Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “PORT”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 703 records · Page 39

Single-stage transmitter for wireless power transfer

A single-stage transmitter for wireless power transfer is provided. The transmitter includes a rectifier stage and an inverter stage sharing a first phase leg. The rectifier stage further includes a rectifying leg including two diodes connected in series, and a boost inductor coupling the first phase leg and the rectifying leg to an input port. The inverter stage further includes a second phase leg. Each phase leg includes two switches connected in series. The first and second phase legs are coupled to an output port. A bus capacitor is coupled across the first phase, second phase, and rectifying legs. A controller is programmed to determine first and second parameters, based on an output power at the output port, to simultaneously control the rectifier stage and the inverter stage to maintain constant bus voltage and achieve high power factor and low total harmonic distortion at the input port.

Costinett, Daniel Jes↗

Debris tolerant valve

A valve includes a valve body, a sleeve within the valve body and a rotatable valve element that has one portion within the sleeve to control flow of media through the valve and another portion extending from the valve body and coupled to an actuator that rotates the valve element. The valve element is rotatable to a first position to flow media to one port and to a second position to flow media to another port. The sleeve has a pair of side openings. Each side opening has an angled perimetrical edge and is aligned with a corresponding port member. A half dovetail shaped groove is formed by the angled perimetrical edge of each side opening, the corresponding port and the valve body. A seal is lodged within each groove to form a seal that exhibits reduced unswept volume and which wipes debris off the valve element as it rotates.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Devices and methods for creating plasma channels for laser plasma acceleration

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to devices and methods for creating hollow, near-hollow, and parabolic plasma channels. In one aspect, a device includes a block of material and a cooling system. The block of material defines a channel having a cylindrical shape and having a first open end and a second open end. An axis of the channel lies along a straight line. The block of material further defines a first gas port and a second gas port. The first gas port and the second gas port are in fluid communication with channel. The cooling system is operable to cool the channel to below the freezing point of a gas.

Leemans, Wim↗

Ecosystem device for determining plant-microbe interactions

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and devices related to the study of ecological processes. In one aspect, a device includes a base, a substrate, and an enclosure. The substrate is in contact with a first surface of the base. The substrate and the base define a root chamber. The enclosure is in contact with a second surface of the base. The base and the enclosure define a growth chamber. The base defines a stem port connecting the root chamber and the growth chamber. The base further defines a first port in fluid communication with the root chamber and a second port in fluid communication with the root chamber. The device is operable to contain a plant, roots of the plant being in the root chamber, a stem of the plant passing through the stem port, and leaves of the plant being in the growth chamber.

Andeer, Peter↗

Recent Developments in the Management of Cameco Corporation's Fuel Services Division Waste - 13144

Cameco Corporation is a world leader in uranium production. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan our operations provide 16% of the world uranium mine production and we have approximately 435 million pounds of proven and probable uranium reserves. Cameco mining operations are located in Saskatchewan, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kazakhstan. Cameco is also a major supplier of uranium processing services required to produce fuel for the generation of clean energy. These operations are based in Blind River, Cobourg and Port Hope, Ontario and are collectively referred to as the Fuel Services Division. The Fuel Services Division produces uranium trioxide from uranium ore concentrate at the Blind River Refinery. Cameco produces uranium hexafluoride and uranium dioxide at the Port Hope Conversion Facility. Cameco operates a fuel manufacturing facility in Port Hope, Ontario and a metal fabrication facility located in Cobourg, Ontario. The company manufactures fuel bundles utilized in the Candu reactors. Cameco's Fuel Services Division produces several types of low-level radioactively contaminated wastes. Internal processing capabilities at both the Blind River Refinery and Port Hope Conversion Facility are extensive and allow for the recycling of several types of waste. Notwithstanding these capabilities there are certain wastes that are not amenable to the internal processing capabilities and must be disposed of appropriately. Disposal options for low-level radioactively contaminated wastes in Canada are limited primarily due to cost considerations. In recent years, Cameco has started to ship marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) to the United States for disposal in an appropriate landfill. The landfill is owned by US Ecology Incorporated and is located near Grand View, Idaho 70 miles southeast of Boise in the Owyhee Desert. The facility treats and disposes hazardous waste, non-hazardous industrial waste and low-activity radioactive material. The site's arid climate, deep groundwater and favourable geology help ensure permanent waste isolation. Combined with a state of the art multi-layer landfill liner system, the Grand View facility represents an ideal choice to minimize environmental liability. Marginally contaminated wastes from operations within the Fuel Services Division are typically loaded into PacTec IP-2 rated Intermediary Bulk Containers and then transported by road to a nearby rail siding. The Intermediary Bulk Containers are then loaded in US Ecology owned gondola rail-cars. The gondolas are then transported via Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific railroads to the US Ecology Rail Transfer facility located in Mayfield, Idaho. The Intermediary Bulk Containers are unloaded into trucks for transport to the disposal facility located approximately 32 miles away. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Building a Successful Communications Program Based on the Needs and Characteristics of the Affected Communities - 13152

Over 200 local residents streamed through the doors of the Port Hope Lions Centre to see the detailed plans for the historic low-level radioactive waste clean-up project about to take place in their community. The event had a congenial atmosphere as people walked through the hall taking in rows of display panels that explained each element of the project, asked questions of project staff stationed around the room and chatted with friends and neighbours over light refreshments. Later that year, the results of the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) 10. annual public attitude survey revealed an all-time high in community awareness of the project (94%) and the highest levels of confidence (84%) recorded since surveying began. Today, as the PHAI transitions from a decade of scientific and technical studies to implementation, the success of its communications program - as evidenced by the above examples - offers room for cautious encouragement. The PHAI has spent the past 10 years developing relationships with the southern Ontario communities of Port Hope and Port Granby in preparation for Canada's largest low-level radioactive waste environmental restoration project. These relationships have been built around a strong understanding of the communities' individual needs and characteristics and on the PHAI's efforts to consider and respond to these needs. The successes of the past, as well as the lessons learned, will inform the next stage of communications as the projects move into waste excavation and transportation and building of the long-term waste management facilities. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

System and method using in-situ electromagnetic diagnostic for real-time projectile characterization

The present disclosure relates to a system for detecting characteristics of a moving element. The system may include a tubular housing having a tubular first portion having a first end and a second end, with the first end forming an input port and the second end forming an output port. A source of wireless electromagnetic energy projects a wireless electromagnetic energy signal, travelling in a first direction, into the input port and through an interior area defined by the tubular first portion. A signal processing subsystem detects at least one characteristic of the signal after the signal is reflected back to the first end after having interacted with the element as the element moves past the output port of the housing.

Chang, Tammy↗

Portsmouth D and D Technology Progress: Are We There Yet? - 18131

D and D projects in general and the Portsmouth (PORTS) Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP) D and D Project in particular have historically relied on labor-intensive manual methods to accomplish their objectives. In partnering with the Department of Energy's Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Technology Development Office supporting the DOE Science of Safety initiative, PORTS has made significant strides identifying and implementing innovative, mission-relevant robotic and related enabling technologies into the site's day-to-day operations. A WM2017 presentation described the various steps being taken towards technology deployment at PORTS. This WM2018 presentation updates the status of implementation and presents additional technologies that are being developed for deployment at the site. Specific technologies introduced at PORTS over the past year have included Virtual Reality work planning; an emergency response platform; and tele-operated systems for equipment dismantlement, material handling and size reduction. Each of these technologies has moved forward and is progressing toward implementation and operation. In addition, newly developed technology applications for detecting uranium deposits in pipes have successfully completed a series of demonstration testing (cold, warm and hot). Development of production prototypes is currently underway for deployment by late spring 2018. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Thermal Flux Maximization from a DD Neutron Generator

The University of Sharjah recently acquired a model DD-109.4M neutron generator from Adelphi Technology. The generator is moderated and has three neutron ports which are capable of providing fast and thermal neutrons. The neutron ports are plugged with polyethylene layers of different thickness in order to control the neutron flux at different regions in the port. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) is an important analysis technique to determine the amounts of isotopes in a sample at different concentrations. For many isotopes the ability to precisely determine their concentrations is enhanced by utilizing thermal neutrons in the activation process; where the capture cross section is greatest. It is thus important to subject the sample to the maximum thermal flux in order to minimize the time required to activate the sample and consequently extend the lifetime of the neutron generator. A detailed MCNP model of the neutron generator has been developed for the purpose of determining the moderator thickness required to maximize the thermal neutron flux in the neutron port. The maximization of the neutron flux must therefore take into account both the forward and backscattered neutrons reaching the sample. Also provided in this work is a mapping of the thermal flux at different moderator thicknesses in order to study the variation of the flux over the area of the sample. The developed model will be used as the basis for optimizing experiments and predicting their results. A study was performed to determine the moderator thickness needed to maximize the thermal neutron flux that can be obtained from a DD neutron generator. This has a significant role in the efficient utilization of the neutron generator. The maximum thermal neutron flux was found at approximately a 3.2 cm moderator thickness. The thermal neutron flux is resulting from both the directly moderated neutrons and the backscattered neutrons from the surrounding polyethylene. The results obtained in this work will be verified experimentally by irradiating samples at different moderator thickness and performing a neutron activation analysis for these samples. (authors)

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

Cameco Corporation's Approach to Legacy and Ongoing Waste Management Within the Fuel Services Division - 19124

Since 2011, a Fuel Services Division (FSD) employee has been dedicated to oversee divisional waste management with the goal of accelerating the recycle/disposal of accumulated legacy radioactive wastes stored at its Ontario operations in Blind River and Port Hope. The Blind River Refinery (BRR) and Port Hope Conversion Facility (PHCF) were previously owned by the federal Crown Corporation, Eldorado Nuclear, becoming part of Cameco in 1988 and Cameco Fuel Manufacturing (CFM), previously known as Zircatec Precision Industries, becoming part of Cameco in 2006. Accumulated legacy radioactive waste is stored at each of the facilities. This radioactive waste has accumulated from operations beginning in the 1930's in Port Hope and the 1980's in Blind River. Due to minimal commercially available outlets for the disposal and/or treatment of these wastes, the waste was managed onsite by storage in underutilized space in buildings, trailers and/or in the secured yard. This relatively low-cost practice meant that over decades, the inventory increased at an unsustainable rate until available space became a limiting factor. During this time, the labelling, inventory records, characterization details and other history of many of the waste materials was not maintained adequately. Due to the volume of waste that had accumulated, campaigns to address these deficiencies in information were not considered feasible, sustaining the issue of accumulation of low-level radioactive waste. Since 2011, FSD has completed annual campaigns to address the accumulated legacy waste, which has included processing of material for decontamination to meet the unrestricted release criteria under the Canadian Nuclear Substance and Radiation Devices Regulations (NSRDR), disposal of marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) at a permitted landfill in the United States, processing of contaminated materials to reduce the volume of low-level radioactive waste and disposal at a designated facility in Port Hope. In addition FSD has undertaken significant changes to radioactive waste management practices at each of the facilities. Multiple characterization techniques, including visual observation, review of process and other historical records, laboratory analysis and radiation scanning have been utilized in campaign planning to identify the scope and appropriate waste management technique(s) to reduce the inventory of stored material. This divisional waste management program has resulted in a significant change to how radioactive waste is generated, inventoried, characterized and managed within FSD and has increased the visibility within the leadership team of the opportunities and challenges of waste management, such as alignment with decommissioning planning, project planning and budgeting. The heightened awareness has led to better financial and physical resource planning to execute waste projects with a current projected elimination of the legacy waste within FSD by 2025. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Removal of Historic Low-Level Radioactive Waste from the Highland Drive South and Alexander Street Ravines - 19155

In Port Hope, the Highland Drive South Ravine (HDSR) is the discharge area for groundwater originating from the closed Highland Drive Landfill site. The presence of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) in the HDSR is the result of a contaminated groundwater plume flowing from the landfill site. The contaminant plume contains elevated concentrations of uranium and arsenic and extends from the landfill south to discharge groundwater to shallow soils in a wet discharge area within the ravine. The groundwater discharges to Hunt's Ponds and Highland Drive South Creek, which are immediately downstream of the wet discharge area and will be included in the remediation design. Remediation and environmental management plans for HDSR have been developed within the framework of the Port Hope Project. Recent subsurface investigations have identified LLRW at greater depths than previously anticipated. Other investigations of surrounding properties have identified LLRW that is primarily from filling activities in backyards. The steep topography of the site and the presence of the creek and seepage face present remediation challenges. Also in Port Hope, the LLRW in the Alexander Street Ravine Area is the result of end dumping, filling of private backyards and stack deposition from the former refinery. The original site extent was focused on the deeper contamination due to end dumping and included a portion of Alexander Creek. However, recent investigations have confirmed other fill areas and the extent of stack deposition that are generally contiguous with the end dumping area. Restricted access to the site will result in all remediation in this area taking place via a single access point along the narrow existing Hayward Street. While both of these sites are ravines in Port Hope containing LLRW, the origins of contamination and remediation approaches are very different. This paper will compare these two challenging remediation sites. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Design update of the ITER upper wide angle viewing system

One of the diagnostic systems being provided by the US is the Upper Wide Angle Viewing System (UWAVS) which provides real-time, simultaneous visible and infrared (IR) images of the ITER divertor regions via optical systems located in five upper ports. UWAVS is designed in three main sections: in-vessel, interspace and port cell assemblies. Each assembly utilizes multiple steering and relay mirrors to direct the in-vessel light out of the tokamak to the port cell camera sensors. The primary design challenge of the in-vessel assembly is maximizing performance of the overall system while surviving the severe electromagnetic and nuclear ITER environment. A first mirror material study was conducted and determined that single crystal molybdenum was the best choice for the first two mirrors in the optical train. A fail open, bellows actuated shutter with cross pivot flexure design was determined to be the most reliable mechanism to protect the first mirror. A geometrically representative glow discharge mirror cleaning system is being created and will be tested to maximize cleaning effectiveness while minimizing optical degradation of the molybdenum mirrors adjacent to the plasma. The shutter and first mirror assemblies were packaged and designed for replacement via remote handling methods to minimize radiation waste and cost associated with eventual component replacement. The preliminary optical and structural design provides a robust and reliable system while maximizing the field of view. The R&D efforts, the technical challenges and issues, and the design and analysis results are introduced.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

A Supply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind Energy in the United States

"A Supply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind Energy in the United States" identifies pathways to developing a domestic offshore wind supply chain that can manufacture and deploy the major components needed to set the United States on a pathway to installing 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050. The report estimates that this supply chain could require an investment of at least $\$$22.7 billion this decade to meet an annual demand for components, ports, and vessels in 2030. Although this is a considerable investment, it could allow the industry to install around $\$$100 billion worth of offshore wind this decade by reducing risk of delays due to global supply chain bottlenecks and creating a robust network of assets that will continue to be effective well beyond 2030. The United States would need at least 34 manufacturing facilities employing 10,000 workers, 39,000 jobs in the supporting supply chain, 10 marshaling ports, 4-6 dedicated wind turbine installation vessels, 4-6 dedicated heavy-lift vessels, and 4-8 U.S.-flagged specialized feeder barges to come online this decade to support an average annual deployment of 4-6 gigawatts offshore wind capacity per year. This supply chain could be developed in 6-9 years, but would require near-term decision making and efficient permitting and planning to strategically develop these resources by 2030. Additional investment and expansion would be required in the 2030s as the sector expands into new regions (such as the Gulf of Mexico) and new technologies (such as larger wind turbines and floating wind energy projects). Furthermore, the planning process needs to meaningfully engage with communities that will be impacted by supply chain expansion to achieve just outcomes and maximize benefits to these stakeholders, which will result in a more equitable and sustainable supply chain. While U.S. offshore wind has made significant progress in recent years, remaining supply chain challenges include uncertainty surrounding deployment and procurement timelines; a lack of port and vessel infrastructure; and limitations in the available workforce, supporting supplier networks, and energy justice best practices. However, many of these problems can be addressed through improved communication between key stakeholder groups, support from federal and state governments, and forward-thinking designs of supply chain assets to accommodate future technology changes for fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind. Although it is a significant task, developing these domestic capabilities represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to contribute to a decarbonized energy future and also create massive economic benefits that are distributed throughout the country.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Using Hybrid Model OpenSHMEM + CUDA to Implement the SHOC Benchmark Suite

This work describes the process of porting the Scalable HeterOgeneous Computing (SHOC) benchmark suite from the hybrid MPI + CUDA implementation to OpenSHMEM + CUDA. SHOC includes a wide variety of benchmark kernels used to measure accelerator performance in both single node and cluster configurations. The hybrid model implementation attempts to place all major computation on accelerator devices, and uses MPI to synchronize and aggregate results. In some cases, MPI Groups are used to gradually reduce the number of accelerators used for computation as the problem size drops. Porting this behavior to OpenSHMEM required implementing several synchronizing collective operations, and using SHMEM teams to replace MPI Group functionality. Benchmark results on a Cray XK7 system with one GPU per compute node show that SHMEM performance is equal to MPI performance in these hybrid tasks. These results and porting experience show that using OpenSHMEM for accelerator devices benefits from adding functionality for synchronization and teams, and would further benefit from adding support for communication within accelerator kernels.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

All optical half subtractor using photonic crystal based nonlinear ring resonators

All optical subtractors are one of the optical digital devices that will play crucial roles in the next generation all optical data processing. In this paper we used three nonlinear photonic crystal based ring resonators for designing a novel structure for realizing all optical half subtractor. In the proposed structure X and Y are the input ports and D and B are the output ports. D is on when one of the input ports is ON and the other is OFF, however B is ON only when X is ON and Y is OFF. The maximum rise times for D and B are 2 ps and 3 ps respectively. Also the maximum fall times for D and B both are about 1 ps.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A Physical Model to Study the Effects of Nozzle Design on Dispersed Two-Phase Flows in a Slab Mold Casting Ultra-Low-Carbon Steels

The effects of nozzle design on dispersed, two-phase flows of the steel-argon system in a slab mold are studied using a water-air model with particle image velocimetry and ultrasound probe velocimetry techniques. Three nozzle designs were tested with the same bore size and different port geometries, including square (S), special bottom design with square ports (U), and circular (C). The meniscus velocities of the liquid increase two- or threefold in two-phase flows regarding one-phase flows using low flow rates of the gas phase. This effect is due to the dragging effects on bubbles by the liquid jets forming two-way coupled flows. Liquid velocities (primary phase) along the narrow face of the mold also are higher for two-phase flows. Flows using nozzle U are less dependent on the effects of the secondary phase (air). The smallest bubble sizes are obtained using nozzle U, which confirms that bubble breakup is dependent on the strain rates of the fluid and dissipation of kinetic energy in the nozzle bottom and port edges. Through dimensionless analysis, it was found that the bubble sizes are inversely proportional to the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy, ε{sup 0.4}. A simple expression involving ε, surface tension, and density of metal is derived to scale up bubble sizes in water to bubble sizes in steel with different degrees of deoxidation. The validity of water-air models to study steel-argon flows is discussed. Prior works related with experiments to model argon bubbling in steel slab molds under nonwetting conditions are critically reviewed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A small, novel, remote in-vessel inspection system for the Alcator C-Mod tokamak

A small vigorous system has been built for in-situ visual inspection of the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. The system consists of a small, light, wide-angle high definition camera and LED package housed in a nacelle on the end of thin, rigid, 3.5 m long support pole. The nacelle has two actuated degrees of freedom allowing the camera to observe nearly 4π steradians. The support pole has a specific slight curve that allows it to pass to either side of the center column of the tokamak to observe the entirety of the vessel interior, while still fitting through the small aspect ratio Alcator C-Mod vacuum port structure. The support pole and camera can enter the vessel through any horizontal vacuum port with an inner diameter greater than 4 cm, thus a dedicated port is not required. The inspection is typically undertaken during maintenance periods when the vessel is filled with a noble gas near atmospheric pressure thus minimizing the influx of water vapor and the concomitant loss of wall conditioning. The system is operated manually, producing photos and video which are reviewed in near real-time. Nearly the entire vessel, including the plasma facing components, can be carefully inspected in 3–5 h. The system provides improved characterization of the interior components and surfaces of the tokamak with a modest engineering and operational effort. Information collected from the system has identified damage to plasma facing components that were interfering with tokamak operation, as well as damage to mechanical components which were redesigned during the remainder of the campaign, thereby enhancing program planning.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Electrifying New York City Ride-Hailing fleets: An examination of the need for public fast charging

This report assesses the scale of public fast charging needed to electrify approximately 20,000 vehicles across the yellow cab and for-hire segments in New York City. The analysis considers real-world trip data in conjunction with driver home locations, overnight charging access rates, driver schedules, and more. Outcomes indicate that the existing charging network in New York City is not adequate even in the most optimistic scenario; 1,054 150-kW ports are required when 15% of drivers have access to overnight charging, whereas 367 150-kW ports are needed when 100% of drivers have access. Results also indicate that although charging is demanded in areas nearby high trip demand, fast charging ports are also demanded in areas near driver residences as a supplement for home charging in scenarios with limited overnight charging access. These findings motivate investment into both overnight charging and public fast charging to meet the charging demands of ride-hailing fleets.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗