The system can be permanently installed for routine water monitoring in wells or process or effluent lines, or can be moved from one location to another for survey use. The electronics will read out tritium activity directly in units of pico Curies per liter, with straightforward calibration. In Phase 1 of the project, we characterized the sensitivity of fluor-doped plastic optical fiber to tritium beta radiation. In addition, we characterized the performance of photomultiplier tubes needed for the system. In parallel with this work, we defined the functional requirements, target specifications, and system configuration for an in situ tritium beta detector …

The objective is to test the concept that the growth faults in Eugene Island Block 330 (EI-330 field) are conduits through which producing reservoirs are charged and that enhanced production can be developed by producing directly from the fault zone. The site, operated by Penzoil, is located in 250 feet of water and the productive depth intervals include 4000 to 9000 feet. The field demonstration will be accomplished by drilling and production testing of growth fault systems associated with the EI-330 field. The project utilizes advanced 3-D seismic analysis, geochemical studies, structural and stratigraphic reservoir characterization, reservoir simulation, compact visualization systems. In this quarterly report, progress reports are presented for the following tasks: database management; reservoir characterization; modeling; geochemistry; and data integration.

In polyethylene microencapsulation, low-level mixed waste (LLMW) is homogenized with molten polyethylene and extruded into containers, resulting in a lighter, lower-volume waste form than cementation and grout methods produce. Additionally, the polyethylene-based waste form solidifies by cooling, with no risk of the waste interfering with cure, as may occur with cementation and grout processes. We have demonstrated real-time monitoring of the polyethylene encapsulation process stream using a noncontact device based on transient infrared spectroscopy (TIRS). TIRS can acquire mid-infrared spectra from solid or viscous liquid process streams, such as the molten, waste-loaded polyethylene stream that exits the microencapsulation extruder. The waste loading in the stream was determined from the TIRS spectra using partial least squares techniques. The monitor has been demonstrated during the polyethylene microencapsulation of nitrate-salt LLMW and its surrogate, molten salt oxidation LLMW and its surrogate, and flyash. The monitor typically achieved a standard error of prediction for the waste loading of about 1% by weight with an analysis time under 1 minute.