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DOE OSTI2023

Simultaneous determination of electrical conductivity and thickness of nonmagnetic metallic foils using two-sided multifrequency eddy current techniques

Here, in this paper, we describe a simple method for performing multifrequency eddy current characterization of free-standing uniform-thickness metallic foils using a forked inductive coil arrangement. The method involves measuring the mutual inductance between two coils when a foil is present between the coils, and when it is not present; the ratio of these mutual inductances is compared with an analytical solution, and foil conductivity, thickness, and sheet resistance are simultaneously estimated using numerical inversion and least-squares fitting. This method was used to characterize 34 non-ferrous metallic samples with thicknesses between 50 and 640 μm and with conductivities between 0.8 × 10 7 and 5.8 × 10 7 S/m. The estimated thicknesses from eddy current characterization agreed well with those measured using confocal optical techniques; the two approaches agreed to within 1 μm for samples that were thinner than 200 μm, and to within 0.5% for samples that had a thickness of 200 μm or greater. The estimated conductivities from eddy current characterization were in close agreement with expected values, given knowledge of the materials used. A particular strength of this approach is that the instrumentation needed is broadly available in research and development laboratories and the associated fixturing is easy to manufacture and assemble. A calibration procedure is described that can be used to reduce errors from geometric uncertainties. This calibration requires a sample that has only a known conductivity or thickness; both do not need to be known. The method described herein is likely extensible to conductivities and thickness well outside the ranges measured as part of this work.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2018

I&C System Sensors for Advanced Nuclear Reactors

As advanced reactor designers proceed with further research, design implementation, testing, and deployment, it is now time to address their instrumentation and control (I&C) needs. First, we must identify the process variables that must be measured to control an advanced reactor and monitor its safety. As with any nuclear power plant, it is safe to assume that temperature, pressure, flow, level, and neutron flux are the predominant variables to be measured. As a second step, the range of process values must be established as well as the level of accuracy, redundancy, and speed of response of sensors that must be deployed to measure these values. The harsh environments of advanced reactors such as high temperatures, high levels of nuclear radiation, potential for corrosion, and limited access to sensors for maintenance are just a few examples of instrumentation challenges. This is compounded by the relatively small market for new sensors that must be designed, developed, and qualified for advanced reactors. That is, the cost of these activities can deter major sensor manufacturers from entering the advanced reactor market. Furthermore, the operating cycles of most advanced reactors are expected to be much longer than conventional plants adding to the need for instrumentation that can maintain calibration and response time over extended intervals. The fact that there are now a variety of advanced reactors under design and development adds to the complexity of instrumentation that may differ for various types of advanced plants. A few examples of the most commonly discussed advanced reactors are reviewed in this paper followed by a brief discussion of their instrumentation needs.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2020

Simulated JWST Data Sets for Multispectral and Hyperspectral Image Fusion

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will provide multispectral and hyperspectral infrared images of a large number of astrophysical scenes. Multispectral images will have the highest angular resolution, while hyperspectral images (e.g., with integral field unit spectrometers) will provide the best spectral resolution. This paper aims at providing a comprehensive framework to generate an astrophysical scene and to simulate realistic hyperspectral and multispectral data acquired by two JWST instruments, namely, NIRCam Imager and NIRSpec IFU. We want to show that this simulation framework can be resorted to assess the benefits of fusing these images to recover an image of high spatial and spectral resolutions. To do so, we make a synthetic scene associated with a canonical infrared source, the Orion Bar. We develop forward models including corresponding noises for the two JWST instruments based on their physical features. JWST observations are then simulated by applying the forward models to the aforementioned synthetic scene. We test a dedicated fusion algorithm we developed on these simulated observations. We show that the fusion process reconstructs the high spatio-spectral resolution scene with a good accuracy on most areas, and we identify some limitations of the method to be tackled in future works. The synthetic scene and observations presented in the paper can be used, for instance, to evaluate instrument models, pipelines, or more sophisticated algorithms dedicated to JWST data analysis. Besides, fusion methods such as the one presented in this paper are shown to be promising tools to fully exploit the unprecedented capabilities of the JWST.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2026

An Open Source Perovskite Solar Cell Curve Tracer

When developing systems for perovskite solar cells (PSCs), it is important to have a testing platform that closely resembles your deployed systems. While developing a 1 U CubeSat, the Big Red Sat-1 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, we found a lack of passive curve tracing instrumentation, which we needed for our mission. To that end, we developed a benchtop passive curve tracer that leverages the Ossila Solar Simulator as an AM1.5 light source. This device utilizes a ladder of switched resistors and a precision voltage and current measurement to achieve the curve tracing. It also integrates a common-anode multiplexer to switch through multipixel PSCs. Finally, the solar cell holder is separate from the main measurement system, so various substrates sizes and pixel counts can be supported. This system is tested using various PSCs. It has been open sourced to enable reuse in future systems that may benefit from the lower power consumption and flight heritage.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Protein structure prediction guided by crosslinking restraints – A systematic evaluation of the impact of the crosslinking spacer length

Recent development of high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) instruments enables chemical crosslinking (XL) to become a high-throughput method for obtaining structural information about proteins. Restraints derived from XL-MS experiments have been used successfully for structure refinement and protein–protein docking. However, one formidable question is under which circumstances XL-MS data might be sufficient to determine a protein’s tertiary structure de novo? Answering this question will not only include understanding the impact of XL-MS data on sampling and scoring within a de novo protein structure prediction algorithm, it must also determine an optimal crosslinker type and length for protein structure determination. While a longer crosslinker will yield more restraints, the value of each restraint for protein structure prediction decreases as the restraint is consistent with a larger conformational space. In this study, the number of crosslinks and their discriminative power was systematically analyzed in silico on a set of 2055 non-redundant protein folds considering Lys–Lys, Lys–Asp, Lys–Glu, Cys–Cys, and Arg–Arg reactive crosslinkers between 1 and 60 Å. Depending on the protein size a heuristic was developed that determines the optimal crosslinker length. Next, simulated restraints of variable length were used to de novo predict the tertiary structure of fifteen proteins using the BCL::Fold algorithm. The results demonstrate that a distinct crosslinker length exists for which information content for de novo protein structure prediction is maximized. The sampling accuracy improves on average by 1.0 Å and up to 2.2 Å in the most prominent example. XL-MS restraints enable consistently an improved selection of native-like models with an average enrichment of 2.1.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗

DOE OSTI2018

Research plan for the development of optical fiber pressure sensors for nuclear applications

Fiber optic pressure sensors are desirable for nuclear applications because they are low mass/small size, immune to electromagnetic interference, high sensitivity, and have multiplexing and multimodal measurement capabilities. Much research and development has been conducted on developing fiber optic based sensors and they are now considered a class of standard instrumentation in many industries. Specifically, for pressure sensing, a wide range of fiber based sensors have been developed for various pressure ranges and environments. This vast body of research will be leveraged for the development of pressure sensors for nuclear applications. Four pressure measurement scenarios were considered which would benefit from a fiber optic based pressure sensor. These scenarios include pressure measurement in the fuel rod plenum, coolant pressure during LOCA testing, advanced coolant (helium, sodium, molten salt) pressure for flow loop operation, and high pressures resulting for direct fuel-coolant interaction. Each scenario has unique pressure, temperature, and material requirements for the sensor. From a survey of commercially available sensors and a literature review; it has been determined that an extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer approach is the most appropriate for the various measurement requirements. The experience and knowledge base for Fabry-Perot interferometers can be leveraged since they are the most common fiber optic based pressure sensors available commercially and found in literature. These pressure sensors rely on the interference of light in a gas filled cavity, which minimizes the impact of radiation induced attenuation and compaction on the measurement, compared to intrinsic sensing techniques. The measurement range of these sensors is based on the stiffness of the diaphragm that deflects under pressure. This allows for a suite of fiber based sensors to be developed by interchanging this diaphragm for the requirements of each application. Key material and design considerations have been identified for the development of a Fabry-Perot interferometry pressure measurement for nuclear applications. These include high temperature bonding between the glass fiber optic and metal housing, identifying diaphragm materials & geometry, and minimizing cross sensitivity to temperature or implementing compensation techniques found in literature. Overcoming these challenges will develop a pathway for a fiber optic based pressure sensor for nuclear applications, and additionally can be leveraged for other sensing application based on Fabry-Perot interferometers, such as temperature, strain (creep & deformation), vibration, and index of refraction.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Strontium and Barium Isotopes in Presolar Silicon Carbide Graines Measured with CHILI-Two Types of X Grains.

We used CHILI, the Chicago Instrument for Laser Ionization, a new resonance ionization mass spectrometer developed for isotopic analysis of small samples, to analyze strontium, zirconium, and barium isotopes in 22 presolar silicon carbide grains. Twenty of the grains showed detectable strontium and barium, but none of the grains had enough zirconium to be detected with CHILI. Nine grains were excluded from further consideration since they showed very little signals (<1000 counts) for strontium as well as for barium. Among the 11 remaining grains, we found three X grains. The discovery of three supernova grains among only 22 grains was fortuitous, because only similar to 1% of presolar silicon carbide grains are type X, but was confirmed by silicon isotopic measurements of grain residues with NanoSIMS. While one of the X grains showed strontium and barium isotope patterns expected for supernova grains, the two other supernova grains have Sr-87/Sr-86 <0.5, values never observed in any natural sample before. From their silicon isotope ratios, the latter two grains can be classified as X2 grains, while the former grain belongs to the more common X1 group. The differences of these grains in strontium and barium isotopic composition constrain their individual formation conditions in Type II supernovae. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

barium isotopes↗

DOE OSTI2026

Measuring X-Ray Emission Line Shapes in Neutral Species for XRISM Calibration

Space X-ray spectrometers such as the Resolve instrument on XRISM require precise calibration in order to interpret the spectra of astrophysical objects. Key components of the calibration are the energy scale and the core line spread function, both of which vary with photon energy. A major issue in the calibration of high-resolution spectrometers is locating good calibrators with well-known and stable intrinsic line shapes. Neutral fluorescence is widely used, but inner-shell transitions in neutral atoms often exhibit complex, poorly documented line shapes that vary with excitation conditions. Here, in this study, we present empirical measurements of K-shell transitions in neutral O and F below 1 keV using an engineering model XRISM calorimeter array, an electron bombardment modulated X-ray source, and an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) to provide a precise energy reference. In addition, we report measurements of the Mo Lα complex with the transition-edge microcalorimeter spectrometer (TEMS), which reveal strong satellite structure and sensitivity of the line shape to the incident exciting spectrum. Together, these results demonstrate the need for empirical line-shape models, highlight the nonstationary nature of neutral fluorescence features, and define a path toward developing transfer standards for XRISM and future precision instruments such as Athena/X-IFU.

Astronomy and AstroPhysics↗

DOE OSTI2016

Improved neutron-gamma discrimination for a {sup 6}Li-glass neutron detector using digital signal analysis methods

A {sup 6}Li-glass scintillator (GS20) based neutron Anger camera was developed for time-of-flight single-crystal diffraction instruments at Spallation Neutron Source. Traditional Pulse-Height Analysis (PHA) for Neutron-Gamma Discrimination (NGD) resulted in the neutron-gamma efficiency ratio (defined as NGD ratio) on the order of 10{sup 4}. The NGD ratios of Anger cameras need to be improved for broader applications including neutron reflectometers. For this purpose, six digital signal analysis methods of individual waveforms acquired from photomultiplier tubes were proposed using (i) charge integration, (ii) pulse-amplitude histograms, (iii) power spectrum analysis combined with the maximum pulse-amplitude, (iv) two event parameters (a{sub 1}, b{sub 0}) obtained from a Wiener filter, (v) an effective amplitude (m) obtained from an adaptive least-mean-square filter, and (vi) a cross-correlation coefficient between individual and reference waveforms. The NGD ratios are about 70 times those from the traditional PHA method. Our results indicate the NGD capabilities of neutron Anger cameras based on GS20 scintillators can be significantly improved with digital signal analysis methods.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2019

A first-principles approach to the optimization of neutron-focusing guide design and development

Fundamental optical concepts are utilized across all fields of scientific instrumentation. In the case of beam-like systems in neutron scattering instrumentation (low-divergence trajectories taken over long distances), quantities describing a system can be scaled into dimensionless figures of merit that convey performance characteristics and geometric limits. Furthermore, this first-principles approach facilitates a straight forward means by which to tailor an optical system to a defined source-sample configuration, as well as further inform guide surface shapes and reflectivity requirements. These principles will be presented and applied incorporated to examples showing their relevance to practical applications and future instrumentation.

Frost, Matthew J.↗

DOE OSTI2025

SNAPRed: Reduction of multidimensional neutron time-of-flight diffraction data

SNAP is a neutron time-of-flight diffractometer at the Spallation Neutron Source operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It generates large arrays of neutron detection events that encode the crystalline atomic structure of materials under study. SNAPRed is an application that makes these datasets accessible to end users by orchestrating the process of data reduction while automatically managing the variable neutron instrumentation configuration. It supports arbitrary grouping and masking of individual detector pixels and includes custom-developed data compression approaches to accommodate the large volumes of data generated by the SNAP instrument.

Diffraction↗

DOE OSTI2016

Dependability Assessment of Software for Safety Instrumentation and Control Systems

In its 2013 recommendations to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Technical Working Group on Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control (TWG-NPPIC) identified assessment and evaluation of software dependability as a topic of interest for IAEA Member States. To implement the recommendation of the TWG-NPPIC, the IAEA Scientific Secretary for the TWG initiated a consultancy activity in 2014 to develop a technical report describing a dependability assessment framework suitable for safety instrumentation and control (I and C) systems in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The development of the software dependability assessment report has involved three consultancy meetings at IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The conduct of these meetings allowed consultation among subject matter experts to generate consensus technical information that serves as the content of the report. The technical contributors consist of international experts from academia, industry, regulatory bodies and research organizations. In September 2014, a technical meeting was held in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, to present interim findings of the consultancy effort and to solicit input from representatives of IAEA Member States. The information and technical comments contributed during the technical meeting were addressed in subsequent development of the report. This paper gives an overview of key technical elements of the IAEA report. The IAEA report presents a framework by which a dependability assessment of safety software can be performed. The specified guiding principles provide the basis for establishing an assessment strategy and implementing the assessment process. The assessment framework provides a systematic, coherent structure within which to organize technical and process evidence to satisfy arguments in support of claims about software dependability properties. During the consultancy activity, the participating subject matter experts focused on high level principles, a structured approach, and identification of suitable methods and techniques. However, it was recognized that what remains is to concretize the framework through specific examples and usage experience. Thus, following publication of the report, it is recommended that case studies be performed to illustrate and more precisely define specific phases and elements of the assessment framework. For example, current national assessment approaches could be mapped into the assessment framework to serve as case studies and help to identify any aspects of the assessment framework that needs further definition or adjustment. Additionally, a challenge problem could be defined to engage stakeholders to apply the assessment framework with a common focus. This could help to better illustrate strategic options and approaches to the assessment phases. It also could serve to suggest other considerations and potential sources of evidence not fully covered in the report. Based on findings from case studies, challenge problems and country experience, it should be possible to develop generalized templates to support application of the assessment framework. These findings can be collected to serve as the basis for a User's Guide on dependability assessment of safety software. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2022

Emulation Framework for Distributed Large-Scale Systems Integration

Recent trends in systems engineering include integration of very large-scale systems, which entails significant challenges when they are geographically dispersed. In these scenarios, intelligent integration of distributed large-scale systems requires significant coordination among hardware elements as well as all software components. The approach of integrated systems (both computing platform and experimental equipment) for end-to-end orchestration is called federation. Virtual frameworks can aid in the testing, assessment, and implementation of a functional system of interconnected resources. We present an emulation framework that replicates the software environments of multi-site federations of computing systems and instruments. Our emulation framework allows systems engineers to reduce developmentcost and avoid disruptions to production infrastructure. Our framework was effectively used to develop and test software modules for various tasks including container orchestration and instrument access. For performance assessment, however, the emulated framework is severely limited in providing accurate network and IO measurements at 10 Gbps and higher data rates. The data transfer performance profiles estimated using these emulated measurements are usually inaccurate for high bandwidth and high latency connections, since emulation does not accurately reflect the critical network transport dynamics.We utilize measurements from a physical testbed with hardware network emulators to obtain data transfer profiles that closely match the expected profiles for the emulated federations. We show the effectiveness of our approach by an illustrative example of integrated (federated) multi-site ultra large-scale systems that are connected via high speed wide area networks.

Imam, Neena↗

DOE OSTI2022

Digitalization of an experimental electrochemical reactor via the smart manufacturing innovation platform

The exponential increase in data produced over the last two decades has revolutionized the way we collect, store, process, analyze, model, and interpret information to improve profitability. Manufacturing is no exception. How- ever, Smart Manufacturing, the digital practice, organization, workforce, and infrastructure transformation for collection and deployment of data and models at scale and at all levels of manufacturing, is a complex, costly, and labor-intensive journey that is still seeing slow adoption. The Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), a national Manufacturing USA public-private partnership sponsored by the Department of Energy, is addressing this scaled use of data and modeling in manufacturing. CESMII has focused on how to col- lect and use operating data for numerous applications that improve productivity, precision, and performance of manufacturing operations from factory floor to supply chain using process simulation, predictive analytics, mon- itoring and control, and real-time optimization. Because contextualized data are key, CESMII has developed the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Platform (SMIP) to lower the barriers to the data that are needed to accelerate data-based model building, improve data visualization, and more quickly gain insights. Reusable, standards-based ways of doing data collection, ingestion, and contextualization are particularly important for scaling access and use of data. The SMIP uses a standards-based definition and construct for reusable information models called an SM Profile. When an SM Profile is used in conjunction with the SMIP, the SMIP ensures the availability of contextualized, operational data for model building. The present work demonstrates Smart Manufacturing and the application of the SMIP for building several data-centered models for the operation and control of an ex- perimental electrochemical reactor that reduces carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) gas to valuable liquid and gas chemicals, such as alcohols, olefins, and syngas. We describe how the SMIP plays a central role in more effective model building and we demonstrate how the electochemical reactor can be controlled and optimized for the desired products. Use of the SMIP involves the transmission of real-time sensor measurements to a cloud resource so that the operating data are available to all model building experts. The data collection and transmission process is fully automated to greatly reduce the need for manual manipulation of the data. Data-driven machine learning models are used for advanced real-time state estimation, real-time optimization, and model-based feedback control for the reactor. The application models are implemented as a system to monitor the data flow and control the electrochemical reactor with a single visualization interface. SM Profiles are used to demonstrate reusability of the information models for the reactor and the instrumentation. The application packages, algorithms, and user interfaces developed are cast as Docker images in a library to facilitate reusability of the application models.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2023

Ultimate Precision on Sin^2 Theta_23 With the Numi Experiments

There were two major goals to this proposal: the study of the discrepancy between data and MC in the NuMI Medium Energy neutrino beam and the incorporation of the MINOS and NOVA neutrino oscillation datasets. The first topic was approached via development of a simulation of the NuMI beam monitoring instrumentation suite. Initially, the Horn-Off current data sets were used to measure a set of hadron production parameters which improved the data/MC agreement in a way which was independent of the focusing parameters. The peak position discrepancy was only explained by a large (10kA) reduction in the horn current. A full simulation of the muon monitors was developed to attempt to make an independent measurement of the horn current by means of differential data taken by those monitors. While only at the 5kA level, the result corroborated the former findings. The second goal has not yet been completed but progress has focused on understanding how to modify the MINOS MC to take into account the MEC contribution which is missing from the underlying NEUGEN MC. A number of improvements to the MINOS reconstruction have been necessary. The framework to run the fits on the combined data has been completed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2017

The Gem Infrasound Logger and Custom-Built Instrumentation

Here, we designed, built, and recorded data with a custom infrasound logger (referred to as the Gem) that is inexpensive, portable, and easy to use. We also describe its design process, qualities, and applications in this article. Field instrumentation is a key element of geophysical data collection, and the quantity and quality of data that can be recorded is determined largely by the characteristics of the instruments used. Geophysicists tend to rely on commercially available instruments, which suffice for many important types of fieldwork. However, commercial instrumentation can fall short in certain roles, which motivates the development of custom sensors and data loggers. Particularly, we found existing data loggers to be expensive and inconvenient for infrasound campaigns, and developed the Gem infrasound logger in response. In this article, we discuss development of this infrasound logger and the various uses found for it, including projects on volcanoes, high-altitude balloons, and rivers. Further, we demonstrate that when needed, scientists can feasibly design and build their own specialized instruments, and that doing so can enable them to record more and better data at a lower cost.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2018

Virtual Environment for Testing Software-Defined Networking Solutions for Scientific Workflows

Recent developments in software-defined infrastructures promise that scientific workflows utilizing supercomputers, instruments, and storage systems will be dynamically composed and orchestrated using software at unprecedented speed and scale in the near future. Testing of the underlying networking software, particularly during initial exploratory stages, remains a challenge due to potential disruptions, and resource allocation and coordination needed over the multi-domain physical infrastructure. To overcome these challenges, we develop the Virtual Science Network Environment (VSNE) that emulates the multi-site host, storage, and network infrastructure using Virtual Machines (VMs), wherein the production and nascent software can be tested. Within each VM, which represents a site, the hosts and local-area networks are emulated using Mininet, and the Software-Defined Network (SDN) controllers and service daemon codes are natively run to support dynamic provisioning of network connections. Additionally, Lustre filesystem support at the sites and an emulation of the long-haul network using Mininet, are provided using separate VMs. As case studies, we describe Lustre file transfers using XDD, Red5 streaming service demonstration, and an emulated experiment with remote monitoring and steering modules, all supported over dynamically configured connections using SDN controllers.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2021

Quantifying the time‐specific kinetic energy of simulated rainfall using a dynamic rain gauge system

Abstract Raindrop impact derives from the kinetic energy of falling raindrops. Determining the kinetic energy of rainfall requires the size distribution and terminal velocity of raindrops, which necessitates complex instrumentation. To avoid this, empirical relations have been developed that relate rainfall intensity and the rate of kinetic energy, i.e., time‐specific kinetic energy (KE time ). In this study, a dynamic rain gauge system (DRGS) was used to quantify the KE time generated by a rainfall simulator without need of measuring raindrop size distributions or impact velocities. In a series of 10 rainfall tests, the KE time and rainfall intensity were 860.9 (±88.6) J m 2 h −1 and 72.1 (±1.9) mm h −1 , respectively. Estimated KE time was found to agree well with the power‐law relation presented by Petrů and Kalibová for high‐intensity simulated rainfall, which are the conditions when higher deviations occur. The DRGS may be a useful tool in quantifying the KE time of rainfall simulators in hopes to better understand raindrop impact mechanisms.

Wacha, Kenneth M.↗