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At least 937 records · Page 52
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Fuel cell system

A fuel cell system comprising: a fuel cell, a fuel gas supplier configured to supply fuel gas to an anode of the fuel cell, an oxidant gas supplier configured to supply oxidant gas to a cathode of the fuel cell, a humidity adjuster configured to adjust a relative humidity of the fuel gas and a relative humidity of the oxidant gas, and a controller, wherein the controller detects the relative humidity of the fuel gas at an anode inlet of the fuel cell, and the controller detects the relative humidity of the oxidant gas at a cathode outlet of the fuel cell, and wherein, based on detection results, the controller controls the humidity adjuster so that the relative humidity of the fuel gas at the anode inlet is higher than the relative humidity of the oxidant gas at the cathode outlet.

Ando, Masaki↗
DOE OSTI2016

Interactions of SO 2 -Containing Acid Gases with ZIF-8: Structural Changes and Mechanistic Investigations

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are a set of nanoporous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with tunable porosity and functionality. Among MOFs, they also show relatively good stability with respect to temperature and humidity. These characteristics lead to their possible applications in separation processes. In many practical separation processes, adsorbents are exposed to a variety of molecular species including acid gases. However, there is little knowledge of the effects of such acid gas exposure on the adsorption and separation properties of ZIFs. Here, the stability of a model ZIF material (ZIF-8) under SO 2 exposure in dry, humid, and aqueous environments has been investigated in detail. Combined characterization by several techniques (PXRD, N 2 physisorption, EDX, XPS, and FTIR) allowed us to track the structural and compositional properties of ZIF-8 before and after SO 2 exposure. We found ZIF-8 is stable after prolonged exposure in dry SO 2 and in humid air without SO 2 . However, exposure to 10–20 ppm concentrations of SO 2 in the presence of high relative humidity led to its irreversible structural degradation over time as evidenced by substantial losses in crystallinity and textural properties. Exposure to similar concentrations of aqueous SO 2 did not lead to bulk degradation. Humid SO 2 exposed ZIF-8 showed a significant presence of sulfur (S) even after reactivation, with vibrational characteristics corresponding to (bi)sulfite and (bi)sulfate groups. A mechanism of ZIF-8 degradation combining the synergistic effects of SO 2 and humidity is proposed. Attack by sulfuric and sulfurous acid species (generated in humid SO 2 ) leads to protonation of nitrogen in the imidazole ring, resulting in cleavage of metal–linker (Zn–N) bonds. Our detailed experimental findings serve as a starting point for developing a generalized mechanism of acid gas interactions with ZIF materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Climate data, analysis and models for the study of natural variability and anthropogenic change

Gridded Temperature Under prior/current support, we completed and published (Jones et al., 2012) the fourth major update to our global land dataset of near-surface air temperatures, CRUTEM4. This is one of the most widely used records of the climate system, having been updated, maintained and further developed with DoE support since the 1980s. We have continued to update the CRUTEM4 (Jones et al., 2012) database that is combined with marine data to produce HadCRUT4 (Morice et al., 2012). The emphasis in our use of station temperature data is to access as many land series that have been homogenized by National Meteorological Services (NMSs, including NCDC/NOAA, Asheville, NC). Unlike the three US groups monitoring surface temperatures in a similar way, we do not infill areas that have no or missing data. We can only infill such regions in CRUTEM4 by accessing more station temperature series. During early 2014, we have begun the extensive task of updating as many of these series as possible using data provided by some NMSs and also through a number of research projects and programs around the world. All the station data used in CRUTEM4 have been available since 2009, but in Osborn and Jones (2014) we have made this more usable using a Google Earth interface (http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/crutem/ge/ ). We have recently completed the update of our infilled land multi-variable dataset (CRU TS 3.10, Harris et al., 2014). This additionally produces complete land fields (except for the Antarctic) for temperature, precipitation, diurnal temperature range, vapour pressure and sunshine/cloud. Using this dataset we have calculated sc-PDSI (self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index) data and compared with other PDSI datasets (Trenberth et al., 2014). Also using CRU TS 3.10 and Reanalysis datasets, we showed no overall increase in global temperature variability despite changing regional patterns (Huntingford et al., 2013). Harris et al. (2014) is an update of an earlier dataset (Mitchell and Jones, 2005) which also had earlier DoE support. The earlier dataset has been cited over 1700 times according to ResearcherID on 31/July/2014 and the recent paper has already been cited 22 times. Analyses of Temperature Data Using the ERA-Interim estimate of the absolute surface air temperature of the Earth (instead of in the more normal form of anomalies) we compared the result against estimates we produced in 1999 with earlier DoE support. The two estimates are surprisingly close (differing by a couple of tenths of a degree Celsius), with the average temperature of the world (for 1981-2010) being very close to 14°C (Jones and Harpham, 2013). We have assessed ERA-Interim against station temperatures from manned and automatic weather station measurements across the Antarctic (Jones and Lister, 2014). Agreement is generally excellent across the Antarctic Peninsula and the sparsely sampled western parts of Antarctica. Differences tend to occur over eastern Antarctica where ERA-Interim is biased warm (up to 6°C) in the interior of the continent and biased cool (up to 6°C) for some of the coastal locations. Opportunities presented themselves during 2012 for collaborative work with a couple of Chinese groups. Three papers develop new temperature series for China as a whole and also for the eastern third of China (Wang et al., 2014, Cao et al., 2013 and Zhao et al., 2014). A dataset of ~400 daily Chinese temperature stations has been added to the CRU datasets. The latter paper finds that urban effects are generally about 10% of the long-term warming trend across eastern China. A fourth paper (Wang et al., 2013) illustrates issues with comparisons between reanalyses and surface temperatures across China, a method that has been widely used by some to suggest urban heating effects are much larger in the region. ERA-Interim can be used but NCEP/NCAR comparisons are very dependent on the period analysed. Earlier a new temperature dataset of homogenized records was developed for China (Li et al., 2009). Urbanization has also been addressed for London (Jones and Lister, 2009) where two rural sites have not warmed more than a city centre site since 1900. Additionally, in Ethymiadis and Jones (2010) we show that land air temperatures agree with marine data around coastal areas, further illustrating that urbanization is not a major component of large-scale surface air temperature change. Early instrumental data (before the development of modern thermometer screens) have always been suspected of being biased warm in summer, due to possible direct exposure to the sun. Two studies (Böhm et al., 2010 and Brunet et al., 2010) show this for the Greater Alpine Region (GAR) and for mainland Spain respectively. The issue is important before about 1870 in the GAR and before about 1900 in Spain. After correction for the problems, summer temperature estimates before these dates are cooler by about 0.4°C. In Jones and Wigley (2010), we discussed the importance of the biases in global temperature estimation. Exposure and to a lesser extent urbanization are the most important biases for the land areas, but both are dwarfed by the necessary adjustments for bucket SST measurements before about 1950. Individual station homogeneity is only important at the local scale. This was additionally illustrated by Hawkins and Jones (2013) where we replicated the temperature record developed by Guy Stewart Callendar in papers in 1938 and 1961. Analyses of Daily Climate Data Work here indicates that ERA-Interim (at least in Europe, Cornes and Jones, 2013, discussed in more detail in this proposal) can be used to monitor extremes (using the ETCCDI software – see Zhang et al., 2011). Additionally, also as a result of Chinese collaboration, a new method of daily temperature homogenization has been developed (Li et al., 2014). In Cornes and Jones (2011) we assessed storm activity in the northeast Atlantic region using daily gridded data. Even though the grid resolution is coarse (5° by 5° lat/long) the changes in storm activity are similar to those developed from the pressure triangle approach with station data. Analyses of humidity and pressure data In Simmons et al. (2010) we showed a reduction in relative humidity over low-latitude and mid-latitude land areas for the 10 years to 2008, based on monthly anomalies of surface air temperature and humidity from ECMWF reanalyses (ERA-40 and ERA-Interim) and our earlier land-only dataset (CRUTEM3) and synoptic humidity observations (HadCRUH). Updates of this station-based humidity dataset (now called HadISDH) extend the record, showing continued reductions (Willett et al., 2013). Analyses of Proxy Temperature Data In Vinther et al. (2010), relationships between the seasonal stable isotope data from Greenland Ice Cores and Greenland and Icelandic instrumental temperatures were investigated for the past 150-200 years. The winter season stable isotope data are found to be influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and very closely related to SW Greenland temperatures. The summer season stable isotope data display higher correlations with Icelandic summer temperatures and North Atlantic SST conditions than with local SW Greenland temperatures. In Jones et al. (2014) we use these winter isotope reconstructions to show the expected inverse correlation (due to the NAO) with winter-season documentary reconstructions from the Netherlands and Sweden over the last 800 years. Finally, in this section Jones et al. (2013) shows the agreement between tree-ring width measurements from Northern Sweden and Finland and an assessment of the link to explosive volcanic eruptions. An instrumental record for the region in the early 19th century indicates that the summer of 1816 was only slightly below normal, explaining why this year has normal growth for both ring width and density. GCM/RCM/Reanalysis Evaluation In this section we have intercompared daily temperature extremes across Europe in Cornes and Jones (2013) using station data, E-OBS and ERA-Interim. We have additionally considered the impact of the urban issue on the global scale using the results of the Compo et al. (2011) Reanalyses, 20CR. These only make use of SST and station pressure data. Across the world’s land areas, they indicate similar warming since 1900 to that which has occurred (Compo et al., 2013), again illustrating that urbanization is not the cause of the long-term warming. Changes in HadCRUH global land surface specific humidity and CRUTEM3 surface temperatures from 1973 to 1999 were compared to the CMIP3 archive of climate model simulations with 20th Century forcings (Willett et al., 2010). The models reproduce the magnitude of observed interannual variance over all large regions. Observed and modelled trends and temperature-humidity relationships are comparable with the exception of the extra-tropical Southern Hemisphere where observations exhibit no trend but models exhibit moistening.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Changes in SSL Device Efficiency and Optical Performance Under Accelerated Aging Conditions

Lighting application efficiency (LAE) describes the efficient delivery of light from the light source to the lighted task and is viewed as a new frontier—increasing energy savings with solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies. The framework for LAE that is proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) consists of four major elements: light source efficiency, optical delivery efficiency, spectral efficiency, and intensity effectiveness. This report focuses on a sampling of the available SSL products that can be broadly defined as having modified spectral output because the method of spectra modification has a significant impact on light source efficiency and long-term optical delivery and spectral efficiencies. This report focused on the changes in light source, optical delivery, and spectral efficiencies that occur during aging of SSL devices. An accelerated stress test (AST) regiment was developed for the devices under test (DUTs) examined in this report to provide insights into how the performance of SSL devices change with aging. The AST protocols demonstrate that the SSL products discussed in this report often reduce light source efficiency to achieve different spectral characteristics. In addition, aging of the optical components (e.g., lenses, solder masks) in SSL devices can produce increased light absorption, which negatively impacts optical delivery efficiency and light source efficiency. The modified spectral outputs of the selected SSL products discussed in this report come in a variety of form factors and achieve enhanced optical performance by using a variety of methods. All of the products examined in this study use mid-power light-emitting diodes (MP-LEDs), although the number, configuration, phosphor content, and light-emitting diode (LED) pump of the MP-LEDs differ. Product MS-1 is a 60-watt (W) replacement A19 lamp with a hermetically sealed glass globe, which contains an embedded optical filter to absorb green and yellow emissions, thereby creating a “sunlike” modified spectrum. Product MS-2 is a 60-W replacement A19 lamp with 30 MP-LEDs, and it uses a violet LED pump, along with green and red phosphor emissions, to produce a “healthy” spectrum. This spectrum omits blue emissions in an effort to reduce melanopic lux. Product MS-3 is an LED module consisting of 21 MP-LEDs that use a violet LED pump, along with blue, green, and red phosphors, to produce a “sunlike” spectrum. Products MS-4 and MS-5 are both 6-inch (in) downlights that use a manual switching mechanism so that users can select application-specific correlated color temperatures before installation. Products MS-4 and MS-5 both contain two LED primaries (2,700 Kelvin [K] and 5,000 K) for spectral tuning. Product MS-4 contains 12 MP-LEDs for each LED primary, and Product MS-5 contains 10 MP-LEDs for each LED primary. This report summarizes the overall findings from up to 8,000 hours (hrs) of AST on the lamp DUTs (Products MS-1 and MS-2); up to 5,000 hrs of AST on the LED light engine DUTs (Product MS-3); and up to 7,000 hrs of AST on the downlight DUTs (Products MS-4 and MS-5). The AST procedures used in this study included a room temperature operational life (RTOL) test, an operational life test conducted at 45 degrees Celsius (°C; 45OL) test, an operational life test conducted at 75°C (75OL), a wet high-temperature operational life test performed at 65°C and 90% relative humidity (6590), and a wet high-temperature operational life test performed at 75°C and 75% relative humidity (7575). The AST procedures used for Products MS-1 and MS-2 were RTOL, 45OL, and 6590. The AST procedures used for Products MS-3, MS-4, and MS-5 were RTOL, 75OL, and 7575. During the ASTs described herein, separate populations of each product (three DUTs in each population for Products MS-1, MS-2, MS-4, and MS-5; four DUTs in each population for Product MS-3) were subjected to power cycling of 1 hr on and 1 hr off. The key findings from this study include the following. Enhanced optical performance came at the cost of reduced light source efficiency for the lamps and light engines examined in this study. The optical filter used to produce a “sunlike” spectrum for Product MS-1 reduced light source efficiency by 26%, from 113 lumens per watt (lm/W) to 85 lm/W. Products MS-2 and MS-3 that used a violet-pumped LED to achieve “healthy” and “sunlike” enhanced optical performance, respectively, suffered the largest reduction in initial light source efficiency (49 lm/W for Product MS-2 and 68 lm/W for Products MS-3) perhaps because of the use of violet LED as the optical pump. Product MS-2 also had the poorest color fidelity because of undersaturation of blues and oversaturation of greens and yellows. Chromaticity maintenance of the products in this study was generally good, with parametric failure only occurring for one product at one AST condition (i.e., Product MS-3 at 7575). The chromaticity shift for Product MS-3 in 7575 test conditions resulted from reduced emissions of the broad green and red phosphors used to mimic sunlight in the 500–750 nanometer (nm) range. As a result of these phosphor emission losses, chromaticity shifted toward the more stable violet-pumped LED and blue phosphor. Although chromaticity maintenance was acceptable for most products tested, different chromaticity shift mechanisms were observed for temperature and humidity tests compared with temperature alone for Products MS-1, MS-2, and MS-3. For Product MS-1, a relative increase in green emissions was observed with humidity, which may indicate humidity-accelerated degradation of the optical filter at green wavelengths (optical delivery efficiency reduction) or degradation of the emitters in the red region (spectral efficiency reduction). The violet-pumped products (i.e., MS-2 and MS-3) exhibited different chromaticity shift behavior in the temperature-humidity environments, with Product MS-2 shifting generally yellow because of photo-induced oxidation of the plastic globe (i.e., a reduction of optical delivery efficiency) and Product MS-3 shifting toward violet and blue emitters because of faster loss of emission from green and red phosphors (i.e., a reduction in spectral efficiency). Because of an initial drop in power consumption, the light source efficiency of downlights (Products MS-4 and MS-5) increased at RTOL throughout the test duration. The light source efficiency initially increased during 75OL until a decay in luminous flux maintenance (LFM) dominated light source efficiency, whereas the light source efficiency decreased for the entire 7575 test duration. It was found that increasing the ambient environment of an SSL device from 25°C to 75°C decreases the LFM by 2.7 to 5.5, depending on design of the SSL device. Adding humidity to the system (75OL to 7575) was found to decrease LFM by another factor of approximately 3.0. A common location of failure was identified for the downlights (Products MS-4 and MS-5) operated in the 7575 environment. This failure abruptly occurred between 3,000 to 5,000 hrs of testing on the film capacitor of the electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter near the diode bridge for 11 of the 12 downlights. It is likely that this failure was caused by a combination of the high electrical voltage across the capacitor, the location of the capacitor near the heat sources (e.g., transformers, diode bridges, power resistors), and the high stress environment of 7575. Longer test times are needed to fully understand the LFM, luminous efficacy changes, and chromaticity shifts for some of the products. Because of the high reliability, light source efficiency, and spectral tuning capabilities of LEDs, the expectations of LAE for SSL products are greatly increased over traditional lighting products. The data gathered in this report begin to provide an understanding of the tradeoffs that current SSL products undergo when optimizing the different efficiency elements of LAE. As discussed in this report, the findings from the tests conducted show that the optimization of spectral efficiency can come at the cost of initial light source efficiency. Furthermore, the introduction of violet LEDs can promote long-term optical delivery efficiency degradation, and the introduction of optical filters or new phosphors can lead to unwanted spectral efficiency changes because the ratio of phosphor emitters changes with aging. The data presented in this report also identified a common failure location in 6-in downlights. The results regarding long-term behavior of the modified spectra devices studied provide valuable information about changes to the light source, spectral, and optical delivery efficiencies as the devices age. This information can be used to improve future SSL designs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Review and Summary of Corrosion Behavior for Aluminum-Clad Spent Nuclear Fuel in Dry Storage

A description of the corrosion behavior of aluminum alloys used for cladding on aluminum-based, aluminum-clad nuclear fuel used in research reactors under potential dry storage conditions has been compiled. An evaluation is made of potential additional corrosion with water postulated to not be removed during drying. The relative humidity (RH) produced by typical dryness criteria for industrial spent nuclear fuel drying is expected to be low, particularly at high temperatures (17% RH at 20°C and lower at higher temperatures). Existing corrosion data suggests that negligible vapor-phase corrosion of aluminum is expected at such low humidity, even for nominally bare aluminum surfaces. That is, the predicted relative humidity from free water (e.g., 17% RH) is below the “critical” relative humidity (~40% RH at room temperature), below which no significant corrosion is observed for bare aluminum. Furthermore, reported room-temperature corrosion rates are very low even under saturated (100% RH) water vapor. Existing results showing significant vapor-phase corrosion corresponded specifically to conditions of high temper ed with high relative humidity. A relatively large reservoir of (chemically bound) water exists in the aluminum (oxy)hydroxide films on the SNF cladding surface. The estimated total could saturate the gas even at relatively high temperature if fully released; however, its release as molecular water is expected to only be plausible if the temperature during storage exceeds both the drying temperature and the threshold for thermal decomposition of the trihydroxides (~220°C). Therefore, the combination of high temperature and high relative humidity that could drive significant corrosion is considered implausible during sealed dry storage following an appropriate drying process, to include >220°C drying for canisters that may approach or exceed this temperature during storage. Vapor-phase testing of aluminum samples with an adherent (oxy)hydroxide layer, prepared in liquid water to resemble those on actual aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (ASNF), did not observe evidence of additional corrosion even at combined high-temperature (up to 180°C) and high-humidity (up to 100% RH) conditions. Instead, small net mass losses were observed for most specimens and attributed to dehydration of the samples, which had been air-dried only prior to testing. ASNF being moved to dry storage is expected to have an existing (oxy)hydroxide film, suggesting that the cladding will be less prone to additional corrosion than bare aluminum metal. If significant corrosion did occur during sealed storage, the overall extent and impact is expected to be small. Corrosion post-closure of a canister would not alter the total amount of hydrogen in the canister, so it would have no effect on the maximum H 2 release already assessed in existing bounding calculations. In addition, the total amount of water in a 25-µm dense bayerite film would consume a only ~8 µm additional aluminum metal on average, if fully consumed by oxidizing aluminum metal to Al 2 O 3 . These conclusions are consistent with ASNF-in-canister simulations to date, which included a reaction pathway for corrosion using kinetics from previous literature and believed to be conservative and predicted very low rates of corrosion.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1982

A preliminary study of the application of HCMM satellite data to define initial and boundary conditions for numerical models: A case study in St. Louis, Missouri

Infrared and visible HCMM data were used to examine the potential application of these data to define initial and boundary conditions for mesoscale numerical models. Various boundary layer models were used to calculate the distribution of the surface heat flux, specific humidity depression (the difference between the specific humidity in the air at approxmately the 10 m level and the specific humidity at the ground), and the eddy vicosity in a 72 km by 72 km area centered about St. Louis, Missouri. Various aspects of the implications of the results on the meteorology of St. Louis are discussed. Overall, the results indicated that a reasonable estimate of the surface heat flux, urban albedo, ground temperature, and specific humidity depression can be obtained using HCMM satellite data. Values of the ground-specific humidity can be obtained if the distribution of the air-specific humidity is available. More research is required in estimating the absolute magnitude of the specific humidity depression because calculations may be sensitive to model parameters.

Vukovich, F. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Effects of water-vapor on friction and deformation of polymeric magnetic media in contact with a ceramic oxide

The effects of humidity (water-vapor) in nitrogen on the friction and deformation behavior of magnetic tape in contact with a Ni-Zn ferrite spherical pin were studied. The coefficient of friction is markedly dependent on the ambient relative humidity. In elastic contacts the coefficient of friction increased linearly with increasing humidity; it decreased linearly when humidity was lowered. This effect is the result of changes in the chemistry and interaction of tape materials such as degradation of the lubricant. In plastic contacts there was no effect of humidity on friction below 40 percent relative humidity. There is no effect on friction associated with the breakthrough of the adsorbed water-vapor film at the interface of the tape and Ni-Zn ferrite. The coefficient of friction, however, increased rapidly with increasing relative humidity above 40 percent in plastic contacts.

Miyoshi, K.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Cloud Cover Increase with Increasing Aerosol Absorptivity: A Counterexample to the Conventional Semidirect Aerosol Effect

We reexamine the aerosol semidirect effect using a general circulation model and four cases of the single-scattering albedo of dust aerosols. Contrary to the expected decrease in low cloud cover due to heating by tropospheric aerosols, we find a significant increase with increasing absorptivity of soil dust particles in regions with high dust load, except during Northern Hemisphere winter. The strongest sensitivity of cloud cover to dust absorption is found over land during Northern Hemisphere summer. Here even medium and high cloud cover increase where the dust load is highest. The cloud cover change is directly linked to the change in relative humidity in the troposphere as a result of contrasting changes in specific humidity and temperature. More absorption by aerosols leads to larger diabatic heating and increased warming of the column, decreasing relative humidity. However, a corresponding increase in the specific humidity exceeds the temperature effect on relative humidity. The net effect is more low cloud cover with increasing aerosol absorption. The higher specific humidity where cloud cover strongly increases is attributed to an enhanced convergence of moisture driven by dust radiative heating. Although in some areas our model exhibits a reduction of low cloud cover due to aerosol heating consistent with the conventional description of the semidirect effect, we conclude that the link between aerosols and clouds is more varied, depending also on changes in the atmospheric circulation and the specific humidity induced by the aerosols. Other absorbing aerosols such as black carbon are expected to have a similar effect.

Perlwitz, Jan↗
DOE OSTI2015

Method for early detection of cooling-loss events

A method of detecting cooling-loss event early is provided. The method includes defining a relative humidity limit and change threshold for a given space, measuring relative humidity in the given space, determining, with a processing unit, whether the measured relative humidity is within the defined relative humidity limit, generating a warning in an event the measured relative humidity is outside the defined relative humidity limit and determining whether a change in the measured relative humidity is less than the defined change threshold for the given space and generating an alarm in an event the change is greater than the defined change threshold.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Method for early detection of cooling-loss events

A method of detecting cooling-loss event early is provided. The method includes defining a relative humidity limit and change threshold for a given space, measuring relative humidity in the given space, determining, with a processing unit, whether the measured relative humidity is within the defined relative humidity limit, generating a warning in an event the measured relative humidity is outside the defined relative humidity limit and determining whether a change in the measured relative humidity is less than the defined change threshold for the given space and generating an alarm in an event the change is greater than the defined change threshold.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope composition of water in metaschoepite mineralization on U 3 O 8

When exposed to humidity in an oxidizing atmosphere hydrated uranium oxide grows as a secondary mineral on aged U 3 O 8 and may incorporate the oxygen stable isotope signature of the water vapor into the secondary uranium oxide, as well as hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes into any mineral hydration water. Because geospatial variation in δ 2 H and δ 18 O values of atmospheric humidity and precipitation is well understood, the H and O stable isotope composition of mineral hydration waters can give information on the environment of mineral formation. We exposed powdered U 3 O 8 to humidity with known H and O stable isotope composition at constant 30%, 61% and 91% relative humidity. We sampled and analyzed the U 3 O 8 powders along with any secondary hydrated minerals that had formed on the particle surfaces at various intervals from 1 to 10 days throughout the 180-day humidity exposures. We present stable H and O isotope results of mineral hydration waters in uranium oxide materials analyzed by thermogravimetry-enabled isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy (TGA-IRIS), which uses precise heating by thermogravimetric analyzer to liberate water vapor for subsequent online isotope analysis via a laser-based isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy instrument (Picarro L-2130i). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of humidity-exposed U 3 O 8 heated to 350 °C indicates that the U 3 O 8 had a measurable metaschoepite ((UO 3 )•2H 2 O) phase along with α-U 3 O 8 . After heating to 350 °C, the metaschoepite is eliminated but the α-U 3 O 8 is retained, meaning that the heating successfully extracted the water in the metaschoepite but did not disturb the crystalline structure of the U 3 O 8 . Analysis of the bulk oxygen isotope composition by fluorination of these samples before and after heating, indicates that the oxygen isotope value of the U 3 O 8 is also not affected by heating to 350 °C. Precision for δ 2 H and δ 18 O values of metaschoepite mineral hydration water stable isotope values yielded by the TGA-IRIS method on metaschoepite are 5.86‰ for δ 2 H, and 0.34‰ for δ 18 O. Hydrogen in the various water reservoirs is highly exchangeable and thus the δ 2 H values of these waters is not easily interpreted. However, oxygen in the separate water reservoirs is much less exchangeable, and thus δ 18 O values of the metaschoepite mineral hydration water is likely to reflect that of the water vapor the sample was exposed to. Once metaschoepite is formed on the surface of U 3 O 8 particles, the oxygen isotope signature of the mineral hydration water in metaschoepite does not respond to changes in exposure vapor isotopic composition, and thus appears to be fairly durable in this regard. Furthermore, these results suggest that it may be possible to discern information about the provenance and history of an oxidized U 3 O 8 sample from oxygen stable isotope measurements of metaschoepite mineral hydration water.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Decline in malaria incidence in a typical county of China: Role of climate variance and anti-malaria intervention measures

Highlights: • Malaria incidence shows a steeply interannual decline and an obvious seasonality. • Malaria incidence highly correlates to temperature, precipitation and humidity. • Two favorable climate conditions are determined for high incidence of malaria. • There is good agreement between a decreasing malaria incidence and slightly declined climate variance in epidemic months. • Malaria incidence is declined rapidly because of the persistent progress of anti-malaria interventions. Malaria is an important vector-borne disease which is widespread in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide as well as in south China. Previous research has separately focused on the association between malaria incidence and meteorological variables or between malaria incidence and anti-malaria intervention measures in China, especially in Yunnan Province. Therefore, a typical county, Tengchong County, in Yunnan Province with high malaria incidence was selected as the study area to investigate the integrated influence of climate variance and anti-malaria intervention measures. Malaria incidence and meteorological variables were analyzed with a 2-month lag. The variables include average monthly temperature, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, cumulative precipitation, wind speed, maximum wind speed, relative humidity and minimum relative humidity. First, the principal component analysis was introduced to investigate the relationship between malaria incidence and meteorological variables; classification and regression trees were used to clarify contributions of key meteorological variables to malaria incidence afterwards. Second, based on existing anti-malaria intervention measures and above results, the integrated impact of climate variance and anti-malaria interventions on interannual trends of malaria incidence was analyzed. High malaria incidence occurred under one of the two meteorological conditions: 1) high minimum temperature combined with high minimum relative humidity or both precipitation and minimum relative humidity above middle level; 2) middle minimum temperature combined with both precipitation and minimum relative humidity below middle levels. Moreover, the steep interannual decline of malaria incidence in Tengchong was determined by slight climate variance and persistent anti-malaria intervention measures during malaria epidemics, predominantly by the latter. These findings will provide evidence data for developing malaria surveillance strategies in China.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Monitoring of Double-Stud Wall Moisture Conditions in the Northeast

BSC TO5 Task 2.2 Monitoring of Double Stud Wall Moisture Conditions in the Northeast Field test data available for wood moisture contents, temperature, and relative humidity. STRUCTURE - House - Devens, MA 01432 Three double-stud assemblies were compared: 12-in. ocSPF, 12-in. cellulose, and 5.5-in. ocSPF at the exterior of a double-stud wall (to approximate conventional 2 x 6 wall construction and insulation levels, acting as a control wall). These assemblies were repeated on the north and south orientations, for a total of six assemblies. Data were collected from December 2011 through July 2014, capturing three winters of operation in various states. Winter 2011-2012 was very mild (warm) and the house had very low interior relative humidity (RH) because it was unoccupied. Winter 2012-2013 was colder and the house had very high (40%-50%) interior RH until the ventilation system was put into operation (mid-February 2013). Winter 2013-2014 was very cold, but the ventilation system was operated, resulting in moderate interior RHs. Under "normal" interior conditions (functioning ventilation system, wintertime RH 10%-30%), ocSPF walls (both 12 in. and 5.5 in.) with latex paint as interior vapor control (nominally Class III, but possibly more vapor open) showed low risk; all sheathing moisture contents (MCs) remained lower than 20%. However, the 12-in. cellulose wall had MCs higher than 20% on the north side. In addition, the cellulose wall sheathing-insulation interface had high RH conditions. Under high interior humidity loading (nonfunctional ventilation system, 40%-50% interior RH), all test walls showed MCs and sheathing-insulation interface RHs well into the high risk range. The cellulose walls showed particularly high MCs (sheathing in excess of 30%), while the ocSPF walls showed MCs in the 18%-25% range. In addition, the monitoring showed evidence of liquid water condensation (which can result in quick degradation) in all walls; the condensation was substantial in the cellulose walls. These condensation issues occurred on the north and south sides. But in all walls, during each summer after a winter of wetting, moisture levels fell well into the safe range. Based on the difference between the winters, it is clear that interior RH can have a tremendous effect on the performance of enclosure systems, in terms of interstitial condensation risks, when using more vapor-open interior finishes such as latex paint. The ocSPF walls showed consistently lower MCs and interface RH levels than the cellulose walls. Although air leakage cannot be eliminated as a possibility, it is likely that at the thicknesses applied, the ocSPF provided reasonable vapor control (1.5-3.5 perms when combined with Class III latex paint) under normal loading conditions. The collected data were analyzed in terms of ASHRAE Standard 160 criteria (tabulating hours with RH and temperatures that support mold growth), using the calculated surface RH at the sheathing-insulation interface. All north-facing walls failed through all three winters; in particular, there were large numbers of failure hours during the high humidity winter (2012-2013). Sheathing-insulation interface temperatures and RHs during the high humidity winter showed many hours with mold risk conditions (high humidity and sufficient temperature for mold growth).

Array↗
DOE OSTI2019

Precipitation mediates sap flux sensitivity to evaporative demand in the neotropics

Transpiration in humid tropical forests modulates the global water cycle and is a key driver of climate regulation. Yet, our understanding of how tropical trees regulate sap flux in response to climate variability remain elusive. With a progressively warming climate, atmospheric evaporative demand (i.e., vapor pressure deficit, VPD) will be increasingly important for plant functioning, becoming the major control of plant water use in the 21st century. Using measurements in 34 tree species at seven sites across a precipitation gradient in the neotropics, we determined how the maximum sap flux velocity (vmax) and the VPD threshold at which vmax is reached (VPDmax) vary with precipitation regime (long-term annual precipitation, MAP; seasonal drought intensity, PDRY) and two functional traits related to foliar and wood economics spectra (leaf mass per area, LMA; wood specific gravity, WSG). We show that, even though vmax is highly variable within sites, it follows a negative trend in response to increasing MAP and PDRY across sites. LMA and WSG exerted little effect on vmax and VPDmax, suggesting that these widely-used integrative traits provide limited explanatory power of dynamic plant responses to environmental variation within hyper-diverse forests. This study demonstrates that long-term precipitation plays an important role in the sap flux response of humid tropical forests to VPD. Our findings suggest that under higher evaporative demand, trees growing in wetter environments in humid tropical regions may be subjected to reduced water exchange with the atmosphere relative to trees growing in drier climates.

Grossiord, Charlotte↗
DOE OSTI2017

Engineering Copper Carboxylate Functionalities on Water Stable Metal–Organic Frameworks for Enhancement of Ammonia Removal Capacities

Functionalization of copper carboxylate groups on a series of UiO-66 metal organic framework (MOF) analogues and their corresponding impact on humid and dry ammonia adsorption behavior were studied. Relative locations of possible carboxylic acid binding sites for copper on the MOF analogues were varied on ligand and missing linker defect sites. Materials after copper incorporation exhibited increased water vapor and ammonia affinity during isothermal adsorption and breakthrough experiments, respectively. The introduction of copper markedly increased ammonia adsorption capacities for all adsorbents possessing carboxyl binding sites. In particular, the new MOF UiO-66-(COOCu)2 displayed the highest ammonia breakthrough capacities of 6.38 and 6.84 mmol g–1 under dry and humid conditions, respectively, while retaining crystallinity and porosity. Relative carboxylic acid site locations were also found to impact sorbent stability, as missing linker defect functionalized materials degraded under humid conditions after copper incorporation. Postsynthetic metal insertion provides a method for adding sites that are analogous to open metal sites while maintaining good structural stability.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Near-Surface Warming Reduces Dew Frequency in China

Long-term (1961-2010) observations of dew data collected at 597 stations over China show that dew frequency decreased by 5.2 days per decade due primarily to near-surface warming and associated decreases in relative humidity (RH). Moreover, the percentage decreasing rate of dew frequency in arid regions (precipitation PR < 400 mm yr -1 ) are larger than that in humid regions (PR ≥ 800 mm yr -1 ). Compared with the 1960s, the mean dew frequency in the 2000s decreased by 28%, 40%, 50% in humid, semi-humid (400 ≤ PR<800 mm yr -1 ), and arid regions, respectively. Surface warming is larger in arid regions in northwestern China than its humid and semi-humid regions during recent global warming, which leads to larger decreases in surface RH and makes dew events less likely. Here, since dew contributes significantly to surface water balance in arid regions, the large decreases in dew frequency may contribute to "the drier getting drier" response to global warming over arid regions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evaluation of Cation Migration in Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathodes via In-Operando X-ray Diffraction

Anode-supported SOFC button cells with LSCF-6428 cathodes were operated at various temperatures under constant current conditions for hundreds of hours in dry or humid (~3% water) cathode air while continuously collecting 1 hour XRD scans throughout the test duration. Additionally, one cell in dry air was held at OCV, and 12% CO2 was added to the humid air for another cell. Long cumulative XRD count times allowed minor phases in concentrations of less than 0.1 wt% to be identified. In humid air, cell performance increased during the first couple of hundred hours. XRD measured a gradual shift of Fe-rich Fe,Co spinel peaks to lower angles while post-mortem SEM discovered nano-nodules on the LSCF surfaces. When 12% CO2 was added to humid air, performance degradation was observed after the initial conditioning response, unlike in tests without CO2, which were stable after conditioning. XRD also measured a shift in the peaks of the major LSCF phase in the test with CO2 indicative of some degree of gradual decomposition. Cells tested at constant current in dry air exhibited fast initial degradation that decelerated over time, while the cell held at OCV maintained a stable voltage. XRD of the cathodes held at OCV at 750 °C and operated at constant current at 700 °C in dry air measured a slower shift of the Fe-rich spinel peaks to lower angles than was seen in tests in humid air, along with a shift in the peaks of a Co-rich Fe,Co spinel to higher angles. Post-mortem SEM of cells exposed to dry air discovered smaller nano-nodules on the LSCF surfaces than had been present in cells tested in humid air. Cells tested at constant current in dry air at 750 °C and 800 °C did not exhibit any gradual changes in the XRD patterns nor were nano-nodules discovered.

Hardy, John S.↗