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At least 469 records · Page 26

Radarsat Processing System at ASF

Radarsat is a Canadian polar orbiting remote sensing satellite scheduled for launch in September 1995. Its lone instrument on-board is a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that is capable of operating in a number of imaging modes including the first operational ScanSAR mode. As one of the data reception, processing and archive facility for Radarsat data, Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) has responded to its Science users by establishing a Radarsat processing system to handle the data processing of all Radarsat modes. This task involves enhancements to the high throughput hardware based Alaska SAR Processor (ASP) to handle standard mode Radarsat data in addition to its existing ERS and JERS capabilities, the addition of the new ScanSAR Processor (SSP) to process the Radarsat ScanSAR mode data, and the introduction of a Precision Processor (PP) to accommodate the special Radarsat modes such as fine resolution and wide swath. For raw data ingestion and distribution to the appropriate SAR processor, a new Control Processor (CP) and Raw Data Scanner (RDS) subsystem is also incorporated.

Radarsat↗

Challenges and Opportunities in Staffing and Knowledge Transfer at Research Reactors

University research reactors have been a cornerstone of nuclear engineering research and education since the first reactor was deployed at North Carolina State University in the 1950s. The population of university reactors grew to a high of almost 80 in 1970 but has dropped to 24 operating today. The US Department of Energy – Office of Nuclear Energy supports the remaining reactors through fuel and infrastructure funding. The Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) collaborated with the National Organization of Test, Research, and Training Reactors (TRTR) to study the needs of the university research reactor community. Staffing and knowledge transfer were identified as critical areas. The panel will discuss challenges and opportunities in these areas including how COVID-19 has affected their facilities.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

The Life Cycle Application of Intelligent Software Modeling for the First Materials Science Research Rack

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been funding development of intelligent software models to benefit payload ground operations for nearly a decade. Experience gained from simulator development and real-time monitoring and control is being applied to engineering design, testing, and operation of the First Material Science Research Rack (MSRR-1). MSRR-1 is the first rack in a suite of three racks comprising the Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF) which will operate on the International Space Station (ISS). The MSRF will accommodate advanced microgravity investigations in areas such as the fields of solidification of metals and alloys, thermo-physical properties of polymers, crystal growth studies of semiconductor materials, and research in ceramics and glasses. The MSRR-1 is a joint venture between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to study the behavior of different materials during high temperature processing in a low gravity environment. The planned MSRR-1 mission duration is five (5) years on-orbit and the total design life is ten (IO) years. The MSRR-1 launch is scheduled on the third Utilization Flight (UF-3) to ISS, currently in February of 2003). The objective of MSRR-1 is to provide an early capability on the ISS to conduct material science, materials technology, and space product research investigations in microgravity. It will provide a modular, multi-user facility for microgravity research in materials crystal growth and solidification. An intelligent software model of MSRR-1 is under development and will serve multiple purposes to support the engineering analysis, testing, training, and operational phases of the MSRR-1 life cycle development. The G2 real-time expert system software environment developed by Gensym Corporation was selected as the intelligent system shell for this development work based on past experience gained and the effectiveness of the programming environment. Our approach of multi- uses of the simulation model and its intuitive graphics capabilities is providing a concurrent engineering environment for rapid prototyping and development. Operational schematics of the MSRR-1 electrical, thermal control, vacuum access, and gas supply systems, and furnace inserts are represented graphically in the environment. Logic to represent first order engineering calculations is coded into the knowledge base to simulate the operational behavior of the MSRR-1 systems. An example of engineering data provided includes electrical currents, voltages, operational power, temperatures, thermal fluid flow rates. pressures, and component status indications. These type of data are calculated and displayed at appropriate instrumentation points, and the schematics are animated to reflect the simulated operational status of the MSRR-1. The software control functions are also simulated to represent appropriate operational behavior based on automated control and response to commands received by the crew or ground controllers. The first benefit of this simulation environment is being realized in the high fidelity engineering analysis results from the electrical power system G2 model. Secondly, the MSRR-1 simulation model will be embedded with a hardware mock-up of the MSRR-1 to provide crew training on MSRR-1 integrated payload operations. G2 gateway code will output the simulated instrumentation values, termed as telemetry, in a flight-like data stream so that the crew has realistic and accurate simulated MSRR-1 data on the flight displays which will be designed for crew use. The simulation will also respond appropriately to crew or ground initiated commands, which will be part of normal facility operations. A third use of the G2 model is being planned; the MSRR-1 simulation will be integrated with additional software code as part of the test configuration of the primary onboard computer, or Master Controller, for MSRR-1. We will take advantage of the G2 capability to simulate the flight like data stream to test flight software responses and behavior. A fourth use of the G2 model will be to train the Ground Support Personnel that will monitor the MSRR-1 systems and payloads while they are operating aboard the ISS. The intuitive, schematic based environment will provide an excellent foundation for personnel to understand the integrated configuration and operation of the MSRR-1, and the anticipated telemetry feedback based on operational modes of the equipment. Expert monitoring features will be enhanced to provide a smart monitoring environment for the operators. These features include: (1) Animated, intuitive schematic-based displays which reflect telemetry values, (1) Real-time plotting of simulated or incoming sensor values, (3) High/Low exception monitoring for analog data, (4) Expected state monitoring for discrete data, (5) Data trending, (6) Automated malfunction procedure execution to diagnose problems, (7) Look ahead capability to planned MSRR-1 activities in the onboard timeline. And finally, the logic to calculate telemetry values will be deactivated, and the same environment will interface to the incoming data for the real-time telemetry stream to schematically represent the onboard hardware configuration. G2 will be the foundation for the real-time monitoring and control environment. In summary, our MSRR-1 simulation model spans many elements of the life cycle development of this project: Engineering Analysis, Test and Checkout, Training of Crew and Ground Personnel, and Real-time monitoring and control. By utilizing the unique features afforded by an expert system development environment, we have been able to synergize a powerful tool capable of addressing our project needs at every phase of project development.

Rice, Amanda↗

Impact of Weak Agostic Interactions in Nickel Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Oxidation

To understand how H2 binding and oxidation is influenced by [Ni(PR2NR'2)2]2+ PR2NR'2 catalysts with H2 binding energies close to thermoneutral, two [Ni(PPh2NR'2)2]2+ (R = Me or C14H29) complexes with phenyl substituents on phosphorous and varying alkyl chain lengths on the pendant amine were studied. In the solid state, [Ni(PPh2NMe2)2]2+ exhibits an anagostic interaction between the Ni(II) center and the a-CH3 of the pendant amine, and DFT and variable-temperature 31P NMR experiments suggest than the anagostic interaction persists in solution. The equilibrium constants for H2 addition to these complexes was measured by 31P NMR spectroscopy, affording free energies of H2 addition (?G°H2) of –0.8 kcal mol–1 in benzonitrile and –1.6 to –2.3 kcal mol–1 in THF. The anagostic interaction contributes to the low driving force for H2 binding by stabilizing the four-coordinate Ni(II) species prior to binding of H2. The pseudo-first order rate constants for H2 addition at 1 atm were measured by variable scan rate cyclic voltammetry, and were found to be similar for both complexes, less than 0.2 s–1 in benzonitrile and 3 –6 s–1 in THF. In the presence of exogenous base and H2 , turnover frequencies of electrocatalytic H2 oxidation were measured to be less than 0.2 s–1 in benzonitrile and 4 –9 s–1 in THF. These complexes are slower electrocatalysts for H2 oxidation than previously studied [Ni(PR2NR'2)2]2+ complexes due to a competition between H2 binding and formation of the anagostic interaction. However, the decrease in catalytic rate is accompanied by a beneficial 130 mV decrease in overpotential. This research was supported as part of the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Computational resources were provided at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Mass spectrometry experiments were performed in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The authors thank Dr. Rosalie Chu for mass spectroscopy analysis. PNNL is operated by Battelle for DOE.

Klug, Christina↗

Steam Reforming of Ethylene Glycol over MgAl₂O₄ Supported Rh, Ni, and Co Catalysts

Steam reforming of ethylene glycol (EG) over MgAl₂O₄ supported metal (15 wt.% Ni, 5 wt.% Rh, and 15 wt.% Co) catalysts were investigated using combined experimental and theoretical methods. Compared to highly active Rh and Ni catalysts with 100% conversion, the steam reforming activity of EG over the Co catalyst is comparatively lower with only 42% conversion under the same reaction conditions (500°C, 1 atm, 119,000 h⁻¹, S/C=3.3 mol). However, CH₄ selectivity over the Co catalyst is remarkably lower. For example, by varying the gas hour space velocity (GHSV) such that complete conversion is achieved for all the catalysts, CH₄ selectivity for the Co catalyst is only 8%, which is much lower than the equilibrium CH₄ selectivity of ~ 24% obtained for both the Rh and Ni catalysts. Further studies show that varying H₂O concentration over the Co catalyst has a negligible effect on activity, thus indicating zero-order dependence on H₂O. These experimental results suggest that the supported Co catalyst is a promising EG steam reforming catalyst for high hydrogen production. To gain mechanistic insight for rationalizing the lower CH₃ selectivity observed for the Co catalyst, the initial decomposition reaction steps of ethylene glycol via C-O, O-H, C-H, and C-C bond scissions on the Rh(111), Ni(111) and Co(0001) surfaces were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Despite the fact that the bond scission sequence in the EG decomposition on the three metal surfaces varies, which leads to different reaction intermediates, the lower CH₄ selectivity over the Co catalyst, as compared to the Rh and Ni catalysts, is primarily due to the higher barrier for CH₄ formation. The higher S/C ratio enhances the Co catalyst stability, which can be elucidated by the facile water dissociation and an alternative reaction path to remove the CH species as a coking precursor via the HCOH formation. This work was financially supported by the United States Department of Energy (DOE)’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and performed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is a multi-program national laboratory operated for DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute. Computing time and advanced catalyst characterization use was granted by a user proposal at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). EMSL is a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at PNNL.

cobalt↗

Traffic Management Advisor: Iterative Field Development and Assessment at Multiple Sites

Previous studies have demonstrated the necessity of involving users in the development of automation aids, especially for complex domains such as air traffic control (ATC). Traditional development only demanded a single field test to validate a completed system, but a more iterative combination of development and assessment ensures that the technology meets the requirements of its application domain. Exposure across an adequate spectrum of field users is also required during development, and the use of multiple development sites provides an opportunity to consider individual facility cultures as they relate to implementation strategies. The development of the Center/TRACON Automation System (CTAS) Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) at the Denver and Dallas ATC facilities demonstrates successful iterative development and assessment at multiple field sites. The use of field development changes the nature of assessment. As development progresses, periodic assessments are required to validate that system development is progressing along an appropriate track. In the development of the TMA, assessments were performed based on software in the field, and input from traffic managers was analyzed and incorporated into subsequent releases of the TMA, to be reassessed in the field. This has led to a tool with operational suitability and broad user acceptance. Assessment at multiple sites provides a more generalizable perspective that allows the production of a system that is both generic enough to be used at different sites and tailored enough to be of use at any site. In addition to providing a better understanding of specific facility requirements, the use of multiple assessment sites in the development of TMA has provided an opportunity to consider individual facility operations, procedures and cultures as they relate to development and implementation strategies.

Sanford, Beverly D.↗

Design and Construction of a High Field Cable Test Facility at Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, together with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is building a new High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) to be situated in the Magnet Test Facility at Fermilab. The HFVMTF is jointly funded by the US DOE Offices of Science, High Energy Physics, and Fusion Energy Sciences, and will serve as a superconducting cable test facility for both communities. The background magnetic field for test samples is 15 T and will be produced by a magnet provided by LBNL operating at 1.9 K in superfluid helium. The samples will be placed in the background magnetic field, cooled to between 4.5 K and a user-specified upper limit, and will be powered with a super-conducting transformer at up to 100 kA. Additionally, this facility will be used to test high-field superconducting magnet models and demonstrators, including hybrid magnets, produced by the US Magnet Development Program. Presently, the various tasks of the project are at different stages of execution, from conceptual to ready-for-construction designs. Here, this paper describes the parameters and design status of the pit construction, cryostat, heat exchanger, lambda plate, power system, and quench protection and monitoring systems of the facility.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Manufacturing Cost Levelization Model – A User’s Guide

The Manufacturing Cost Levelization Model is a cost-performance techno-economic model that estimates total large-scale manufacturing costs for necessary to produce a given product. It is designed to provide production cost estimates for technology researchers to help guide technology research and development towards an eventual cost-effective product. The model presented in this user’s guide is generic and can be tailored to the manufacturing of any product, including the generation of electricity (as a product). This flexibility, however, requires the user to develop the processes and process efficiencies that represents a full-scale manufacturing facility. The generic model is comprised of several modules that estimate variable costs (material, labor, and operating), fixed costs (capital & maintenance), financing structures (debt and equity financing), and tax implications (taxable income after equipment and building depreciation, debt interest payments, and expenses) of a notional manufacturing plant. A cash-flow method is used to estimate a selling price necessary for the manufacturing plant to recover its total cost of production. A levelized unit sales price ($ per unit of product) is determined by dividing the net-present value of the manufacturing plant’s expenses ($) by the net present value of its product output. A user defined production schedule drives the cash-flow method that determines the levelized unit price. In addition, an analyst can increase the levelized unit price to include a gross profit margin to estimate a product sales price. This model allows an analyst to understand the effect that any input variables could have on the cost of manufacturing a product. In addition, the tool is able to perform sensitivity analysis, which can be used to identify the key variables and assumptions that have the greatest influence on the levelized costs. This component is intended to help technology researchers focus their research attention on tasks that offer the greatest opportunities for cost reduction early in the research and development stages of technology invention.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

VersaBuild: A Novel, Multi-scale, Versatile 3d Printer Concept

Our team has identified and attempted to solve a major challenge limiting the increased deployment of additive manufacturing in full-scale production environments. As engineers desire for greater flexibility of design grows, and as the diversity of properties achievable and materials usable in additive manufacturing increases, additive manufacturing becomes increasingly valuable and useful. However, the machines used to produce AM parts have largely stagnated in terms of configurability, technology, and design. We have conceptualized a system which enables a single machine to provide the functionality of multiple machines, with minimal operator changes. The gap that was identified by the team was the lack of a system that could accept user-configurable changes to the print resolution and printbed size. This would enable manufacturers flexibility in the size, quality, and quantity of parts produced in a facility of a given size. Significant floorspace savings could be achieved in a facility deploying our proposed solution due to the flexibility of the machine, lowering operational cost. Our envisioned design is similar in concept to a standard Delta robot, which is a three-armed robot that is used in many industrial applications. However, we intend for our design to have extensible delta arms that include position sensing, allowing for a greater range of motion and thus print volume while maintaining precise control over the printhead position. Some of the key risks associated with are system are caused by the novelty of the concept. Our system must undergo significant R&D and requires a fully integrated software, electrical, and mechanical system to be developed.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The LHEA PDP 11/70 graphics processing facility users guide

A compilation of all necessary and useful information needed to allow the inexperienced user to program on the PDP 11/70. Information regarding the use of editing and file manipulation utilities as well as operational procedures are included. The inexperienced user is taken through the process of creating, editing, compiling, task building and debugging his/her FORTRAN program. Also, documentation on additional software is included.

Source record↗

Jefferson Laboratory C100 Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity Fault Data, 2020

The dataset was created to train machine learning models for the task of identifying the (1) cavity and (2) fault type from C100-type cryomodules at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), thereby replacing the time-consuming efforts of a subject matter expert. Superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavity trips represent a significant source of accelerator downtime. Real-time – rather than post-mortem – identification of the offending cavity and classification of the fault type would give control room operators valuable feedback for corrective action planning. The anticipated benefit is increased beam-on-target time for users and provides performance metrics that can be used to improve future cavity designs. A series of 17 RF signals are recorded for each of the 8 cavities in a C100 cryomodule every time a cavity trips. These time-series signals are written to file using a specially designed data acquisition system. The dataset represents fault events recorded during Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) beam operations between January 18, 2019 and March 9, 2020. The following filtering steps were applied to collected data; (1) only 4 of the 17 signals per cavity are retained (GMES, GASK, CRFP, DETA2) (2) only events with data from each of the eight cavities in the cryomodule are kept, (3) only events that were sampled at 5 kHz were kept, (4) events from cryomodule 0L04 were neglected, (5) events occurring between February 4, 3PM and February 5, 12PM were neglected. As a result of preprocessing, the dataset is comprised of 2,375 unique events. The full dataset is comprised of three files: features.csv, cavity_labels.csv, fault_labels.csv. Each instance in faults.csv includes a timestamp (“date_time”), a label for the cryomodule which experienced the trip (“zone_label”), and 192 features (“feature_1”, “feature_2”... “feature_192”). The features correspond to 6 autoregressive features for each of 4 signals per cavity for each of the 8 cavities (6 × 4 signals/cavity × 8 cavities/cryomodule = 192). To deal with the large variation of signal amplitudes, time-series standardization via the z-score (standard score) function was applied prior to computing the features. For each instance, there is an associated label for the (1) cavity which faulted first (cavity_labels.csv) and (2) the type of fault that caused the trip (fault_labels.csv). The cavity identification can take values of [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] and the fault type can take values of [‘Microphonics’, ‘Quench_100ms’, ‘Controls_Fault’, ‘E_Quench’, ‘Quench_3ms’, ‘Single_Cav_Turn_Off’ , ‘Heat_Riser_Choke’, ‘Multi_Cav_Turn_Off’].

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

The Diverse Nature of Ion Speciation at the Nanoscale Hydrophobic/Water Interface

Herein we investigate ion pairing at weakly charged hydrophobic/water interfaces. In particular, the speciation of the thiocyanate (SCN-) ion in the vicinity of the nano aqueous (NaSCN solution) - hydrophobic (dodecane) interface in the presence of tetraalkylammonium groups attached to dodecyl chains (DTA+). This combined simulation and experimental approach finds that the SCN- interfacial ion pairs already form at concentrations as low as 5 mM and exist in three distinct, detectable structural motifs controlled by the SCN- concentration in the aqueous phase. The first is the association with the DTA+, followed by hydrophobic adsorption to the interface with the sulfur end of the SCN-, followed by an oppositely aligned SCN- absorption with a solvated nitrogen end of the SCN-. These different structures are formed due to subtle shifts in interactions and their elucidation requires multiple surface sensitive measurements in conjunction with the description of the interface using a representation of the interactions with quantum density functional theory (DFT). Together, this study reveals that we can both simultaneously control and detect subtle changes in the speciation of ions in the vicinity of soft interfaces. This work is supported by the Julia Jacobi Foundation and the European Research Council (grant number 616305). Christopher J. Mundy is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences. Marcel D. Baer is supported within the Materials Synthesis and Simulation Across Scales (MS3) Initiative through the Laboratory Research and Development Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The calculations utilized resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the US DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. PNNL is a multiprogram national laboratory operated by Battelle for the US DOE.

Zdrali, Evangelia↗

In Situ Observation of Directed Nanoparticle Aggregation During the Synthesis of Ordered Nanoporous Metal in Soft Templates

The prevalent approach to developing new nanomaterials is a trial and error process of iteratively altering synthesis procedures and then characterizing the resulting nanostructures. This is fundamentally limited in that the growth processes that occur during synthesis can only be inferred from the final synthetic structure. Directly observing real-time nanomaterial growth provides unprecedented insight into the relationship between synthesis conditions and product evolution, and facilitates a mechanistic approach to nanomaterial development. Here we use in situ liquid stage scanning transmission electron microscopy to observe the growth of mesoporous palladium in a solvated block copolymer (BCP) template under various synthesis conditions, and ultimately determine a refined synthesis procedure that yields ordered pores. We find that at low organic solvent (tetrahydrofuran, THF) content, the BCP assembles into a rigid, cylindrical micelle array with a high degree of short-range order, but poor long-range order. Upon slowing the THF evaporation rate using a solvent-vapor anneal step, the long-range order is greatly improved. The electron beam induces nucleation of small particles in the aqueous phase around the micelles. The small particles then flocculate and grow into denser structures that surround the micelles, forming an ordered mesoporous structure. The microscope observations revealed that template disorder can be addressed prior to reaction, and is not invariably induced by the growth process itself, allowing us to more quickly optimize the synthetic method. This work was conducted in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. This research was funded in part by: the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers for I.A., the University of California Academic Senate and the University of California Laboratory fee research grant, the Laboratory-Directed Research and Development program at Sandia National Laboratories, and the Chemical Imaging Initiative at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

cylindrical micelle↗

On the Reaction Mechanism of Acetaldehyde Decomposition on Mo(110)

The strong Mo-O bond strength provides promising reactivity of Mo-based catalysts for the deoxygenation of biomass-derived oxygenates. Combining the novel dimer saddle point searching method with periodic spin-polarized density functional theory calculations, we investigated the reaction pathways of a acetaldehyde decomposition on the clean Mo(110) surface. Two reaction pathways were identified, a selective deoxygenation and a nonselective fragmentation pathways. We found that acetaldehyde preferentially adsorbs at the pseudo 3-fold hollow site in the η2(C,O) configuration on Mo(110). Among four possible bond (β-C-H, γ-C-H, C-O and C-C) cleavages, the initial decomposition of the adsorbed acetaldehyde produces either ethylidene via the C-O bond scission or acetyl via the β-C-H bond scission while the C-C and the γ-C-H bond cleavages of acetaldehyde leading to the formation of methyl (and formyl) and formylmethyl are unlikely. Further dehydrogenations of ethylidene into either ethylidyne or vinyl are competing and very facile with low activation barriers of 0.24 and 0.31 eV, respectively. Concurrently, the formed acetyl would deoxygenate into ethylidyne via the C-O cleavage rather than breaking the C-C or the C-H bonds. The selective deoxygenation of acetaldehyde forming ethylene is inhibited by relatively weaker hydrogenation capability of the Mo(110) surface. Instead, the nonselective pathway via vinyl and vinylidene dehydrogenations to ethynyl as the final hydrocarbon fragment is kinetically favorable. On the other hand, the strong interaction between ethylene and the Mo(110) surface also leads to ethylene decomposition instead of desorption into the gas phase. This work was financially supported by the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC). Computing time was granted by a user project (emsl42292) at the Molecular Science Computing Facility in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). This work was financially supported by the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC). Computing time was granted by a user project (emsl42292) at the Molecular Science Computing Facility in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). The EMSL is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national scientific user facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and supported by the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Methods to Stabilize and Destabilize Ammonium Borohydride

Ammonium borohydride, NH4BH4, has a high hydrogen content of ρm = 24.5 wt% H2 and releases 18 wt% H2 below T = 160 °C. However, the half-life of bulk NH4BH4 at ambient temperatures, ~6 h, is insufficient for practical applications. The decomposition of NH4BH4 (ABH2) was studied at variable hydrogen and argon back pressures to investigate possible pressure mediated stabilization effects. The hydrogen release rate from solid ABH2 at ambient temperatures is reduced by ~16 % upon increasing the hydrogen back pressure from 5 to 54 bar. Similar results were obtained using argon pressure and the observed stabilization may be explained by a positive volume of activation in the transition state leading to hydrogen release. Nanoconfinement in mesoporous silica, MCM-41, was investigated as alternative means to stabilize NH4BH4. However, other factors appear to significantly destabilize NH4BH4 and it rapidly decomposes at ambient temperatures into [(NH3)2BH2][BH4] (DADB) in accordance with the bulk reaction scheme. The hydrogen desorption kinetics from nanoconfined [(NH3)2BH2][BH4] is moderately enhanced as evidenced by a reduction in the DSC decomposition peak temperature of ΔT = -13 °C as compared to the bulk material. Finally, we note a surprising result, storage of DADB at temperature < -30 °C transformed, reversibly, the [(NH3)2BH2][BH4] into a new low temperature polymorph as revealed by both XRD and solid state MAS 11B MAS NMR. TA & AK are thankful for support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences. A portion of the research was performed using EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated by Battelle.

ammonium borohydride↗

Federal Workplace Charging Program Guide

This report serves as a program guide to support federal agencies in developing their own policy documents for workplace charging. It provides suggested language that agencies can incorporate into their own policies to define requirements for charging privately owned vehicles (POVs) on government-owned or leased property. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act authorizes the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and other federal agencies to install, operate, and maintain electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) for POVs in parking areas used by federal employees and authorized users, and it requires the collection of fees to recover the costs of installing, operating, and maintaining this equipment. This guide offers details for agency facility managers, transportation personnel, employees, and vendors regarding the charging of electric vehicles (EVs) for use by employees and personnel at government-owned and leased buildings. This guide describes the requirements associated with federal agencies providing EV charging in publicly accessible sites. The policy also describes when and how fees may be imposed to cover costs of electricity, as well as EVSE units and installations in various scenarios.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Bioaerosol Profiling with Open Path Sensors (BIOPOP) Field Campaign Report

BIOPOP, Bioaerosol Profiling with Open Path Sensors, was designed to characterize coarse and super-coarse biological aerosol particles in the atmospheric boundary layer using the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility’s tethered balloon system (TBS). The campaign period was 2025-05-28 through 2025-08-31 and involved the third ARM Mobile Facility (AMF3) operations at Bankhead National Forest (BNF) in Alabama. The analysis summarized here focuses on the June and August 2025 BNF intensive operating periods (IOPs).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Acquisition plan for Digital Document Storage (DDS) prototype system

NASA Headquarters maintains a continuing interest in and commitment to exploring the use of new technology to support productivity improvements in meeting service requirements tasked to the NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Facility, and to support cost effective approaches to the development and delivery of enhanced levels of service provided by the STI Facility. The DDS project has been pursued with this interest and commitment in mind. It is believed that DDS will provide improved archival blowback quality and service for ad hoc requests for paper copies of documents archived and serviced centrally at the STI Facility. It will also develop an operating capability to scan, digitize, store, and reproduce paper copies of 5000 NASA technical reports archived annually at the STI Facility and serviced to the user community. Additionally, it will provide NASA Headquarters and field installations with on-demand, remote, electronic retrieval of digitized, bilevel, bit mapped report images along with branched, nonsequential retrieval of report subparts.

Source record↗