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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

An investigation into positron emission tomography contouring methods across two treatment planning systems

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has been used to provide additional information regarding patient tumor location, size, and staging for radiotherapy treatment planning purposes. This additional information reduces interobserver variability and produces more consistent contouring. It is well recognized that different contouring methodology for PET data results in different contoured volumes. The goal of this study was to compare the difference in PET contouring methods for 2 different treatment planning systems using a phantom dataset and a series of patient datasets. Contouring methodology was compared on the ADAC Pinnacle Treatment Planning System and the CMS XiO Treatment Planning System. Contours were completed on the phantom and patient datasets using a number of PET contouring methods—the standardized uptake value 2.5 method, 30%, 40%, and 50% of the maximum uptake method and the signal to background ratio method. Differences of >15% were observed for PET-contoured volumes between the different treatment planning systems for the same data and the same PET contouring methodology. Contoured volume differences between treatment planning systems were caused by differences in data formatting and display and the different contouring tools available. Differences in treatment planning system as well as contouring methodology should be considered carefully in dose-volume contouring and reporting, especially between centers that may use different treatment planning systems or those that have several different treatment planning systems.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Noninvasive interrogation of local flow phenomena in twisted tape swirled flow via positron emission particle tracking ($\mathrm{PEPT}$)

Twisted tape inserts are often used to enhance the performance of heat exchangers. Previous simulations suggest the existence of secondary vortices and modified axial velocity profiles in these swirled flows, with only limited experimental evidence for these predictions. Here in this work, positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) is used to interrogate turbulent twisted tape swirl flow in a pipe. PEPT is a noninvasive, radiotracer based flow measurement technique that does not require optical access, making it suitable for measurements in a number of engineering flow systems. The existence of the modified velocity profile and secondary flows is confirmed using PEPT, and flow is seen to still be developing 20 diameters downstream of the twisted channel entrance. Secondary vortices are further confirmed by the presence of increased vorticity in these regions, and turbulent fluctuations are seen to increase in magnitude near these flow structures. These results are in line with predictions and point to possible regions of reduced heat transfer and hot spots in twisted tape based heat exchangers. Suggestions are made for future experiments to investigate heated flows, utilizing the ability of PEPT to image flows in opaque systems for validating simulation of flows in engineering equipment, such as nuclear heat transport equipment.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Coregistered positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) for engineering flow measurements

Increasingly, fully 3D experimental measurements of flow in complex engineering geometries are required to validate computational fluid dynamics models that support and inform reactor design and licensing. One barrier to such measurements is the complexity of typical reactor components and subsequent lack of optical access in these systems. To overcome this, the deployment of coregistered positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) is explored for flow measurement in reactor thermal hydraulic components and model (scaled) systems. Through this methodology, fully 3D flow information (via PEPT) and detailed internal geometry (via CT) are captured in opaque systems such as pipes, rod bundles, packed beds, etc. The reconstructed flow field and geometry can then be overlain to reveal detailed flow features around internal structures within a given test section. This is enabled through the use of a combined preclinical PET/CT scanner with overlapping PET and CT fields of view. Such measurements are useful for characterizing flow inside such intricate nuclear thermal hydraulic components as core geometries and heat exchangers, among others, and providing valuable 3D validation data for CFD models. In this work, basic tests of this 3D flow/geometry mapping are presented, and the implications of such measurements are discussed. Further, preliminary measurements are made with both point sources and flow in a simple pipe flow geometry to evaluate the capabilities of this technique. PEPT and CT features are coregistered with up to 0.1 mm precision, and pipe flow mean velocity and Reynolds stresses are reconstructed with similar accuracy to previous PEPT demonstrations. The utility of PEPT/CT is shown herein, and suggestions for future measurements are made.

3D flow measurement↗
DOE OSTI2013

Wakefields generated by collisional neutrinos in neutral-electron-positron plasma

A classical fluid description is adopted to investigate nonlinear interaction between an electron-type neutrino beam and a relativistic collisionless unmagnetized neutral-electron-positron plasma. In this work, we consider the collisions of the neutrinos with neutrals in the plasma and study their effect on the generation of wakefields in this plasma.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Photo-degradation of Lexan polycarbonate studied using positron lifetime spectroscopy

The free volume properties of pristine and UV irradiated Lexan polycarbonate have been investigated using Positron Lifetime Spectroscopy (PLS). The decrease in o-Ps life time and free volume size of irradiated sample is attributed to free volume modification and formation of more stable free radicals. These free radicals are formed due to the breakage of C-O bonds in Lexan polycarbonate after irradiation. This is also supported by the decrease in the intensity of C-O bond after exposure to UV-radiation as studied from Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and it also shows that benzene ring does not undergo any changes after irradiation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Progress towards a practical multicell positron trap

Described here is progress in an experimental program to develop a 21 cell multicell trap for the accumulation and storage of {approx} 10{sup 12} positrons. The basic architecture is an arrangement of multiple Penning-Malmberg (PM) trapped plasmas (i.e., cells) arranged in parallel in a common vacuum system and magnetic field. Experiments are described that are intended to address several key issues, including the effects of large space charge potentials and high plasma densities on: plasma heating, deterioration of confinement, and decreased efficiency of rotating electric fields in producing plasma compression. The confinement of PM plasmas displaced both radially and toward the ends of the uniform magnetic field region will also be investigated.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Magnetic field calculation for a 10 MeV positron emission tomography cyclotron

The magnetic field calculation and correction for a 10 MeV positron emission tomography cyclotron is presented. 3D TOSCA analysis results are compared with the measured data, and the calculation error is used to calibrate the B-H curve to obtain a very precise finite element method estimator, which is used to predict the correction of the magnet pole for achieving the isochronous field. The isochronous field error is approximated with the effects of a set of standard patches. On the assumption that the effect of each small patch is proportional to its surface, the correction of the magnet pole is found by solving a system of equations using the least square scheme. The magnet shimming is performed and the measured magnetic field is found in good agreement with the prediction, with an error less than 2 G.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Positron annihilation spectroscopy techniques applied to the study of an HPGe detector

Doppler Broadening Spectroscopy of the large Ge crystal of an HPGe detector was performed using positrons from pair production of 6.13 MeV {gamma}-rays from the {sup 19}F(p,{alpha}{gamma}){sup 16}O reaction. Two HPGe detectors facing opposite sides of the Ge crystal acting as target provided both coincidence and singles spectra. Changes in the shape of the annihilation peak were observed when the high voltage applied to the target detector was switched on or off, amounting to somewhat less than 20% when the areas of equivalent energy intervals in the corresponding normalized spectra are compared.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Relativistic nonlinear dynamics of an intense laser beam propagating in a hot electron-positron magnetoactive plasma

The present study is devoted to investigation of the nonlinear dynamics of an intense laser beam interacting with a hot magnetized electron-positron plasma. Propagation of the intense circularly polarized laser beam along an external magnetic field is studied using a relativistic two-fluid model. A modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation is derived based on the quasi-neutral approximation, which is valid for hot plasma. Light envelope solitary waves and modulation instability are studied, for one-dimensional case. Using a three-dimensional model, spatial-temporal development of laser pulse is investigated. Occurrence of some nonlinear phenomena such as self-focusing, self-modulation, light trapping, and filamentation of laser pulse is discussed. Also the effect of external magnetic field and plasma temperature on the nonlinear evolution of these phenomena is studied.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Phase-mixing of electrostatic modes in a cold magnetized electron-positron plasma

In a fluid description, we study space-time evolution of electrostatic oscillations in a cold magnetized electron-positron plasma. Nonlinear results up to third order, obtained by employing a simple perturbation technique, indicate phase-mixing and thus breaking of excited oscillations, and provide an expression for the phase-mixing time. It is shown that an increase in the strength of ambient magnetic field results in an increase in the phase-mixing time. The results of our investigation will be of relevance to astrophysical environments as well as laboratory experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Arbitrary amplitude solitary and shock waves in an unmagnetized quantum dusty electron-positron-ion plasma

The behavior of quantum dust ion acoustic soliton and shocks in a plasma including inertialess quantum electrons and positrons, classical cold ions, and stationary negative dust grains are studied, using arbitrary amplitude approach. The effect of dissipation due to viscosity of ions is taken into account. The numerical analysis of Sagdeev potential for small value of quantum diffraction parameter (H) shows that for chosen plasma, only compressive solitons can exist and the existence domain of this type of solitons is decreased by increasing dust density (d). Additionally, the possibility of propagation of both subsonic and supersonic compressive solitons is investigated. It is shown that there is a critical dust density above which only supersonic solitons are observed. Moreover, increasing d leads to a reduction in the existence domain of compressive solitons and the possibility of propagation of rarefactive soliton is provided. So, rarefactive solitons are observed only due to the presence of dust particles in this model quantum plasma. Furthermore, numerical solution of governed equations for arbitrary amplitude shock waves has been investigated. It is shown that only compressive large amplitude shocks can propagate. Finally, the effects of plasma parameters on these structures are investigated. This research will be helpful in understanding the properties of dense astrophysical (i.e., white dwarfs and neutron stars) and laboratory dusty plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Low background high efficiency radiocesium detection system based on positron emission tomography technology

After the 2011 nuclear power plant accident at Fukushima, radiocesium contamination in food became a serious concern in Japan. However, low background and high efficiency radiocesium detectors are expensive and huge, including semiconductor germanium detectors. To solve this problem, we developed a radiocesium detector by employing positron emission tomography (PET) technology. Because {sup 134}Cs emits two gamma photons (795 and 605 keV) within 5 ps, they can selectively be measured with coincidence. Such major environmental gamma photons as {sup 40}K (1.46 MeV) are single photon emitters and a coincidence measurement reduces the detection limit of radiocesium detectors. We arranged eight sets of Bi{sub 4}Ge{sub 3}O{sub 12} (BGO) scintillation detectors in double rings (four for each ring) and measured the coincidence between these detectors using PET data acquisition system. A 50 × 50 × 30 mm BGO was optically coupled to a 2 in. square photomultiplier tube (PMT). By measuring the coincidence, we eliminated most single gamma photons from the energy distribution and only detected those from {sup 134}Cs at an average efficiency of 12%. The minimum detectable concentration of the system for the 100 s acquisition time is less than half of the food monitor requirements in Japan (25 Bq/kg). These results show that the developed radiocesium detector based on PET technology is promising to detect low level radiocesium.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Interaction of nonthermal muon beam with electron-positron-photon plasma: A thermal field theory approach

Interaction of a muon beam with hot dense QED plasma is investigated. Plasma system contains electrons and positrons with Fermi-Dirac distribution and Bose-Einstein distributed photons while the beam particles have nonthermal distribution. The energy loss of the beam particles during the interaction with plasma is calculated to complete leading order of interaction in terms of the QED coupling constant using thermal field theory approach. The screening effects of the plasma are computed consistently using resummation of perturbation theory with hard thermal loop approximation according to the Braaten-Pisarski method. Time evolution of the plasma characteristics and also plasma identifications during the interaction are investigated. Effects of the nonthermal parameter of the beam distribution on the energy exchange and the evolution of plasma-beam system are also explained.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Low-energy positron scattering from gas-phase tetrahydrofuran: A quantum treatment of the dynamics and a comparison with experiments

In this paper we report new quantum calculations of the dynamics for low-energy positrons interacting with gaseous molecules of tetrahydrofuran. The new quantum scattering cross sections are differential and integral cross sections at collision energies between 1.0 and 25.0 eV and include a careful treatment of the additional effects on the scattering process brought about by the permanent dipole moment of the target molecule. The present results are compared with an extensive range of measured data, both for the angular distributions and for the elastic integral cross sections and agree remarkably well with all findings. The new calculated quantities reported here also show the importance of correcting the experimental integral cross sections for the angular discrimination in the forward direction.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Solitary and shock waves in magnetized electron-positron plasma

An Ohm's law for electron-positron (EP) plasma is obtained. In the framework of EP magnetohydrodynamics, we investigate nonrelativistic nonlinear waves' solutions in a magnetized EP plasma. In the collisionless limit, quasistationary propagating solitary wave structures for the magnetic field and the plasma density are obtained. It is found that the wave amplitude increases with the Mach number and the Alfvén speed. However, the dependence on the plasma temperature is just the opposite. Moreover, for a cold EP plasma, the existence range of the solitary waves depends only on the Alfvén speed. For a hot EP plasma, the existence range depends on the Alfvén speed as well as the plasma temperature. In the presence of collision, the electromagnetic fields and the plasma density can appear as oscillatory shock structures because of the dissipation caused by the collisions. As the collision frequency increases, the oscillatory shock structure becomes more and more monotonic.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Positron scattering from hydrogen atom with screened Coulomb potentials

Elastic positron-hydrogen collisions with screened Coulomb potentials have been investigated using a second-order distorted wave Born approximation in the momentum space. Two types of potentials have been considered, namely, static screened Coulomb potential and exponential cosine-screened Coulomb potential. Using a simple variationally determined hydrogenic wave function it has been possible to obtain the scattering amplitude in a closed form. A detailed study has been made on the differential and total cross sections in the energy range 20–300 eV.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Optically active vacancies in GaN grown on Si substrates probed using a monoenergetic positron beam

Native defects in GaN layers grown on Si substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition have been studied using a monoenergetic positron beam. Measurements of Doppler broadening spectra of the annihilation radiation for GaN layers showed that optically active vacancy-type defects were formed in the layers. Charge transition of the defects due to electron capture was found to occur when the layers were irradiated by photons with energy above 2.71 eV. The concentration of such defects increased after 600–800 °C annealing, but the defects have not been annealed out even at 1000 °C. They were identified as Ga-vacancy-type defects, such as complexes between Ga vacancies and carbon impurities, and the relationship between their charge transition and optical properties were discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Particle-in-cell simulation for parametric decays of a circularly polarized Alfvén wave in relativistic thermal electron-positron plasma

Parametric decays of a left-handed circularly polarized Alfvén wave propagating along a constant background magnetic field in a relativistic thermal electron-positron plasma are studied by means of a one dimensional relativistic particle-in-cell simulation. Relativistic effects are included in the Lorentz equation for the momentum of the particles and in their thermal motion, by considering a Maxwell-Jüttner velocity distribution function for the initial condition. In the linear stage of the simulation, we find many instabilities that match the predictions of relativistic fluid theory. In general, the growth rates of the instabilities increase as the pump wave amplitude is increased, and decrease with a raise in the plasma temperatures. We have confirmed that for very high temperatures the Alfvén branch is suppressed, consistent with analytical calculations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗