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Idaho Model Watershed Project : Annual Report to the Bonneville Power Administration January 1, 1997 - December 31, 1997.
No full textThe Model Watershed Project was initiated in the fall of 1992 with a grant from Bonneville Power Administration. The objective of this project is to protect, enhance and restore anadromous and resident fish habitat and achieve and maintain a balance between resource protection and resource use on a holistic watershed basis
Application of Integrated Reservoir Management and Reservoir Characterization to Optimize Infill Drilling
No full textInfill drilling if wells on a uniform spacing without regard to reservoir performance and characterization foes not optimize reservoir development because it fails to account for the complex nature of reservoir heterogeneities present in many low permeability reservoirs, and carbonate reservoirs in particular. New and emerging technologies, such as geostatistical modeling, rigorous decline curve analysis, reservoir rock typing, and special core analysis can be used to develop a 3-D simulation model for prediction of infill locations
Geometrical Aspects of a Hollow-cathode Magnetron (HCM)
No full textA hollow-cathode magnetron (HCM), built by surrounding a planar sputtering-magnetron cathode with a hollow-cathode structure (HCS), is operable at substantially lower pressures than its planar-magnetron counterpart. We have studied the dependence of magnetron operational parameters on the inner diameter D and length L of a cylindrical HCS. Only when L is greater than L sub zero, a critical length, is the HCM operable in the new low-pressure regime. The critical length varies with HCS inner diameter D. Explanations of the lower operational pressure regime, critical length, and plasma shape are proposed and compared with a one-dimension diffusion model for energetic or primary electron transport. At pressures above 1 mTorr, an electron-impact ionization model with Bohm diffusion at a temperature equivalent to one-half the primary electron energy and with an ambipolar constraint can explain the ion-electron pair creation required to sustain the discharge. The critical length L sub zero is determined by the magnetization length of the primary electrons
An Automated Image Processing System for Concrete Evaluation
No full textAlliedSignal Federal Manufacturing & Technologies (FM&T) was asked to perform a proof-of-concept study for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department (MHTD), Research Division, in June 1997. The goal of this proof-of-concept study was to ascertain if automated scanning and imaging techniques might be applied effectively to the problem of concrete evaluation. In the current evaluation process, a concrete sample core is manually scanned under a microscope. Voids (or air spaces) within the concrete are then detected visually by a human operator by incrementing the sample under the cross-hairs of a microscope and by counting the number of "pixels" which fall within a void. Automation of the scanning and image analysis processes is desired to improve the speed of the scanning process, to improve evaluation consistency, and to reduce operator fatigue. An initial, proof-of-concept image analysis approach was successfully developed and demonstrated using acquired black and white imagery of concrete samples. In this paper, the automated scanning and image capture system currently under development will be described and the image processing approach developed for the proof-of-concept study will be demonstrated. A development update and plans for future enhancements are also presented
Decision Analysis System for Selection of Appropriate Decontamination Technologies
No full textThe principal objective for designing Decision Analysis System for Decontamination (DASD) is to support DOE-EM's endeavor to employ the most efficient and effective technologies for treating radiologically contaminated surfaces while minimizing personnel and environmental risks. DASD will provide a tool for environmental decision makers to improve the quality, consistency, and efficacy of their technology selection decisions. The system will facilitate methodical comparisons between innovative and baseline decontamination technologies and aid in identifying the most suitable technologies for performing surface decontamination at DOE environmental restoration sites
An Experimental Investigation of the Flow in a Virtual Cyclone
No full textAn experimental investigation has confirmed the predicted flow pattern in a prototype virtual cyclone, a novel device for nonimpact particle separation proposed by Torcdzynski and Rader (1996, 1997) based solely on computational simulations. The virtual cyclone differs from an ordinary cyclone in that the flow is turned by a virtual wall composed of an eddy rather than by a solid wall. A small-scale version of the computationally simulated geometry has been fabricated out of Lucite. The working fluid is ambient air, which is drawn through the apparatus and flow-metering equipment using a wind-tunnel vacuum source. The flow is seeded with smoke or water droplets produced by a nebulizer so that flow visualization techniques and particle-imaging velocimetry could be applied. Experiments have been performed on this apparatus for flows with Reynolds numbers from 200 up to 40,000 (a Mach number of 0.3). Flow visualization using a laser light sheet passing through the mid-plane of the apparatus verified that the computationally predicted flow is obtained over the entire range of flow rates. The shear layer between the main and recirculating flow is observed to become turbulent around a Reynolds number of 4000. While not changing the flow structure, the turbulent mixing produced by shear-layer roll-up limits particle concentration at the higher flow rates. In order to achieve highly efficient particle separation using a virtual cyclone, turbulence must be suppressed or mitigated. If laminar flow cannot be achieved for macroscopic-scale virtual cyclones, it should be achievable for a small-scale (low Reynolds number) virtual cyclone fabricated using MEMS-related technologies. This approach could lead to a chip-scale particle concentrator
Multilevel Inverters for Electric Vehicle Applications
No full textThis paper presents multilevel inverters as an application for all-electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) motor drives. Diode-clamped inverters and cascaded H-bridge inverters, (1) can generate near-sinusoidal voltages with only fundamental frequency switching; (2) have almost no electromagnetic interference (EMI) and common-mode voltage; and (3) make an EV more accessible/safer and open wiring possible for most of an EV'S power system. This paper explores the benefits and discusses control schemes of the cascade inverter for use as an EV motor drive or a parallel HEV drive and the diode-clamped inverter as a series HEV motor drive. Analytical, simulated, and experimental results show the superiority of these multilevel inverters for this new niche
Pataha [Creek] Model Watershed : 1997 Habitat Projects : Annual Progress Report.
No full textThe projects outlined in detail on the attached project reports are a few of the many projects implemented in the Pataha Creek Model Watershed since it was selected as a model in 1993. Up until this year, demonstration sites using riparian fencing, off site watering facilities, tree and shrub plantings and upland conservation practices were used for information and education and was the main focus of the implementation phase of the watershed plan. These practices are the main focus of the watershed plan to reduce the majority of the sediment entering the stream
Evaluation of Low and High Frequency Sound for Enhancing Fish Screening Facilities to Protect Outmigrating Salmonids.
No full textThe need to provide passage and protective screens at irrigation diversions has always been a necessary part of the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (NPPC 1984, 1987, 1994). From 1985 through 1990, fish protection facilities in large irrigation diversions throughout the Columbia Basin, especially in the Yakima Basin, were updated. After 1990, fish protection efforts turned to installation of new facilities on unscreened diversions and to repair and upgrade of older facilities. The screening program also includes funds to monitor and evaluate the facilities. The screen evaluations indicate they are an effective means for protecting juvenile fish larger than 40 mm in length. As state and federal agencies change screening criteria to protect smaller fish (e.g., bull trout fry), the physical barrier may not always be effective. Screen mesh small enough to protect fish may be vulnerable to frequent plugging. Gap tolerances on side and bottom seals may be difficult to install and maintain. Physical barrier screens can be enhanced with behavioral barriers that cause fish to avoid a hazard. Behavioral barriers may consist of sound generator, strobe lights, bubble curtains, or electrical barriers. State of Oregon House Bill 3112 states that "Standards and criteria shall address the overall level of protection necessary at a given water diversion and shall not favor one technology or technique over another." Additionally, it goes on to say, "Screening device means a fish screen or behavior barrier." Other Northwest states, in particular Washington, have taken a comprehensive program to install barriers at all unscreened diversions by 1999. Protecting all fish at all water withdrawals will probably require both physical and behavioral barriers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of using an underwater sound-generator as a behavioral barrier for possible use at fish diversion facilities. This study did not include engineering and economic evaluations needed to produce, deploy or install sound equipment at existing or planned fish screening facilities. The focus of this study is to determine if fish, specifically juvenile salmonids, can be guided by sound
Framework on an On-Line Regulations Expert Permit Server
No full textThis is a cooperative project between the Oil and Gas Compact Commission (OIGCC) and the oil and gas industry to use computerized communication technology as a means of providing information from state agencies. A major effort is the development of a framework for an on-line regulatory compliance and permit server system. Other aspects included provide feedback to state regulatory agencies with recommendations suggesting where procedures or regulations could be simplified or streamlined, identifying overlapping regulations, and surveying the needs of the IOGCC states in the area of emerging issues where sharing of regulatory procedures among the states might be useful