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At least 775 records · Page 43

Extraction of selenium and arsenic with TOA-impregnated XAD-2 resin from HCl

Here the uptake of 75 Se and 73 As on trioctylamine-impregnated resin from HCl solutions was studied with batch uptake, kinetics, and column studies. Selenium-75 extracts well (D w ~ 900) at high HCl concentrations (≥ 10 M) with and no extraction of 73 As at any HCl concentration. The uptake kinetics were slow with low extraction (D w < 100) for time periods ≤ 15 min and no clear equilibrium achieved even after 24 h. Column studies were performed to characterize the separation of 75 Se and 73 As; 75Se is retained from conc. HCl while arsenic is eluted with high yields and high radiopurity.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Synergistic extraction of rare earth elements, actinium, americium, and barium with TTA and Pb resin from acetate buffer solutions

The uptake behavior of 88 Y, 140 Ba, 140 La, 141 Ce, 152 Eu, 228 Ac, and 241 Am was studied with batch uptake, kinetics and column studies in a synergistic extraction system with Pb resin and 2-thenoyltrifuoroacetone in acetate-ethanol solutions. The k' values are very high (>10,000) at near neutral pH (~5 to 6) for all of the radioisotopes studied. The kinetics are reasonably fast for column separations, though the uptake rate is dependent on the concentration of 2-thenoyltrifuoroacetone. Column studies were performed to demonstrate the separation of the trivalent actinides and lanthanides from barium and common fssion products ( 99 Mo, 103 Ru).

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Extraction of 88 Y, 152 Eu, 228 Ac, 241 Am, and 244 Cm with 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) resin

In this report the behavior of 88 Y, 152 Eu, 228 Ac, 241 Am, and 244 Cm was studied with 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone resin with batch uptake, kinetics and column studies. Studies were performed in acetate buffer solutions (pH ~ 2 to ~ 6) and there was high uptake of all isotopes, except 228 Ac, at pH > 4.5. The kinetics of uptake were reasonable, although slower for the actinides, and sufficient for column studies. The retention of 88 Y, 152 Eu, and 241 Am on the resin in column studies was demonstrated as well as a reasonable separation of these isotopes from 228 Ac.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Uptake behavior of 73 As, 75 Se, 197m Hg, 212 Pb and 210 Po on Eichrom pre-filter resin from HCl and HNO 3

We report the extraction of 73 As, 75 Se, 197 mHg, 212 Pb and 210 Po on Eichrom pre-filter resin was studied in HCl and HNO 3 with batch uptake, kinetic and column experiments. There was significant extraction of mercury in HNO 3 and HCl, and polonium and selenium in HCl. The kinetics are sufficient to allow for retention on pre-filter columns, and separations of 73 As from 75 Se and 197 mHg, and 212 Pb from 210 Po are demonstrated. This retention is important for the development of chemical separations as pre-filter resin is commonly used alongside extraction chromatography resins but its potential for uptake of metal ions is not well characterized.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Extraction and separation of rare earth elements using LN resins in hydrochloric acid

The separation of the rare earth elements is essential for numerous scientific applications but remains a significant challenge due to the nearly identical chemical properties of the adjacent lanthanide elements. Eichrom’s LN series of extraction chromatographic resins feature organophosphorus extractants and are widely used to achieve adjacent lanthanide separations. While extensive characterization of these resins has been completed for nitric acid matrices, the use of hydrochloric acid is preferred for a variety of applications. Further, the extraction of the rare earth elements, La–Lu and Y, has been characterized on LN and LN2 resins in hydrochloric acid via batch uptake and column chromatographic studies.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Use of a Pressurized Water Treatment to Prevent Cracking of Internal Gelation Sol-Gel Microspheres

Pressurized water treatments were investigated as a means to prevent cracking of internal gelation sol-gel microspheres upon drying and heating. A batch of gelled cerium oxide microspheres was prepared, split into two samples that were processed with and without a pressurized water treatment, and dried in air at room temperature. Thermal gravimetric analysis was used to compare the mass loss profiles between the two samples and to understand volatile emissions from cerium oxide microspheres during heat treatments up to 600 °C. Microspheres that were processed without a pressurized water treatment lost approximately 4.6 times more mass upon heating than microspheres that were subjected to a pressurized water treatment. Comparison of the cracking behavior of microspheres prepared with and without a pressurized water treatment indicated that microspheres subjected to a pressurized water treatment were virtually crack-free after heat treatments. Conversely, microspheres processed without a pressurized water treatment, which is typical of traditional washing processes, exhibited extensive cracking. Analysis of residues dried from pressurized water treatment effluents indicated that hexamethylenetetramine and urea, which are excess reactants from the internal gelation process, were removed from gelled microspheres during the pressurized water treatment step. Traditional processing methods for preparing internal gelation microspheres use specific feed solution and gelation parameters to reduce subsequent cracking upon drying and heating. Results from this study indicate that more aggressive gel-forming conditions may be used to produce crack-free microspheres, if a pressurized water treatment step is included after washing and before air-drying.

cerium oxide, internal gelation, microsphere, TRIS↗

How exudates production along a phosphorus gradient influences mineral dissolution across contrasting soil development stages

Harnessing rhizosphere processes offers a valuable opportunity to optimize nutrient use efficiency in agroecosystems. In nutrient-limited soils, plants discharge part of photosynthate surplus via root exudation, including carboxylates, which may enhance mineral dissolution and nutrient mobilization. We aimed to assess how plant responses to nutrient limitation translated into changes in exudate profiles, and how these exudates, in turn, drive bioweathering processes across soils of contrasting mineralogy and weathering degree. We conducted a hydroponic experiment with Lupinus albus grown under five phosphorus (P) concentrations (5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 µM) over seven weeks. We measured plant biomass and root traits, performed a metabolomics analysis and quantified seven carboxylates in root exudates using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. To assess bioweathering processes across contrasted soil domains, we conducted batch dissolution tests with exudates using three soil horizons—35 each with distinct physicochemical properties: enriched in organic matter, iron oxides, or primary silicates. At the intermediate level of P supply, shoot biomass was comparable to that under high P, but plants produced more root biomass and a higher total carboxylate exudation rate. Despite low carboxylate concentrations (<100 ppb), exudates promoted the dissolution of Ca, Mg, Si, Fe, P and K in all horizons. Yet, the degree of element released varied among horizons. These findings highlight the importance of root exudates in enhancing mineral dissolution, with effects dependent on soil physicochemical properties. The results suggest that managing agroecosystems under moderate nutrient limitation could be a sustainable strategy to increase root-to-shoot ratios, enhance bioweathering processes and nutrient release in soil solution.

Pollet, Sasha L.↗

Distributed out-of-memory NMF on CPU/GPU architectures

We propose an efficient distributed out-of-memory implementation of the non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm for heterogeneous high-performance-computing systems. The proposed implementation is based on prior work on NMFk, which can perform automatic model selection and extract latent variables and patterns from data. In this work, we extend NMFk by adding support for dense and sparse matrix operation on multi-node, multi-GPU systems. The resulting algorithm is optimized for out-of-memory problems where the memory required to factorize a given matrix is greater than the available GPU memory. Memory complexity is reduced by batching/tiling strategies, and sparse and dense matrix operations are significantly accelerated with GPU cores (or tensor cores when available). Input/output latency associated with batch copies between host and device is hidden using CUDA streams to overlap data transfers and compute asynchronously, and latency associated with collective communications (both intra-node and inter-node) is reduced using optimized NVIDIA Collective Communication Library (NCCL) based communicators. Benchmark results show significant improvement, from 32X to 76x speedup, with the new implementation using GPUs over the CPU-based NMFk. Good weak scaling was demonstrated on up to 4096 multi-GPU cluster nodes with approximately 25,000 GPUs when decomposing a dense 340 Terabyte-size matrix and an 11 Exabyte-size sparse matrix of density 10 -6 .

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Mobilization of mercury from contaminated creekbank soils

The industrial use of mercury (Hg) led to the contamination of numerous watersheds worldwide, including the East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) in Tennessee, USA. Mercury can accumulate in creek banks and floodplain soils and is mobilized into downstream environments due to erosion from precipitation and flooding. Here, this study aimed to evaluate the geochemical conditions contributing to the release of Hg from contaminated soils in this watershed. Bank soil samples from the EFPC watershed with total Hg concentrations ranging from 27.2 to 1,425 mg·kg −1 were used in a series of batch experiments with artificial creek water at a solid-to-solution ratio of 1:30 to assess Hg release. Additional experiments examined Hg release across different soil size fractions and solid-to-solution ratios, as well as the effect of dissolved organic matter and time on Hg mobilization. Mercury release ranged from 0.011 to 0.17% of the total soil Hg and is correlated with total Hg concentrations. Variations in release among size fractions suggested heterogeneous distribution of labile Hg species. Results indicated two distinct solubility regimes depending on solid-to-solution ratios. Dissolved organic matter enhanced Hg release, and time-dependent experiments showed that changes in mercury speciation could decrease dissolved Hg concentrations over time. Identifying conditions that promote Hg mobilization from contaminated soils improves our understanding of Hg fluxes into downstream environments. Key factors influencing mercury release include soil characteristics, water chemistry, and temporal changes in mercury speciation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Ad Hoc File Systems for High-Performance Computing

Storage backends of parallel compute clusters are still based mostly on magnetic disks, while newer and faster storage technologies such as flash-based SSDs or non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) are deployed within compute nodes. Including these new storage technologies into scientific workflows is unfortunately today a mostly manual task, and most scientists therefore do not take advantage of the faster storage media. One approach to systematically include nodelocal SSDs or NVRAMs into scientific workflows is to deploy ad hoc file systems over a set of compute nodes, which serve as temporary storage systems for single applications or longer-running campaigns. This paper presents results from the Dagstuhl Seminar 17202 “Challenges and Opportunities of User-Level File Systems for HPC” and discusses application scenarios as well as design strategies for ad hoc file systems using node-local storage media. The discussion includes open research questions, such as how to couple ad hoc file systems with the batch scheduling environment and how to schedule stage-in and stage-out processes of data between the storage backend and the ad hoc file systems. Also presented are strategies to build ad hoc file systems by using reusable components for networking and how to improve storage device compatibility. Various interfaces and semantics are presented, for example those used by the three ad hoc file systems BeeOND, GekkoFS, and BurstFS. Their presentation covers a range from file systems running in production to cutting-edge research focusing on reaching the performance limits of the underlying devices.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Investigation of the Effect of Chrome and Nickel Concentrations During Two-Piston Splat Quenching of Austenitic Stainless Steels

For solidification rates at or near equilibrium solidification conditions the effects of chrome (Cr) and nickel (Ni) on stainless steel solidification modes and microstructures are well detailed. However, fusion-based additive manufacturing (FBAM) processes that rely on faster, more rapid solidification rates call for a more in-depth understanding of the effects of rapid solidification on the solidification behavior and how these change with variations in alloy composition. Eleven custom stainless steel (SS) alloys with unique compositions based on 316L were made using targeted alloying element additions to generate feedstock with Cr/Ni eq ratios ranging from 0.9 to 2.1. Two-piston splat quenching (SQ) was used to produce rapid solidification conditions similar to those achieved in powder bed fusion processes in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods. Employing heat transfer simulations, SEM, TEM, and STEM characterization techniques, the SQ process was found to consistently produce solidification rates estimated to be between ~ 0.4 and 1.6 m/s. Five unique solidification microstructures were identified within the rapidly solidified SQ samples (primary austenite, massively transformed ferrite to austenite, primary austenite and massively transformed ferrite to austenite, primary ferrite, and primary ferrite and massively transformed ferrite to austenite). Both the primary ferrite solidification mode and primary ferrite phase were found to form at lower Cr/Ni eq values than previously predicted. SQ samples with compositions that were within the compositional specifications for 316L SS, an alloy which is commonly used in FBAM processes, demonstrated a wider range of potential solidification modes and microstructures that could form at rapid solidification rates than expected. Finally, by using SQ as a means to simulate rapid solidification conditions similar to those observed in FBAM processes, potential new alloy compositions can be screened faster and more cost effectively than purchasing and running test batches of the metallic powder.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Scalable synthesis of nanoporous silicon microparticles for highly cyclable lithium-ion batteries

Nanoporous silicon is a promising anode material for high energy density batteries due to its high cycling stability and high tap density compared to other nanostructured anode materials. However, the high cost of synthesis and low yield of nanoporous silicon limit its practical application. Here, we develop a scalable, low-cost top-down process of controlled oxidation of Mg 2 Si in the air, followed by HCl removal of MgO to generate nanoporous silicon without the use of HF. By controlling the synthesis conditions, the oxygen content, grain size and yield of the porous silicon are simultaneously optimized from commercial standpoints. In situ environmental transmission electron microscopy reveals the reaction mechanism; the Mg 2 Si microparticle reacts with O 2 to form MgO and Si, while preventing SiO 2 formation. Owing to the low oxygen content and microscale secondary structure, the nanoporous silicon delivers a higher initial reversible capacity and initial Coulombic efficiency compared to commercial Si nanoparticles (3,033 mAh/g vs. 2,418 mAh/g, 84.3% vs. 73.1%). Synthesis is highly scalable, and a yield of 90.4% is achieved for the porous Si nanostructure with the capability to make an excess of 10 g per batch. Our synthetic nanoporous silicon is promising for practical applications in next generation lithium-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Iodate interactions with calcite: implications for natural attenuation

Solid-phase interactions and speciation are important to radioiodine transport in groundwater. At the Hanford Site in Southeastern Washington State, iodate (IO 3 - ) is the main aqueous species in dilute radioiodine groundwater plumes. Like other oxyanions, IO 3 - may be incorporated into and/or adsorbed onto calcite, a common mineral at Hanford, decreasing its mobility in the environment. A series of macroscale batch experiments combined with solid phase characterization were conducted to identify variables impacting time-dependent aqueous IO 3 - removal via calcite precipitation and determine the location of IO 3 - within the calcite crystal structure. Results demonstrated 11.5-97% aqueous IO 3 - removal during initial rapid calcite precipitation. Incorporation was apparently the main removal mechanism, although later slower precipitation and/or adsorption may have also contributed to IO 3 - removal. Using a higher concentration of the calcite forming solutions (i.e., using 1M vs. 0.1M concentrations) resulted in an increase in the amount of precipitated calcite and a greater percentage of IO 3 - removed; however, calcite formed with lower molarity solutions resulted in higher IO 3 - mass (µg/g) removal. Solubility testing of laboratory produced calcites showed only small differences in solubility for calcite with and without IO 3 - incorporated into the structure. Evidence collected from SEM/FIB and TEM/SAED suggested that the IO 3 - incorporated into calcite was present in regions close to surface (implying potential easy release upon calcite dissolution).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Comparative Study of Flash and Acid Hydrolysis of Microalgae (Scenedesmus sp.) for the Recovery of Biochemicals and Production of Porous Biocarbon Nanosheets

An integrated biorefinery concept is a novel and economical process intensification methodology for efficient utilization of biomass components. In this research, microalgae (Scenedesmus sp.) slurry with biomass concentration of 8.5 wt.% was parallelly fractionated using two techniques: 'flash hydrolysis (FH)' and 'acid hydrolysis (AH)'. FH was performed at 240 degrees C with a residence time of 10 +/- 2 s in a continuous flow reactor, whereas AH was performed at 155 degrees C and reaction time of 15 min in a batch reactor. About 63% of microalgal biomass was solubilized in liquid hydrolysate through both FH and AH. However, AH had an advantage over FH in recovering microalgae proteins and carbohydrates. FAME recovery through solvent extraction from FH and AH derived wet solids (insoluble microalgae) was 40 and 63%, respectively. Finally, the FH- and AH-derived post extraction solid residue was thermally activated using K2CO3 to produce highly microporous biocarbon nanosheets with BET surface areas of 712 and 1289 m2 g-1, respectively. Overall, an integrated process was developed using two potential hydrolysis techniques to maximize utilization of microalgae components.

BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES,BIOMASS FUELS↗

Mineral and fluid transformation of hydraulically fractured shale: case study of Caney Shale in Southern Oklahoma

This study explores the geochemical reactions that can cause permeability loss in hydraulically fractured reservoirs. The experiments involved the reaction of powdered-rock samples with produced brines in batch reactor system at temperature of 95 °C and atmospheric pressure for 7-days and 30-days respectively. Results show changes in mineralogy and chemistry of rock and fluid samples respectively, therefore confirming chemical reactions between the two during the experiments. The mineralogical changes of the rock included decreases of pyrite and feldspar content, whilst carbonate and illite content showed an initial stability and increase respectively before decreasing. Results from analyses of post-reaction fluids generally corroborate the results obtained from mineralogical analyses. Integrating the results obtained from both rocks and fluids reveal a complex trend of reactions between rock and fluid samples which is summarized as follows. Dissolution of pyrite by oxygenated fluid causes transient and localized acidity which triggers the dissolution of feldspar, carbonates, and other minerals susceptible to dissolution under acidic conditions. The dissolution of minerals releases high concentrations of ions, some of which subsequently precipitate secondary minerals. On the field scale, the formation of secondary minerals in the pores and flow paths of hydrocarbons can cause significant reduction in the permeability of the reservoir, which will culminate in rapid productivity decline. This study provides an understanding of the geochemical rock–fluid reactions that impact long term permeability of shale reservoirs.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Splitting tensile strength of shale cores: intact versus fractured and sealed with ureolysis-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (UICP)

Ureolysis-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (UICP) is a biomineral solution where the urease enzyme converts urea and calcium into calcium carbonate. The resulting biomineral can bridge gaps in fractured shale, reduce undesired fluid flow, limit fracture propagation, better store carbon dioxide, and potentially enhance well efficiency. The mechanical properties of shale cores were investigated using a modified Brazilian indirect tensile strength test. An investigation of intact shale using Eagle Ford and Wolfcamp cores was conducted at varying temperatures. Results show no significant difference between shale types (average tensile strength = 6.19 MPa). Eagle Ford displayed higher strength at elevated temperature, but temperature did not influence Wolfcamp. Comparatively, cores with a single, lengthwise heterogeneous fracture were sealed with UICP and further tested for tensile strength. UICP was delivered via a flow-through method which injected 20–30 sequential patterns of ureolytic microorganisms and UICP-promoting fluids into the fracture until permeability reduced by three orders of magnitude or with an immersion method which placed cores treated with guar gum and UICP-promoting fluids into a batch reactor, demonstrating that guar gum is a suitable inclusion and may reduce the number of flow-through injections required. Tensile results for both delivery methods were variable (0.15–8 MPa), and in some cores the biomineralized fracture split apart, possibly due to insufficient sealing and/or heterogeneity in the composite UICP-shale cores. Notably in other cores the biomineralized fracture remained intact, demonstrating more cohesion than the surrounding shale, indicating that UICP may produce a strong seal for subsurface application.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Dynamic Distribution of High-Rate Data Processing from CERN to Remote HPC Data Centers

The prompt reconstruction of the data recorded from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) detectors has always been addressed by dedicated resources at the CERN Tier-0. Such workloads come in spikes due to the nature of the operation of the accelerator and in special high load occasions experiments have commissioned methods to distribute (spill-over) a fraction of the load to sites outside CERN. The present work demonstrates a new way of supporting the Tier-0 environment by provisioning resources elastically for such spilled-over workflows onto the Piz Daint Supercomputer at CSCS. Furthermore, this is implemented using containers, tuning the existing batch scheduler and reinforcing the scratch file system, while still using standard Grid middleware. ATLAS, CMS and CSCS have jointly run selected prompt data reconstruction on up to several thousand cores on Piz Daint into a shared environment, thereby probing the viability of the CSCS high performance computer site as on demand extension of the CERN Tier-0, which could play a role in addressing the future LHC computing challenges for the high luminosity LHC.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Accelerating Machine Learning Inference with GPUs in ProtoDUNE Data Processing

Abstract We study the performance of a cloud-based GPU-accelerated inference server to speed up event reconstruction in neutrino data batch jobs. Using detector data from the ProtoDUNE experiment and employing the standard DUNE grid job submission tools, we attempt to reprocess the data by running several thousand concurrent grid jobs, a rate we expect to be typical of current and future neutrino physics experiments. We process most of the dataset with the GPU version of our processing algorithm and the remainder with the CPU version for timing comparisons. We find that a 100-GPU cloud-based server is able to easily meet the processing demand, and that using the GPU version of the event processing algorithm is two times faster than processing these data with the CPU version when comparing to the newest CPUs in our sample. The amount of data transferred to the inference server during the GPU runs can overwhelm even the highest-bandwidth network switches, however, unless care is taken to observe network facility limits or otherwise distribute the jobs to multiple sites. We discuss the lessons learned from this processing campaign and several avenues for future improvements.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗