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Large loading events on wind turbine rotor blades are often associated with transient bursts of coherent turbulent energy in the turbine inflow. These coherent turbulent structures are identified as peaks in the three-dimensional, instantaneous, turbulent shearing stress field. Such organized inflow structures and the accompanying rotor aeroelastic responses typically have time scales of only a few seconds and therefore do not lend themselves for analysis by conventional Fourier spectral techniques. Time-frequency analysis (and wavelet analysis in particular) offers the ability to more closely study the spectral decomposition of short period events such as the interaction of coherent turbulence with a moving rotor blade. In this paper, the authors discuss the initial progress in the application of time-frequency analysis techniques to the decomposition and interpretation of turbulence/rotor interaction. The authors discuss the results of applying both the continuous and discrete wavelet transforms for their application. Several examples are given of the techniques applied to both observed turbulence and turbine responses and those generated using numerical simulations. They found that the presence of coherent turbulent structures, as revealed by the inflow Reynolds stress field, is a major contributor to large load excursions. These bursts of coherent turbulent energy induce a broadband aeroelastic response in the turbine rotor as it passes through them.

This report takes a broad look at the status of local clean energy policies in the United States to develop a better understanding of local clean energy policy development and the interaction between state and local policies. To date, the majority of clean energy policy research focuses on the state and federal levels. While there has been a substantial amount of research on local level climate change initiatives, this is one of the first analyses of clean energy policies separate from climate change initiatives. This report is one in a suite of reports analyzing clean energy and climate policy development at the local, state, and regional levels.

Exchanging heat from hot geothermal fluid to a secondary working fluid which is then expanded through a turbine appears to be the best way of producing electrical power from a medium temperature geothermal resource. A study has been made to determine the conceptual design state points for a dual boiling system which utilizes isobutane as the working fluid. The results of this work and the sensitivity of plant performance to variations from nominal design points are presented. In addition, variations due to tolerances applied to thermodynamic properties and other key factors are included. (auth)

Program planning support was provided by; developing a geothermal RD and D program structure, characterizing the status of geothermal RD and D through review of literature and interaction with the geothermal research community, developing a candidate list of future Texas geothermal projects, and prioritizing the candidate projects based on appropriate evaluation criteria. The method used to perform this study and the results thereof are presented. Summary reviews of selected completed and ongoing projects and summary descriptions and evaluations of the candidate RD and D projects ar provided. A brief discussion emerging federal RD and D policies is presented. References and independent project rankings by three of the GRP members are included. (MHR)

Vanadium-containing glasses have aroused interest in several fields such as electrodes for energy storage, semiconducting glasses, and nuclear waste disposal. The addition of V2O5, even in small amounts, can greatly alter the physical properties and chemical durability of glasses; however, the structural role of vanadium in these multicomponent glasses and the structural origins of these property changes are still poorly understood. We present a comprehensive study that integrates advanced characterizations and atomistic simulations to understand the composition-structure-property relationships of a series of vanadium-containing aluminoborosilicate glasses. UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) have been used to investigate the complex distribution of vanadium oxidation states as a function of composition in a series of six-component aluminoborosilicate glasses. High-energy X-ray diffraction and molecular dynamics simulations were performed to extract the detailed short- and medium-range atomistic structural information such as bond distance, coordination number, bond angle, and network connectivity, based on recently developed vanadium potential parameters. It was found that vanadium mainly exists in two oxidation states: V5+ and V4+, with the former being dominant (∼80% from XANES) in most compositions. V5+ ions were found to exist in 4-, 5-, and 6-fold coordination, while V4+ ions were mainly in 4-fold coordination. The percentage of 4-fold-coordinated boron and network connectivity initially increased with increasing V2O5 up to around 5 mol % but then decreased with higher V2O5 contents. The structural role of vanadium and the effect on glass structure and properties are discussed, providing insights into future studies of sophisticated structural descriptors to predict glass properties from composition and/or structure and aiding the formulation of borosilicate glasses for nuclear waste disposal and other applications.

The Heat Cycle Research Program, which is being conducted for the Department of Energy, has as its objective the development of the technology for effecting improved utilization of moderate temperature geothermal resources. Testing at the Heat Cycle Research Facility which was located at the DOE Geothermal Test Facility, East Mesa, California is presently being conducted to meet this objective. The testing effort discussed in this interim report involves a supercritical vaporization and counterflow in-tube condensing system with a near horizontal tube orientation. A previous report explored the supercritical heating, supersaturated turbine expansions and the condenser performance in the vertical orientation. This report presents a description of the test facility and results from a part of the program in which the condenser was oriented in a nearly horizontal orientation. Results of the experiments for the in-tube condenser in a nearly horizontal orientation are given for both pure and mixed-hydrocarbon working fluids. Although most of the data is for a completely active condenser in countercurrent flow, some data is available for a configuration in which half of the tubes were plugged and some data for cocurrent (parallel) flow is analyzed. The horizontal-oriented condenser behavior predicted by the Heat Transfer Research Institute computermore » codes used for correlation of the data was not in agreement with experimental results at this orientation. Some reasons for this difference are discussed. A special series of tests, conducted with propane and up to approximately 40% isopentane concentration, indicated that a close approach to integral'' condensation has occurred as was the case with the horizontally oriented condenser (similar results were obtained for the vertical condenser). 18 refs., 37 figs., 15 tabs.« less

A proposed strategy for the remediation of uranium (U) contaminated sites is based on immobilizing U by reducing the oxidized soluble U, U(VI), to form a reduced insoluble end product, U(IV). Due to the use of nitric acid in the processing of nuclear fuels, nitrate is often a co-contaminant found in many of the environments contaminated with uranium. Recent studies indicate that nitrate inhibits U(VI) reduction in sediment slurries. However, the mechanism responsible for the apparent inhibition of U(VI) reduction is unknown, i.e. preferential utilization of nitrate as an electron acceptor, direct biological oxidation of U(IV) coupled to nitrate reduction, and/or abiotic oxidation by intermediates of nitrate reduction. Recent studies indicates that direct biological oxidation of U(IV) coupled to nitrate reduction may exist in situ, however, to date no organisms have been identified that can grow by this metabolism. In an effort to evaluate the potential for nitrate-dependent bio-oxidation of U(IV) in anaerobic sedimentary environments, we have initiated the enumeration of nitrate-dependent U(IV) oxidizing bacteria. Sediments, soils, and groundwater from uranium (U) contaminated sites, including subsurface sediments from the NABIR Field Research Center (FRC), as well as uncontaminated sites, including subsurface sediments from the NABIR FRC and Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant, Texas, lake sediments, and agricultural field soil, sites served as the inoculum source. Enumeration of the nitrate-dependent U(IV) oxidizing microbial population in sedimentary environments by most probable number technique have revealed sedimentary microbial populations ranging from 9.3 x 101 - 2.4 x 103 cells (g sediment)-1 in both contaminated and uncontaminated sites. Interestingly uncontaminated subsurface sediments (NABIR FRC Background core FB618 and Longhorn Texas Core BH2-18) both harbored the most numerous nitrate-dependent U(IV) oxidizing population 2.4 x 103 cells (g sediment)-1. The nitrate-dependent U(IV) oxidizing microbial population in groundwaters is less numerous ranging from 0 cells mL-1 (Well FW300, Uncontaminated Background NABIR FRC) to 4.3 x 102 cells mL-1 (Well TPB16, Contaminated Area 2 NABIR FRC). The presence of nitrate-dependent U(IV) oxidizing bacteria supports our hypothesis that bacteria capable of anaerobic U(IV) oxidation are ubiquitous and indigenous to sedimentary and groundwater environments.

Spherical cermet fuel elements are proposed for use in the Atoms For Peace Reactor (AFPR-100) concept. AFPR-100 is a small-scale, inherently safe, proliferation-resistant reactor that would be ideal for deployment to nations with emerging economies that decide to select nuclear power for the generation of carbon-free electricity. The basic concept of the AFPR core is a water-cooled fixed particle bed, randomly packed with spherical fuel elements. The flow of coolant within the particle bed is at such a low rate that the bed does not fluidize. This report summarizes an approach to fuel fabrication, results associated with fuel performance modeling, core neutronics and thermal hydraulics analyses demonstrating a ~20 year core life, and a conclusion that the proliferation resistance of the AFPR reactor concept is high.