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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 469 records · Page 26

Pulsed Beam Heating Analysis of Curved Inconel Window with Pressurized Helium Gas Cooling

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is working with NorthStar medical Radioisotopes (NMR) on their efforts to produce Mo-99 through the irradiation of Mo-100 using Rodotron electron accelerators. Two Rhodotron accelerators are used to irradiate a double sided target. LANL collaborates with NMR to experimentally investigate beam effects on the target which consists of two Inconel 718 windows on either side of a stack of Mo-100 discs. LANL simulates the beam heating using an induction heater.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

Mo-100 Disk Structural Integrity Tests II

This report is a continuation of the work performed in the report, Mo-100 Disk Structural Integrity Tests I [1]. The NorthStar pressed and sintered 29 mm diameter, 0.5 mm thick Mo-100 disks will be subjected to large temperature gradients when in-beam during production. These large temperature gradients cause high stress and deformation within the disks that could prove detrimental to the target assembly’s cooling performance. Disk fracture is also a possibility that must be understood. Therefore, disk structural integrity tests were performed to understand the thermal induced behavior of these disks. In order to replicate the in-beam conditions, the Mo-100 disks were subjected to large temperature gradients using a 30kW induction heater and coil. A series of transient tests were conducted in a similar fashion as the previous work, as well as an attempt to create steady state conditions for more accurate temperature gradients. The transient thermal test setup and results are described in this report.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Modeling Codes Used for LAMP

LAMP team is planning on using multiple computer codes as tools for modeling beam dynamics, electromagnetics, and plasma environment in ion sources. Below is a description of the computer tools we have been using or planning to use in the future. Most of the codes chosen for the LAMP project are capable to model most of the beam dynamics in LAMP. A judicious choice of the appropriate code to use will be based on speed and fidelity of the modeling with faster calculations produced by simplifying some features.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Strategies for Achieving the DOE Hydrogen Shot Goal: Thermal Conversion Approaches

In July 2021 the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) launched the first of a series of Department-wide Energy Earthshot goals designed to accelerate breakthroughs of more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions within the decade. The Hydrogen Shot goal seeks to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen to $\$$1 per 1 kilogram in 1 decade ("1 1 1"). Today, thermal conversion of fossil fuels represents the predominant, lowest cost method of hydrogen production. In 2020 approximately 75 percent of global, dedicated hydrogen production was produced via fossil fuels using thermal conversion approaches such as steam reforming and gasification. However, carbon management techniques such as CO 2 capture and sequestration (CCS) and pyrolysis are not widely represented in the current fossil-based hydrogen production fleet. Lowering the cost of clean hydrogen production from commercial and advanced thermal conversion-based technologies is critical for successfully achieving the Hydrogen Shot goal. This report presents the findings from an initial screening analysis of several scenarios that explore cost drivers related to clean hydrogen production. The screening encompasses commercially available and developing thermal conversion technology alternatives as well as factors exogenous to the plant such as feedstock/byproduct pricing, CO 2 pipeline and storage infrastructure costs, and scale to assess potential pathways towards meeting the Hydrogen Shot goal. Additionally, this report presents initial Research and Development (R&D) strategies to advance thermal conversion technology towards meeting the Hydrogen Shot goal.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Numerical Analysis and Flow Induced Vibration Studies in Pressurized Helium Gas Cooling Channels

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is working with NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes (NMR) on their efforts to produce Mo-99 from the irradiation of Mo-100 targets. The NMR target consists of an Inconel window that allows the electron beam to penetrate and irradiate a stack of Mo-100 discs. The irradiation process generates large amounts of heat and is cooled using pressurized helium gas flowing at 400 g/s. LANL provides both numerical analysis support and experimental support. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for both 300 g/s and 400 g/s are performed on the NMR target to analyze the helium flow through the NMR system. The pressure drop, the mass flow rate through each of the disc and window channels and the force applied on the first disc are some of the quantities estimated using CFD. These results will be combined with Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) estimates of heat flux into the system from the electron beam to perform conjugate heat transfer analysis (CHT). The experiments presented in this report focus on the effect of the flow induced vibrations from helium flowing through the coolant gaps between the discs. There is concern that the flow induced vibrations may lead to excessive mass loss of the enriched Mo-100 discs, and the goal would be to mitigate the mass loss. This work presents benchtop tests of flow through a subset of the target stack which involves high speed imaging and displacement measurements used to estimate disc vibration, as well as mass loss.

42 ENGINEERING↗

C-band high gradient research and facilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory [Slides]

Achieving high-gradient performance (low breakdown rates, low field emission, new materials for HOM absorption, cathodes at high gradient etc.) is a materials science problem. Los Alamos is, at core, a materials science laboratory with particular expertise in metallurgy. Los Alamos also considers itself the steward of accelerator science for the NNSA part of the DOE complex. Thus, Los Alamos has both an institutional interest in, and capability to address, this problem space. High gradient C-band work directly aligns with future NNSA and LANL missions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

LAMP Basis of Estimate Evaluation

The purpose of this document is to present the evaluation summary of the initial cost proposal of the mechanical beamline components and associated labor for the LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP).

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Commissioning of Phase 1 of the LANL RFQ Test Stand - Beam Characterization

A series of numerical start-to-end simulations of Phase 1 of the 750 keV RFQ Test Stand which includes the ion source (H+ duoplasmatron), a 1-Solenoid LEBT, an emittance scan station and a Faraday cup were performed to find a mechanism for the characterization of the proton beam extracted from the duoplasmatron.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Quantifying the Financial Impacts of Electric Vehicles on Utility Ratepayers and Shareholders [Slides]

Widespread electric vehicle (EV) adoption is critical for meeting economy-wide decarbonization goals and, as a result, states are considering enabling policies and rate designs to accelerate EV deployment. EVs can provide possible financial upside to electric utilities and ratepayers in several ways. For example, from the utility perspective, EVs could drive increased electricity sales and new earnings opportunities through increased capital investments. From the ratepayer perspective, increased electric loads from EVs could reduce average all-in retail rates. The degree to which there are net benefits or costs to shareholders and/or ratepayers depends on how EVs are integrated and managed through enabling grid investments and charging strategies. Using Berkeley Lab’s Financial Impacts of Distributed Energy Resources (FINDER) model that mimics the electric utility investment planning and ratemaking processes, we estimate the utility earnings and customer rate impacts of EVs using a bookend approach of “managed” (i.e., best case) and “mismanaged” (i.e., worst case) charging strategies for a generic summer-peaking, investor-owned, and vertically integrated utility. The analysis also examines the sensitivity of results to different assumptions of EV deployment characteristics, EV impacts on retail electricity sales, incremental distribution system costs, EV charging location, and utility EV enablement costs (i.e., utility costs to invest in EV charging, controls, and communication to deliver and administer EV programs). The results are intended to inform EV policies and deployment strategies that maximize utility system benefits and minimize ratepayer costs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

RF Power Estimates for LAMP Drift-Tube Linac

The LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP) concept includes a drift-tube proton linac (DTL) from 3 MeV to 100 MeV consisting of 6 tanks. This technical note provides estimates of RF power required for the LAMP DTL tanks using DTLfish modeling.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Delivery of H - / H + Beams to Area A

We explore the relative merits of transporting the beam from the H + ion source and from the H - ion source to Area-A for low current applications. Transporting the H - beam to Area-A using the laser neutralization approach has some risk associated with it and will require some development. Alternative method of delivering H - beam to Area-A includes replacing LDBM00 bending magnet with kicker for sharing beam between Line D and modified Line A. Transporting the H + beam to Area-A will have significant impact on the operation the IPF facility and maintaining high pulse rate to IPF will require major modifications to the transition region of the accelerator and Drift Tube Linac.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Parallel Simulation of Beam Dynamics in Particle Accelerators [Slides]

Particle accelerators are among the most versatile and important tools of scientific discovery. The Nation's accelerators are responsible for a wealth of advances in materials science, chemistry, the biosciences, particle physics, and nuclear physics. They also have important applications to national security, the environment, energy, medicine, and on the quality of people's lives. LANL has a long history of making pioneering contributions to Accelerator Science including key contributions to the field of Computational Accelerator Physics. These include the development of early beam dynamics codes with space charge (such as PARMILA and PARMELA), the development of rf cavity codes and magnet codes (including Poisson and Superfish), and the development and distribution of codes to the accelerator community through the Los Alamos Accelerator Code Group. LANL researchers also helped pioneer the development of massively parallel space-charge codes. In project t22_accelsim we have moved beyond electrostatic models of collective effects (i.e., solving the Poisson equation in the bunch frame) to fully electromagnetic models based on the Lienard-Wiechert formalism. This approach enables the large-scale simulation of radiation production and collective effects in high brightness electron beams. This is highly relevant to LANL given its future goal of developing an X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL). It also directly impacts a LANL LDRD project to develop an undulator-based non-invasive beam profile monitor for beams created in laser-plasma accelerator systems.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

New signature method for identifying organic material in atmosphere and water samples

The levels of plastic contamination in the earth’s oceans have steadily increased over the past century, creating a threat to marine life and increasing climate change. Several methods have been developed over the past decade to try to determine the amount and accumulation rate of plastic impurities in the ecosystem. These methods have proven promising but suffer from long measurement times, bulky non-mobile systems, and sample degradation. We propose a smaller, faster system that employs an electron beam to examine seawater samples for polyethylene contamination levels. This process generates a full electron and photon energy spectrum analyses based on the subatomic particles generated from electron interactions. Our simulations have already been developed based on the known molecular composition of seawater and polyethylene, showing the possibility of discerning molecular plastics from microorganisms. With a system the size of a suitcase, this system would be easily deployable to remote locations around the world or installed as a monitoring system for manufacturing facilities. This concept could lead to a new methodology for the science of signatures and be applied to other biological hazard investigations, such as general virus detection.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

X-Ray Development Photos April 2023

The follow three slides are pictures from the deployment of the UCSB x-ray detectors across the DTL tanks. Pictures were taken at the beginning of April.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

LANSCE Facility Longevity Assessment

This LANSCE Facility Longevity Assessment examined 34 total systems critical to the operation of the LANSCE accelerator complex. These systems are primarily owned, operated, and maintained by AOT Division. Based on the criteria used in this assessment, there are 12 AOT Division systems that are potential high risk as related to longterm LANSCE operations. These systems may also impact the success of LAMP. Also summarized in this report are the facility activities planned over the next decade. These include general facility maintenance and infrastructure upgrades, as well as planned electrical system upgrades. The LANSCE Facility Operations (LFO) Division is responsible for this activity scope and budget planning. Most of the planned activities are general in nature and should have little impact on accelerator operations or LAMP activities as currently envisioned. However, close coordination with between AOT, LFO, and LAMP would be prudent. A next step should be to develop an actionable plan to address the high-risk systems. Potential criteria for developing such a plan could include: (1) Evaluating the global impact of the system (operations, program, safety, etc.), (2) Ranking by impact (ranked now by risk), (3) Estimating cost to implement the corrective actions (Is there already a plan or not?), and (4) Estimating the time required for corrective actions. An alternative could include integration of the assessment data into both the Asset Management System and the Maintenance Analytics Risk Register.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗