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At least 343 records · Page 19

Idaho National Laboratory Data Acquisition And Processing System

The INLDAS data acquisition and processing system is designed to develop prototype measurements and real-time processing techniques. The INLDAS hardware and firmware currently consists of National Instruments • NI-DAQmx 14.1 • cDAQ-9184 • 9205 • 9211 INLDAS can perform of standard data acquisition functions as well as novel functions and real-time processing algorithms. There are 3 acquisition modes to choose from: • Continuous mode runs when the user hits start, processing data and logging it to file • SWTrigger mode waits for one or more predefined triggers before acquiring data. It will buffer data as well, so it can record data that happened shortly before the trigger • Wakeup mode waits on predefined timers. When a time goes off, it acquires a preset amount of data There are also 3 Data Processing Modes • Normal mode does no processing besides the rolling average • FFT Mode Performs an FFT on incoming data every time the time window has elapsed • STFFT mode

Smith, JamesA↗

Passive Noise Analysis for Advanced Tamper Indication. End of Year Report 2015

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is part of a multi-lab project assessing front-end electronics for unattended measurement (FEUM) being developed for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) unattended systems. The FEUM development activity provides an opportunity to address tampering detection between FEUM and the detector, signal integrity from FEUM to the data acquisition systems, and data validity – long-standing challenges for the IAEA. This report summarizes the INL activities in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 to characterize and test passive noise analysis as a potential tamper-indicating approach for implementation into FEUM or as a stand-alone method. The project’s primary objectives in FY-15 were to (1) determine detectable tamper scenarios using four pre-amplifier/detector systems, (2) perform tests of tampering scenarios with three common cable types used by the IAEA, (3) separate radio-frequency-induced events from inherent effect by means of an anechoic chamber, and (4) perform tests at an industrial facility. General conclusions were reached in several areas.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Detection Of Special Nuclear Materials Tagged Neutrons

In order to detect Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) in unattended luggage or cargo containers in the field of homeland security, fissions are induced by 14 MeV neutrons produced by an associated particle DT neutron generator, and prompt fission particles correlated with tagged neutron are detected by plastic scintillators. SMN produce high multiplicity events due to induced fissions, whereas nonnuclear materials produce low multiplicity events due to cross-talk, (n,2n) or (n,n'γ) reactions. The data acquisition electronics is made of compact FPGA boards. The coincidence window is triggered by the alpha particle detection, allowing to tag the emission date and direction of the 14 MeV interrogating neutron. The first part of the paper presents experiment vs. calculation comparisons to validate MCNP-PoliMi simulations and the post-processing tools developed with the data analysis framework ROOT. Measurements have been performed using different targets (iron, lead, graphite), first with small plastic scintillators (10 x 10 x 10 cm{sup 3}) and then with large detectors (10 x 10 x 100 cm{sup 3}) to demonstrate that nuclear materials can be differentiated from nonnuclear dense materials (iron, lead) in iron and wood matrixes. A special attention is paid on SNM detection in abandoned luggage. In the second part of the paper, the performances of a cargo container inspection system are studied by numerical simulation, following previous work reported in. Detectors dimensions and shielding against the neutron generator background are optimized for container inspection. Events not correlated to an alpha particle (uncorrelated background), counting statistics, time and energy resolutions of the data acquisition system are all taken into account in a realistic numerical model. The impact of the container matrix (iron, ceramic, wood) has been investigated by studying the system capability to detect a few kilograms of SNM in different positions in the cargo container, within 10 min acquisitions. (authors)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A multiprocessor airborne lidar data system

A new multiprocessor data acquisition system was developed for the existing Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL). This implementation simultaneously utilizes five single board 68010 microcomputers, the UNIX system V operating system, and the real time executive VRTX. The original data acquisition system was implemented on a Hewlett Packard HP 21-MX 16 bit minicomputer using a multi-tasking real time operating system and a mixture of assembly and FORTRAN languages. The present collection of data sources produce data at widely varied rates and require varied amounts of burdensome real time processing and formatting. It was decided to replace the aging HP 21-MX minicomputer with a multiprocessor system. A new and flexible recording format was devised and implemented to accommodate the constantly changing sensor configuration. A central feature of this data system is the minimization of non-remote sensing bus traffic. Therefore, it is highly desirable that each micro be capable of functioning as much as possible on-card or via private peripherals. The bus is used primarily for the transfer of remote sensing data to or from the buffer queue.

Wright, C. W.↗

Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) Field Campaign Report

The scientific focus here is interagency collaboration to support a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-sponsored 2023 field campaign: Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS). IMPACTS objectives are to provide observations critical to understanding the mechanisms of snowband formation, organization, and evolution; study how the microphysical characteristics and likely growth mechanisms of snow particles vary across snowbands; and improve snowfall remote-sensing interpretation and modeling to significantly advance predictive capabilities. The relevance to The U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility's mission was to support the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services (ICAMS)’ objectives to enhance communication and coordination, and promote sharing, within and across agencies. NASA therefore requested to borrow ARM’s two-dimensional stereo probe (2DS) for possible use during the 2023 IMPACTS project. Additionally, this use of the 2DS could improve understanding of ARM 2DS measurements collected on previous field campaigns. The plan was to have the 2DS available for possible backup deployment on the NASA Lockheed Orion P-3 aircraft during the 2023 IMPACTS field project. NASA has a 2DS probe and the ARM 2DS is a hot swappable probe in case the project's 2DS fails. The 2DS is a critical probe and we had issues during a 2022 field project that prevented us from obtaining 2DS data on several flights. Hence, we wanted a hot swappable 2DS on stand-by. We have a data acquisition system, along with a backup data acquisition system for the 2DS, so we only needed the 2DS probe. David Delene was responsible for the use of the 2DS on the NASA P-3 aircraft. He has experience deploying the 2DS on several aircraft, including previously on the NASA P-3 in 2022. The team ensured that the aircraft wiring and deployment of the 2DS were completed correctly for the ARM 2DS.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Development of a Microphone Phased Array Capability for the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel

A new aeroacoustic measurement capability has been developed for use in open-jet testing in the NASA Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel (14x22 tunnel). A suite of instruments has been developed to characterize noise source strengths, locations, and directivity for both semi-span and full-span test articles in the facility. The primary instrument of the suite is a fully traversable microphone phased array for identification of noise source locations and strengths on models. The array can be mounted in the ceiling or on either side of the facility test section to accommodate various test article configurations. Complementing the phased array is an ensemble of streamwise traversing microphones that can be placed around the test section at defined locations to conduct noise source directivity studies along both flyover and sideline axes. A customized data acquisition system has been developed for the instrumentation suite that allows for command and control of all aspects of the array and microphone hardware, and is coupled with a comprehensive data reduction system to generate information in near real time. This information includes such items as time histories and spectral data for individual microphones and groups of microphones, contour presentations of noise source locations and strengths, and hemispherical directivity data. The data acquisition system integrates with the 14x22 tunnel data system to allow real time capture of facility parameters during acquisition of microphone data. The design of the phased array system has been vetted via a theoretical performance analysis based on conventional monopole beamforming and DAMAS deconvolution. The performance analysis provides the ability to compute figures of merit for the array as well as characterize factors such as beamwidths, sidelobe levels, and source discrimination for the types of noise sources anticipated in the 14x22 tunnel. The full paper will summarize in detail the design of the instrumentation suite, the construction of the hardware system, and the results of the performance analysis. Although the instrumentation suite is designed to characterize noise for a variety of test articles in the 14x22 tunnel, this paper will concentrate on description of the instruments for two specific test campaigns in the facility, namely a full-span NASA Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) model entry and a semi-span Gulfstream aircraft model entry, tested in the facility in the winter of 2012 and spring of 2013, respectively.

Humphreys, William M.↗

Characterization of Cameras for the COSMO K-coronagraph

Digital image sensors are ubiquitous in astronomical instrumentation and it is well known that they suffer from issues that must be corrected for data to be scientifically useful. I present discussion on errors resulting from digitization and characterization of nonlinearity and ADC errors of the PhotonFocus MV-D1024E cameras selected for the K-coronagraph of the Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory. I derive an analytic expression for quantization errors. The MV-D1024E camera has adequate bit depth for which quantization error is not an issue. I show that this is not the case for all cameras, particularly those with deep wells and low read noise. The impact of nonlinearity and ADC errors on science observations of the K-coronagraph is analyzed using a simplified telescope model. Errors caused by the camera ADCs result in systematic errors in the measurement of the polarimetric signal of several times 10{sup −9} B {sub ⊙}, which is about an order of magnitude above the desired sensitivity. I demonstrate a method for post-facto data correction using a lookup table and derive parameters from camera characterization measurements that were made with a lab setup. Nonlinearity is traditionally addressed with a global correction. I show through analysis of calibration data that for the MV-D1024E this correction leaves residual systematic errors after dark and gain correction of up to 1% of the signal. I demonstrate that a pixel-wise correction of nonlinearity reduces the errors to below 0.1%. These corrections are necessary for the K-coronagraph data products to meet the science requirements. They have been implemented in the instrument data acquisition system and data reduction pipeline. While no other instruments besides the K-coronagraph or cameras besides the MV-D1024E are discussed here, the results are illustrative for all instruments and cameras.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DDS-Suite - A Dynamic Data Acquisition, Processing, and Analysis System for Wind Tunnel Testing

Wind Tunnels have optimized their steady-state data systems for acquisition and analysis and even implemented large dynamic-data acquisition systems, however development of near real-time processing and analysis tools for dynamic-data have lagged. DDS-Suite is a set of tools used to acquire, process, and analyze large amounts of dynamic data. Each phase of the testing process: acquisition, processing, and analysis are handled by separate components so that bottlenecks in one phase of the process do not affect the other, leading to a robust system. DDS-Suite is capable of acquiring 672 channels of dynamic data at rate of 275 MB / s. More than 300 channels of the system use 24-bit analog-to-digital cards and are capable of producing data with less than 0.01 of phase difference at 1 kHz. System architecture, design philosophy, and examples of use during NASA Constellation and Fundamental Aerodynamic tests are discussed.

Burnside, Jathan J.↗

Advanced Biotelemetry Systems for Space Life Sciences

The Sensors 2000! Program at NASA-Ames Research Center is developing an Advanced Biotelemetry System (ABTS) for Space Life Sciences applications. This modular suite of instrumentation is planned to be used in operational spaceflight missions, ground-based research and development experiments, and collaborative, technology transfer and commercialization activities. The measured signals will be transmitted via radio-frequency (RF), electromagnetic or optical carriers and direct-connected leads to a remote ABTS receiver and data acquisition system for data display, storage, and transmission to Earth. Intermediate monitoring and display systems may be hand held or portable, and will allow for personalized acquisition and control of medical and physiological data.

Hines, John W.↗

Development of a Vehicle Health Monitoring System for the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Program

During their brief flight, the space shuttle solid rocket boosters (SRBs) experience a severe environment. This environment in most cases is unknown. When the design engineers believe they understand the environments, something new occurs. For example, at water impact several SRBs have sustained noticeable structural damage. The severity of the damage is usually dependent upon the waves that the SRB encounter at splashdown. The space shuttle is presently scheduled to fly until 2030. To support the shuttle flight schedule, the avionics on the SRB's will need to be upgraded. The environments on the different sections of the SRB will need to be defined more completely to properly qualify the avionics for multiple flights. The combination of new avionics systems and unknown flight environments led Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) SRB Project Office to request the Science and Engineering (S&E) Directorate to develop a stand-alone data acquisition system that could collect data from any area of the booster. The Enhanced Data Acquisition System (EDAS) was developed to meet this request. However, the EDAS has some technical drawbacks that needed resolved. To answer the EDAS problems, the SRB Project Office has funded MSFC's Avionics Department to begin investigating a new vehicle health monitoring (VHM) system. The major requirements are the system shall have 64 channels, have programmable sample rates up to 10,000 samples per second, have sufficient memory for a twenty minute flight and not interfere with existing operational flight avionics hardware. This paper will describe the effort to develop a VHM system that can meet the SRB requirements.

Crawford, Kevin↗

Data acquisition and slow control interface for the Mu2e experiment

The Mu2e experiment at the Fermilab Muon Campus will search for the coherent neutrinoless conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus with a sensitivity improvement by a factor of 10000 over existing limits. The Mu2e Trigger and Data Acquisition System (TDAQ) uses otsdaq as the online Data Acquisition System (DAQ) solution. Developed at Fermilab, otsdaq integrates both the artdaq DAQ and the art analysis frameworks for event transfer, filtering, and processing. otsdaq is an online DAQ software suite with a focus on flexibility and scalability and provides a multi-user, web-based, interface accessible through a web browser. The data stream from the detector subsystems is read by a software filter algorithm that selects events which are combined with the data flux coming from a cosmic ray veto system. The Detector Control System (DCS) has been developed using the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) open source platform for monitoring, controlling, alarming, and archiving. The DCS system has been integrated into otsdaq. A prototype of the TDAQ and the DCS systems has been built at Fermilab's Feynman Computing Center. In this study, we report on the progress of the integration of this prototype in the online otsdaq software.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

High Speed PC Based Data Acquisition and Instrumentation for Measurement of Simulated Low Earth Orbit Thermally Induced Disturbances

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Disturbance Verification Test (DVT) was conducted to characterize responses of the Observatory's new set of rigid solar array's (SA3) to thermally induced 'creak' or stiction releases. The data acquired in the DVT were used in verification of the HST Pointing Control System on-orbit performance, post-Servicing Mission 3B (SM3B). The test simulated the on-orbit environment on a deployed SA3 flight wing. Instrumentation for this test required pretest simulations in order to select the correct sensitivities. Vacuum compatible, highly accurate accelerometers and force gages were used for this test. The complexity of the test, as well as a short planning schedule, required a data acquisition system that was easy to configure, highly flexible, and extremely robust. A PC Windows oriented data acquisition system meets these requirements, allowing the test engineers to minimize the time required to plan and perform complex environmental test. The SA3 DVT provided a direct practical and complex demonstration of the versatility that PC based data acquisition systems provide. Two PC based data acquisition systems were assembled to acquire, process, distribute, and provide real time processing for several types of transducers used in the SA3 DVT. A high sample rate digital tape recorder was used to archive the sensor signals. The two systems provided multi-channel hardware and software architecture and were selected based on the test requirements. How these systems acquire and processes multiple data rates from different transducer types is discussed, along with the system hardware and software architecture.

Sills, Joel W., Jr.↗

Directional Drilling Technology for HLW Disposal - Long Term Monitoring in the Borehole - 16079

Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) has been conducting a project for the directional drilling and measurement/logging technologies to survey hydro-geological condition at the stage of the preliminary investigation (PI) of site selection for the deep geological disposal of HLW. 1000 m length borehole which intersects the Omagari fault was drilled by directional drilling technology in order to verify the drilling technology in Hokkaido. Long term monitoring to clarify pore water pressure and water chemistry in the drilled borehole was also developed. We set measurement intervals on a hanging wall side of a main fracture and started the measurement of pore water pressure in February 2014. We assume that long term monitoring for several boreholes will be achieved in vast areas where power supply and/or communication networks are not available at the PI stage. Thus, we have been developing an automatic data acquisition system for long term monitoring, which enables us to access data remotely. The monitoring system, which was set in Horonobe-town in Hokkaido, is an automatic data acquisition system that performs long term monitoring of pore water pressure. This paper provides an overview of the development of monitoring technologies of pore water pressure measurement in the borehole as well as the automatic data acquisition system. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Investigation of Natural Circulation Instability and Transients in Passively Safe Small Modular Reactors

The NEUP funded project, NEUP-3496, aims to experimentally investigate two-phase natural circulation flow instability that could occur in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), especially for natural circulation SMRs. The objective has been achieved by systematically performing tests to study the general natural circulation instability characteristics and the natural circulation behavior under start-up or design basis accident conditions. Experimental data sets highlighting the effect of void reactivity feedback as well as the effect of power ramp-up rate and system pressure have been used to develop a comprehensive stability map. The safety analysis code, RELAP5, has been used to evaluate experimental results and models. Improvements to the constitutive relations for flashing have been made in order to develop a reliable analysis tool. This research has been focusing on two generic SMR designs, i.e. a small modular Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (SBWR) like design and a small integral Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) like design. A BWR-type natural circulation test facility was firstly built based on the three-level scaling analysis of the Purdue Novel Modular Reactor (NMR) with an electric output of 50 MWe, namely NMR-50, which represents a BWR-type SMR with a significantly reduced reactor pressure vessel (RPV) height. The experimental facility was installed with various equipment to measure thermalhydraulic parameters such as pressure, temperature, mass flow rate and void fraction. Characterization tests were performed before the startup transient tests and quasi-steady tests to determine the loop flow resistance. The control system and data acquisition system were programmed with LabVIEW to realize the realtime control and data storage. The thermal-hydraulic and nuclear coupled startup transients were performed to investigate the flow instabilities at low pressure and low power conditions for NMR-50. Two different power ramps were chosen to study the effect of startup power density on the flow instability. The experimental startup transient results showed the existence of three different flow instability mechanisms, i.e., flashing instability, condensation induced flow instability, and density wave oscillations. In addition, the void-reactivity feedback did not have significant effects on the flow instability during the startup transients for NMR-50. ii Several initial startup procedures with different power ramp rates were experimentally investigated to eliminate the flow instabilities observed from the startup transients. Particularly, the very slow startup transient and pressurized startup transient tests were performed and compared. It was found that the very slow startup transients by applying very small power density can eliminate the flashing oscillations in the single-phase natural circulation and stabilize the flow oscillations in the phase of net vapor generation. The initially pressurized startup procedure was tested to eliminate the flashing instability during the startup transients as well. The pressurized startup procedure included the initial pressurization, heat-up, and venting process. The startup transient tests showed that the pressurized startup procedure could eliminate the flow instability during the transition from single-phase flow to two-phase flow at low pressure conditions. The experimental results indicated that both startup procedures were applicable to the initial startup of NMR. However, the pressurized startup procedures might be preferred due to short operating hours required. In order to have a deeper understanding of natural circulation flow instability, the quasi-steady tests were performed using the test facility installed with preheater and subcooler. The effect of system pressure, core inlet subcooling, core power density, inlet flow resistance coefficient, and void reactivity feedback were investigated in the quasi-steady state tests. The experimental stability boundaries were determined between unstable and stable flow conditions in the dimensionless stability plane of inlet subcooling number and Zuber number. To predict the stability boundary theoretically, linear stability analysis in the frequency domain was performed at four sections of the natural circulation test loop. The flashing phenomena in the chimney section was considered as an axially uniform heat source. And the dimensionless characteristic equation of the pressure drop perturbation was obtained by considering the void fraction effect and outlet flow resistance in the core section. The theoretical flashing boundary showed some discrepancies with previous experimental data from the quasi-steady state tests. In the future, thermal non-equilibrium was recommended to improve the accuracy of flashing instability boundary. As another part of the funded research, flow instabilities of a PWR-type SMR under low pressure and low power conditions were investigated experimentally as well. The NuScale reactor design was selected as the prototype for the PWR-type SMR. In order to experimentally study the natural circulation behavior of NuScale iii reactor during accidental scenarios, detailed scaling analyses are necessary to ensure that the scaled phenomena could be obtained in a laboratory test facility. The three-level scaling method is used as well to obtain the scaling ratios derived from various non-dimensional numbers. The design of the ideally scaled facility (ISF) was initially accomplished based on these scaling ratios. Then the engineering scaled facility (ESF) was designed and constructed based on the ISF by considering engineering limitations including laboratory space, pipe size, and pipe connections etc. PWR-type SMR experiments were performed in this well-scaled test facility to investigate the potential thermal hydraulic flow instability during the blowdown events, which might occur during the loss of coolant accident (LOCA) and loss of heat sink accident (LOHS) of the prototype PWR-type SMR. Two kinds of experiments, normal blowdown event and cold blowdown event, were experimentally investigated and compared with code predictions. The normal blowdown event was experimentally simulated since an initial condition where the pressure was lower than the designed pressure of the experiment facility, while the code prediction of blowdown started from the normal operation condition. Important thermal hydraulic parameters including reactor pressure vessel (RPV) pressure, containment pressure, local void fraction and temperature, pressure drop and natural circulation flow rate were measured and analyzed during the blowdown event. The pressure and water level transients are similar to the experimental results published by NuScale [51], which proves the capability of current loop in simulating the thermal hydraulic transient of real PWR-type SMR. During the 20000s blowdown experiment, water level in the core was always above the active fuel assemble during the experiment and proved the safety of natural circulation cooling and water recycling design of PWR-type SMR. Besides, pressure, temperature, and water level transient can be accurately predicted by RELAP5 code. However, the oscillations of natural circulation flow rate, water level and pressure drops were observed during the blowdown transients. This kind of flow oscillations are related to the water level and the location upper plenum, which is a path for coolant flow from chimney to steam generator and down comer. In order to investigate the transients start from the opening of ADS valve in both experimental and numerical way, the cold blow-down experiment is conducted. For the cold blowdown event, different from setting both reactor iv pressure vessel (RPV) and containment at high temperature and pressure, only RPV was heated close to the highest designed pressure and then open the ADS valve, same process was predicted using RELAP5 code. By doing cold blowdown experiment, the entire transients from the opening of ADS can be investigated by code and benchmarked with experimental data. Similar flow instability observed in the cold blowdown experiment. The comparison between code prediction and experiment data showed that the RELAP5 code can successfully predict the pressure void fraction and temperature transient during the cold blowdown event with limited error, but numerical instability exists in predicting natural circulation flow rate. Besides, the code is lack of capability in predicting the water level related flow instability observed in experiments.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

A high speed data acquisition and analysis system for transonic velocity, density, and total temperature fluctuations

The high speed Dynamic Data Acquisition System (DDAS) is described which provides the capability for the simultaneous measurement of velocity, density, and total temperature fluctuations. The system of hardware and software is described in context of the wind tunnel environment. The DDAS replaces both a recording mechanism and a separate data processing system. The data acquisition and data reduction process has been combined within DDAS. DDAS receives input from hot wires and anemometers, amplifies and filters the signals with computer controlled modules, and converts the analog signals to digital with real-time simultaneous digitization followed by digital recording on disk or tape. Automatic acquisition (either from a computer link to an existing wind tunnel acquisition system, or from data acquisition facilities within DDAS) collects necessary calibration and environment data. The generation of hot wire sensitivities is done in DDAS, as is the application of sensitivities to the hot wire data to generate turbulence quantities. The presentation of the raw and processed data, in terms of root mean square values of velocity, density and temperature, and the processing of the spectral data is accomplished on demand in near-real-time- with DDAS. A comprehensive description of the interface to the DDAS and of the internal mechanisms will be prosented. A summary of operations relevant to the use of the DDAS will be provided.

Clukey, Steven J.↗