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A new layout and optics for the Electron Storage Ring (ESR) have been produced with revised spin rotators in IRs 6 and 8, a redesign of IR10, and a new geometric layout for the ring. In this report, the efforts to produce this lattice are documented, including the motivation for design decisions. This new lattice, version 5.5, will be used as the baseline for future studies.
The NIF facility is used to conduct fusion and high-density scientific research. The experiments are conducted inside of a 10-meter diameter vacuum chamber called the “Target Chamber”. The target chamber is covered in ports to permit adding equipment to the exterior. Some of this equipment extends into the target chamber such as the target positioners and diagnostics. Other equipment sits on the surface and looks inward, such as the CIVS system. CIVS stands for Chamber Interior Viewing System. The CIVS system provides simple black and white digital images of the interior of the target chamber in real time. These images are used for positioner alignment, trouble shooting and observing for positioner collision. The views through these cameras need to be clear enough for the operators to safely conduct these tasks. One of the products of the experiments conducted in the target chamber are neutrons. These neutrons expand outward from the center of the target chamber with great energy. If the neutrons hit the sensor chip on a digital camera they will “kill” the sensor pixel where they contact, and the result will be a permanently bright white pixel on the image. Over time these “dead” pixels will build up and make the camera less and less usable providing a “staticky” image. The current solution of replacing the cameras when they become damaged is unsustainable due to both the cameras being out of production and the increased rate of camera failure based upon the increased number and energy of neutrons being generated. Current supplies of the correct camera type are dwindling with no source of replacement and the projected rate of replacement is unsustainable. Without a redesign, the function provided by the current CIVS system will be lost.
A method for purification of bench-to-pilot-scale quantities of conventional high explosives (CHE) was required. A commercial off the shelf Soxhlet extraction apparatus was redesigned and procured for high-quality, high throughput batches of materials.
The facility target fabrication and flow testing activity will consist of flow tests using the blower system at LANL to test the disk holder and target, both redesigned by the NorthStar prime contractor. The housing and transition system delivering helium cooling to the disc holder and target will be fabricated and tested at LANL facilities. The tests will include pressure drop versus flow measurements through the target and housing, optical flow diagnostics and fiber optic imaging of the disc stack. The pressure drop measurements will be compared to CFD simulations to verify the latter, the optical flow diagnostics will be used to determine whether modifications made to the housing and target holder allow sufficient flow through the bottom of the housing to adequately cool it and the fiber optics will be used to image the discs during operation as a proof of concept of the diagnostic, to be used at NorthStar facilities during preproduction testing. The work is a Partial Fulfillment of the Deliverable Requirement for NorthStar Facility Target Fab and Flow Testing and Production Target Testing Support by LANL
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) NFE-18-07313 between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Nth Cycle Inc. focused on developing a technology for sustainable recycling of rare earth and specialty metals (e.g., Y, Co, Li; RESE), as well as bulk and precious metals from industrial manufacturing and waste streams through the use of electrochemical carbon nanotube-enabled filters. The project outcome was expected to be a stronger mechanistic understanding of the electrochemical recovery of metals from real manufacturing process streams and e-waste streams, and the development of an optimized high-throughput pilot-scale device ready for commercialization. Testing, design, and development of a v1 prototype to prove the technology was unsuccessful (we were not able to reach the go/no-go outlined in Objective 1) and we were unable to continue our redesign due to COVID-19 lockdown and no access to lab from March 2020 – until our graduation from the program.
New waveguide pickups and kickers have been proposed for the accumulator core betatron systems. With new waveguide components, the electronics of the system have to be redesigned. The waveguide components have new frequency bands and power concerns that have to be addressed. This paper discusses the calculations used to design the new electronic system, and it also discusses the practical concerns of the electronic hardware.
Current commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) plants distinguish themselves from ordinary photovoltaic (PV) power plants by storing enough collected energy to enable generation for several hours after the sun goes down. CSP plants store this energy in the sensible heat of nitrate salts in large metallic storage tanks. Stainless-steel AISI 347H (SS347H) is needed for the hot tank operating at about 565 degrees C whereas carbon steel is sufficient for the cold-tank materials. Two-tank nitrate-salt thermal energy storage (TES) is presently in use in several trough-based CSP plants in Europe and in the U.S., operating up to about 390 degrees C. Three commercially operating tower-based CSP plants - Gemasolar in Spain, Crescent Dunes in Nevada, and Noor III in Morocco - use the same approach, storing nitrate salts at temperatures up to 580 degrees C. SS347H is many times more expensive than carbon steel and constitutes a significant cost element in today's CSP plants. Hence, CSP developers need to close the cost gap with PV-based solar plants by making cost reductions in every system of the plant. Redesigning the TES tanks is one opportunity for cost reduction.
This is the final technical report for a project that developed an ultra-lightweight carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics composite door assembly for a mid-size SUV. The project was able achieve a weight reduction of at least 42.5% while maintaining or exceeding the fit, function, safety, stiffness, and crash performance requirements of the current baseline door. Additionally, the target cost was set at less than $5 per pound of weight saved. To accomplish these goals, the project team employed a systems approach that involves redesigning the door assembly, exploring novel materials, optimizing the design, and utilizing advanced manufacturing technologies.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has conservatively reduced the explosive safety standards suggested by the Small Quantities in Research Laboratories (SQRL) program testing by 60%. For this reason, further research into the detailed effects of small amounts of explosives in typically constructed rooms is needed in order to improve their factor of safety. The team was tasked with designing an experiment to investigate the effect of different variables on drywall under explosive blasts. In order to meet this objective, the team conducted a comprehensive literature review to gain an understanding of industry-standard construction practices and review previous tests conducted by the Army corp of engineers. Since the team used PBXN-5 rather than C4, as in SQRL, an initial shot was conducted to compare damage levels. From those results and the physical constraints of the testing chamber, the team redesigned multiple single-panel drywall frames to capture the entirety of the incurred damage. Proposed designs were narrowed down using a decision matrix. From the study of previous tests and literature review, variables were chosen that the team hypothesized to have an impact on drywall strength. The variables that were tested were chosen from the results of that work and specific variables the sponsor was interested in, and they were paint, humidity/moisture content, and explosive positioning relative to the studs. Detailed plans were made for each variable according to what conditions the team wanted to investigate. For humidity, this involved testing low, ambient, and high conditions by treating the panels in a chamber. Preliminary shots were performed to test the structural integrity of the frame and streamline the test diagnostics which involved a high-speed camera placed behind the drywall, outside of the chamber, and a pressure probe placed behind the drywall, inside the chamber. Once the instrumentation, diagnostics, and frame design were finalized, a quantitative damage criteria matrix was created to categorize the results of the main shot series. In conjunction with evidence from the high-speed video, the achieved damage levels indicate that high moisture content drywall is better able to withstand explosive blasts. Larger stud damage and lower drywall damage occurred when the explosive was located directly in front of a stud. Paint had no noticeable impact on strength. Ultimately, the team conducted a total of 17 tests, leaving the door open for future in-depth research into the impact of humidity.
The goal of this project is to redesign and repurpose existing high-flux ion soft-landing (SL) instrumentation developed at PNNL for new structural biology applications by integrating SL, mass-selection/separation of high mass-to-charge species, native mass spectrometry (MS), and cryo-electron microscopy (EM) to generate a workflow enabling structural and functional annotation of proteins and other complex biological samples. Ultimately, this work will result in a new instrument for mass-selection and SL based cryo-EM sample preparation and potentially increase the impact of PNNL and the broader microscopy community through commercial licensing.
A complete redesign of the LANSCE front-end is currently under development for the Los Alamos Modernization Project (LAMP). This includes the replacement of the traditional Cockroft-Walton injection system to the newer radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ) standard. LANSCE accelerates both H- and H+ beams and therefore requires an unconventional application for RFQ systems. A new facility could consider using an independent RFQ for each beam species. However, with the tight space of the LANSCE injector facility, it would prove difficult to instrument. Our initial studies have shown that a single RFQ could be used. The negatively- and positively-charged direct current (DC) beams are shaped, bunched, and accelerated out of phase to each other, with very little interaction. This would work for all possible H+ beam gates and most H- Beam gates. However, a challenge arises with the Weapons Neutron Research (WNR) beam structure that requires the acceleration of bunched beams at higher charge density per pulse. The Long Bunch Enable Gate (LBEG) used for the Lujan center is the best example of a standard injector beam gate. The beam gate, or Macro-Pulse (MP), is 625-us long, separated by at least 8.3 ms. A chopper is used to dice the MP into 1750 mini-Pulses (mP), which are 290-ns wide. After chopping, the MP contains 100,000 micro-Pulses (uP), which are generated by the linac acceleration structure modulated at 201.25 MHz; that is, the micro-Pulses are separated 5 ns apart from each other. The H+ beam structure will be very similar once a chopper is added to its transport. However, the Multi-Pulse Enable Gate (MPEG) used for WNR is significantly different in structure. In this case, the mP is chopped to be only 35-ns wide. This width is then rotated into a single 201.25 MHz RF bucket using the Low Frequency Buncher (LFB). This is proving difficult for the RFQ design in the LAMP upgrade. We began investigating the amount of current sent to WNR for two reasons. Firstly, we wanted to find a solution to avoid using the Low Frequency Buncher to simplify the LAMP RFQ design. It is simple to inject and accelerate a 35 mA DC beam in the LAMP RFQ (this is done in numerous accelerator facilities). However, injecting a short bunch with a larger current (once compressed to 5 ns to meet the RFQ frequency) may be difficult. Second, we have a technique called PSR2WNR in which we do not employ the Low Frequency Buncher, but rather accumulate 5 LBEG uP (5 ns) in the PSR and deliver the accumulated beam to WNR every 1.8 us. As a result, we could provide to WNR with five accumulated LBEG uPs every shot. The goal here is to create a rapid kicker with a frequency response of 555 kHz. DARHT-II and other accelerator facilities have constructed kickers of this type for other uses, and our engineers consider this technology as feasible.
Poster details changes made to the Beholder cybersecurity dashboard as part of the OMNI Technology Alliance Internship. Changes include removing unused sections, redesigning charts, and creating new sections.
Uranium electrorefining operations at Y-12 require validation for chlorine absorption and reflection. Plutonium chloride solution operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory require chlorine absorption validation. The growing need for chlorine validation is evident to the wider criticality safety community, with multiple attendees at the recent TEX 2.0 meeting at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (May 2023) requesting validation for chlorine (Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Institute de radioprotection et de surete nucleaire (IRSN), Savannah River Nuclear Site (SRNS), LANL, and Y-12). Los Alamos National Laboratory has recently performed, and benchmarked, an experiment titled Chlorine Worth Study (CWS) for the internal operations at the lab, but due to the difficulties in precisely characterizing the material compositions of the chlorine absorbers it is advantageous to perform a complimentary study with a different chlorine-based absorber material. Furthermore, having a uranium-based vs plutonium-based experiment provides a separate and important validation basis for criticality safety and nuclear data evaluation. The original final design report for the study of chlorine absorption using the TEX-HEU experimental base was presented in 2022, but used the same chlorine-bearing materials that were found to be difficult to characterize in the LANL benchmark. A complete redesign of the experiment has been performed looking at alternative absorber materials in various forms to produce an experiment that is fully characterizable. This report presents five novel chlorine experiments using the TEX-HEU test bed which provides direct comparison to the Y-12 and INL/Terrapower application needs, utilizing sodium chloride (NaCl) absorber plates. The absorber plates will consist of granulated NaCl (≥99.5% pure), which will be fully encapsulated in aluminum tins, providing a simple but effective chlorine-based absorber material that can be completely characterized. Of the five configurations presented in this report, it is expected that two or three configurations will be down selected for the actual experiment, with the other configurations being alternates. Three of the configurations are in the standard configuration, where the absorber is placed directly on the HEU fuel plates, and two in the sandwich configuration, where the absorber is surrounded by polyethylene moderators to force additional neutron thermalization prior to reaching the absorber. There are two thicknesses of NaCl absorber plates: 3/16” and 1/4” active thicknesses (i.e. not including the encapsulation). Both variations of the absorbers have an active absorber radius of 6” and a total radius of 7.5” to match the diameter of the HEU plates, with the outer 1.5” being aluminum encapsulation. The high-density polyethylene (HDPE) moderators are of the thicknesses: 27/16”, 7/4”, 1/8”, 11/16”, and 3/4”. The final configurations have six (one sandwich and one standard configuration), eight (one sandwich and one standard configuration), and 18 total fuel layers (standard configuration). The standard and sandwich configurations were designed such that the differences in moderator thicknesses are 1” HDPE, which were already procured for the original CED-2. The proposed configurations were precisely tuned to closely match the sensitivity profiles and neutron spectra of the Y-12 upset cases and were also compared to the INL/Terrapower upset cases. The assessment of experimental uncertainties of the non-absorber components was predicted to be 0.00114 Δk eff . The assessment of uncertainties resulting from the absorbers was predicted to be 0.00029 Δk eff . This results in a total uncertainty of 0.00118 Δk eff . Many of the largest uncertainties, namely the moderator densities, may be reduced with precision dimensional inspection of the components. The 1” HDPE moderators as well as the HDPE reflectors from the original CED-2 were incorporated in the final designs presented here. Additional HDPE moderator plates must be fabricated to complete the configurations. NaCl absorber plates will by fabricated at LLNL. The total additional cost is expected to be $\$$54,250 for the remaining components. Precise inspection, including dimensional, mass, density, and impurity, is recommended for all components. LLNL estimates that these costs are around $\$$12,000. It is expected, based on previous TEX-HEU experiments, that three weeks of experimental facility time is needed to complete the experiments.
The Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework is a foundational capability used by the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program to create over 15 different simulation tools for advanced nuclear reactors. Due to this ubiquity, improvements to the framework in support of modeling and simulation goals are critical to the program. These improvements can take many forms, including optimization, improved user experience, streamlined application programming interfaces (APIs), parallelism, and new capabilities. The work transcribed in this report was conducted in direct support of the simulation tools and has already been deployed. The capabilities outlined in this report include addition of Times and Positions systems, redesign of mechanical contact constraints to enable the augmented Lagrange algorithm, overhaul of the restart system, and incorporation of p-refinement in MOOSE.
The main objective of this research program is to design, manufacture, and demonstrate a miniaturized, multi-process, monitoring system (mMPMS) for boiler condition management and easy system deployment to obtain a higher spatial resolution. This system will facilitate a Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) philosophy that actively monitors the health of assets to predict and prevent failures and maximize availability and generating capacity at a reduced cost. CBM systems can provide boiler data that the advanced process control (APC) system can utilize for plant performance optimization, which is increasingly relevant as coal power plants shift from predominantly base-load operation to predominantly transient operation involving large load swings. The mMPMS is based on an electrochemical sensor that provides a real-time indication of the risk of damage to key locations in the radiant or convective section of a coal-fired boiler such as metal loss rates, heat flux, metal surface temperature, and deposit thickness. These indications can be utilized to optimize boiler performance as well as improve boiler availability in conjunction with corresponding operating conditions. This monitoring system was developed and tested in the high-temperature regions of coal-fired utility boilers in this project but can be applied to many other industries and applications as well. This project leveraged the existing electrochemical noise-based monitoring system and the new sensor design is small enough to be installed through the webbing of the waterwalls without the need for long shut-downs to bend tubes and to make it feasible to obtain high spatial resolution in the boiler. Data is transferred to the plant distributed control system (DCS) and any other control system. The sensor body that houses the sensor assembly was designed to ensure good conductive contact with boiler tubes to ensure the sensor is held at an identical temperature to the tube surface temperature. The data acquisition and signal conditioning modules were redesigned into a small footprint with optimized cooling of the module. System software was developed specifically for the new signal conditioning module and is compatible with plant PLCs. After the preliminary testing at a pilot-scale facility, five mMPMS were installed at a full-scale pulverized coal-fired plant, Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Leland Olds Unit 1. The systems were demonstrated over a 6-week period during typical operation. Sensor measurements of deposit thickness were validated during the demonstration and subsequently leveraged to determine sensor-based boiler cleaning strategies. These strategies have the benefit of reduced thermal stresses on boiler tubes from over-cleaning and improved boiler water management. At the end of the project, continued development of the sensor technology was carried out at PacifiCorp’s Hunter Station. REI leveraged the permanent installation of the mMPMS in Unit 3 made possible by DOE funding on a separate program. The work at Hunter Plant focused on application of machine learning and artificial intelligence-based models for integration of sensor signals into control and optimization of Hunter Unit 3 processes.
The main objective of this research program is to design, manufacture, and demonstrate a miniaturized, multi-process, monitoring system (mMPMS) for boiler condition management and easy system deployment to obtain a higher spatial resolution. This system will facilitate a Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) philosophy that actively monitors the health of assets to predict and prevent failures and maximize availability and generating capacity at a reduced cost. CBM systems can provide boiler data that the advanced process control (APC) system can utilize for plant performance optimization, which is increasingly relevant as coal power plants shift from predominantly base-load operation to predominantly transient operation involving large load swings. The mMPMS is based on an electrochemical sensor that provides a real-time indication of the risk of damage to key locations in the radiant or convective section of a coal-fired boiler such as metal loss rates, heat flux, metal surface temperature, and deposit thickness. These indications can be utilized to optimize boiler performance as well as improve boiler availability in conjunction with corresponding operating conditions. This monitoring system was developed and tested in the high-temperature regions of coal-fired utility boilers in this project but can be applied to many other industries and applications as well. The new sensor design, leveraging the existing electrochemical noise-based monitoring system, is small enough to be installed through the webbing of the waterwalls without the need for long shut-downs to bend tubes and to make it feasible to obtain high spatial resolution in the boiler. Data can be transferred to the plant distributed control system (DCS) and any other control system. The sensor body that houses the sensor assembly was designed to ensure good conductive contact with boiler tubes to ensure the sensor is held at an identical temperature to the tube surface temperature. The data acquisition and signal conditioning modules were redesigned into a small footprint with optimized cooling of the module. System software was developed specifically for the new signal conditioning module and is compatible with plant PLCs. After the preliminary testing at a pilot-scale facility, five mMPMS were installed at a full-scale pulverized coal-fired plant, Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Leland Olds Unit 1. The systems were demonstrated over a 6-week period during typical operation. Sensor measurements of deposit thickness were validated during the demonstration and subsequently leveraged to determine sensor-based boiler cleaning strategies. These strategies have the benefit of reduced thermal stresses on boiler tubes from over-cleaning and improved boiler water management. At the end of the project, continued development of the sensor technology was carried out at PacifiCorp’s Hunter Station. REI leveraged the permanent installation of the mMPMS in Unit 3 made possible by DOE funding on a separate program. The work at Hunter Plant focused on application of machine learning and artificial intelligence-based models for integration of sensor signals into control and optimization of Hunter Unit 3 processes.
The main objective of this research program is to design, manufacture, and demonstrate a miniaturized, multi-process, monitoring system (mMPMS) for boiler condition management and easy system deployment to obtain a higher spatial resolution. This system will facilitate a Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) philosophy that actively monitors the health of assets to predict and prevent failures and maximize availability and generating capacity at a reduced cost. CBM systems can provide boiler data that the advanced process control (APC) system can utilize for plant performance optimization, which is increasingly relevant as coal power plants shift from predominantly base-load operation to predominantly transient operation involving large load swings. The mMPMS is based on an electrochemical sensor that provides a real-time indication of the risk of damage to key locations in the radiant or convective section of a coal-fired boiler such as metal loss rates, heat flux, metal surface temperature, and deposit thickness. These indications can be utilized to optimize boiler performance as well as improve boiler availability in conjunction with corresponding operating conditions. This monitoring system was developed and tested in the high-temperature regions of coal-fired utility boilers in this project but can be applied to many other industries and applications as well. The new sensor design, leveraging the existing electrochemical noise-based monitoring system, is small enough to be installed through the webbing of the waterwalls without the need for long shut-downs to bend tubes and to make it feasible to obtain high spatial resolution in the boiler. Data can be transferred to the plant distributed control system (DCS) and any other control system. The sensor body that houses the sensor assembly was designed to ensure good conductive contact with boiler tubes to ensure the sensor is held at an identical temperature to the tube surface temperature. The data acquisition and signal conditioning modules were redesigned into a small footprint with optimized cooling of the module. System software was developed specifically for the new signal conditioning module and is compatible with plant PLCs. After the preliminary testing at a pilot-scale facility, five mMPMS were installed at a full-scale pulverized coal-fired plant, Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Leland Olds Unit 1. The systems were demonstrated over a 6-week period during typical operation. Sensor measurements of deposit thickness were validated during the demonstration and subsequently leveraged to determine sensor-based boiler cleaning strategies. These strategies have the benefit of reduced thermal stresses on boiler tubes from over-cleaning and improved boiler water management. At the end of the project, continued development of the sensor technology was carried out at PacifiCorp’s Hunter Station. REI leveraged the permanent installation of the mMPMS in Unit 3 made possible by DOE funding on a separate program. The work at Hunter Plant focused on application of machine learning and artificial intelligence-based models for integration of sensor signals into control and optimization of Hunter Unit 3 processes.
The main objective of this research program is to design, manufacture, and demonstrate a miniaturized, multi-process, monitoring system (mMPMS) for boiler condition management and easy system deployment to obtain a higher spatial resolution. This system will facilitate a Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) philosophy that actively monitors the health of assets to predict and prevent failures and maximize availability and generating capacity at a reduced cost. CBM systems can provide boiler data that the advanced process control (APC) system can utilize for plant performance optimization, which is increasingly relevant as coal power plants shift from predominantly base-load operation to predominantly transient operation involving large load swings. The mMPMS is based on an electrochemical sensor that provides a real-time indication of the risk of damage to key locations in the radiant or convective section of a coal-fired boiler such as metal loss rates, heat flux, metal surface temperature, and deposit thickness. These indications can be utilized to optimize boiler performance as well as improve boiler availability in conjunction with corresponding operating conditions. This monitoring system was developed and tested in the high-temperature regions of coal-fired utility boilers in this project but can be applied to many other industries and applications as well. This project leveraged the existing electrochemical noise-based monitoring system and the new sensor design is small enough to be installed through the webbing of the waterwalls without the need for long shut-downs to bend tubes and to make it feasible to obtain high spatial resolution in the boiler. Data is transferred to the plant distributed control system (DCS) and any other control system. The sensor body that houses the sensor assembly was designed to ensure good conductive contact with boiler tubes to ensure the sensor is held at an identical temperature to the tube surface temperature. The data acquisition and signal conditioning modules were redesigned into a small footprint with optimized cooling of the module. System software was developed specifically for the new signal conditioning module and is compatible with plant PLCs. After the preliminary testing at a pilot-scale facility, the three mMPMS were installed at a full-scale pulverized coal-fired plant, PacifiCorp’s Hunter 3. The systems were demonstrated over 20,000 hours at the plant during regular operation. Also, the sensor data was fed to the plant’s advanced process control system to evaluate the corrosion control by the operation changes and utilized to understand the impacts of load cycling with different ramping up and down speeds. At the end of the project, the systems were converted to the permanent installation at the power plant to be used with the advanced process control system installed at the plant.