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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Detonation Waves in High Explosives

A material at high temperature can react or decompose. For an energetic material, the reaction is exothermic and releases chemical energy that would further increase the temperature. Under some circumstances, when a reaction is triggered, such a reaction can propagate and the material rapidly releases a large amount of energy giving rise to an explosion. Examples of such materials are aerosols, suspensions of solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas; such as coal dust, grain dust and fuel-air explosions. Frequently, explosions are due to accidents. A spectacularly destructive example is the recent explosion of a large quantity of ammonium nitrate (thousands of tons) in Beirut, Lebanon (August 2020); see for example Beirut explosion. Ammonium nitrate is used as a fertilizer. It and the aerosols are not considered to be explosives due to the limited conditions for which an explosion can occur. An aerosol gets the oxidizer from the surrounding air. Burning requires diffusion of the oxidizer to the particle surface where the reaction occurs. A large density of small particles is required for a fast enough reaction to support an explosion. In contrast, an explosive is an energetic material with both fuel and oxidizer mixed on a molecular scale (either premixed gases or within molecules of a solid). This allows fast enough reactions over a wide range of conditions to support a self-propagating reactive wave known as a detonation wave. A detonation wave can be controlled and an explosive used for useful purposes such as in mining, construction, demolition, explosive welding, argon flash lamp, pulsed power using a magnetic flux generator [see also Goforth et al., 2015], jet cutter with shaped charge, explosive art, and generating conditions to study the response of materials at high strain rates and high pressures [see for example, Marsh, 1980]. Explosives are also used in conventional munitions and nuclear weapons. The focus of this book is on the theory and phenomenology of solid high explosives (HEs); in particular, plastic-bonded explosives (PBXs). Some aspects of detonation wave theory are needed to interpret explosive data. Hence, the theory is presented before the detonation wave phenomenology. A familiarity with fluid flow, specifically the notion of shock waves and the shock loci are assumed. In the remainder of this chapter we give a brief overview on the basic properties of detonation waves and PBXs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating FRAM v.6.1 with LANL and Euratom data

The United States Department of Energy and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) collaborate to test, evaluate, and improve the performance of the FRAM 6.1 code with various nuclear materials, especially mixed oxide (MOX) containing an isotopic blend of uranium and very high burnup plutonium. This joint effort is intended to promote effective implementation of the FRAM 6.1 code into nuclear material verification methods.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

24.1.3.4 Upgraded Fixed Energy Response Function Analysis with Multiple Efficiencies (FRAM) Software for U/Pu/MOX Mass Measurements

Fixed-energy Response-function Analysis with Multiple efficiency (FRAM) is a software code designed primarily for plutonium and uranium isotopic analysis. It is widely used in both the domestic and international safeguards community. FRAM can quickly and accurately determine the isotopic compositions of plutonium, uranium, and mixed oxides (MOX) when measuring with a high-purity germanium (HPGe), cadmium zinc telluride (CZT), or lanthanum bromide (LaBr 3 ) detector. The capabilities of FRAM have been enhanced to analyze the data of the pixelated CZT detector (made by H3D) and to measure the mass of plutonium, uranium, and MOX. Both the isotopic composition and mass of the item can be quickly determined with one measurement using a gamma detector with FRAM v.7.1.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ab Initio Evaluation of Uranium Carbide S(α,β) and Thermal Neutron Cross Sections

Uranium Carbide (UC) is a nuclear fuel material which offers better neutron economy and lower fuel-cycle costs compared to conventional mixed-oxide fuels. UC’s lattice binding and dynamical properties impact thermal neutron scattering and low temperature epithermal resonance absorption. The Thermal Scattering Law (TSL) describes the scattering system available energy and momentum transfer states. There is no TSL evaluation for UC in the ENDF/B-VIII.0 database; herein, ab-initio lattice dynamics (AILD) techniques are invoked to calculate the phonon spectrum for UC using spin-orbit-coupling density functional theory (DFT). The TSLs, inelastic and elastic thermal scattering cross sections for Uranium and Carbon in UC, respectively, are calculated in FLASSH for use in higher fidelity reactor design calculations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Ab Initio Evaluation of Plutonium Dioxide $S(α,β)$ and Thermal Neutron Cross Sections

Plutonium Dioxide (PuO 2 ) is an advanced fuel-cycle nuclear fuel material for thermal and fast reactors, with a melting point at 3261.8 K and thermal conductivity above 3 Wm -1 K -1 for temperatures below 1500 K. Plutonium from spent UO 2 is reprocessed to form chemically stable mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. In contrast to metallic fuels, the low PuO 2 conductivity results in high thermal gradients between fuel center and surface, resulting in structural annealing and efficient fission product migration over burnup. Crystal binding affects the doppler broadening of epithermal resonances for nuclear fuels and scattering behavior of thermal neutrons. Currently, there is no ENDF/B Thermal Scattering Law, i.e., $S(α,β)$, evaluation for PuO 2 , only free atom cross sections for Plutonium and Oxygen, respectively, which neglect lattice contributions to total cross section. Herein, ab initio lattice dynamics (AILD) techniques are employed to calculate the phonon density of states (DOS) using spin-orbit-coupling density functional theory (DFT) to predict the PuO2 paramagnetic ground-state structure. These results highlight the evaluation of $S(α,β)$ for Plutonium and Oxygen, respectively in PuO 2 and consequential generation of thermal neutron scattering cross sections for high fidelity criticality safety analysis and reactor calculations.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dissolution of Mechanically Mixed UO2-PuO2 and Insoluble Residue Characteristics

During the reprocessing operations of mixed oxide fuel the dissolution step plays a very important role in the attainment of an acceptable plutonium recovery yield. The importance of this step on the overall fuel cycle was recognized by many authors but was especially treated in depth by Lerch [1] and Nicholson [2].

De Regge, P.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Reduced-order modeling of neutron transport separated in energy by Minimax Proper Generalized Decomposition

In this article, we demonstrate a Petrov-Galerkin Proper Generalized Decomposition (PGD) known as Minimax PGD for modeling neutron transport separated in energy. To compare the Minimax with the classical Galerkin PGD, we assess both on a model problem of UO{sub 2} or Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel pins in an infinite lattice with 3 industry-standard energy meshes. We find the Minimax PGD achieves a superior decomposition to Galerkin PGD, both with and without update of the energy modes. This suggests Minimax PGD may be more computationally efficient, provided this reduction in modes (to achieve a given accuracy) outweighs the cost of solving the necessary adjoint problems. In either case, we note that PGD offers an a priori Reduced-Order Model (ROM) which may be dramatically cheaper to solve than the full-order model, especially in problems with fine to ultrafine energy meshes. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of Vegetation on Fluxes of Nitric Oxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Nitrous Oxide in a Mixed Deciduous Forest Clearing

Atmosphere-terrestrial exchange of nitrogen oxides, such as nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O), plays an important role in controlling atmospheric composition and the radiative forcing of Earth’s atmosphere. In this study, the impact of vegetation ground cover on NOx (NOx = NO + NO2) and N2O fluxes in a deciduous forest clearing was studied using dynamic flow chambers located on three experimental plots with differing vegetation ground cover. Microbial emissions of NO and N2O were observed throughout the measurement period, while NO2 was exclusively deposited. Vegetation had no observable impact on NO2 deposition. Under dry conditions, total measured nitrogen emissions were numerically similar across all plots, although the N2O:NO ratio was higher for plots containing plants. Vegetation elevates soil water content through enhanced water retention, a condition that favors denitrification and more N2O production, relative to NO. Two rain events induced pulses of NO and N2O that were higher for bare soil compared to the vegetated plots. Lower NO and N2O emissions in plant-containing chambers stemmed from enhanced root uptake of N following rewetting, which diminished the amount of N substrate available for microbial NO and N2O production. The sensitivity of soil N emissions to vegetation ground cover highlights the need for more studies that investigate this effect over a wide range of ecosystems and to include vegetation effects in future parameterizations of soil NOx and N2O used in atmospheric models. This dataset includes processed data collected from 4 dynamic flux chambers and 17 sensors. Data includes ambient gas measurements made 1 m from the surface and soil flux measurements of NO, NO2, N2O, ozone (O3) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Also included is a suite of meteorological (air temperature, humidity, pressure) and soil parameters (water filled pore space, soil temperature). Refer to the readme for more information about each of the data sets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Kinetics of Direct Olefin Synthesis from Syngas over Mixed Beds of Zn–Zr Oxides and SAPO-34

A packed bed containing a physical mixture of both Zn–Zr mixed oxide catalyst and SAPO-34 converts syngas directly into a mixture of C 2 –C 5 olefins and paraffins. Specifically, the mixed oxide catalyst is responsible for intermediate oxygenate synthesis from syngas while the molecular sieve catalyzes olefin synthesis from the oxygenate intermediates. Kinetic measurements with cofed propylene over each catalyst independently confirm olefin hydrogenation activity over both components of the composite bed. The addition of either water or CO to the feed drops the activity of propylene hydrogenation over the Zn–Zr oxide. In sum, under reaction conditions of syngas feed and produced water, olefin hydrogenation predominantly occurs over the SAPO-34 catalyst, rather than over the catalyst responsible for hydrogenating CO into oxygenate intermediates. Here, a developed kinetic model consistent with this conclusion describes measurements at differing feed compositions, temperatures, space velocities, and bed catalyst mixing ratios. Technoeconomic analysis of the process indicates that the olefin-to-paraffin ratio is a key performance metric for commercial scale syngas conversion and highlights the importance of considering olefin hydrogenation rates over the molecular sieve component.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Performance of stainless steel interconnects with (Mn,Co) 3 O 4 -Based coating for solid oxide electrolysis

Mixed transition-metal oxide coatings are commonly applied to stainless steel interconnects for solid oxide cell stacks. Such coatings reduce oxidation and Cr evaporation rates, leading to improved degradation rate and stack lifetime. Here, the ChromLok™ MCO-based composition (Mn,Co) 3 O 4 is applied to Crofer 22 APU stainless steel and evaluated specifically for application in solid oxide electrolyzer stacks operating around 800 °C and utilizing oxygen-ion-conducting solid oxide cells. The MCO coating is found to decrease the stainless steel oxidation rate by about one order of magnitude, and decrease the Cr evaporation rate by fourfold. Furthermore, the coating also dramatically lowers the rate of area-specific resistance increase for stainless steel coupons oxidized for 500 h with constant current applied, from 33 mΩ*cm 2 kh -1 for an uncoated coupon to less than 4 mΩ*cm2 kh -1 for coated coupons. The coating is demonstrated on full-scale interconnects for single-cells, where the coating dramatically reduces degradation rate, and for a stack, which displays stable operation for 700 h.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2020

Photoelectrochemical alcohol oxidation by mixed-linker metal–organic frameworks

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) provide a suitable platform for stable and efficient heterogeneous photoelectrochemical oxidation catalysis due to their highly ordered structure, large surface area, and synthetic tunability. Herein, a mixed-linker MOF comprising of a photosensitizer [Ru(dcbpy)(bpy) 2 ] 2+ (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, dcbpy = 5,5'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine) and catalyst [Ru(tpy)(dcbpy)Cl] + (tpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) that were incorporated into the UiO-67 framework and grown as thin films on a TiO 2 -coated, fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode (RuB-RuTB-UiO-67/TiO 2 /FTO). When used as an electrode for the photoelectrochemical oxidation of benzyl alcohol, the mixed-linker MOF film showed a faradaic efficiency of 34%, corresponding to a 3-fold increase in efficiency relative to the RuB-UiO-67/TiO 2 /FTO control. Furthermore, this increase in catalytic efficiency is ascribed to the activation of RuTB moieties via oxidation by photogenerated Ru III B. Transient absorption spectroscopy revealed the delayed appearance of Ru III TB* or Ru III TB formation, occurring with a lifetime of 21 ns, due to energy and/or electron transfer. The recovery kinetics of the charge separated state was increased (283 μs) in comparison to single-component control experiments (105 μs for RuB-UiO-67/TiO 2 /FTO and 7 μs for RuTB-UiO-67/TiO 2 /FTO) indicating a cooperative effect that could be exploited in chromophore/catalyst MOF motifs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Vibrations and Phase Stability in Mixed Valence Antimony Oxide

α-Sb 2 O 4 (cervantite) and β-Sb 2 O 4 (clinocervantite) are mixed valence compounds with equal proportions of Sb III and Sb V as represented in the formula Sb III Sb V O 4 . Their structure and properties can be difficult to calculate owing to the Sb III lone-pair electrons. Here, we present a study of the lattice dynamics and vibrational properties using a combination of inelastic neutron scattering, Mössbauer spectroscopy, nuclear inelastic scattering, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. DFT calculations that account for lone-pair electrons match the experimental densities of phonon states. Mössbauer spectroscopy reveals the β phase to be significantly harder than the α phase. Calculations with O vacancies reveal the possibility for nonstoichiometric proportions of Sb III and Sb V in both phases. An open question is what drives the stability of the α phase over the β phase, as the latter shows pronounced kinetic stability and lower symmetry despite being in the high-temperature phase. Since the vibrational entropy difference is small, it is unlikely to stabilize the α phase. In conclusion, our results suggest that the α phase is more stable only because the material is not fully stoichiometric.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Correlations for the specific heat capacity of ( U x Pu 1 - x ) 1 - y Gd y O 2 - z derived from molecular dynamics

We report UO 2 is the primary conventional fuel used in most nuclear reactors with Gd 2 O 3 commonly added as a burnable absorber to produce a more level power distribution in the reactor core at the beginning of operation. It can also be mixed with other actinide oxides to produce mixed oxide (MOx) fuel. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations were used to predict the specific heat capacity of Gd-doped PuO 2 , UO 2 and (U, Pu)O 2 MOx accommodating Gd 3+ substituted at cation sites via two charge compensation mechanisms - oxygen vacancy formation and the oxidation of U 4+ to U 5+ . The specific heat capacity values for PuO 2 and UO 2 are in good agreement with other studies showing a distinct peak at high temperatures - above 1800 K. As Gd 3+ is added, the peak height reduces for each composition considered. An analytical fit was applied to the data where Gd 3+ was fully charge compensated by either oxygen vacancies or U 5+ . The expression was then validated by predicting the specific heat capacity for three compositions of (Ux Pu 1-x ) 1-y Gd y O 2-z containing both oxygen vacancies and U 5+ , and compared to molecular dynamics data.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Raman spectroscopic investigation of ianthinite [U$_2^{4+}$(UO$_2$)$_4$O$_6$(OH)$_4$(H$_2$O)$_4$]·$5$H$_2$O, a rare mixed-valence uranium oxide hydrate

Ianthinite ([[U$_2^{4+}$(UO$_2$)$_4$O$_6$(OH)$_4$(H$_2$O)$_4$]·$5$H$_2$O) is an exotic mineral that possesses U in both tetravalent and hexavalent oxidation states and is structurally related to the U 3 O 8 polymorphs, which are commonly encountered technogenic materials in the nuclear fuel cycle. Despite the similarities between U 3 O 8 and ianthinite, and the importance of ianthinite in U paragenesis, no Raman spectra have been reported for this mineral. Here, to gain a more complete understanding of how structural attributes of ianthinite give rise to observable spectroscopic features and how these may relate to important materials in the nuclear fuel cycle, we provide, for the first time, Raman spectra of ianthinite. Ianthinite readily oxidizes at ambient conditions, complicating analysis of phase-pure material. Several analytical methods are employed herein to decouple the Raman features of ianthinite from its alteration product(s). First, a simple difference spectrum is presented, then results of Raman spectroscopic mapping are employed, and finally, we use a novel processing and analysis method. Each analysis method provides different insight into structural features that are unique to ianthinite, in particular, features that are attributable to U(IV) in distorted octahedral coordination in both ianthinite and U 3 O 8 phases.

Spano, Tyler L. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OR↗
DOE OSTI2022

Advantages of tandem versus simultaneous operation: The case of isomerization/hydrogenation of terpinolene epoxide to Terpinen-4-ol using a Ni/TiO 2 -SiO 2 bifunctional catalyst

The conversion of terpinolene epoxide to terpinen-4-ol is a desirable chemical transformation for the production of a valuable intermediate. Here this report describes a one-pot, two-step system for the reaction that uses a bifunctional Ni/TiO 2 -SiO 2 catalyst with isomerization and hydrogenation capabilities. The TiO 2 -SiO 2 serves to isomerize the starting epoxide. The Ni component works to hydrogenate the allylic double bond. The tandem system achieves a high 64% yield of terpinen-4-ol. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that TiO 2 -SiO 2 was a mixed binary oxide, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine suggested that acid sites were mainly Lewis acid sites. Electron microscopy showed that the Ni/TiO 2 -SiO 2 catalyst consisted of spherical particles comprising a titanosilicate phase with highly dispersed zero-valent Ni or anatase on the surface. Additionally, there was strong interaction between Ni and the TiO 2 -SiO 2 mixed oxides. Control kinetic experiments demonstrated that the tandem use of the catalysts was more effective than simultaneous operation.

42 ENGINEERING↗