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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Redhorse Corporation (Redhorse) conducted an energy audit on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) control tower and base building in Reno, Nevada. This report presents the findings of the energy audit team that evaluated construction documents and operating specifications (at the 100% level) and completed a site visit. The focus of the review was to identify measures that could be incorporated into the final design and operating specifications that would result in additional energy savings for the FAA that would not have otherwise occurred.

UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company, in collaboration with Professor Douglas LeVan at Vanderbilt University (VU), Professor Adam Matzger at the University of Michigan (UM), Professor Randall Snurr at Northwestern University (NU), and Professor Stefano Brandani at the University of Edinburgh (UE), supported by Honeywell's Specialty Materials business unit and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), have completed a three-year project to develop novel microporous metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and an associated vacuum-pressure swing adsorption (vPSA) process for the removal of CO{sub 2} from coal-fired power plant flue gas. The project leveraged the team's complementary capabilities: UOP's experience in materials development and manufacturing, adsorption process design and process commercialization; LeVan and Brandani's expertise in high-quality adsorption measurements; Matzger's experience in syntheis of MOFs and the organic components associated with MOFs; Snurr's expertise in molecular and other modeling; Honeywell's expertise in the manufacture of organic chemicals; and, EPRI's knowledge of power-generation technology and markets. The project was successful in that a selective CO{sub 2} adsorbent with good thermal stability and reasonable contaminant tolerance was discovered, and a low cost process for flue gas CO{sub 2} capture process ready to be evaluated further at the pilot scale was proposed. The team made significant …

Calera's innovative Mineralization via Aqueous Precipitation (MAP) technology for the capture and conversion of CO{sub 2} to useful materials for use in the built environment was further developed and proven in the Phase 1 Department of Energy Grant. The process was scaled to 300 gallon batch reactors and subsequently to Pilot Plant scale for the continuous production of product with the production of reactive calcium carbonate material that was evaluated as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The Calera SCM{trademark} was evaluated as a 20% replacement for ordinary portland cement and demonstrated to meet the industry specification ASTM 1157 which is a standard performance specification for hydraulic cement. The performance of the 20% replacement material was comparable to the 100% ordinary portland cement control in terms of compressive strength and workability as measured by a variety of ASTM standard tests. In addition to the performance metrics, detailed characterization of the Calera SCM was performed using advanced analytical techniques to better understand the material interaction with the phases of ordinary portland cement. X-ray synchrotron diffraction studies at the Advanced Photon Source in Argonne National Lab confirmed the presence of an amorphous phase(s) in addition to the crystalline calcium carbonate phases in the …

Alterations in heart rate variability (HRV) have been reported in rodents exposed to concentrated ambient particles (CAPs) from different regions of the United States. The goal of this study was to compare alterations in cardiac function induced by CAPs in two distinct regional atmospheres. AirCARE 1, a mobile laboratory with an EPA/Harvard fine particle (particulate matter <2.5 {micro}m; PM{sub 2.5}) concentrator was located in urban Detroit, MI, where the PM mixture is heavily influenced by motor vehicles, and in Steubenville, OH, where PM is derived primarily from long-range transport and transformation of power plant emissions, as well as from local industrial operations. Each city was studied during both winter and summer months, for a total of four sampling periods. Spontaneously hypertensive rats instrumented for electrocardiogram (ECG) telemetry were exposed to CAPs 8 h/day for 13 consecutive days during each sampling period. Heart rate (HR), and indices of HRV (standard deviation of the average normal-to-normal intervals [SDNN]; square root of the mean squared difference of successive normal-to-normal intervals [rMSSD]), were calculated for 30-minute intervals during exposures. A large suite of PM components, including nitrate, sulfate, elemental and organic carbon, and trace elements, were monitored in CAPs and ambient air. In addition, …

The purpose of this Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) project is to provide the critical test data needed to qualify CF8C-Plus cast stainless steel for commercial production and use for turbocharger housings with upgraded performance and durability relative to standard commercial cast irons or stainless steels. The turbocharger technologies include, but are not limited to, heavy-duty highway diesel engines, and passenger vehicle diesel and gasoline engines. This CRADA provides additional critical high-temperature mechanical properties testing and data analysis needed to quality the new CF8C-Plus steels for turbocharger housing applications.

A wide range of high capacity on-board rechargeable material candidates have exhibited non-ideal behavior related to irreversible hydrogen discharge / recharge behavior, and kinetic instability or retardation. This project addresses these issues by incorporating solvated and other forms of complex metal hydrides, with an emphasis on borohydrides, into nano-scale frameworks of low density, high surface area skeleton materials to stabilize, catalyze, and control desorption product formation associated with such complex metal hydrides. A variety of framework chemistries and hydride / framework combinations were investigated to make a relatively broad assessment of the method'™s potential. In this project, the hydride / framework interactions were tuned to decrease desorption temperatures for highly stable compounds or increase desorption temperatures for unstable high capacity compounds, and to influence desorption product formation for improved reversibility. First principle modeling was used to explore heterogeneous catalysis of hydride reversibility by modeling H{sub 2} dissociation, hydrogen migration, and rehydrogenation. Atomic modeling also demonstrated enhanced NaTi(BH{sub 4}){sub 4} stabilization at nano-framework surfaces modified with multi-functional agents. Amine multi-functional agents were found to have more balanced interactions with nano-framework and hydride clusters than other functional groups investigated. Experimentation demonstrated that incorporation of Ca(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} and Mg(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} in …

The UO portion of the larger TASCS project was focused on the usability subproject identified in the original project proposal. The key usability issue that we tacked was that of supporting legacy code developers in migrating to a component-oriented design pattern and development model with minimal manual labor. It was observed during the lifetime of the TASCS (and previous CCA efforts) that more often than not, users would arrive with existing code that was developed previous to their exposure to component design methods. As such, they were faced with the task of both learning the CCA toolchain and at the same time, manually deconstructing and reassembling their existing code to fit the design constraints imposed by components. This was a common complaint (and occasional reason for a user to abandon components altogether), so our task was to remove this manual labor as much as possible to lessen the burden placed on the end-user when adopting components for existing codes. To accomplish this, we created a source-based static analysis tool that used code annotations to drive code generation and transformation operations. The use of code annotations is due to one of the key technical challenges facing this work | programming languages …

Semiconducting CdZnTe or 'CZT' crystals are very suitable for use as a room temperature-based gamma radiation spectrometer. During the last decade, modifications in growth methods for CZT have significantly improved the quality of the produced crystals however there are material features that can influence the performance of these materials as radiation detectors. For example, various structural heterogeneities within the CZT crystals, such as, pipes, voids, polycrystallinity, and secondary phases (SP) can have a negative impact on the detector performance. In this study, a CZT material was grown by the modified vertical Bridgman growth (MVB) method with zone leveled growth in the absence of excess Te in the melt. Numerous SP were imaged using transmission IR at a volume % of 0.002. Samples from this material were analyzed using various analytical techniques to evaluate its electrical properties, purity and detector performance as radiation spectrometers and to determine the morphology, dimension and elemental /structural composition of one of the SP in this material. This material was found to have a high resistivity and good radiation spectrometer performance. It had SPs that were rich in calcium (Ca), carbon (C) and oxygen (O) (possibly CaCO{sub 3}) or only C and O that were 5 …

This report addresses observations of agglomerate formation, conditions that the data shows lead to agglomeration, the frequency of agglomerate formation and postulated physiochemical mechanisms that may lead to agglomeration.

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The objectives identified in requesting and utilizing this funding has been met. The goal was to establish a formal, multi-jurisdictional organization to: (1) ensure the policy objectives of the participating jurisdictions are addressed through increased tradability of the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from M-RETS and to eliminate the possibility that a single jurisdiction will be the sole arbiter of the operation of the system; (2) facilitate the establishment of REC standards including the attributes related to, the creation, trading, and interaction with other trading and tracking systems; and (3) have a centralized and established organization that will be responsible for the contracting and governance responsibilities of a multi-jurisdictional tracking system. The M-RETS Inc. Board ensures that the system remains policy neutral; that the attributes of generation are tracked in a way that allows the system users to easily identify and trade relevant RECs; that the system can add jurisdictions as needed or desired; and that the tracking system operate in such a way to allow for the greatest access possible for those participating in other tracking or trading systems by allowing those systems to negotiate with a single M-RETS entity for the import and export of RECs. M-RETS as an …

The overall objectives for this project were to: (1) confirm the high stability and resistance of a PdCu trimetallic alloy to carbon and carbide formation and, in addition, resistance to sulfur, halides, and ammonia; (2) develop a sulfur, halide, and ammonia resistant alloy membrane with a projected hydrogen permeance of 25 m{sup 3}m{sup -2}atm{sup -0.5}h{sup -1} at 400 C and capable of operating at pressures of 12.1 MPa ({approx}120 atm, 1750 psia); and (3) construct and experimentally validate the performance of 0.1 kg/day H{sup 2} PdCu trimetallic alloy membrane separators at feed pressures of 2 MPa (290 psia) in the presence of H{sub 2}S, NH{sub 3}, and HCl. This project successfully increased the technology readiness level of palladium-based metallic membranes for hydrogen separation from coal-biomass gasifier exhaust or similar hydrogen-containing gas streams. The reversible tolerance of palladium-copper (PdCu) alloys was demonstrated for H{sub 2}S concentrations varying from 20 ppmv up to 487 ppmv and NH{sub 3} concentrations up to 9 ppmv. In addition, atomistic modeling validated the resistance of PdCu alloys to carbon formation, irreversible sulfur corrosion, and chlorine attack. The experimental program highlighted two key issues which must be addressed as part of future experimental programs: (1) tube defects …

The inability to remove heat efficiently is currently one of the stumbling blocks toward further miniaturization and advancement of electronic, optoelectronic, and micro-electro-mechanical devices. In order to formulate better heat removal strategies and designs, it is first necessary to understand the fundamental mechanisms of heat transport in semiconductor thin films. Modeling techniques, based on first principles, can play the crucial role of filling gaps in our understanding by revealing information that experiments are incapable of. Heat conduction in crystalline semiconductor films occurs by lattice vibrations that result in the propagation of quanta of energy called phonons. If the mean free path of the traveling phonons is larger than the film thickness, thermodynamic equilibrium ceases to exist, and thus, the Fourier law of heat conduction is invalid. In this scenario, bulk thermal conductivity values, which are experimentally determined by inversion of the Fourier law itself, cannot be used for analysis. The Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) is a powerful tool to treat non-equilibrium heat transport in thin films. The BTE describes the evolution of the number density (or energy) distribution for phonons as a result of transport (or drift) and inter-phonon collisions. Drift causes the phonon energy distribution to deviate from equilibrium, …

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is conducting a five-year research project to develop a realistic seismic risk evaluation system which includes the consideration of aging of structures and components in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The KAERI research project includes three specific areas that are essential to seismic probabilistic risk assessment (PRA): (1) probabilistic seismic hazard analysis, (2) seismic fragility analysis including the effects of aging, and (3) a plant seismic risk analysis. Since 2007, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has entered into a collaboration agreement with KAERI to support its development of seismic capability evaluation technology for degraded structures and components. The collaborative research effort is intended to continue over a five year period. The goal of this collaboration endeavor is to assist KAERI to develop seismic fragility analysis methods that consider the potential effects of age-related degradation of structures, systems, and components (SSCs). The research results of this multi-year collaboration will be utilized as input to seismic PRAs. In the Year 1 scope of work, BNL collected and reviewed degradation occurrences in US NPPs and identified important aging characteristics needed for the seismic capability evaluations. This information is presented in the Annual Report for the Year 1 Task, …

This document presents and discusses results from Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-06NT42778, 'Full-scale Testing of a Mercury Oxidation Catalyst Upstream of a Wet FGD System,' which was conducted over the time-period July 24, 2006 through June 30, 2010. The objective of the project was to demonstrate at full scale the use of solid honeycomb catalysts to promote the oxidation of elemental mercury in pulverized-coal-fired flue gas. Oxidized mercury is removed downstream in wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) absorbers and collected with the byproducts from the FGD system. The project was co-funded by EPRI, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), who also provided the host site, Great River Energy, Johnson Matthey, Southern Company, Salt River Project (SRP), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), NRG Energy, Ontario Power and Westar. URS Group was the prime contractor and also provided cofunding. The scope of this project included installing and testing a gold-based catalyst upstream of one full-scale wet FGD absorber module (about 200-MW scale) at LCRA's Fayette Power Project (FPP) Unit 3, which fires Powder River Basin coal. Installation of the catalyst involved modifying the ductwork upstream of one of three wet FGD absorbers on Unit 3, Absorber C. The FGD system uses limestone reagent, operates …

The Lake Charles CCS Project is a large-scale industrial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project which will demonstrate advanced technologies that capture and sequester carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions from industrial sources into underground formations. Specifically the Lake Charles CCS Project will accelerate commercialization of large-scale CO{sub 2} storage from industrial sources by leveraging synergy between a proposed petroleum coke to chemicals plant (the LCC Gasification Project) and the largest integrated anthropogenic CO{sub 2} capture, transport, and monitored sequestration program in the U.S. Gulf Coast Region. The Lake Charles CCS Project will promote the expansion of EOR in Texas and Louisiana and supply greater energy security by expanding domestic energy supplies. The capture, compression, pipeline, injection, and monitoring infrastructure will continue to sequester CO{sub 2} for many years after the completion of the term of the DOE agreement. The objectives of this project are expected to be fulfilled by working through two distinct phases. The overall objective of Phase 1 was to develop a fully definitive project basis for a competitive Renewal Application process to proceed into Phase 2 - Design, Construction and Operations. Phase 1 includes the studies attached hereto that will establish: the engineering design basis for the …

The Magellan Project was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to investigate the applicability of cloud computing for the Department of Energy's Office of Science (DOE-SC). This report covers the progress for the Magellan Project at NERSC since it began in September 2009and focuses on the research aspects of the project.

The focus of this project was to develop the next generation of fuel injection technologies for environmentally friendly, hydrogen syngas combustion in gas turbine engines that satisfy DOE's objectives of reducing NOx emissions to 3 ppm. Building on Parker Hannifin's proven Macrolamination technology for liquid fuels, Parker developed a scalable high-performing multi-point injector that utilizes multiple, small mixing cups in place of a single conventional large-scale premixer. Due to the small size, fuel and air mix rapidly within the cups, providing a well-premixed fuel-air mixture at the cup exit in a short time. Detailed studies and experimentation with single-cup micro-mixing injectors were conducted to elucidate the effects of various injector design attributes and operating conditions on combustion efficiency, lean stability and emissions and strategies were developed to mitigate the impact of flashback. In the final phase of the program, a full-scale 1.3-MWth multi-cup injector was built and tested at pressures from 6.9bar (100psi) to 12.4bar (180psi) and flame temperatures up to 2000K (3150 F) using mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas as fuel with nitrogen and carbon dioxide as diluents. The injector operated without flash back on fuel mixtures ranging from 100% natural gas to 100% hydrogen and emissions were …

Final information about the MIT Clean Energy Competition Submissions

This document reports the results of testing of the Hanford Personnel Nuclear Accident Dosimeter (PNAD) during a criticality accident dosimeter intercomparison exercise at the CEA Valduc Center on October 13, 14, and 15, 2009.

This report summarizes works conducted under DOE Contract No. DE-FC26-05NT42448. The work scope was divided into two categories - (a) experimental program to pretreat and refine a coal derived syncrude sample to meet transportation fuels requirements; (b) system analysis of a commercial scale direct coal liquefaction facility. The coal syncrude was derived from a bituminous coal by Headwaters CTL, while the refining study was carried out under a subcontract to Axens North America. The system analysis included H{sub 2} production cost via six different options, conceptual process design, utilities requirements, CO{sub 2} emission and overall plant economy. As part of the system analysis, impact of various H{sub 2} production options was evaluated. For consistence the comparison was carried out using the DOE H2A model. However, assumptions in the model were updated using Headwaters database. Results of Tier 2 jet fuel specifications evaluation by the Fuels & Energy Branch, US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RZPF) located at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (Ohio) are also discussed in this report.

The electronic band structure of as-grown and doped graphene grown on the carbon face of SiC is studied by high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, where we observe both rotations between adjacent layers and AB-stacking. The band structure of quasi-freestanding AB-bilayers is directly compared with bilayer graphene grown on the Si-face of SiC to study the impact of the substrate on the electronic properties of epitaxial graphene. Our results show that the C-face films are nearly freestanding from an electronic point of view, due to the rotations between graphene layers.

Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC) and ORNL established this CRADA to improve heavy-duty engine efficiency with reduced emissions at relatively extreme operating regimes such has high EGR, low-load, and cold-start, with an emphasis on the application of advanced control strategies. The approach used in this collaborative effort was to include the application of novel analysis and modeling techniques devel-oped from the application of nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory. More specifically, analytical tech-niques derived from these theories were to used to detect, characterize, and control the combustion insta-bilities that are responsible for poor combustion performance and corresponding high emissions. The foundation of this CRADA was established based on ORNL expertise on the fundamentals of ad-vanced combustion operation and experience with nonlinear dynamics and controls in combustion sys-tems. The initial plan was all data generation would be performed at DDC with an agreed upon experi-mental plan formed by both organizations. While numerous experiments were performed at DDC and the data was exchanged with ORNL researchers, the team decided to transfer an engine to ORNL to allow more flexibility and data generation opportunities. A prototype DDC Series 60 with a common rail fuel system was selected and installed at ORNL. DDC and ORNL maintained …