Development of the liquid carbon dioxide process for the cleaning of coal was performed in batch, variable volume (semi-continuous), and continuous tests. Continuous operation at feed rates up to 4.5 kg/hr (10-lb/hr) was achieved with the Continuous System. Coals tested included Upper Freeport, Pittsburgh, Illinois No. 6, and Middle Kittanning seams. Results showed that the ash and pyrite rejections agreed closely with washability data for each coal at the particle size tested (-200 mesh). A 0.91 metric ton (1-ton) per hour Proof-of-Concept Plant was conceptually designed. A 181 metric ton (200 ton) per hour and a 45 metric ton (50 ton) per hour plant were sized sufficiently to estimate costs for economic analyses. The processing costs for the 181 metric ton (200 ton) per hour and 45 metric ton (50 ton) per hour were estimated to be $18.96 per metric ton ($17.20 per ton) and $11.47 per metric ton ($10.40 per ton), respectively for these size plants. The costs for the 45 metric ton per hour plant are lower because it is assumed to be a fines recovery plant which does not require a grinding circuit of complex waste handling system.

We discuss the physics of matter that is relevant to the structure of compact stars. This includes nuclear, neutron star matter and quark matter and phase transitions between them. Many aspects of neutron star structure and its dependance on a number of physical assumptions about nuclear matter properties and hyperon couplings are investigated. We also discuss the prospects for obtaining constraints on the equation of state from astrophysical sources. Neuron star masses although few are known at present, provide a very direct constraint in as much as the connection to the equation of state involves only the assumption that Einstein's general of theory of relativity is correct at the macroscopic scale. Supernovae simulations involve such a plethora of physical processes including those involved in the evolution of the precollapse configuration, not all of them known or understood, that they provide no constraint at the present time. Indeed the prompt explosion, from which a constraint had been thought to follow, is now believed not to be mechanism by which most, if any stars, explode. In any case the nuclear equation of state is but one of a multitude on uncertain factors, and possibly one of the least important. The rapid rotation …

Inspection of valves on stored uranium hexafluoride (UF{sub 6}) cylinders was initiated at the three diffusion plant sites in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio as the result of the discovery of valve defects and evidence of valve leaks at the Oak Ridge K-25 plant. The coordinated inspection culminated in the identification of additional factors related to long-term safe storage of UF{sub 6}, and plans for correction of such deficiencies are presently being developed and implemented. These corrective actions supplement existing programs aimed at assurance of safe storage as summarized in the report.

Our mission for 1990 was to increase students' awareness and appreciation of geothermal energy with respect to both direct use and electrical power production.'' Hard work has accomplished much: using both responsive and pro-active techniques, the Geothermal Education Office has had national impact on K-12 curriculum as well as on general public awareness of geothermal energy.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the EIA, US Department of Energy, and the US Geological Survey (USGS), US Department of the Interior, the USGS develops estimates of uranium endowment for selected geological environments in the United States. New estimates of endowment are used to update the Uranium Resources Assessment Data (URAD) System which, beginning in 1990, is maintained for EIA by the USGS. For 1989, estimates of US undiscovered resources were generated using revised economic index values (current to December 1989) in the URAD system's cost model. The increase in the estimates for the Estimated Additional Resources (EAR) and Speculative Resources (SR) classes resulted primarily from increases in the estimates of uranium endowment for the solution-collapse, breccia-pipe uranium deposit environment in the Colorado Plateau resource region. The mean values for $30-, $50-, and $100-per-pound U{sub 3}O{sub 8} forward-cost categories of EAR increased by about 8, 48, and 32 percent, respectively, as compared to 1988. Estimates of the 1989 undiscovered resources in the SR class also increased in all three forward-cost categories by 10, 5, and 9 percent, respectively. The original cost equations in the URAD System were designed to cover drilling costs related to extensive flat-lying tabular ore …

Ratings for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) transmission lines are based upon the IEEE Standard for Calculation of Bare Overhead Conductor Temperatures and Ampacity under Steady-State Conditions (1985). This steady-state model is very sensitive to the ambient weather conditions of temperature and wind speed. The model does not account for wind yaw, turbulence, or conductor roughness as proposed by Davis (1976) for a real time rating system. The objective of this research has been to determine (1) how conservative the present rating system is for typical ambient weather conditions, (2) develop a probability-based methodology, (3) compile available weather data into a compatible format, and (4) apply the rating methodology to a hypothetical line. The potential benefit from this research is to rate transmission lines statistically which will allow BPA to take advantage of any unknown thermal capacity. The present deterministic weather model is conservative overall and studies suggest a refined model will uncover additional unknown capacity. 14 refs., 40 figs., 7 tabs.

A program to characterize the geochemical and physical properties of the unimpacted soils and shallow sediments at the Savannah River Site (SRS) has been completed. The maximum, minimum, median, standard deviation, and mean values for metals, radionuclides, inorganic anions, organic compounds, and agricultural indicator parameters are summarized for six soil series that were identified as representative of the 29 soil series at SRS. The soils from unimpacted areas of SRS are typical of soils found in moderately aggressive weathering environments, including the southeastern United States. Appendix 8 organic compounds were detected in all samples. Since these constituents are not generally present in soil, this portion of the investigation was intended to assess possible laboratory artifacts. An additional objective of the SRS Soil Study was to determine if the composition of the split spoon sampler biased chemical analysis of the soils. Twenty-five duplicate samples were analyzed for a number of metals, radiological and agricultural parameters, and organics by two laboratories currently contracted with to analyze samples during waste site characterization. In all cases, the absolute values of the average differences are relatively small compared to the overall variability in the population. 31 refs., 14 figs., 48 tabs.

Measurements of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant's nuclear criticality accident radiation alarm signal response time, sound wave frequency, and sound volume levels were made to demonstrate compliance with ANSI/ANS-8.3-1986. A steady-state alarm signal is produced within one-half second of obtaining a two-out-of-three detector trip. The fundamental alarm sound wave frequency is 440 hertz. The sound volume levels are greater than 10 decibels above background and ranged from 100 to 125 A-weighted decibels. The requirements of the standard were met; however the recommended maximum sound volume level of 115 dBA was exceeded. Emergency procedures require immediate evacuation upon initiation of a facility's radiation alarm. Comparison with standards for allowable time of exposure at different noise levels indicate that the elevated noise level at this location does not represent an occupational injury hazard. 8 refs., 5 figs.

In this final report, we summarize some of our results from September 1989 to October 1990. The design, construction, and testing of a four-processor prototype multi-processor (RTP) board using TI TMS320C25 DSP chips has been completed and is reported upon in our separately submitted Final Report on the RADON TRANSFORM COMPUTER'' Project.'' The design of our fully custom CMOS VLSI chip has been completed. The chip has been designed, the layout completed, and the chip is now going through its final pre-fabrication simulations. We are now finishing the extensive detailed final documentation of the R/Bchip. This extensive documentation will be provided to Steve Azevedo when we have submitted the chip for fabrication. The present status of the custom chip design activity is summarized in Section II. Evaluations of the hardware requirements for fast filtering of data for filtered backprojection (item 3) have been completed and are summarized in our separately submitted Final Report on the RADON TRANSFORM COMPUTER'' Project.'' We briefly summarize the new custom CMOS VLSI unified Radon transform/backprojection IC architecture, layout, and simulated performance.

The overall objective of this project is to provide the utility industry with a PC expert system to confidently and inexpensively evaluate the potential for coal cleaning, blending, and switching options to reduce emissions while producing lowest cost electricity. Specifically, this project will: (1) Enhance the existing Coal Quality Information System database and Coal Quality Impact Model to allow confident assessment of the effects of cleaning on specific power plant costs and performance. (2) Develop and validate a methodology, Coal Quality Expert, which allows accurate and detailed predictions of coal quality impacts on total power plant capital cost, operating cost, and performance based upon inputs from inexpensive bench-scale tests.

Special effects underground test (UGT) material response and source diagnostics data require impulse gages that can be used in the 50--150 ktap range and have equilibrated from electrical and mechanical noise sources within 0.001 s. Such gages were designed, analyzed, and tested under this program. One- and two-dimensional stress propagation calculations were performed and predictions were developed for deformation of the gage specimen cup. These predictions were conservative when compared to gas gun test results. The response of the gage will equilibrate within 5% to its final value within 300 {mu}sec. The impulse delivered to the gages for these tests exceeded 250 ktap. The code and experimental results provides a basis for confidence in the operability of the gage in an actual UGT environment.

Current progress on the development of the oxygen sensor is reviewed. During this quarter the sensor seal and heating element was redesigned and prototypes were tested. A combustor experiment will be performed in the next one to two quarters. Related information on lean sensors is also reviewed. Additional testing was done on multilayer sensors pulled from storage. (SM)

1,1'-Diruthenocenylnaphthalene has been prepared and its molecular structure has been determined by x-ray diffraction, in order to compare its structure with that of its iron analog. The molecular structure of the half oxidized form of 1,1'-diferocenylnaphthalene has also be determined. Comparison of these structures has made it possible to assign the origins of observed deformations in these substances. Polymeric, face-to-face metallocenes related to the 1,8-dimetallocenylnaphthalenes (M=Fe, Ru) have also been prepared by coupling of 1,1'-bis(chlorozinc)metallocenes with 1,8- diiodonaphthalene. A more general approach to the synthesis of polymeric face-to-face metallocenes incorporating other transition metals has been developed. This involves the sequential replacement of iodo groups in 1,8-diiodonaphthalene with cyclopentadiene and the complexation of these rings with metals. A short synthesis of 4-n-butyl-1,8-diiodonaphthalene has been achieved. The molecular structure of a 2,3-oligomeric face-to-face ferrocene has been determined and shown to have the unexpected cis arrangement of naphthalene rings. 6 refs.

A gas phase and a slurry phase radioactive tracer study was performed on the 12 ton/day Liquid Phase Methanol (LPMEOH) Process Development Unit (PDU) in LaPorte, Texas. To study the gas phase mixing characteristics, a radioactive argon tracer was injected into the feed gas and residence time distribution was generated by measuring the response at the reactor outlet. Radioactive manganese oxide powder was independently injected into the reactor to measure the slurry phase mixing characteristics. A tanks-in-series model and an axial dispersion model were applied to the data to characterize the mixing in the reactor. From the axial dispersion model, a translation to the number of CSTR's (continuous stirred tank reactors) was made for comparison purposes with the first analysis. Dispersion correlations currently available in the literature were also compared. The tanks-in-series analysis is a simpler model whose results are easily interpreted. However, it does have a few drawbacks; among them, the lack of a reliable method for scaleup of a reactor and no direct correlation between mixing in the slurry and gas phases. The dispersion model allows the mixing in the gas and slurry phases to be characterized separately while including the effects of phase transfer. This analysis offers …

This report summarizes work performed under Grant Number DE-FG03-88ER13911 for the period June 15, 1988 through October 31, 1990. The first year's work dealt with derivations of the fundamental equations describing suspensions of inelastic particles. This work was documented in last year's annual progress report, and has since been published in Physica A. We include the published version as an Appendix to this report. During the past year our work has focused on derivations of the nonlinear hydrodynamic equations for multi-component systems. The remainder of this report summarizes the results of these latter studies. The report is organized as follows. In Section 2, we derive a general set of nonlinear hydrodynamic equations for a two-component, classical fluid system. We then show under what circumstances the exact equations can be approximated by the phenomenological, nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. In Section 3, we use the general results of Section 2 to obtain explicit, nonlinear equations for the evolution of the hydrodynamic variables of two-component fluid mixtures (total mass density, mass density of one of the two species, momentum density and energy density). In Section 4, we give the linearized, fundamental equations that follow from the results of Section 3. In Section 5, we …

A new, pulse-timing discriminator and B-scan time-to-pulse-height converter have been developed for the inspection of production parts. The discriminator is easy to operate and features automatic echo gating and automatic pulse polarity discrimination. This instrument combines the noise-blanking advantages of threshold discrimination with the echo-timing precision of zero-crossing discrimination to improve measurement accuracy by a factor of two over the best precious techniques. When used with the discriminator, the B-scan unit allows detection of flaws at depths less than one-fourth those obtainable with commercially available instruments. 3 refs., 20 figs., 2 tabs.

Recent investigations of radon decay products in indoor air have shown that what has been called the unattached'' fraction is in fact an ultrafine size aerosol with diameters in the range of 0.5 to 10 nm. There are a number of difficulties in characterizing particles in this size range. Classical diffusion batteries using screens with high mesh numbers do not have the resolution to give detailed information for the ultra fine range. The use of single screens of differing mesh numbers (Graded Screen Arrays) either in parallel or in a stack configuration can be used to provide these results. However, accurately measuring the activity directly attached to the screens is difficult because of the attachment of some activity to the back side of the screen and the distribution of activity around the individual screen wires. A continuous monitoring system that provides information on both the size and charge distributions on these important size range particles has been constructed and its behavior characterized in the laboratory. It has now been field tested and employed in several field studies to determine the exposure of individuals to radon progeny in the indoor environment. 22 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.

A comparison was made of damage parameters for carbon, iron, and molybdenum irradiated in spectra for d-Li, spallation, and beam-plasma (d-t) neutron sources and a reference DEMO first wall spectrum. The transmutation results emphasize the need to define the neutron spectra at low energies; only the DEMO spectrum was so defined. The spallation spectra were also poorly defined at high neuron energies; they were too soft to produce the desired gas production rates. The treatments of neutron-induced displacement reactions were limited to below 20 MeV and transmutation reactions to below 50 MeV by the limited availability of calculational tools. Recommendations are given for further work to be performed under an international working group. 12 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Accessibility is today's space frontier. Our need for wide-band global communications, earth imaging an sensing, atmospheric measurements and military reconnaissance is endless but growing dependence on space-based systems raises concerns about potential vulnerability. Military commanders want space assets more accessible and under direct local control. As a result, a robust and low cost access to space-like capability has become a national priority. Buoyant vehicles, free floating in the middle stratosphere could provide the kind of cost effective access to space-like capability needed for a verity of missions. These vehicles are inexpensive, invisible and easily launched. Developments in payload electronics, atmospheric wind modeling and materials combined with ever-improving communications and navigation infrastructure are making balloon-borne concepts more attractive. The fundamental question is whether a free floating balloon, used in a pseudo-satellite role, has value in a military system. Flight tests are ongoing under NASA sponsorship. Following these tests NASA intends to use the vehicles for research in the Antarctic. The concept is being reviewed by other agencies interested in stratospheric research. We believe that LDFFF systems have applications in areas of communications, surveillance and other traditional satellite missions. Dialogue with the broader community of space users is needed to expand the …

It is recognized worldwide that an intense source of fusion energy neutrons is needed to evaluate candidate fusion materials. At an International Energy Agency (IEA) workshop held in San Diego in February 1989, an Evaluation Panel recommended that three neutron source concepts be developed further. The panel also recommended that further comparisons were needed of their irradiation environments. In this paper, a comparison is made of damage parameters for beryllium, carbon, silicon, vanadium, iron, copper, molybdenum, and tungsten irradiated in spectra characteristic of di-Li, spallation, and beam-plasma (d-t) neutron sources and in a reference DEMO first wall spectrum. The treatment of neutron-induced displacement reactions is confined to the region below 20 MeV and transmutation reactions to below 50 MeV by the limited availability of calculational tools. The spallation spectrum is relatively soft; less than 2% of the neutrons are above 50 MeV. The transmutation results emphasize the need to define the neutron spectra at low, as well as high, energies; only the DEMO spectrum is adequate in this respect. Recommendations are given for further work to be performed under an international working group. 12 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.

It is proposed to continue the program now underway at the University of Pittsburgh to study the feasibility of using silicon drift-chambers as particle tracking devices at RHIC. We are currently testing a UA6-type detector obtained from BNL and plan to also study a new device that will become available this year: a cylindrical geometry detector designed for NA45 (CERN). In addition we propose to fabricate and study a detector to be used in vertex determination for the RHIC OASIS experiment. The two-year budget for this proposal is $246.962. 5 refs., 12 figs.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of a county to donate money, property, or services to nonprofit corporations that conduct local festivals (RQ-1911)