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At least 1,081 records · Page 60

Internship Experience

I started my internship in January 2022 but the research on measuring dispersion and loss of 355nm light from a silicon oxide waveguide began in August 2022 which will be the focus of this paper. The motivation of this project is to determine whether it is possible to use pulsed 355nm light in an integrated waveguide within an ion trap chip. To begin this project, light from the 355nm Coherent Paladin laser was coupled into a fiber which will be referred to as the “source fiber.” After coupling into a fiber, loss and dispersion measurements could be performed as this fiber was used to deliver light to each of the experiments which will be covered in detail in the following paragraphs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Flammable Gas Generation and Control at the Idaho Completion Project Legacy Combustible Gas Generation - 20191

On April 11, 2018, four drums containing transuranic waste at the Idaho National Laboratory underwent over-pressurization, ejecting their lids and spreading radiological waste within a facility. An investigation has found that waste in the drums generated methane gas, which contributed to the event. Subsequent to the investigation, the potential for drums to have methane and other flammable analytes whose concentrations could approach or exceed the lower flammability limit (LFL) and the adequacy of the controls to prevent or mitigate a possible deflagration was evaluated. An extensive review of the historical records was performed to determine how many drums exceed the LFL. The historical record identified a small quantity of drums that exceeded the LFL for xylene, hydrogen, and methane. The primary codified applicable code or standard for handling drums is 29 CFR 1910.120 (j) 'Handling Drums and Containers.' It is used throughout the commercial and government sector. This code is integrated throughout the Fluor Idaho safety management programs and procedures to control the Standard Industrial Hazards (SIHs) associated with drum and container handling. Example requirements include: - Drums and containers are inspected, and their integrity assured prior to being moved. - Site operations are organized to minimize the amount of drum or container movement. - When there is a reasonable possibility of flammable atmospheres being present, material handling equipment and hand tools are of the type to prevent sources of ignition. Drums and containers under pressure, as evidenced by bulging or swelling, are not moved until the cause for excess pressure is determined and appropriate containment procedures have been implemented to protect employees from explosive relief of the drum. Drums which exceed the WIPP FGA limit have NCRs associated with them. Once a drum fails flammable gas sampling, an NCR is initiated. The NCR drives placement into NCR dense pack rows. A standing order drives placement of the FGA failures to a single planer segregation location. These drums are not allowed for further processing or shipment until the NCR has been cleared. Once in the single planer rows, follow-up FGA testing is performed by CCP. The NCR is dispositioned by follow-up sampling occurring after adequate time has been provided for the gas to diffuse through the filter assembly, or, in some cases, the drums are repackaged into additional drums to reduce the source term. To date, the ICP project has performed approximately 1.5 million drums moves without a deflagration event due to combustible gas generation. Flammable gas generation in a transuranic waste drum is not unique to the ICP but is common across the DOE complex. Based on the experience at Idaho, application of industry standards is sufficient to control the risk of drum deflagration due to drum movements. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

NSRD-11: Computational Capability to Substantiate DOE-HDBK-3010 Data.

Safety basis analysts throughout the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complex rely heavily on the information provided in the DOE Handbook, DOE - HDBK - 3010, Airborne Release Fractions/Rates and Respirable Fractions for Nonreactor Nuclear Facilities, to determine radionuclide source terms. In calculating source terms, analysts tend to use the DOE Handbook's bounding values on airborne release fractions (ARFs) and respirable fractions (RFs) for various categories of insults (representing potential accident release categories). This is typically due to both time constraints and the avoidance of regulatory critique. Unfortunately, these bounding ARFs/RFs represent extremely conservative values. Moreover, they were derived from very limited small-scale bench/laboratory experiments and/or from engineered judgment. Thus, the basis for the data may not be representative of the actual unique accident conditions and configurations being evaluated. The goal of this research is to develop a more accurate and defensible method to determine bounding values for the DOE Handbook using state-of-art multi-physics-based computer codes. This enables us to better understand the fundamental physics and phenomena associated with the types of accidents in the handbook. In this year, this research included improvements of the high-fidelity codes to model particle resuspension and multi-component evaporation for fire scenarios. We also began to model ceramic fragmentation experiments, and to reanalyze the liquid fire and powder release experiments that were done last year. The results show that the added physics better describes the fragmentation phenomena. Thus, this work provides a low-cost method to establish physics-justified safety bounds by taking into account specific geometries and conditions that may not have been previously measured and/or are too costly to perform.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Fundamental problems in astroparticle physics and cosmology (Final Technical Report)

In the standard cosmological model, structure forms when gas cools and condenses to the center of dark matter halos. The onset of structure is governed by rapid star formation and subsequent evolution of the first massive stars. One of the endpoints of stellar evolution is the formation of a black hole. We showed that all black hole merger events must occur after the universe is about 85 million years old. This prediction is important because it means that if a future experiment makes a detection of a black hole merger event at an earlier time then our understanding of cosmology and the onset of structure formation is not fully developed. In addition, we explored dark matter models that have either self-interactions or experience decays. In the first case, self-interactions may lead to the formation of a thick disk that can be co-planar to the Galactic disc due to correlations in angular momentum between dark matter and baryons that are predicted by tidal torque theory. We showed that for heavy dark matter particles, either the self interaction may not be strong enough to solve the small scale structure motivation or a dark disc cannot be present in the Milky Way. In the second-case, we showed that if dark matter experiences decays into two particles, one of which behaves like radiation, then it is possible to relieve the tension that exists between measurements of the local expansion rate. Finally, we developed methods on how to distinguish gamma-ray excesses from promising dark matter targets as compared to conventional astrophysical sources. This is an important toolset that is applicable to any suspected dark matter source.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

$|V_{ub}|$ from $B\to\pi\ell\nu$ decays and (2+1)-flavor lattice QCD

We present a lattice-QCD calculation of the B → πℓν semileptonic form factors and a new determination of the CKM matrix element |V ub |. We use the MILC asqtad (2+1)-flavor lattice configurations at four lattice spacings and light-quark masses down to 1/20 of the physical strange-quark mass. We extrapolate the lattice form factors to the continuum using staggered chiral perturbation theory in the hard-pion and SU(2) limits. We employ a model-independent z parametrization to extrapolate our lattice form factors from large-recoil momentum to the full kinematic range. We introduce a new functional method to propagate information from the chiral-continuum extrapolation to the z expansion. We present our results together with a complete systematic error budget, including a covariance matrix to enable the combination of our form factors with other lattice-QCD and experimental results. To obtain |V ub |, we simultaneously fit the experimental data for the B → πℓν differential decay rate obtained by the BABAR and Belle collaborations together with our lattice form-factor results. We find |V ub |=(3.72±0.16) × 10 –3 , where the error is from the combined fit to lattice plus experiments and includes all sources of uncertainty. Our form-factor results bring the QCD error on |V ub | to the same level as the experimental error. We also provide results for the B → πℓν vector and scalar form factors obtained from the combined lattice and experiment fit, which are more precisely determined than from our lattice-QCD calculation alone. Lastly, these results can be used in other phenomenological applications and to test other approaches to QCD.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The Physics of Tokamak Start-up

Tokamak start-up on present-day devices usually relies on inductively induced voltage from a central solenoid. In some cases inductive startup is assisted with auxiliary power from electron cyclotron radio frequency heating. ITER, the National Spherical Torus eXperiment Upgrade and JT60, now under construction, will make use of the understanding gained from present-day devices to ensure successful start-up. Design of a spherical tokamak (ST) with DT capability for nuclear component testing would require an alternative to a central solenoid because the small central column in an ST has insufficient space to provide shielding for the insulators in the solenoid. Alternative start-up techniques such as induction using outer poloidal field coils, electron Bernstein wave start-up, coaxial helicity injection and point source helicity injection have been used with success, but require demonstration of scaling to higher plasma current.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Plasma Photocathodes

Abstract Plasma wakefield accelerators offer accelerating and focusing electric fields three to four orders of magnitude larger than state‐of‐the‐art radiofrequency cavity‐based accelerators. Plasma photocathodes can release ultracold electron populations within such plasma waves and thus open a path toward tunable production of well‐defined, compact electron beams with normalized emittance and brightness many orders of magnitude better than state‐of‐the‐art. Such beams will have far‐reaching impact for applications such as light sources, but also open up new vistas on high energy and high field physics. This paper reviews the innovation of plasma photocathodes, and reports on the experimental progress, challenges, and future prospects of the approach. Details of the proof‐of‐concept demonstration of a plasma photocathode in 90° geometry at SLAC FACET within the E‐210: Trojan Horse program are described. Using this experience, alongside theoretical and simulation‐supported advances, an outlook is given on future realizations of plasma photocathodes such as the upcoming E‐310: Trojan Horse‐II program at FACET‐II with prospects toward excellent witness beam parameter quality, tunability, and stability. Future installations of plasma photocathodes also at compact, hybrid plasma wakefield accelerators, will then boost capacities and open up novel capabilities for experiments at the forefront of interaction of high brightness electron and photon beams.

Habib, Ahmad Fahim↗

Hydrocarbon Recovery from Williston Basin Shale and Mudrock Cores with Supercritical CO 2 : 2. Mechanisms That Control Oil Recovery Rates and CO 2 Permeation

In part 1 (10.1021/acs.energyfuels.9b01177), CO2 was used to recover oil from 51 source shale and reservoir mudrock cores collected from the Bakken Petroleum System in the Williston Basin. Oil hydrocarbon recoveries after 24 hexposures to CO2 at reservoir pressure and temperature were >94% for the reservoir mudrock cores and ranged from a few percent to as much as 80% for the source shales depending on the well location. In part 2, the experimental parameters that control oil recoveries were investigated, and the results show that exposed rock surface areas and CO2 contact times are primary factors controlling oil recovery at reservoir temperature and pressure. Compared to the 11.2 mm diameter rods used in part 1,increasing the surface area by splitting the rods into a stack of 2−3 mm thick “coins” doubled the oil recovery rates from both reservoir and source rocks, while further increasing the surface area using ground and sieved 1−3.4 mm samples at least tripledrecovery rates. In addition, extending the exposure time for the 11.2 mm diameter source shale rods to 96 h yielded nearly complete oil recoveries (as did the 24 h exposures with the 1−3.4 mm samples), indicating that pore spaces in the source shales as well as the more permeable reservoir rocks can be accessed by the CO2 and the associated oil hydrocarbons recovered. Higher CO 2 pressures yielded higher oil recoveries from both the reservoir rocks and source shales regardless of whether the exposure pressure was at or a little below, somewhat above, or substantially above the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP).Laboratory experiments also demonstrated that crude oil recoveries are based primarily on the ability of the CO 2 to penetrate the rock matrix and dissolve the oil hydrocarbons via hydrocarbon vaporization into the CO 2 phase rather than bulk physical processes (e.g., swelling, lowered viscosity, the physical “sweeping” effect) that are important in conventional CO 2 floods. Lighter hydrocarbons (e.g., C7 to C14) were recovered at much faster rates than heavier hydrocarbons (e.g., >C20) from all rock samples and geometries as well as for all CO2 pressures tested, as might be expected because lighter hydrocarbons have both higher diffusion coefficients and higher solubilities in CO 2 than heavier hydrocarbons. Limiting the amount of CO2 had little or no effect on the recovery rates of the lighter hydrocarbons but greatly reduced those of the heavier hydrocarbons. These two observations are consistent with a concentration-gradient-driven diffusion recovery mechanism. Laboratory results suggest that oil recovery in the Bakken play with CO2 will be enhanced by longer soak times, larger exposed rock surface areas, and higher pressures.

Energy & Fuels↗

2016 Research Outreach Program report

This paper is the research activity report for 4 weeks in LANL. Under the guidance of Dr. Lee, who performs nuclear physics research at LANSCE, LANL, I studied the Low Energy NZ (LENZ) setup and how to use the LENZ. First, I studied the LENZ chamber and Si detectors, and worked on detector calibrations, using the computer software, ROOT (CERN developed data analysis tool) and EXCEL (Microsoft office software). I also performed the calibration experiments that measure alpha particles emitted from a Th-229 source by using a S1-type detector (Si detector). And with Dr. Lee, we checked the result.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

ECAR 4951 BSU-8242 3 DPA As-Run Physics Analysis

The purpose of this report is to document the as-run physics analysis for the Boise State University (BSU-8242) experiment in the A6, A7 and A8 positions, correlating with the 3 DPA specimens irradiated in Cycles 164A, 164B, and 166A. In this paper the heat rate, flux, fluence, and DPA for all specimens are scaled to the appropriate as-run lobe powers for an accurate assessment and description of the irradiated materials. Source terms per capsule are provided, and a bounded source term per specimen type is given on a per gram basis. Verified and validated MCNP full-core models were used for the neutronics analysis.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Development and Experimental Optimization of High-Temperature Modeling Tools and Methods for Concentrated Solar Power Particle - Systems

A novel, open-source radiative modeling toolset was developed to extend the functionality of particle-based modeling software (e.g. discrete element method (DEM)) to environmental conditions relevant to concentrated solar power applications. This toolset was optimized for deployment on desktop workstations instead of high-performance computing systems, to render such tools more accessible to the research community. Both particle-based modeling and radiative exchange modeling are computationally expensive and often require specialized programming expertise, making these methods cumbersome to use. Recent developments in DEM software by DCS Computing have greatly reduced these challenges, providing a graphical-user-interface based platform and modeling optimization for desktop workstations, HPCs, and cloud computing. The University of Dayton leveraged the experience of DCS Computing in developing a user-friendly, open-source radiative heat transfer expansion for DEM modeling. The University of Dayton DEM+ radiative modeling toolset was developed using a combination of fundamental experimental measurements, modeling, and simplified flow experiments over a range of temperatures and flow conditions. The toolset provides researchers with access to multiple radiative models including an accelerated Monte-Carlo Ray Tracing (application agnostic, highly computationally expensive), an expanded database of distance-based approximations (application limited, computationally light), and a weighted blending of the two methods capable of achieving over 90% reduction in computation time with equivalent accuracy compared to Monte-Carlo Ray Tracing. Through a graphical user interface, users can customize the radiative models to match their desired accuracy and available computational resources, improving access to particle based modeling for the research community. Ceramic sintered bauxite proppants were used in modeling and experimentally as a baseline. Both the radiative heat transfer and flow properties for particulate systems were investigated at elevated temperatures up to 800 °C. The major accomplishments for this work include a verified, open-source radiative modeling toolset to be distributed amongst the research community and the fabrication of three small-scale test facilities to investigate particle behavior and tune DEM flow properties for operation up to 800 °C. The findings have been shared with the research community via conference modeling workshops, deployment of the tools in DCS Computing Aspherix®, and open-source access to the developed radiative modeling tool. The development of next-generation CSP facilities and thermal energy storage systems based on ceramic particles requires providing access to computationally efficient and accurate modeling tools. Particles will experience a wide range of environments (20-800 °C) and handling conditions (dilute curtains or dense packing), requiring specially designed and optimized equipment. Optimizing solid particle physics models and establishing best-practices for particle modeling in CSP environments will assist researchers with designing optimized equipment, accelerating the deployment of more economically-competitive CSP facilities.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

A dual isotope approach to isolate soil carbon pools of different turnover times

Soils are globally significant sources and sinks of atmospheric CO 2 . Increasing the resolution of soil carbon turnover estimates is important for predicting the response of soil carbon cycling to environmental change. We show that soil carbon turnover times can be more finely resolved using a dual isotope label like the one provided by elevated CO 2 experiments that use fossil CO 2 . We modeled each soil physical fraction as two pools with different turnover times using the atmospheric 14 C bomb spike in combination with the label in 14 C and 13 C provided by an elevated CO 2 experiment in a California annual grassland. In sandstone and serpentine soils, the light fraction carbon was 21–54% fast cycling with 2–9 yr turnover, and 36–79% slow cycling with turnover slower than 100 yr. This validates model treatment of the light fraction as active and intermediate cycling carbon. The dense, mineral-associated fraction also had a very dynamic component, consisting of ~7% fast-cycling carbon and ~93% very slow cycling carbon. Similarly, half the microbial biomass carbon in the sandstone soil was more than 5 yr old, and 40% of the carbon respired by microbes had been fixed more than 5 yr ago. Resolving each density fraction into two pools revealed that only a small component of total soil carbon is responsible for most CO 2 efflux from these soils. In the sandstone soil, 11% of soil carbon contributes more than 90% of the annual CO 2 efflux. The fact that soil physical fractions, designed to isolate organic material of roughly homogeneous physico-chemical state, contain material of dramatically different turnover times is consistent with recent observations of rapid isotope incorporation into seemingly stable fractions and with emerging evidence for hot spots or micro-site variation of decomposition within the soil matrix. Predictions of soil carbon storage using a turnover time estimated with the assumption of a single pool per density fraction would greatly overestimate the near-term response to changes in productivity or decomposition rates. Therefore, these results suggest a slower initial change in soil carbon storage due to environmental change than has been assumed by simpler (one-pool) mass balance calculations.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Mars Analog Rio Tinto Experiment (MARTE): 2003 Drilling Campaign to Search for a Subsurface Biosphere at Rio Tinto Spain

The MARTE (Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment) project, an ASTEP field experiment, is exploring for a hypothesized subsurface anaerobic chemoautotrophic biosphere in the region of the Tinto River- or Rio Tinto- in southwestern Spain. It is also demonstrating technology needed to search for a subsurface biosphere on Mars. The project has three primary objectives: (1) search for and characterize subsurface life at Rio Tinto along with the physical and chemical properties and sustaining energy sources of its environment, (2) perform a high fidelity simulation of a robotic Mars drilling mission to search for life, and (3) demonstrate the drilling, sample handling, and instrument technologies relevant to searching for life on Mars. The simulation of the robotic drilling mission is guided by the results of the aseptic drilling campaign to search for life at Rio Tinto. This paper describes results of the first phase of the aseptic drilling campaign.

Stoker, Carol↗

Vapor transport growth of organic solids in microgravity and unit gravity: some comparisons and results to date

Thin films of an organic nonlinear optical (NLO) material, N, N-dimethyl-p-(2,2-dicyanovinyl) aniline (DCVA), have been grown in space and on the ground by physical vapor transport in an effusive ampoule arrangement. The thin film growth technique developed on the ground is a direct result of information gleaned from experiments in microgravity. This paper covers the results of our experimental investigations for establishing "ideal" terrestrial conditions for deposition of a DCVA film. The active control during the deposition process was exercised by three deposition variables: the material source temperature, the background pressure external to the growth ampoule and the substrate temperature. Successful growth occurred when the difference in temperature between the source material and the copper substrate was 14 degrees C and the background nitrogen pressure was such that the transport was either diffusive or convective. A qualitative diffusion limited boundary was estimated to occur at a pressure of approximately 20 torr. We have probed the DCVA thin films with visible-near infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, polarized Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, differential interference contrast optical microscopy, and stylus profilometry.

short duration↗

Polymers Erosion and Contamination Experiment Being Developed

The Polymers Erosion and Contamination Experiment (PEACE) is currently being developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center by the Electro-Physics Branch in conjunction with students and faculty from Hathaway Brown School in Cleveland. The experiment is a Get Away Special Canister shuttle flight experiment sponsored by the American Chemical Society. The two goals of this experiment are (1) to measure ram atomic oxygen erosion rates of approximately 40 polymers that have potential use in space applications and (2) to validate a method for identifying sources of silicone contamination that occur in the shuttle bay. Equipment to be used in this flight experiment is shown in the schematic diagram. Spacecraft materials subjected to attack by atomic oxygen in the space environment experience significant degradation over the span of a typical mission. Therefore, learning the rates of atomic oxygen erosion of a wide variety of polymers would be of great benefit to future missions. PEACE will use two independent techniques to determine the atomic oxygen erosion rates of polymers. Large (1-in.-diameter) samples will be used for obtaining mass loss. Preflight and postflight dehydrated masses will be obtained, and the mass lost during flight will be determined. Small (0.5-in.-diameter) samples will be protected with isolated particles (such as NaCl crystals) and then exposed to the space environment. After flight, the protective particles will be removed (washed off) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) will be used to measure the erosion depth from protected mesas. Erosion depth measurements are more sensitive than traditional mass measurements and are very useful for materials with low erosion yields or with very low fluence missions.

deGroh, Kim K.↗

Collisional Histories of Comets and Trojan Asteroids: Diopside, Magnesite, and Fayalite Impact Studies

Comets and asteroids have weathered dynamic histories, as evidenced by their rough surfaces. The Nice model describes a violent reshuffling of small bodies during the Late Heavy Bombardment, with collisions acting to grind these planetesimals away. This creates an additional source of impact material that can re-work the surfaces of the larger bodies over the lifetime of the solar system. Here, we investigate the possibility that signatures due to impacts (e.g. from micrometeoroids or meteoroids) could be detected in their spectra, and how that can be explained by the physical manifestation of shock in the crystalline structure of minerals. All impact experiments were conducted in the Johnson Space Center Experimental Impact Laboratory using the vertical gun. Impact speeds ranged from approx.2.0 km/s to approx.2.8 km/s. All experiments were conducted at room temperature. Minerals found in comets and asteroids were chosen as targets, including diopside (MgCaSi2O6, monoclinic pyroxene), magnesite (MgCO3, carbonate), and fayalite (FeSiO4, olivine). Impacted samples were analyzed using a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Absorbance features in the 8-13 m spectral region demonstrate relative amplitude changes as well as wavelength shifts. Corresponding TEM images exhibit planar shock dislocations in the crystalline structure, attributed to deformation at high strain and low temperatures. Elongating or shortening the axes of the crystalline structure of forsterite (Mg2SiO4, olivine) using a discrete dipole approximation model (Lindsay et al., submitted) yields changes in spectral features similar to those observed in our impacted laboratory minerals.

Lederer, S. M.↗

Light Dark Matter in the NO$\nu$A Near Detector, a First Look at the New Data

The neutrino oscillations experiment NOA is the agship of Fermi National Laboratory. The neutrino source NuMI is delivering record numbers of protons-on-target surpassing the most stringent dark matter production upper limits of current models in the under-10 GeV mass range. We take advantage of the sophisticated particle identication algorithms of the experiment to interrogate the data from the 300-ton, o-axis, low-Z, Near Detector of NOvA during the rst physics runs. We search for signatures of sub-GeV or Light Dark Matter (LDM), Axion-like-particles, and Heavy or Sterile Neutrinos that may scatter or decay in the volume of the detector.

Hatzikoutelis, Athanasios↗

Search for Lorentz-invariance violation with the first KATRIN data

Some extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics allow for Lorentz invariance and charge-parity-time invariance violations. In the neutrino sector strong constraints have been set by neutrino-oscillation and time-of-flight experiments. However, some Lorentz-invariance-violating parameters are not accessible via these probes. In this work, we focus on the parameters (a$^{(3)}_{of}$)00, (a$^{(3)}_{of}$)10, and (a$^{(3)}_{of}$)11 which would manifest themselves in a nonisotropic β-decaying source as a sidereal oscillation and an overall shift of the spectral endpoint. Based on the data of the first scientific run of the KATRIN experiment, we set the first 90% confidence-level limit on (a$^{(3)}_{of}$)11| of < 0.9 × 10 –6 GeV to 3.7 × 10 –6 GeV, depending on the phase. Furthermore, we derive new constraints on (a$^{(3)}_{of}$)00 and (a$^{(3)}_{of}$)10.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗