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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Quantification of Residual Water in Spent Fuel Dry Storage Canisters Using Mass Spectrometry

The purpose of this report is to document updates on the apparatus to simulate commercial vacuum drying procedures at the Nuclear Energy Work Complex at Sandia National Laboratories. Validation of the extent of water removal in a dry spent nuclear fuel storage system based on drying procedures used at nuclear power plants is needed to close existing technical gaps. Operational conditions leading to incomplete drying may have potential impacts on the fuel, cladding, and other components in the system during subsequent storage and disposal, such as fuel degradation; cladding corrosion, embrittlement, or breaching; and the creation of a flammable environment via radiolysis of water. A general lack of data suitable for model validation of commercial nuclear canister drying processes necessitates well-designed investigations of drying process efficacy and water retention. Scaled tests that incorporate relevant physics and well-controlled boundary conditions are essential to provide insight and guidance to the simulation of prototypic systems undergoing drying processes. This report documents details on the quantification of residual water in the Advanced Drying Cycle Simulator (ADCS), an apparatus built to simulate commercial drying procedures and quantify the amount of residual water remaining in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel assembly after drying. The ADCS was constructed with a prototypic 17×17 PWR fuel skeleton and waterproof heater rods to simulate decay heat. The ADCS is outfitted with thermocouples to measure the thermal response of the ADCS to simulated decay heats and internal helium fill pressures relevant to commercial drying procedures. The ADCS is also instrumented with pressure transducers to measure the pressures and vacuum levels observed during simulated commercial drying. The most unique instrumentation used for quantifying residual water in the ADCS is a Hiden Analytical HPR-30 mass spectrometer (MS), which measures gas compositions of the ADCS internal free volume, based on partial pressures calculated from relative proportions of gas molecules detected by the MS. This report details the methodology used to implement MS measurements in quantifying residual water in the ADCS. This methodology includes the calibration of the HPR-30 MS to a Buck Research Instruments CR-4 chilled mirror hygrometer, which itself is calibrated to a NIST-traceable standard. Data collected by both the MS and the chilled mirror hygrometer from water/helium mixtures ranging from 150 to 500,000 ppmv water in helium were used to generate calibration curves, establishing a source of verification of MS measured water contents. Details regarding water content measurement uncertainties are included in this report, defining the accuracy and verifiability of the HPR-30 MS in measuring residual water content in simulated dry storage canister environments.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A long path-length optical property measurement device for highly transparent detector media

Measurements of the optical properties of highly transparent liquids are necessary for large-scale detectors that seek to detect optical signatures in kiloton-scale or larger volumes. Detailed understanding of the attenuation and scattering properties of fill media is critical to the ability to accurately simulate detector performance, and yet is often unavailable until in-situ measurements can be performed. Moreover, in-situ measurements may rely on effective attenuation lengths or other approximations to characterize performance, rather than absolute measurements of attenuation and scattering. To better understand the optical properties of potential fill media and purification schemes, a system has been developed which provides simultaneous attenuation and differential scattering cross-section measurements for highly transparent liquids. This horizontal, adjustable path-length “long-arm” system provides excellent isolation from the atmosphere, a high degree of vibration insensitivity, and a simple and reliable method of calibration. Further, scattering measurements can be carried out simultaneously at ports along the beamline equipped with optics allowing the selection of scatter angle and polarization. This enables both reliable quantitative scatter measurements and phase-function separation. This system has been extensively tested using deionized (DI) water as a benchmark, and has demonstrated repeatable measurements of attenuation lengths exceeding 100 m and scattering lengths approaching 1 km.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Molar Absorptivities of U(VI), U(IV), and Pu(III) in Nitric Acid Solutions of Various Concentrations Relevant to Developing Nuclear Fuel Recycling Flowsheets

Testing of a co-decontamination (CoDCon) tributyl phosphate (TBP) based solvent extraction flowsheet is being performed to optimize conditions for achieving a target U/Pu ratio in the Pu-containing product. The flowsheet is designed to directly produce a mixture of U and Pu with a U/Pu mass ratio of 7/3. The system is monitored in real time using optical spectroscopy, which allows for control of the U/Pu ratio in the aqueous U/Pu nitrate product. On-line spectrophotometric monitoring of the aqueous stream at the reductive stripping step involves determination of U(VI), U(IV) and Pu(III) concentrations and relies on molar absorptivities of these species in nitric acid at a number of wavelengths corresponding to their peaks’ maxima. The magnitudes of these molar absorptivities are a sensitive function of nitric acid concentration and have to be determined as precisely as possible using an off-line spectrophotometry under well controlled conditions. This step (called training set acquisition) is typically performed not in a high contamination area of radiological glovebox where flow-through cells and other on-line equipment are installed but in a less aggressive environment of a radiological fume hood with much better control of stock solutions quality, dilution factors, optical absorbance scale calibration, etc. This is followed by the calibration transfer between the off-line instrument and the instrument deployed during extraction and stripping runs. This paper reports values of molar absorptivities of U(VI), U(IV), and Pu(III) in nitric acid solution of 0.5 M to 4 M concentration and compares them with available technical literature data. Results of off-line spectrophotometric analysis of selected aqueous grab samples from one of CoDCon runs show satisfactory agreement with total uranium and plutonium concentrations determined in the same samples by ICP-MS.

Sinkov, Sergey I.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Preparation of 241 Am/ 243 Am gravimetric mixtures and development of Am isotopic and assay measurement techniques using thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Three gravimetric mixtures with 241 Am/ 243 Am isotope ratios at nominally 1:1, 20:1, and 200:1 were prepared for calibration of the thermal ionization mass spectrometer instruments used for americium isotopic and assay measurements by isotope dilution mass spectrometry. The total evaporation analytical technique was developed for high-accuracy and precision measurements of Am isotopic ratios. The technique was also applied to Am assay measurements using isotope dilution mass spectrometry. The Am isotope ratio and assay measurement techniques were utilized to characterize batches of americium oxide separated from plutonium materials in storage at Los Alamos National Laboratory in support of commercial use of 241 AmO 2 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering

Small-angle scattering (SAS) is a technique that is able to probe the structural organization of matter and quantify its response to changes in external conditions. X-ray and neutron scattering profiles measured from bulk materials or materials deposited at surfaces arise from nanostructural inhomogeneities of electron or nuclear density. Furthermore, the analysis of SAS data from coherent scattering events provides information about the length scale distributions of material components. Samples for SAS studies may be prepared in situ or under near-native conditions and the measurements performed at various temperatures, pressures, flows, shears or stresses, and in a time-resolved fashion. In this Primer, we provide an overview of SAS, summarizing the types of instrument used, approaches for data collection and calibration, available data analysis methods, structural information that can be obtained using the method, and data depositories, standards and formats. Recent applications of SAS in structural biology and the soft-matter and hard-matter sciences are also discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

ZTF-SEDm Type Ia supernova sample for Twins Embedding spectrophotometric standardization

Aims. This paper has two aims: the first aim is to build a large homogeneous spectrophotometric sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the second data release of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF DR2). We used the spectrum sample from the low-resolution ( R ∼ 100) SEDmachine (SEDm) Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) that gathered 3069 spectra. This is one of the largest samples of such collections that can attempt to reproduce the Twins Embedding (TE) spectrophotometric standardization method. This is our second objective. The method was developed based on high-quality spectra from 200 SNe Ia of the Nearby Supernova factory (SNfactory) and led to an exceptionally low value of 0.073 mag for the intrinsic scatter. Methods. As the SEDm is not designed as a spectrophotometric instrument, we first improved the flux-calibration accuracy of the SN Ia spectrum sample using the ZTF photometric data, which were calibrated at the percent level. We corrected the spectra for second-order polynomials, fitted by comparing the synthetic photometry in the ZTF g , r , i filters with the light-curve (LC) data. We then applied the three steps of the TE parameterization to a subset of 783 ZTF SN spectra near maximum light while comparing results from SNfactory and ZTF. We finally analyzed the standardization methods based on the TE parameters. Results. The precision of the phase-correction model, which is the first step of the TE, is estimated at 0.01 mag in g band based on ZTF data. Despite the challenge posed by the spectrum-extraction pipeline associated with the SEDm (flux calibration, leftover host signal, low signal-to-noise ratio, and low resolution), we applied a first standardization in color based on the second step of the TE, called read between the lines (RBTL), to the ZTF sample. We reached a Hubble residual scatter of 0.153 mag, all in normalized median absolute deviation, which is to be compared to the ∼0.11 mag obtained with the SNfactory data. The SALT color and stretch standardization reaches a scatter of 0.164 mag for the same ZTF SN Ia sample, and its host steps are ∼0.1 mag and zero for RBTL. When considering the scatter due to the redshift error and flux calibration error, we estimated a RBTL scatter of ∼0.129 mag for this ZTF sample as an upper limit because we identified an additional contribution from a systematic error in color. We tested the standardization based on the nonlinear TE parameters, and, as expected from the low spectrum quality, it did not improve the overall dispersion. Conclusions. We release 1897 flux calibrated spectra of 1607 SNe Ia with an estimated photometric accuracy of 0.07 mag. We further demonstrate that some amount of spectrophotometric SN Ia standardization can be done with limited-quality spectra. The RBTL standardization is more efficient than that of SALT with one parameter less, and the resulting host steps are consistent with zero. This makes it less prone to astrophysical bias. For future spectroscopic surveys, targeting the extraction pipeline for a thorough flux calibration and good signal-to-noise ratio would enable us to compute the full TE standardization, which would further reduce the scatter in the distance estimate.

Ganot, C↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Tianlai dish pathfinder array: design, operation, and performance of a prototype transit radio interferometer

ABSTRACT The Tianlai Dish Pathfinder Array is a radio interferometer designed to test techniques for 21 cm intensity mapping in the post-reionization universe as a means for measuring large-scale cosmic structure. It performs drift scans of the sky at constant declination. We describe the design, calibration, noise level, and stability of this instrument based on the analysis of about 5% of 6200 h of on-sky observations through 2019 October. Beam pattern determinations using drones and the transit of bright sources are in good agreement, and compatible with electromagnetic simulations. Combining all the baselines, we make maps around bright sources and show that the array behaves as expected. A few hundred hours of observations at different declinations have been used to study the array geometry and pointing imperfections, as well as the instrument noise behaviour. We show that the system temperature is below 80 K for most feed antennas and that noise fluctuations decrease as expected with integration time, at least up to a few hundred seconds. Analysis of long integrations, from 10 nights of observations of the North Celestial Pole (NCP), yielded visibilities with amplitudes of 20–30 mK, consistent with the expected signal from the NCP radio sky with ${\lt}10\,$ mK precision for 1 MHz × 1 min binning. Hi-pass filtering the spectra to remove smooth spectrum signal yields a residual consistent with zero signal at the $0.5\,$ mK level.

(cosmology:) large-scale structure of the Universe↗
DOE OSTI2020

Calibration and Initial Results of Space Radiation Dosimetry Using the iMESA-R

The integrated Miniaturized Electrostatic Analyzer-Reflight (iMESA-R) is a space weather instrument designed to measure plasma density, temperature, and spacecraft charging, along with total ionizing dose and dose rate. A constellation consisting of five nearly identical instruments has been designed and developed to act as science payloads hosted on-board Department of Defense satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. To validate the dosimetry component of the iMESA-R, a radiation test study was performed to calibrate the dosimeter and ascertain the attenuation due to the instrument aluminum housing. An 80 curie Cobalt-60 radioisotope source emitting beta, X-ray, and gamma ray radiation decay products was used to calibrate the dosimeter response as a function of distance and instrument shielding. We present results of the calibration study along with initial on-orbit data presented from the first operational iMESA-R hosted on-board Space Test Program Satellite 5 in a polar Earth orbit. The initial on-orbit data demonstrate the ability to map the radiation environment, particularly the South Atlantic Anomaly and the auroral regions using total ionizing dose rate due to electrons of E > 1.5 MeV and protons of E > 25 MeV.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

10 Boron-film-based gas detectors at ESS

The development of detectors for the European Spallation Source is an important parallel element to the effort put into the design and construction of the neutron source and instruments. The 10Boron-film-based detector developments that started over a decade ago as basic detector concepts have now reached technical maturity after intense prototyping work and numerous testing campaigns. Several of the ESS beamlines that will soon enter the commissioning phase started welcoming the detector systems built with the 10 B-film converter technology. The real-size demonstrators evolved in the last 2–3 years into a diverse suite of gas proportional counters for use in diffraction, reflectometry and small-angle scattering studies in spite of the operational complexity posed by the requirements for large-area coverage, low material budget and robustness for operation in the high-flux and high-radiation environment of ESS. The detectors are now being shipped to ESS or undergoing the last performance and calibration tests before being handed over to the instrument teams for installation in the host beamlines. A common feature of these detector systems is the very large number of readout channels that they are instrumented with in order to fulfill the demanding requirements for sensitivity, spatial resolution and count-rate capability. Across all of the detector types that will operate at ESS, the integration, testing and commissioning of the read-out technologies and software tools for data reduction, calibration and analysis are the focus of the detector and integration teams. These will yield a wealth of knowledge about their operation as well as initial results on the in-situ performance, a very important asset to ensure rapid commissioning of the detectors when neutrons from the ESS source become available. In this paper we will give an overview of the 10 B-film-based detector technologies included in the ESS detector suite that are currently facing the transition from the production phase to installation and integration with the other beamline components, which comes with its own specific challenges of both organizational and technical nature.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design and calibration of an optically segmented single volume scatter camera for neutron imaging

The Optically Segmented Single Volume Scatter Camera (OS-SVSC) aims to image neutron sources for non-proliferation applications using the kinematic reconstruction of elastic double-scatter events. Our prototype system consists of 64 EJ-204 organic plastic scintillator bars, each measuring 5mm × 5mm × 200mm and individually wrapped in Teflon tape. The scintillator array is optically coupled to two silicon photomultiplier ArrayJ-60035 64P-PCB arrays, each comprised of 64 individual 6x6mm J-Series sensors arranged in an 8 × 8 array. We report on the design details, including component selections, mechanical design and assembly, and the electronics system. The described design leveraged existing off-the-shelf solutions to support the rapid development of a phase 1 prototype. Several valuable lessons were learned from component and system testing, including those related to the detector's mechanical structure and electrical crosstalk that we conclude originates in the commercial photodetector arrays and the associated custom breakout cards. We detail our calibration efforts, beginning with calibrations for the electronics, based on the IRS3D application-specific integrated circuits, and their associated timing resolutions, ranging from 3090ps. With electronics calibrations applied, energy and position calibrations were performed for a set of edge bars using 22 Na and 90 Sr, respectively, reporting an average resolution of 12.07±0.03mm for energy depositions between 900keVee and 1000keVee. We further demonstrate a position calibration method for the internal bars of the matrix using cosmic-ray muons as an alternative to emission sources that cannot easily access these bars, with an average measured resolution of 14.86+-0.29mm for depositions between 900keVee and 1000keVee. The coincident time resolution reported between pairs of bars measured up to 400ps from muon acquisitions. Energy and position calibration values measured with muons are consistent with those obtained using particle emission sources.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of space charge effects in the MicroBooNE LArTPC using cosmic muons

Large liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs), especially those operating near the surface, are susceptible to space charge effects. In the context of LArTPCs, the space charge effect is the build-up of slow-moving positive ions in the detector primarily due to ionization from cosmic rays, leading to a distortion of the electric field within the detector. This effect leads to a displacement in the reconstructed position of signal ionization electrons in LArTPC detectors ("spatial distortions"), as well as to variations in the amount of electron-ion recombination experienced by ionization throughout the volume of the TPC. We present techniques that can be used to measure and correct for space charge effects in large LArTPCs by making use of cosmic muons, including the use of track pairs to unambiguously pin down spatial distortions in three dimensions. Finally, the performance of these calibration techniques are studied using both Monte Carlo simulation and MicroBooNE data, utilizing a UV laser system as a means to estimate the systematic bias associated with the calibration methodology.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

In situ estimation of ice crystal properties at the South Pole using LED calibration data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory instruments about 1 km 3 of deep, glacial ice at the geographic South Pole. It uses 5160 photomultipliers to detect Cherenkov light emitted by charged relativistic particles. An unexpected light propagation effect observed by the experiment is an anisotropic attenuation, which is aligned with the local flow direction of the ice. We examine birefringent light propagation through the polycrystalline ice microstructure as a possible explanation for this effect. The predictions of a first-principles model developed for this purpose, in particular curved light trajectories resulting from asymmetric diffusion, provide a qualitatively good match to the main features of the data. This in turn allows us to deduce ice crystal properties. Since the wavelength of the detected light is short compared to the crystal size, these crystal properties include not only the crystal orientation fabric, but also the average crystal size and shape, as a function of depth. By adding small empirical corrections to this first-principles model, a quantitatively accurate description of the optical properties of the IceCube glacial ice is obtained. In this paper, we present the experimental signature of ice optical anisotropy observed in IceCube light-emitting diode (LED) calibration data, the theory and parameterization of the birefringence effect, the fitting procedures of these parameterizations to experimental data, and the inferred crystal properties.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

SRNL Coulometer for LANL - SRNL-Testing 2020 (Final Report)

SRNL fabricated two coulometers that have been delivered to LANL. All testing for electrical components is performed by R&D engineering and the results are attached to this report. Instrument testing for the first instrument was completed on August 2018 and installation at LANL was completed February 2019. This report addresses testing performed at FH Analytical Laboratory for the second instrument that arrived at LANL on June 5th, 2020. The testing is performed using Plutonium working standards. The instrument was kept in a radiologically clean area. The component calibration of the second LANL coulometer was completed in SRNL Building 723-A.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Preliminary Calibration System Report for High-Temperature Irradiation-Resistant Thermocouples

An established calibration procedure is presented for the high-temperature irradiation-resistant thermocouple (HTIR-TC). Standard calibration curves for both an individual (i.e. case by case basis) and common calibrations is shown. The error limits within ±3 σ are ±1% for the individual calibrations and ±2% for the common calibration.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Development of an in situ dual-channel thermal desorption gas chromatography instrument for consistent quantification of volatile, intermediate-volatility and semivolatile organic compounds

Abstract. Aerosols are a source of great uncertainty in radiative forcing predictions and have poorly understood health impacts. Most aerosol mass is formed in the atmosphere from reactive gas-phase organic precursors, forming secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) (effective saturation concentration, C*, of 10−1–103 µg m−3) comprise a large fraction of organic aerosol, while intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) (C* of 103–106 µg m−3) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (C* ≥ 106 µg m−3) are gas-phase precursors to SOA and ozone. The Comprehensive Thermal Desorption Aerosol Gas Chromatograph (cTAG) is the first single instrument simultaneously quantitative for a broad range of compound-specific VOCs, IVOCs and SVOCs. cTAG is a two-channel instrument which measures concentrations of C5–C16 alkane-equivalent-volatility VOCs and IVOCs on one channel and C14–C32 SVOCs on the other coupled to a single high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer, achieving consistent quantification across 15 orders of magnitude of vapor pressure. cTAG obtains concentrations hourly and gas–particle partitioning for SVOCs every other hour, enabling observation of the evolution of these species through oxidation and partitioning into the particle phase. Online derivatization for the SVOC channel enables detection of more polar and oxidized species. In this work we present design details and data evaluating key parameters of instrument performance such as I/VOC collector design optimization, linearity and reproducibility of calibration curves obtained using a custom liquid evaporation system for I/VOCs and the effect of an ozone removal filter on instrument performance. Example timelines of precursors with secondary products are shown, and analysis of a subset of compounds detectable by cTAG demonstrates some of the analytical possibilities with this instrument.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Solute chemistry for streams draining geomorphic features and varying land cover gradients in the East River watershed, Colorado

This dataset contains solute chemistry data and GPS coordinates for surface water samples collected in the East River watershed in the Elk and West Elk Ranges of Colorado from August 3rd through August 11th, 2022. Samples were collected from streams and groundwater seeps as part of a comprehensive analysis within the watershed of how different geomorphic features (such as landslides and rock glaciers) along with variations in land cover (such as the presence of vegetation) affect stream water quality in this Rocky Mountain headwater environment. This dataset includes concentrations of the following in a single csv file: fluoride, chloride, sulfate, nitrate, calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, silicon, and total organic carbon (TOC). All concentrations are reported in mg/L. The sulfate data in this version have been updated to account for an earlier ion chromatograph instrument method error whereby sulfate and bromide peaks overlapped in calibration solution samples, biasing calculated sulfate concentrations low by 30-50%. Sulfate data reported herein are from a re-run of the samples performed in December 2024 using a corrected instrument method. All samples were stored under refrigerated conditions and filtered on initial collection.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗