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At least 217 records · Page 12

The gradient of galactic cosmic rays at the solar-wind termination shock

We report on a study of the expected spatial variation of the galactic cosmic-ray intensity in the outer heliosphere, in the vicinity of the solar-wind termination shock. Model simulations which contain all of the transport effects, including drifts, predict that the radial gradients change abruptly at the shock, and that the nature of the effect varies significantly with particle energy. At low energies, the radial gradient changes abruptly from a lower value inside the shock to a higher value outside, whereas at high energies, the higher value of the gradient is inside the shock. This effect, which is a consequence of the matching conditions at the shock and is closely related to diffusive shock acceleration, is qualitatively the same for both helisopheric magnetic polarity states and remains much the same in one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional models. Hence drifts do not change the nature of this phenomenon, although they change it quantitatively. The effect is, of course, not present in the absence of a terminal shock and may prove to be an important diagnostic tool for the study of the termination of the solar wind.

Jokipii, J. R.↗

A new approach to turbulence modeling

A new approach to Reynolds averaged turbulence modeling is proposed which has a computational cost comparable to two equation models but a predictive capability approaching that of Reynolds stress transport models. This approach isolates the crucial information contained within the Reynolds stress tensor, and solves transport equations only for a set of 'reduced' variables. In this work, Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data is used to analyze the nature of these newly proposed turbulence quantities and the source terms which appear in their respective transport equations. The physical relevance of these quantities is discussed and some initial modeling results for turbulent channel flow are presented.

Perot, B.↗

Preserving Perishables (Dormavac)

A new commercial product that can preserve perishable commodities for weeks without freezing, so that they can be shipped fresh without the cost of air freight, has been developed by Grumman Corporation, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. The development benefited from the company's experience in developing the environmental control system for the Lunar Module, which delivered Apollo astronauts to the surface of the moon. Called Dormavac, the system provides a commodity-preserving environment within an aluminum container that can be transported by truck, rail or ship. Dormavac creates a cold-but above freezing-environment with high relative humidity and very low air pressure. The saturated air minimizes commodity weight loss and the air is automatically changed several times an hour to flush away odors and harmful gases released by the commodities. According to company literature, Dormavac significantly extends the transportation life of perishables. For example, pork has a normal cold storage life of about seven days, beef two weeks and tomatoes three weeks; with Dormavac, pork remains fresh for three weeks, beef more than six weeks and tomatoes seven weeks or more. Dormavac is manufactured and marketed by Grumman Allied Industries, Woodbury, New York. In developing the system, Grumman Allied drew upon the technological resources of another company subsidiary, Grumman Aerospace. Engineers who had earlier worked on Lunar Module environmental control brought their know-how and experience to the Dormavac development.

Source record↗

Coast Guard Firefighting Module

NASA and the U.S. Coast Guard are jointly developing a lightweight, helicopter-transportable, completely self-contained firefighting module for combating shipboard and dockside fires. The project draws upon NASA technology in high-capacity rocket engine pumps, lightweight materials and compact packaging.

Source record↗

Seasonal Variations of Stratospheric Age Spectra in GEOSCCM

There are many pathways for an air parcel to travel from the troposphere to the stratosphere, each of which takes different time. The distribution of all the possible transient times, i.e. the stratospheric age spectrum, contains important information on transport characteristics. However, it is computationally very expensive to compute seasonally varying age spectra, and previous studies have focused mainly on the annual mean properties of the age spectra. To date our knowledge of the seasonality of the stratospheric age spectra is very limited. In this study we investigate the seasonal variations of the stratospheric age spectra in the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry Climate Model (GEOSCCM). We introduce a method to significantly reduce the computational cost for calculating seasonally dependent age spectra. Our simulations show that stratospheric age spectra in GEOSCCM have strong seasonal cycles and the seasonal cycles change with latitude and height. In the lower stratosphere extratropics, the average transit times and the most probable transit times in the winter/early spring spectra are more than twice as old as those in the summer/early fall spectra. But the seasonal cycle in the subtropical lower stratosphere is nearly out of phase with that in the extratropics. In the middle and upper stratosphere, significant seasonal variations occur in the sUbtropics. The spectral shapes also show dramatic seasonal change, especially at high latitudes. These seasonal variations reflect the seasonal evolution of the slow Brewer-Dobson circulation (with timescale of years) and the fast isentropic mixing (with timescale of days to months).

Li, Feng↗

Microgravity Passive Phase Separator

A new invention disclosure discusses a structure and process for separating gas from liquids in microgravity. The Microgravity Passive Phase Separator consists of two concentric, pleated, woven stainless- steel screens (25-micrometer nominal pore) with an axial inlet, and an annular outlet between both screens (see figure). Water enters at one end of the center screen at high velocity, eventually passing through the inner screen and out through the annular exit. As gas is introduced into the flow stream, the drag force exerted on the bubble pushes it downstream until flow stagnation or until it reaches an equilibrium point between the surface tension holding bubble to the screen and the drag force. Gas bubbles of a given size will form a front that is moved further down the length of the inner screen with increasing velocity. As more bubbles are added, the front location will remain fixed, but additional bubbles will move to the end of the unit, eventually coming to rest in the large cavity between the unit housing and the outer screen (storage area). Owing to the small size of the pores and the hydrophilic nature of the screen material, gas does not pass through the screen and is retained within the unit for emptying during ground processing. If debris is picked up on the screen, the area closest to the inlet will become clogged, so high-velocity flow will persist farther down the length of the center screen, pushing the bubble front further from the inlet of the inner screen. It is desired to keep the velocity high enough so that, for any bubble size, an area of clean screen exists between the bubbles and the debris. The primary benefits of this innovation are the lack of any need for additional power, strip gas, or location for venting the separated gas. As the unit contains no membrane, the transport fluid will not be lost due to evaporation in the process of gas separation. Separation is performed with relatively low pressure drop based on the large surface area of the separating screen. Additionally, there are no moving parts, and there are no failure modes that involve fluid loss. A patent application has been filed.

Paragano, Matthew↗

Computational optimal transport for molecular spectra: The fully continuous case

Computational optimal transport is used to analyze the difference between pairs of continuous molecular spectra. It is demonstrated that transport distances which are derived from this approach may be a more appropriate measure of the difference between two continuous spectra than more familiar measures of distance under many common circumstances. Associated with the transport distances is the transport map which provides a detailed analysis of the difference between two molecular spectra and is a key component of our study of quantitative differences between two continuous spectra. The use of optimal transport for comparing molecular spectra is developed in detail here with a set of model spectra, so that the discussion is self-contained. The difference between the transport distance and more common definitions of distance is elucidated for some well-chosen examples and it is shown where transport distances may be very useful alternatives to standard definitions of distance. The transport distance between a theoretical and experimental electronic absorption spectrum for SO 2 is studied and it is shown how the theoretical spectrum can be modified to fit the experimental spectrum better adjusting the theoretical band origin and the resolution of the theoretical spectrum. In conclusion, this analysis includes the calculation of transport maps between the theoretical and experimental spectra suggesting future applications of the methodology.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

A Compilation of Historical Data on Hagan Drop Testing with Results

The Hagan nuclear material storage container was designed in the late 1990’s to provide a robust container for daily use, safe transport within the plutonium facility PF-4, and storage of nuclear material for up to twenty years. There are currently >3000 loaded Hagan containers in use at TA-55. The majority of these are in the TA-55 vault, but they are also used in safes and in floor locations on the main floor of PF-4. The original design criteria are given below

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Separability of microtearing mode and electron temperature gradient turbulence regimes

The separability of microtearing mode (MTM)-dominated and electron temperature gradient (ETG)-driven turbulence regimes is studied with multiscale nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. The simulations are based on National Spherical Torus Experiment-like, high-confinement mode pedestal parameters, where electromagnetic perturbations are large. Linear analysis indicates a wide scale-separation between the MTM and ETG modes in binormal wavenumber space (perpendicular to the magnetic field line), with no unstable modes at intermediate scales. Likewise, single-scale nonlinear analyses, retaining ion-only or electron-only spatio-temporal scales, produce seemingly well-converged transport states. Surprisingly, the multiscale simulation, which contains both the ion and electron scales, closely follows the transport from the electron-scale simulation. This trend is robust over a wide range of electron temperature gradient. Remarkably, compared to ion-scale simulations, MTM turbulence is significantly reduced at multiscale resolution even when ETG turbulence is low. In this case, traditional ion-scale resolution overestimates the electron energy flux, and it is not possible to accurately simulate the MTM turbulence with separable ion-scale simulations. Here, while the analysis confirms the validity of electron-scale simulations for predicting the electron transport, it also indicates that multiscale simulation may be required for reproducing the turbulence spectrum for systems with coupled MTM-ETG turbulence.

H-mode↗

Single-Molecule Electron Transport in Peptoids

Peptoids are structural analogs of peptides in which side chains are appended to the backbone nitrogen rather than the α-carbon. The sequence-defined modularity of peptoids enables precise control over structure−function relationships, enabling applications in energy storage and biomedical materials. Despite recent progress, the role of sequence and conformation on electron transport in peptoid molecules is not fully understood. Here, we synthesize a library of peptoid oligomers and characterize their molecular electronic properties using the scanning tunneling microscope-break junction (STM-BJ) technique. Our results show well-defined electron transport behavior for peptoid sequences containing aromatic side groups lacking hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) and without chemical substitutions at the N−C α position. This behavior fundamentally differs from electron transport in peptides, where H-bond interactions give rise to higher conductance states. All-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to understand the conformational heterogeneity of peptoids, and molecular conformations obtained from MD simulations are used in quantum mechanical calculations based on the nonequilibrium Green’s function−density functional theory (NEGF-DFT) formalism. In all cases, computational results are in reasonable qualitative agreement with experiments. Our work demonstrates that the conductance behavior of peptoids depends on monomer identity, including side-chain aromaticity and substitution at the N−C α position. Overall, this work provides new insights into the structure−function relationships governing electron transport in peptoid-based materials and establishes design rules for peptoid-based molecular junctions.

Charge transport↗

Microtearing instabilities and electron thermal transport in low and high collisionality NSTX discharges

Microtearing mode (MTM) real frequency, growth rate, magnetic fluctuation amplitude and resulting electron thermal transport are studied in systematic NSTX scans of relevant plasma parameters. Here, the dependency of the MTM real frequency and growth rate on plasma parameters, suitable for low and high collision NSTX discharges, is obtained by using the reduced MTM transport model. The plasma parameter dependencies are compared and found to be consistent with the results obtained from MTM using the Gyrokinetic GYRO code. The scaling trend of collision frequency and plasma beta is found to be consistent with the global energy confinement trend observed in the NSTX experiment. The strength of the magnetic fluctuation is found to be consistent with the gyrokinetic estimate. In earlier studies, it was found that the version of the Multi-Mode (MM) anomalous transport model, which did not contain the effect of MTMs, provided an appropriate description of the electron temperature profiles in standard tokamak discharges and not in spherical tokamaks. When the MM model, which involves transport associated with MTMs, is incorporated in the TRANSP code and is used in the study of electron thermal transport in NSTX discharges, it is observed that the agreement with the experimental electron temperature profile is substantially improved.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Microtearing Instabilities and Electron Thermal Transport in Low and High Collisionality NSTX Discharges

Microtearing mode (MTM) real frequency, growth rate, magnetic fluctuation amplitude and resulting electron thermal transport are studied in systematic NSTX scans of relevant plasma parameters. The dependency of the MTM real frequency and growth rate on plasma parameters, suitable for low and high collision NSTX discharges, is obtained by using the reduced MTM transport model [T. Rafiq, et al., Phys. Plasmas 23, 062507 (2016)]. The plasma parameter dependencies are compared and found to be consistent with the results obtained from MTM using the Gyrokinetic GYRO code. The scaling trend of collision frequency and plasma beta is found to be consistent with the global energy confinement trend observed in the NSTX experiment. The strength of the magnetic fluctuation is found to be consistent with the gyrokinetic estimate.In earlier studies, it was found that the version of the Multi-Mode (MM) anomalous transport model, which did not contain the effect of MTMs, provided an appropriate description of the electron temperature profiles in standard tokamak discharges and not in spherical tokamaks. When the MM model, which involves transport associated with MTMs, is incorporated in the TRANSP code and is used in the study of electron thermal transport in NSTX discharges, it is observed that the agreement with the experimental electron temperature profile is substantially improved.

fusion plasma technology↗

Behavior of bubbles in glassmelts. III - Dissolution and growth of a rising bubble containing a single gas

Finite difference solutions of the mass transport equations governing the dissolution (growth) of a rising gas bubble, containing a single gas, in a glassmelt were obtained. These solutions were compared with those obtained from an approximate procedure for a range of the controlling parameters. Applications were made to describe various aspects of O2 and CO2 gas-bubble behavior in a soda-lime-silicate melt.

Onorato, P. I. K.↗

Post impact behavior of mobile reactor core containment systems.

In the future, nuclear assemblies containing fission products will be transported at high speeds. An example is a reactor supplying power to a large subsonic airplane. In this case an accident can occur resulting in a ground impact at speeds up to 1000 ft/sec. This paper analyzes the containment vessel temperatures after impact and attempts to understand the design variables that affect the post impact survival of the system. The heat transfer analysis includes conduction, radiation, and convection in addition to the core material heats of fusion and vaporization under partial-burial conditions. Also, included is the fact that fission products vaporize and transport radially outward and condense on cooler surfaces, resulting in a moving heat source.

Puthoff, R. L.↗

Hanford Immobilized Low-Activity Waste Transportation System Testing Results - 20043

The immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) transportation system is a first-of-a-kind system that is being designed and tested to transport ILAW glass-filled containers from Hanford's Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility to the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) burial trench for permanent disposal. A prototype design and fabrication of one transport trailer and four engineered ILAW pallets was completed in mid-2018. Prototype qualification testing to verify adequacy of the design was completed in 2019 by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and affiliate ATKINS SNC-Lavalin Group. Prototype testing was completed to advance design maturation across all operational and facility interfaces, and under adverse environmental and operating conditions, including thermal assessment of the system at peak projected temperatures. Test design, observation, and feedback was well represented and supported by all ILAW Transportation System interfacing organizations: WTP constructor Bechtel National, Inc.; IDF operator CH2M (CHPRC); transportation contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA); the U. S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (DOE/RL) and Office of River Protection (DOE/ORP); and Washington State Department of Ecology. This paper presents the results of prototype qualification testing and opportunities for design improvements based on testing. Changes to the final design as a result of prototype testing include improvements in safety, ergonomics, operational flexibility, and As-Low-As-Reasonably-Achievable (ALARA) applications. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Development of the 3 m{sup 3} Low Level Radioactive Waste Container in Taiwan - 20037

Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant stopped its business operation in July, 2019, and Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant will also be permanently shut down in 2023. Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act requires a nuclear facility must be dismantled in 25 years after being permanently ceased operation. According to the approved decommissioning plan of Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant and the proposed one of Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant, the 3 m{sup 3} low level radioactive waste container is planned to store the low level radioactive wastes with higher radiation produced during the decommissioning. However, 3 m{sup 3} low level radioactive waste containers are not used or developed in Taiwan before. To meet such need, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research develops a new type of 3 m{sup 3} low level radioactive waste container and performs the corresponding analyses and tests based on Guidelines of Applying the Usage License of Low Level Radioactive Waste Containers and Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material. In this article, it provides the information of the low level radioactive waste containers that have been approved or is under reviewing in Taiwan, and so do the design specifications of the developed 3 m{sup 3} waste container. Besides, the numerical evaluation and test results of the developed 3 m{sup 3} waste container are also included in this article. Based on the evaluation and test results, the developed 3 m{sup 3} waste container satisfies the requirements of the storage container and industrial package type 2. Institute of Nuclear Energy Research will submit the usage license applications to the authority this year, and the usage licenses would be granted in 2021, expectedly. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Quantification of the Impact of Acidified Brine on Fracture-Matrix Transport in a Naturally Fractured Shale Using in Situ Imaging and Modeling

Understanding flow, transport, chemical reactions, and hydromechanical processes in fractured geologic materials is key for optimizing a range of subsurface processes including carbon dioxide and hydrogen storage, unconventional energy resource extraction, and geothermal energy recovery. Flow and transport processes in naturally fractured shale rocks have been challenging to characterize due to experimental complexity and the multiscale nature of quantifying continuum scale descriptions of mass exchange between micrometer-scale fractures and nanometer-scale pores. In this study, we use positron emission tomography (PET) to image the transport of a conservative tracer in a naturally fractured Wolfcamp shale core before and after the core was exposed to low pH brine conditions. Image-based experimental observations are interpreted by fitting an analytical transport model to fracture-containing voxels in the core. Results of this analysis indicate subtle increases in matrix diffusivity and a slightly more uniform fracture velocity distribution following exposure to low pH conditions. These observations are compared with a multicomponent one-dimensional reactive transport model that indicates the capacity for a 10% increase in porosity at the fracture-matrix interface as a result of the low pH brine exposure. This porosity change is the result of the dissolution of carbonate minerals in the shale matrix to low pH conditions. Further, this image-based workflow represents a new approach for quantifying spatially resolved fracture-matrix transport processes and provides a foundation for future work to better understand the role of coupled transport, reaction, and mechanical processes in naturally fractured rocks.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗