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At least 127 records · Page 7

Effects of Gasoline Composition and Operating Parameters on the Response of End-Gas Autoignition to Nitric Oxide in a Lean-Burn DI-SI Engine

Lean operation of spark-ignition engines can lead to engine thermal efficiency gains and lower NOx emissions due to reduced combustion temperatures. Yet, lean operation could still face challenges in end-gas autoignition and knock generation due to higher intake pressures and trapped NO in the residual gas. Here, this study evaluates the impact of NO on end-gas autoignition for two gasoline fuels with similar octane rating but different composition: high cycloalkane fuel (HCA) and high olefin fuel (HO). Experiments were performed at stoichiometric and lean (λ = 2) conditions and at two engine speeds of 1400 rpm and 2000 rpm. Accompanying chemical kinetics simulations in CHEMKIN revealed that the mechanisms controlling the effect of NO on autoignition are similar λ = 2 and λ = 1, with NO + HO 2 = NO 2 + OH being the main pathway for enhancing reactivity by promoting low-temperature heat release (LTHR). The compositionally different fuels reacted differently to NO seeding and engine speed, and differences were augmented at λ = 2 compared to λ = 1 as the end-gas autoignition shifted to the low temperature regime. HO, which has inherent low temperature chemistry, was strongly impacted by engine speed at low NO seeding levels, with no noticeable peak of LTHR detected at 2000 rpm. On the other hand, LTHR of HCA was marginally affected by shortened residence time at higher engine speed as NO + HO 2 reaction was not greatly affected by shorter time scales, since HO 2 production was sustained even at 2000 rpm to support OH generation from NO + HO 2 . Contrary to HO, HCA exhibited greater sensitivity to NO seeding, as the increased OH production at higher NO concentrations offset the OH-quenching effect of cyclopentane, which accounts for 28.6% of HCA’s composition. Consequently, a sensitivity analysis revealed that fuels with weak inherent low-temperature chemistry, like HCA, are likely to be more sensitive to variations in NO concentration and charge temperature, whereas fuels with strong low temperature chemistry are more sensitive to variations in end-gas λ and intake pressure.

Energy↗

Search for New Physics through a Long-Lived Di-Muon Resonance in the NuMI Beam with the ICARUS Detector

Many of the unexplained phenomena in particle physics and cosmology today, such as the microphysical nature of dark matter, the strong CP problem, and the origin of the neutrino masses, can be resolved by the existence of a light (~GeV), weakly-coupled hidden sector of new physics. Such hidden sectors often predict the existence of “long-lived” particles (LLPs) that travel a far distance from production before decaying into Standard Model particles. Neutrino oscillation experiments, which combine intense particle beams with precise imaging detectors, are well equipped to probe LLP models with new sensitivity. This thesis details a search for a long-lived particle decaying to two muons with the ICARUS liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detector in the Short-Baseline Neutrino program at Fermilab. The calibration of the ICARUS time projection chamber (TPC) which enables the search is also presented. Notably, the calibration measures an angular dependence in electron-ion recombination in argon, a novel effect in the detector physics of LArTPCs. The search is performed using data taken with the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam, with an exposure of 2.41e20 protons on target. No significant excess over background is observed, and we set world-leading limits on two new physics models that predict this process: the Higgs portal scalar and a heavy axion model. We also present the sensitivity in a model-independent way applicable to any new physics model predicting the process K → π + S(→μμ), for a long-lived particle S.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Toxicologic evaluation of the migration of a plasticizer, DI (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) from vinyl plastics

The intravenous administration of DEHP solubilized by means of a number of different detergents leads to respiratory distress and death in rats. At autopsy the lungs are grossly enlarged, edamatous, and hemorrhagic. Light and electron microscopic evaluation of the lungs indicate engorgement of the interalveolar septa with edema fluid and polymorphonuclear leucocytes, degranulation of the leukocytes, and progessive destruction of the endothelial and epithelial cells. Consistent with the conclusion that solubilized DEHP results in a syndrome of "shock lung" is the associated massive fall in arterial blood pressure and the prevention of the lung pathology by pretreatment with pharmacologic doses of an antiinflammatory steroid, methylprednisolone. Evidence is also presented that suggests that the DEHP inadvertently administered to humans during transfusions is also in a solubilized state in the plasma.

Rubin, R. J.↗

Fate in humans of the plasticizer, DI (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, arising from transfusion of platelets stored in vinyl plastic bags

Platelet concentrates were shown to contain 18-38 mg/100 ml of a phthalate plasticizer (DEHP) which arose by migration from the vinyl plastic packs in which the plateletes were prepared and stored. Transfusion of these platelets into 6 adult patients with leukemia resulted in peak blood plasma levels of DEHP ranging from 0.34 - 0.83 mg/100 ml. The blood levels fell mono-exponentially with a mean rate of 2.83 percent per minute and a half-life of 28.0 minutes. Urine was assayed by a method that would measure unchanged DEHP as well as all phthalic acid-containing metabolities. In two patients, at most 60 and 90% of the infused dose, respectively, was excreted in the urine collected for 24 hours post-transfusion. These estimates, however, could be high due to the simultaneous excretion of DEHP remaining from previous transfusions or arising from uncontrolled environmental exposures.

Rubin, R. J.↗

High-Voltage Switch Containing (DI)2 Devices

Series switching diodes triggered on by passing above threshold voltage. High-voltage switch made by connecting multitude of deep-impurity, double-injection devices in series with each other and with another, triggerable high-voltage device such as thyristor. Device operates near ground potential to avoid insulation problems in triggering circuit.

Hanes, Maurice H.↗

Interdisciplinary Investigations in Support of Project DI-MOD

Various concepts from time series analysis are used as the basis for the development of algorithms to assist in the analysis and interpretation of remote sensed imagery. An approach to trend detection that is based upon the fractal analysis of power spectrum estimates is presented. Additionally, research was conducted toward the development of a software architecture to support processing tasks associated with databases housing a variety of data. An algorithmic approach which provides for the automation of the state monitoring process is presented.

Starks, Scott A.↗

A 'Warm Formamide' Scenario for the Origins of Life Might Not Be so Hot Comment on 'Formamide and the Origin of Life' by E. Di Mauro Et Al.

In this review, Saladino et al. present an intriguing hypothesis surrounding the role of formamide in the originsof life on Earth, backed by experimental results supporting each step from formamide to RNA polymers [1]. The overall premise is that, from formamide and inorganic phosphate, RNA molecules over 100 nucleotides in length canbe produced. In addition, many carboxylic acids likely relevant to prebiotic metabolism are formed along the way. Thus, from a rather simple organic molecule that has been observed in outer space (formamide), you can generatemany of the compounds necessary for the origins of life. However, because high temperatures (160 C) are requiredfor the formamide reactions, it remains unclear where the warm formamide scenario could have occurred.Low-temperature, aqueous hydrogen counter to the observation that all protein-catalyzed ligation and polymerization reactions of RNA and DNA requireactivated substrates. Detailed mechanistic studies of the reported reactions are warranted and could provide important insights for understanding the chemistry behind the origins of life.Because the authors have produced many of the experimental results supporting their hypothesis, they coulddemonstrate the validity of their hypothesis by converting formamide into 100 nucleotide RNA oligomers, usingthe products of one reaction as the reactants for the next reaction, under specific conditions plausible on the pre-bioticEarth. Such a demonstration would represent a milestone for our understanding of the origins of life.cyanide-based prebiotic chemistry that we know actually happened has beenshown to produce many of the molecules invoked in the formamide hypothesis: amino acids, carboxylic acids, sugaracids, and nucleobases have all been found in meteorites recovered on Earth [e.g. [24]], providing a plausible routefor their synthesis and delivery. In contrast, a large portion of the formamide hypothesis is based on relatively high-temperature reactions. A plausible milieu for high-temperature reactions with concentrated formamide is yet to bedescribed, and is critical for this hypothesis to be validated. Hydrothermal vents are attractive heat sources, and the higher boiling point of formamide has been invoked as a mechanism to concentrate it from an aqueous solution.Unless the water can actually evaporate, however, there would be no net enrichment. For example, in the context of a deep-sea vent, any water removed by heating would be quickly replaced.Some of the individual reactions underpinning the present hypothesis [1] have been met with skepticism becausethey go against conventional wisdom. To name a few of the surprising results: the observation that nucleosides can beconverted to cyclic phosphates when heated in the presence of minerals and inorganic phosphate [5]; that 35 cGMPand cAMP nucleotides polymerize rapidly into RNA oligomers, even in the absence of monovalent counterions [6];and that end-to-end ligation reactions between RNA oligomers occur in essentially pure water, without requiring any activating groups or counterions [7,8]. Because the polymerization reactions are simply transesterification reactions,that they readily occur in the absence of cations makes one wonder why nearly all ribozyme-catalyzed transesterification reactions are metal-ion dependent; similarly, that the end-to-end ligation reactions do not require activation runs.

life↗

Aircraft Trajectory Design Based on Reducing the Combined Effects of Carbon-di-oxide, Nitrogen and Contrails

Aircraft operations need to meet the combined requirements of safety, efficiency, capacity and reduced environmental impact. Aircraft routes can be made efficient by flying wind optimal routes. However, the desire to reduce the impact of aviation emissions and contrails may result in trajectories, which deviate from wind optimal trajectories leading to extra fuel use. The lifetime associated with different emissions and contrails varies from a few hours to several hundred years. The impact of certain gases depends on the amount and location of the emission, and the decision-making horizon, in years, when the impact is estimated. The Absolute Global Temperature Potential (AGTP) is used as a metric to measure the combined effects of emissions and contrails. This paper extends earlier work by the authors to include the effect of oxides of nitrogen in the development of aircraft trajectories to reduce the combined effects of carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and contrails. The methodology is applied to air traffic in the continental US. The paper shows the trade-offs between reducing emissions and the cost of extra fuel using a fuel sensitivity index, defined as the reduction in AGTP per kg of fuel. The paper shows the performance of the optimization strategy for decision intervals of 10, 25 and 100 years. Based on the simplified models, the inclusion of NOX emissions has a slight influence on the minimal climate impact trajectories when the decision horizons are around 25 years.

Sridhar, Banavar↗

Di-substituted siloxane solvents for gas capture

The present disclosure provides a method for the separation of a gas constituent from a gaseous mixture. The disclosure also provides polyethylene glycol disubstituted siloxane based solvents for use in the method. These solvents are of use for pre-combustion CO2 capture and are capable of replacing glycol-based solvents while offering operation at a higher temperature region. These solvents are also of use for generation of hydrogen from reformed natural gas or syngas, adjusting CO/H2 ratio for Coal & Biomass to Liquids, removal of CO2 from syngas for coal & biomass to NH3/Fertilizer, natural gas sweetening, and upgrading of landfill and biogas.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Improving Di-Higgs Sensitivity at Future Colliders in Hadronic Final States with Machine Learning

One of the central goals of the physics program at the future colliders is to elucidate the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking, including precision measurements of the Higgs sector. This includes a detailed study of Higgs boson (H) pair production, which can reveal the H self-coupling. Since the discovery of the Higgs boson, a large campaign of measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson has begun and many new ideas have emerged during the completion of this program. One such idea is the use of highly boosted and merged hadronic decays of the Higgs boson ($\mathrm{H}\to\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}$, $\mathrm{H}\to\mathrm{W}\mathrm{W}\to\mathrm{q}\bar{\mathrm{q}}\mathrm{q}\bar{\mathrm{q}}$) with machine learning methods to improve the signal-to-background discrimination. In this white paper, we champion the use of these modes to boost the sensitivity of future collider physics programs to Higgs boson pair production, the Higgs self-coupling, and Higgs-vector boson couplings. We demonstrate the potential improvement possible at the Future Circular Collider in hadron mode, especially with the use of graph neural networks.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Conceptual Design of a 20 T Hybrid Cos-Theta Di- pole Superconducting Magnet for Future High-Energy Particle Accelerators

High energy physics research will need more and more powerful circular accelerators in the next decades. It is therefore desirable to have dipole magnets able to produce the largest possible magnetic field, in order to keep the machine diameter within a reasonable size. A 20 T dipole is considered a desired achievement since it would allow the construction of an 80 km machine, able to circulate 100 TeV proton beams. In order to reach 20 T, a hybrid Low-Temperature Superconductor (LTS) - High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) magnet is needed, since LTS technology is presently limited to ~16 T for accelerator magnet applications. In this paper, we present the design of a 6 layers 20 T hybrid dipole magnet using Nb3Sn (LTS) and Bi2212 (HTS). We show that it is possible to achieve this magnetic field with accelerator field quality, with sufficient margin on a realistic conductor, keeping the stresses within safe limit, avoiding conductor degradation

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

An Integrated Framework for Risk Assessment of Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants: Methodology Refinement and Exploration

This report documents activities performed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) risk assessment project. In FY 2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a technical basis to support effective, and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. A risk assessment-informed framework was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate, risk informed capability to quantitatively estimate the safety margin obtained from plant modernization, especially for safety-related DI&C systems, (2) support and supplement existing risk informed DI&C design guides by providing quantitative risk information and evidence, (3) offer a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems, (4) assure the long-term safety and reliability of safety-related DI&C systems, and (5) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. To achieve these technical goals, the LWRS-developed framework provides a means to address relevant technical issues by: (1) defining a risk informed analysis process for DI&C upgrade that integrates hazard analysis, reliability analysis, and consequence analysis, (2) applying risk informed tools to address common cause failures (CCFs) and quantify corresponding failure probabilities for DI&C technologies, particularly software CCFs, (3) evaluating the impact of digital failures at the component level, system level, and plant level, and (4) providing insights and suggestions on designs to manage the risks, thus to support the development and deployment of advanced DI&C technologies in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Adding diversity within a system or components is the primary means to eliminate and mitigate CCFs, but diversity also increases system complexity and may not address all sources of systematic failures. Optimization of diversity and redundancy applications for the safety-critical DI&C systems remains a challenge. To deal with the technical issues in addressing potential software CCFs in safety-related DI&C systems of NPPs and supporting relevant design optimization, the proposed framework provides: (a) A best-estimate, risk informed capability to address new technical digital issues quantitatively, focusing on software CCFs in safety-related DI&C systems of NPPs; (b) A common and a modularized platform for DI&C designers, software developers, cybersecurity analysts, and plant engineers to predict and prevent risk in the early design stage of DI&C systems; (c) Technical bases and risk informed insights to assist users address the risk informed alternatives for evaluation of CCFs in safety-related DI&C systems of NPPs; and (d) A risk informed tool that offers a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems to support system design decisions in diversity and redundancy applications. The research and development efforts of this project in FY 2023 are focused on refining current methods on software CCF modeling and estimation and exploring additional innovative approaches to risk assessment of DI&C systems to enable a more comprehensive and complete assessment of various safety-related DI&C design architectures. The primary audience of this report are DI&C designers, engineers, and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) practitioners. This includes stakeholders, such as the nuclear utilities and regulators who consider the deployment and upgrade of DI&C systems, DI&C software developers and reviewers, and cybersecurity specialists. It should be noted that all the analyses are performed for the demonstration of the methodology, not for the evaluation of an actual digital control system. Results are obtained based on limited design information and testing data.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Risk Analysis of Various Design Architectures for High Safety-significant Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems of Nuclear Power Plants during Accident Scenarios

This report documents the plus-up activities performed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) risk assessment project. In FY 2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a strong technical basis to support effective, licensable, and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. An integrated risk assessment technology for the DI&C systems was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate, risk-informed capability to quantitatively and accurately estimate the safety margin obtained from plant modernization, especially for the high safety-significant safety-related (HSSSR) DI&C systems, (2) support and supplement existing advanced risk-informed DI&C design guides by providing quantitative risk information and evidence, (3) offer a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems to support system design decisions and diversity and redundancy applications, (4) assure the long-term safety and reliability of HSSSR DI&C systems, and (5) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. To achieve these technical goals and deal with the expensive licensing justifications from regulatory insights, the LWRS-developed framework instructs nuclear vendors and utilities on how to effectively lower the costs associated with digital compliance and speed industry advances by: (1) defining an integrated risk-informed analysis process for DI&C upgrade, including hazard analysis, reliability analysis, and consequence analysis, (2) applying systematic and risk-informed tools to address common cause failures (CCFs) and quantify corresponding failure probabilities for DI&C technologies, particularly software CCFs, (3) evaluating the impact of digital failures at the component level, system level, and plant level, and (4) providing insights and suggestions on designs to manage the risks, thus to support the development, licensing, and deployment of advanced DI&C technologies on nuclear power plant (NPPs). Adding diversity within system or components is the main means to eliminate and mitigate CCFs, but diversity also increases plant complexity and errors and may not address all sources of systematic failures. How to optimize the diversity and redundancy applications for the safety-critical DI&C systems remains a challenge. To deal with the technical issues in addressing potential software CCFs in HSSSR DI&C systems of NPPs and supporting relevant design optimization, the framework provides: ? An integrated best-estimate, risk-informed capability to address new technical digital issues quantitatively, accurately, and efficiently in plan modernization progress, such as software CCFs in HSSSR DI&C systems of NPPs ? A common and a modularized platform for DI&C designers, software developers, cybersecurity analysts, and plant engineers to efficiently predict and prevent risk in the early design stage of DI&C systems ? Technical bases and risk-informed insights to assist U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and industry to address and fulfill the risk-informed alternatives for evaluation of CCFs in HSSSR DI&C systems of NPPs ? An integrated risk-informed tool that offers a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems to support system design decisions in diversity and redundancy applications. The plus-up research and development efforts of this project in FY 2022 are focused on methodology improvement of software CCF modeling and estimation, prevention analysis, importance analysis and risk analysis of various design architectures of HSSSR DI&C systems. This work greatly enhances the capability of the LWRS-developed framework for the risk assessment and design optimization of safety-critical DI&C systems. It should be noted that all the analyses are performed for the demonstration of the LWRS-developed framework, not for the evaluation of relevant systems. Results are obtained based on very limited design information and testing data.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Summary of Technical Peer Review on the Risk Assessment Framework proposed in Report INL/RPT-22-68656 for Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems

This report summarizes the peer review activities initiated by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during fiscal year (FY) 2023 for the evaluation and improvement of the methodology developed under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) risk assessment project. In FY 2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a technical basis to support effective and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. A framework was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate, risk-informed capability to quantitatively and accurately estimate the risk impact of plant modernization, considering the introduction of high safety-significant safety-related (HSSSR) DI&C systems, (2) support and supplement existing risk-informed DI&C design guides by providing quantitative risk information and evidence, (3) offer a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems, (4) assure the long-term safety and reliability of HSSSR DI&C systems, and (5) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. The R&D efforts of this project from FY 2019 through FY 2022 were focused on methodology improvement and demonstration of the proposed framework for the risk assessment and design optimization of safety-critical DI&C systems. Collaborations with the nuclear industry have been initiated to support the reliability and risk assessment of their DI&C systems by using the proposed framework. In FY 2023, the framework has reached to a point for a technical peer review and obtain stakeholder feedback. This peer review activity includes coordination of the reviews performed by a group of industry stakeholders, documentation of the peer review suggestions, providing resolutions and responses to the peer review comments. The objective of this technical peer review is to obtain representative feedback on the proposed framework to improve the technical qualities of its methodology and readiness for deployment to the industry. Feedback may identify potential areas for improvement and further development. The Subject Matter experts were invited to review the latest project report documenting the methodology developed in the project and provide evaluations of the technical qualities of the proposed framework and relevant methods. The reviewed project report is “An Integrated Framework for Risk Assessment of High Safety-significant Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants: Methodology and Demonstration” INL/RPT-22-68656 (short as “INL/RPT-22-68656” in this report). This peer review report documents the technical questions provided for technical peer review and introduces the technical peer reviewers from the stakeholders including nuclear utilities, regulators, and universities. Comments from technical peer reviewers and the resolutions and responses to these comments are outlined. Insights and lessons learned from the technical peer review are summarized in conclusions and future work. The primary audience of this report are DI&C designers, engineers, and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) practitioners. This includes stakeholders, such as the nuclear utilities and regulators who consider the deployment and upgrade of DI&C systems, DI&C software developers and reviewers, and cybersecurity specialists.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗