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At least 127 records · Page 7

Experiment design for the neutron irradiation of $\mathrm{PM-HIP}$ alloys for nuclear reactors

Here, this article describes the design of an Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) drop-in neutron irradiation experiment aiming to directly compare the performance of nuclear structural alloys fabricated by powder metallurgy with hot isostatic pressing (PM-HIP) against conventional casting or forging. There is growing interest in PM-HIP alloys for nuclear applications because of their microstructural uniformity, superior mechanical properties, and reduced dependence on welding and machining, compared to cast/forged alloys. Nuclear code-qualification of PM-HIP alloys requires neutron irradiation testing to demonstrate performance under relevant conditions. In this experiment, six nuclear structural alloys were irradiated: Ni-based alloys 625 and 690, Grade 91 ferritic steel, SA508 pressure vessel steel, and 304L and 316L austenitic stainless steels. The experiment is assembled into seven capsules in four test trains and irradiated in three ATR inboard A positions. Both the PM-HIP and cast/forged versions of each alloy were irradiated under nearly identical conditions for comparative purposes, to target doses of 1 ± 0.2 and 3 ± 0.2 dpa at temperatures of 300 ± 50 °C and 400 ± 50 °C. A thorough description of the experiment design and thermal, structural and neutronic analyses performed to ensure the targeted irradiation conditions are met is provided. Specimens were configured as small disks, compact tension specimens and tensile bars to facilitate post-irradiation examination (PIE) that will include mechanical testing, microstructure characterization, and fracture toughness testing. Given the considerations for ASTM standardized mechanical testing, comparative fluence and temperature across specimen pairs, and comprehensive PIE planning herein, this work serves as a template for future nuclear materials qualification experiment designs.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Evaluation of the Microstructure and Property of TiNi SMA Prepared using VIM in BaZrO3 Crucible

The contamination from the crucible has been recognized as the main drawback of using vacuum induction melting (VIM) method to prepare TiNi shape memory alloys (SMAs). In the present work, we evaluated the feasibility of utilizing the highly-stable BaZrO3 crucible to prepare TiNi SMAs, whose microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated by High-energy X-ray Diffraction (HE-XRD), analytical Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and tensile test. It was found that there were about 0.035 wt % oxygen and 0.039 wt % zirconium remained in the TiNi alloy after melting in BaZrO3 crucible, which fulfills the ASTM standard on biomedical TiNi alloys. Oxygen from the dissolution of BaZrO3 could form Ti4Ni2Ox phase, and zirconium exists as solute atoms in both of the matrix and second phase. After the thermomechanical processing and vacuum annealing at 850 degrees C, the alloy achieved 37.63% of fracture elongation and 880 MPa of tensile strength. The transformational strain and martensitic yield strain of the alloy reached about 8% and 21% respectively.

Gao, Pengyue↗

Scale-Up Studies for the Dehydration of C 4+ Alcohols into Drop-In Diesel Fuel

Herein, we demonstrate the production of liter quantities of drop-in diesel-range ethers from biomass-derived alcohols. We report scale-up resultsfor the dehydration of a mixture of C 4+ alcohols using powder and pellet zeolite Ycatalyst in continuous flow and batch reactors. The activity of zeolite Y decreaseswith the introduction of an alumina binder. Large alcohols, as well as branchedand secondary alcohols, increase the coke content over the pellet Y catalyst. Thepellet formulation had lower carbon balances and selectivity to C 10+ ethers,suggesting that the pellet formulation increases alcohol absorption and cokeproduction. Crushing the pellet Y catalyst to smaller particle sizes does notrecover the activity of zeolite Y in its powder form. Cold flow experiments showthat particle agglomeration contributes to pressure buildup in the continuous flowreactor. C 10+ ether blends can be produced in batch reactors at high alcohol conversion regimes. One liter of a diesel #2 blend wasproduced by scaling up this reaction. The final blend consists of a substantial portion of C 10+ ethers (63.7 wt %), followed by heavyunknown products (27.4 wt %). Furthermore, the final alcohol and butyl ether concentration values were 7.3 and 1.5 wt %, respectively. Theblendstock reported in this paper can satisfy diesel #2 ASTM standards for density, cloud point, flashpoint, and cetane number.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Pilot-scale hydrotreating of catalytic fast pyrolysis biocrudes: process performance and product analysis

Catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) is a technology option for producing advanced biofuels from hydrocarbon-rich biocrude intermediates. The relatively high oxygen content of biocrudes compared to petroleum intermediates increases hydrogen consumption and the lower thermal stability accelerates catalyst deactivation and reactor fouling hindering the adaptation of hydrotreating technology for biocrude upgrading into biofuels. In this study, four chemically different biocrude feeds were upgraded in a pilot scale hydroprocessing unit at similar process conditions using a commercial hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) catalyst. The biocrude feeds and hydrotreated products were characterized using standard ASTM procedures and advanced analytical techniques (GCxGC-FID and GCxGC-MS). HDO catalyst activity was monitored by changes in physical properties and chemical composition of the upgraded products as a function of time on stream. Aliphatic acids, ketones, aldehydes, and furan derivatives were completely converted during the hydrotreating tests while the concentration of aromatics, aliphatic hydrocarbons and phenolics increased during the hydrotreating tests. The oxygen content, nitrogen content, specific gravity, viscosity and the heavy end of the boiling point range (determined by simulated distillation) of the upgraded products increased with increasing time on stream during hydrotreating. The deactivation rate was the lowest for the biocrude feed that contained the most aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and was the highest for the biocrude feed that had the most anhydrosugars. Overall, the HDO deactivation rate correlates with the total amount of oxygen in the feed (17 wt% to 29 wt%, on a wet basis).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Assessment of tungsten/rhenium thermocouples with metal-carbon eutectic fixed points up to 1500°C

Four Type A thermocouples and two Type C thermocouples were calibrated at the Au fixed point and Co-C and Pd-C eutectic fixed points. The thermocouples were exposed to 1330 °C for a total of 100 hours. The maximum drift due to the exposure was found to be 4.8 °C. The fixed-point calibration EMF of these thermocouples deviated by less than 0.86% from the temperature specified by the standards ASTM E230-2003 for Type C and GOSTR 8.585-2001 for Type A. The length of one of Type A thermocouples A52 is longer than the others by 150mm. Making use of this provision it was possible to place annealed part of A52 to the temperature gradient part of calibration arrangement every time. Therefore observed aging effect was as low as 0.5 °C compared to the other thermocouples.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

CONSTRAINT-INDEPENDENT CONSTANT CTOA DETERMINATION FOR DUCTILE STABLE CRACK GROWTH

Crack tip opening angle (CTOA) has been used as a reliable fracture toughness parameter for decades to characterize stable ductile crack growth for thin-walled aerospace structures in the low-constraint conditions. Recently, the CTOA parameter was also applied to the pipeline industry, and a CTOA test standard ASTM E3039 was thus developed for testing a critical constant CTOA. Research showed that the constant CTOA can reasonably describe fracture toughness required to arrest a dynamic crack propagation for a modern gas pipeline. However, the CTOA fracture criterion requires constraint-independent CTOA toughness against stable ductile crack growth. ASTM E3039 recommends a drop weight tearing test (DWTT) specimen for CTOA testing. Since a shallow crack is used, DWTT measured CTOA may depend on constraint level at the crack tip. To understand if it is the case, this paper evaluates the critical CTOA for a set of fracture toughness tests on single edge notched bend (SENB) specimens with shallow and deep cracks based on four CTOA estimation models. In which, the Ln(P)-LLD linear fit model is similar to that used by ASTM E3039 in the CTOA calculation. Fracture test data for X80 pipeline steel and HY80 structural steel are considered in the CTOA evaluation. The results show that the four CTOA models can determine a crack size-independent constant CTOA over stable ductile crack growth for the SENB specimens. As a result, CTOA determined by ASTM E3039 is constraintindependent and transferable to use for an actual crack propagating in a gas pipeline.

Zhu, Xian-Kui↗

Uptakes of Cs and Sr on San Joaquin soil measured following ASTM method C1733

Series of tests were conducted following ASTM Standard Procedure C1733 to evaluate the repeatability of the test and the effects of several test parameters, including the solution-to-soil mass ratio, test duration, pH, and the concentrations of contaminants in the solution. This standard procedure is recommended for measuring the distribution coefficient (K d ) of a contaminant in a specific soil/groundwater system. One objective of the current tests was to identify experimental conditions that can be used in future interlaboratory studies to determine the reproducibility of the test method. This includes the recommendation of a standard soil, the range of contaminant concentrations and solution matrix, and various test parameters. Quantifying the uncertainty in the distribution coefficient that can be attributed to the test procedure itself allows the differences in measured values to be associated with differences in the natural systems being studied.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Addressing Facility Needs for Concrete Assessment Using Ultrasonic Testing: Mid-year Report

The UFD Gap Analysis to Support Extended Storage of Used Nuclear Fuel (June 30, 2011) emphasizes the need for the development of monitoring techniques and technologies for dry storage cask materials. A high priority is given to the development of 'systems for early detection of confinement boundary degradation.' This requires both new techniques for monitoring and inspection, as well as new measurable parameters to quantify mechanical degradation. The use of Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy (NEWS) has been shown to provide sensitive parameters correlating to mechanical degradation in a wide variety of materials. Herein we report upon recent research performed to address the high priority of concrete degradation using a selection of these techniques and compare to a ASTM standard ultrasonic technique. Also reported are the near term plans to continue this research in the remaining FY and into the coming years. This research was conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the Acoustics Lab of the Geophysics group in the Earth and Environmental Sciences division, and in collaboration with the Laboratory for Nondestructive Evaluation at the University of the Mediterranean (Aix en Provence, France) and the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI). The objective of this research project was to determine the feasibility of using an NDE technique based on non-linear ultrasound for determining the depth and degree of microcracking in the near surface of concrete and to assess the degree of sensitivity of such technique. This objective is reached by the means of combining linear and nonlinear measurements, associated with numerical simulation. We first study the global effect of thermal damage on concrete's linear and nonlinear properties by resonance inspection techniques. We show that standard pulse wave speed techniques are not relevant to extract mechanical properties of concrete. The high sensitivity of measured nonlinearity is shown and serves as a validation tool for the rest of the study, i.e., probing the material nonlinearity at various depths through the use of Time Reversal Elastic Nonlinearity Diagnostic (TREND). The basic idea of probing the material nonlinearity at various depths by changing the frequency is validated by exhibiting a similar trend as nonlinear resonance measurements. We address at the end of this report, the potentialities of applying these procedures to real concrete structures.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Fire Safety Tests for Cesium-Loaded Spherical Resorcinol Formaldehyde Resin: Data Summary Report

A draft safety evaluation of the scenario for spherical resorcinol formaldehyde (SRF) resin fire inside the ion exchange column was performed by the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Fire Safety organization. The result of this draft evaluation suggested a potential change of the fire safety classification for the Cesium Ion Exchange Process System (CXP) emergency elution vessels, equipment, and piping. To resolve this question, the fire properties of the SRF resin were measured by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) through a subcontract managed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The results of initial fire safety tests on the SRF resin were documented in a previous report (WTP-RPT-218). The present report summarizes the results of additional tests performed by SwRI on the cesium-loaded SRF resin. The efforts by PNNL were limited to summarizing the test results provided by SwRI into one consolidated data report. The as-received SwRI report is attached to this report in the Appendix A. Where applicable, the precision and bias of each test method, as given by each American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard procedure, are included and compared with the SwRI test results of the cesium-loaded SRF resin.

Fire Safety↗

Beam Characterization at the Neutron Radiography Facility

The quality of a neutron imaging beam directly impacts the quality of radiographic images produced using that beam. Fully characterizing a neutron beam, including determination of the beam’s effective length-to-diameter ratio, neutron flux profile, energy spectrum, image quality, and beam divergence, is vital for producing quality radiographic images. This project characterized the east neutron imaging beamline at the Idaho National Laboratory Neutron Radiography Reactor (NRAD). The experiments which measured the beam’s effective length-to-diameter ratio and image quality are based on American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. An analysis of the image produced by a calibrated phantom measured the beam divergence. The energy spectrum measurements consist of a series of foil irradiations using a selection of activation foils, compared to the results produced by a Monte Carlo n-Particle (MCNP) model of the beamline. Improvement of the existing NRAD MCNP beamline model includes validation of the model’s energy spectrum and the development of enhanced image simulation methods. The image simulation methods predict the radiographic image of an object based on the foil reaction rate data obtained by placing a model of the object in front of the image plane in an MCNP beamline model.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Progress Report on Alloy 617 Isochronous Stress-Strain Curves

Isochronous stress-strain curves for Alloy 617 up to a temperature of 1000°C will be required to qualify the material for elevated temperature design in Section III, Division 1, Subsection NH of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Several potential methods for developing these curves are reviewed in this report. It is shown that in general power-law creep is the rate controlling deformation mechanism for a wide range of alloy heats, test temperatures and stresses. Measurement of the strain rate sensitivity of Alloy 617 indicates that the material is highly strain rate sensitive in the tensile deformation range above about 750°C. This suggests that the concept of a hot tensile curve as a bounding case on the isochronous stress-strain diagrams is problematic. The impact of strain rate on the hot tensile curves is examined and it is concluded that incorporating such a curve is only meaningful if a single tensile strain rate (typically the ASTM standard rate of 0.5%/min) is arbitrarily defined. Current experimentally determined creep data are compared to isochronous stress-strain curves proposed previously by the German programs in the 1980s and by the 1990 draft ASME Code Case. Variability in how well the experimental data are represented by the proposed design curves that suggests further analysis is necessary prior to completing a new draft Code Case.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Investigation of Surface Treatments to Improve the Friction and Wear of Titanium Alloys for Diesel Engine Components

This final report summarizes experimental and analytical work performed under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Transportation Technologies, and UT-Battelle LLC. The project was directed by Jerry Gibbs, of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Propulsion Materials Program, with management by D. P. Stinton and J. A. Haynes of ORNL. Participants included Peter J. Blau (Principal Investigator), Kevin M. Cooley (senior technician), Melanie J. Kirkham (materials scientist) of the Materials Science and Technology Division or ORNL, and Dinesh G. Bansal, a post doctoral fellow employed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) and who, at the time of this writing, is an engineer with Cummins, Inc. This report covers a three-year effort that involved two stages. In the first stage, and after a review of the literature and discussions with surface treatment experts, a series of candidate alloys and surface treatments for titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) was selected for initial screening. After pre-screening using an ASTM standard test method, the more promising surface treatments were tested in Phase 2 using a variable loading apparatus that was designed and built to simulate the changing load patterns in a typical connecting rod bearing. Information on load profiles from the literature was supplemented with the help of T.C. Chen and Howard Savage of Cummins, Inc. Considering the dynamic and evolving nature of materials technology, this report presents a snapshot of commercial and experimental bearing surface technologies for titanium alloys that were available during the period of this work. Undoubtedly, further improvements in surface engineering methods for titanium will evolve.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Overview of Aviation Fuel Markets for Biofuels Stakeholders

This report is for biofuels stakeholders interested the U.S. aviation fuel market. Jet fuel production represents about 10% of U.S. petroleum refinery production. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and BP top producers, and Texas, Louisiana, and California are top producing states. Distribution of fuel primarily involves transport from the Gulf Coast to other regions. Fuel is transported via pipeline (60%), barges on inland waterways (30%), tanker truck (5%), and rail (5%). Airport fuel supply chain organization and fuel sourcing may involve oil companies, airlines, airline consortia, airport owners and operators, and airport service companies. Most fuel is used for domestic, commercial, civilian flights. Energy efficiency has substantially improved due to aircraft fleet upgrades and advanced flight logistic improvements. Jet fuel prices generally track prices of crude oil and other refined petroleum products, whose prices are more volatile than crude oil price. The single largest expense for airlines is jet fuel, so its prices and persistent price volatility impact industry finances. Airlines use various strategies to manage aviation fuel price uncertainty. The aviation industry has established goals to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions, and initial estimates of biojet life cycle greenhouse gas emissions exist. Biojet fuels from Fischer-Tropsch and hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids processes have ASTM standards. The commercial aviation industry and the U.S. Department of Defense have used aviation biofuels. Additional research is needed to assess the environmental, economic, and financial potential of biojet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate long-term upward price trends, fuel price volatility, or both.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Assessment of Gasoline Additive Containing Ditert-butoxypropanol

The Fuels, Engines, and Emissions Research Center completed analysis and testing of the CPS Powershot gasoline additive under the auspices of the Department of Energy’s Technical Assistance for US Small Businesses in Vehicle Technologies. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to quantify the makeup of the additive, finding a predominance of 2,3-Ditert-Butoxypropanol, also known as Glyceryl Di-Tert-Butyl Ether (GTBE). Blends of the additive at 2 and 4 volume percent were subjected to a number of standard ASTM tests, including Research Octane Number, Motor Octane Number, distillation, and vapor pressure. Results show a high boiling range and low vapor pressure for the additive, and a very modest octane boosting effect in gasoline with and without ethanol.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Thermal Properties of G-348 Graphite

Fundamental measurements have been obtained in the INL Graphite Characterization Laboratory to deduce the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity for G-348 isotropic graphite, which has been used by City College of New York in thermal experiments related to gas-cooled nuclear reactors. Measurements of thermal diffusivity, mass, volume and thermal expansion were converted to thermal conductivity in accordance with ASTM Standard Practice C781-08. Data are tabulated and a preliminary correlation for the thermal conductivity is presented as a function of temperature from laboratory temperature to 1000C.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Thermal Properties of G-348 Graphite

Fundamental measurements have been obtained in the INL Graphite Characterization Laboratory to deduce the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity for G-348 isotropic graphite, which has been used by City College of New York in thermal experiments related to gas-cooled nuclear reactors. Measurements of thermal diffusivity, mass, volume and thermal expansion were converted to thermal conductivity in accordance with ASTM Standard Practice C781-08 (R-2014). Data are tabulated and a preliminary correlation for the thermal conductivity is presented as a function of temperature from laboratory temperature to 1000C.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗