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This report was prepared as part of the documentation of Annex 10 (Photoproduction of Hydrogen) of the IEA Hydrogen Agreement. Subtask A of this Annex concerned photo-electrochemical hydrogen production, with an emphasis on direct water splitting. However, studies of non oxygen-evolving systems were also included in view of their interesting potential for combined hydrogen production and waste degradation. Annex 10 was operative from 1 March 1995 until 1 October 1998. One of the collaborative projects involved scientists from the Universities of Geneva and Bern, and the Federal Institute of Technology in Laussane, Switzerland. A device consisting of a photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) with a WO{sub 3} photoanode connected in series with a so-called Grazel cell (a dye sensitized liquid junction photovoltaic cell) was developed and studied in this project. Part of these studies concerned the combination of hydrogen production with degradation of organic pollutants, as described in Chapter 3 of this report. For completeness, a review of the state of the art of organic waste treatment is included in Chapter 2. Most of the work at the University of Geneva, under the supervision of Prof. J. Augustynski, was focused on the development and testing of efficient WO{sub 3} photoanodes for the photoelectrochemical degradation of organic waste solutions. Two types of WO{sub 3} anodes were developed: non transparent bulk photoanodes and non-particle-based transparent film photoanodes. Both types were tested for degradation and proved to be very efficient in dilute solutions. For instance, a solar-to-chemical energy conversion efficiency of 9% was obtained by operating the device in a 0.01M solution of methanol (as compared to about 4% obtained for direct water splitting with the same device). These organic compounds are oxidized to CO{sub 2} by the photocurrent produced by the photoanode. The advantages of this procedure over conventional electrolytic degradation are that much (an order of magnitude) less energy is required and that sunlight can be used directly. In the case of photoproduction of hydrogen, as compared to water splitting, feeding the anodic compartment of the PEC with an organic pollutant, instead of the usual supporting electrolyte, will bring about a substantial increase of the photocurrent at a given illumination. Thus, the replacement of the photo-oxidation of water by the photodegradation of organic waste will be accompanied by a gain in solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency and hence by a decrease in the cost of the photoproduced hydrogen. Taking into account the benefits and possible revenues obtainable by the waste degradation, this would seem to be a promising approach to the photoproduction of hydrogen. Hydrogen sulfide (H{sub 2}S) is another waste effluent requiring extensive treatment, especially in petroleum refineries. The so-called Claus process is normally used to convert the H{sub 2}S to elemental sulfur. A sulfur recovery process developed at the Florida Solar Energy Center is described briefly in Chapter 4 by Dr. C. Linkous as a typical example of the photoproduction of hydrogen in a non oxygen-evolving system. The encouraging results obtained in these investigations of photoelectrochemical hydrogen production combined with organic waste degradation, have prompted a decision to continue the work under the new IEA Hydrogen Agreement Annex 14, Photoelectrolytic Hydrogen Production.

Second neutron yields, energy spectra, and angular distributions have been measured at seven angles from 0 to 150{degree} for 113 and 256 MeV protons stopped in range-thick targets of aluminum and depleted uranium ({sup 238}U). Thin foil stacks of ten different materials were activated by secondary neutrons at distances of 20--30 cm from the targets. Following each irradiation, 30--40 different activation products were measured by gamma-ray spectroscopy. These activation rates were then used to adjust neutron energy spectra calculated by the HETC computer code. Activation cross sections were taken from ENDF/BV below 20 MeV, from literature values tested in Be(d,n) fields up to 50 MeV, and from proton spallation data and calculations from 50--250 MeV. Spectral adjustments were made with the STAY'SL computer code using a least-squares technique to minimize {chi}{sup 2} for a covariance matrix determined from uncertainties in the measured activities, cross sections, and calculated flux spectra. Neutron scattering effects were estimated from foil packets irradiated at different distances from the target. Proton effects were measured with (p,n) reactions. Systematic differences were found between the adjusted and calculated neutron spectra, namely, that HETC underpredicts the neutron flux at back angles by a factor of 2--3 and slightly overpredicts the flux at forward angles. 19 refs., 23 figs., 13 tabs.

We compare two renormalization procedures, one based on the short distance behavior of heavy quark-antiquark free energies and the other by using bare Polyakov loops at different temporal extent of the lattice and find that both prescriptions are equivalent, resulting in renormalization constants that depend on the bare coupling. Furthermore these renormalization constants show Casimir scaling for higher representations of the Polyakov loops. The analysis of Polyakov loops in different representations of the color SU(3) group indicates that a simple perturbative inspired relation in terms of the quadratic Casimir operator is realized to a good approximation at temperatures $T \gsim T_c$ for renormalized as well as bare loops. In contrast to a vanishing Polyakov loop in representations with non-zero triality in the confined phase, the adjoint loops are small but non-zero even for temperatures below the critical one. The adjoint quark-antiquark pairs exhibit screening. This behavior can be related to the binding energy of gluelump states. 7 pages, 11 figures. Presented at 25th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Regensburg, Germany, 30 Jul - 4 Aug 2007

LBNL # Simulating a Nationally Representative Housing Sample Using EnergyPlus Asa S. Hopkins, Alex Lekov, James Lutz, and Gregory Rosenquist Energy Analysis Department Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, CA 94720 Lixing Gu Florida Solar Energy Center March 2011 This work was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Building Technology, State, and Community Programs, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE- AC02-05CH11231.

Various physical and chemical properties of surface and subsurface regions of Al can be improved by the formation of transition metal intermetallic phases (Al x TM y ) via coating of the transition metal (TM). The lower equilibrium solid solubility of TM in Al (<1 at.%) is a steep barrier to the formation of solid solutions using conventional alloying methods. In contrast, as demonstrated in the present work, surface engineering via a laser-aided additive manufacturing approach can effectively synthesize TM intermetallic coatings on the surface of Al. The focus of the present work included the development of process control to achieve thermodynamic and kinetic conditions necessary for desirable physical, microstructural and compositional attributes. A multiphysics finite element model was developed to predict the temperature profile, cooling rate, melt depth, dilution of W in Al matrix and corresponding micro-hardness in the coating, and the interface between the coating and the base material and the base material.

The Syr Darya is one of two major rivers in Central Asia supplying critical fresh water to the Aral Sea. In spite of the river's importance and agriculturally-intensive history, few studies have provided a modern evaluation of and the occurrence of pesticide residues potential effects to aquatic life. The primary goal of this investigation was to determine seasonal variations in ambient concentrations of modern and legacy pesticides in bottom sediment and water of the Syr Darya in Kazakhstan (KZ) downstream from an agriculturally-intensive watershed in Uzbekistan. Grab samples and passive samplers were used at five remote sampling stations during June 2015 to provide a baseline for ecotoxicological evaluation. Results were compared with samples collected during and after the agricultural growing season. Polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) were used in June and calibrated for time-weighted average concentrations of current use pesticides. Among legacy chlorinated pesticides measured in grab samples from the river, lindane (γ-HCH) was detected most frequently with the highest concentrations occurring during June. For all the sampling events, residues of lindane (γ-HCH) ranged from 0.014 to 0.24 μg/L detected in water samples, are among the highest concentrations reported for rivers globally. Concentrations of γ-HCH, p,p'-DDE and dieldrin were highest in October when dieldrin concentrations approached 0.4 μg/L. Sources of legacy pesticides may be either illicit upstream use or evidence of previous atmospheric contamination of glacial meltwater. Chronic exposure to these residues may lead to ecological risk to lower order organisms in both the sediment and water column.

A turbulence model for buoyant flows has been developed in the context of a k-{var_epsilon} turbulence modeling approach. A production term is added to the turbulent kinetic energy equation based on dimensional reasoning using an appropriate time scale for buoyancy-induced turbulence taken from the vorticity conservation equation. The resulting turbulence model is calibrated against far field helium-air spread rate data, and validated with near source, strongly buoyant helium plume data sets. This model is more numerically stable and gives better predictions over a much broader range of mesh densities than the standard k-{var_epsilon} model for these strongly buoyant flows.