Northwest National Laboratory Research Articles

Challenges in Catalytic Manufacture of Renewable Pyrrolidinones from Fermentation Derived Succinate

Fermentation derived succinic acid ammonium salt is an ideal precursor for manufacture of renewable N-methyl pyrrolidinone (NMP) or 2-pyrrolidinone (2P) via heterogeneous catalysis. However, there are many challenges to making this a practical reality. Chief among the challenges is avoiding catalyst poisoning by fermentation by- and co-products. Battelle/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed an effective technology strategy for this purpose. The technology is a combination of purely thermal processing, followed by simple catalytic hydrogenation that together avoids catalyst poisoning from fermentation impurities and provides high selectivity and yields of NMP or 2P.

Shaping what’s in store for the next-generation electrical grid

They line Interstate-80 (I-80) in Iowa like immense and stately white birds, their blades rotating silently with an almost hypnotic grace. Besides offering a striking sight to anyone driving this stretch of highway, these and dozens of other wind turbines (Figure 1) installed throughout the state have made Iowa the U.S. leader in terms of the percentage of electricity generated from its abundant breezes, according to an American Wind Energy Association report released in April 2010. But even in Iowa, the wind can die down or be whipped into a frenzy that overpowers the electrical grid. Smoothing out this variability is a fundamental challenge facing more robust incorporation of wind and other renewable energy technologies into the electricity infrastructure. Zhenguo “Gary” Yang, laboratory fellow at the Pacifi c Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), began examining the issue of renewable integration four years ago as part of his work in developing technologies for the “smart grid”—the next-generation electricity delivery network that monitors and manages consumption at an individual consumer level. The crux of the problem, according to Yang, is the lack of an effective means of storing energy for future use to meet peak demands or compensate for disturbances in the power supply. “There are a number of potential technologies, but their costs need to be reduced to a level shaping What’s in store for the next-generation electrical Grid

Meet a member: Eric Nyberg, releasing materials science into the wild

Hunkered down since before dawn on a colorful blanket of leaves covered by an early frost, Eric Nyberg prepares to draw back the string of his die-cast magnesium bow. Less than 25 feet from him stands a six-point bull elk. The orange glow of the sun rising above the mountains in eastern Washington illuminates the massive size of the elk and brings it into Nyberg’s focus. He waits for the perfect moment and releases the arrow—success. Nyberg, a senior research scientist at the Pacifi c Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, has been hunting for nearly 30 years in the state of Washington, and has taken deer and elk from several northwest states. His love for the nature-oriented sport has earned him two places in the Pope & Young Club Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America record book. “I began hunting as a teenager in Washington State,” he said. “In eastern Washington, hunting, fi shing, and other outdoor activities are very popular due to the open expanses, beautiful mountains, and abundant wildlife.” Prior to 2003, Nyberg did most of his hunting during rifl e season. It wasn’t until then that he was able to draw a “Non-Resident” elk hunting permit (“tag”) for the state of Montana and became interested in archery hunting. “Drawing the tag was going to be a hunting opportunity I would not miss, only problem was that it occurred during the rifl e hunting season in Washington State,” he said. “Therefore, I decided to take up archery hunting.” Nyberg said he practiced with his new bow all summer and within the fi rst month of becoming an archer he landed a six-point bull elk in Washington State. That same year he used the coveted “Montana tag” to take another six-point bull elk with a rifl e. Since then, he has hunted exclusively with a bow and arrow. “I love hunting because it is a chalMeet a Member: Eric Nyberg, Releasing Materials Science into the Wild

Pufferfish genome sequencing

Following completion of the Drosophila genome sequence, and a full draft of the human genome, the Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute (CA, USA) has instigated a consortium to generate a complete genome sequence for the pufferfish Fugu rubripes. Fugu has a genome that carries the same fundamental genes and regulatory sequences as in humans, but is one-eighth of the size. This is due in part to the massive reduction in the size and number of introns. Comparative genomics using mouse sequence have proved extremely fruitful in decoding the human sequence, and it is hoped that researchers will elicit similarly valuable information from the pufferfish sequence. The consortium includes research groups from Los Alamos (CA), Pacific Northwest (WA) and Brookhaven (NY) National Laboratories, and Stanford University (CA). (AR)

Miniaturization Technologies for Advanced Energy Conversion and Transfer Systems

Microfabricationtechnologieshavemadepossiblethedevelopmentofmeso-scaleenergyconversionandchemical processing systems with microscale features. Scaling effects, such as the linear increase in surface-area-to-volume ratio that affects surface processes such as convection heat transfer, adsorption, and catalytic chemical conversion processes, provide some of the motivation for the miniaturization efforts. Other mechanical, thermal, and e uid scaling effects are presented. Fabrication and material limitations, as well as scaling effects, must be considered in the design process and may result in miniaturized systems that are considerably different than their full-scale prototypes. System and component development efforts at Battelle Pacie c Northwest National Laboratories are highlighted. A fuel atomizer for gas turbine engines and a multicomponent fuel processor for the production of on-demand hydrogen are microscale components that show potential for improving current large-scale systems. Complete miniaturized systems such as a gas turbine, a vapor-absorption heat pump, and a Joule ‐Thompson cryocooler could be used for mobile power production and cooling of electronics and individuals. Components for miniaturized systems include microbatteries with multiple dee nable voltage levels and a high degree of integratability and a combustor/evaporator for methane combustion with low levels of harmful emissions.

Distributions of nuclear fuel-reprocessing tracers in the Arctic Ocean: Indications of Russian river influence

Radionuclidesampling in 1986 and 1993 in the Canada Basin, and in 1993 in theAmundsen Basin and on the adjacent Laptev shelf, provides new insights into the origin, timing, pathways, and mechanisms for dispersal of non-fallout radioactive tracers in the Arctic Ocean. First, samples from the Beaufort Sea shelf, slope, and adjacentbasin show a four-fold increase in 129I concentrationsfrom 1986 to 1993. Second, anthropogenic non-fallout radionuclide concentrations in the Beaufort Sea increasewith proximity to slope boundarycurrents.Third, there is evidence for riverine contributions of anthropogenic radionuclides to surface waters of the Amundsen Basin and the Laptev continental shelf. This evidence includes high surface water burdens of 237Np and 129I, with the maximum in anthropogenic129I found in the least saline andmost 18O-depletedwaters, consistentwith an origin in high-latitude runoff.Additionally, the 237Np/129I atom ratios in the Laptev Sea andAmundsen Basin in 1993 were signiŽ cantly lower than observed elsewhere in the Arctic Ocean and can be reasonably explained by 129I added during transit of the Russian shelves. The 240Pu/239Pu ratios in the water column were mostly near 0.18, consistent both with stratospheric bomb fallout and with the discharged-weighted mean SellaŽ eld ratio during 1966–1985. In the least saline water samples collected at the most shallow Laptev shelf station, however, the Pu ratios were lower, consistentwith a non-Europeannuclear fuel reprocessingsource.There are clear secondarymaxima in 237Np and 129I 1. Environmental Science Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831-6038,U.S.A. email: jg9@ornl.gov 2. U.S. Department of Energy, 201 Varick Street, Fifth Floor, New York, New York, 10014,U.S.A. 3. Current address: 7 Pine Cone Lane, Sparta, New Jersey, 07871,U.S.A. 4. Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, U.S.A. 5. PaciŽ c Northwest National Laboratory, Battelle Boulevard, Richland,Washington, 99352,U.S.A. 6. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, U.S.A. Journal of Marine Research, 57, 715–738, 1999

Enterprise‐Level Regulatory Analysis and Requirements Management

AbstractTo improve overall operational efficiency, a formal requirements management program has been initiated at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory1. The goal of this program is to develop a robust, dynamic, integrated, informative decision base, for Laboratory‐wide use instead of the more typical assemblage and maintenance of many specific “product line” or “product” requirements.The external requirement documents that regulate the Laboratory's activities include U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Orders, Code of Federal Regulations, State of Washington regulations, industry standards, Tribal and local government consent agreements, contracts, city and county ordinances, other Federal interagency agreements, and Battelle Memorial Institute policies. When these documents get updated or revised, these changes can affect the Laboratory's work.The current estimate is that hundreds of external requirements documents yield thousands of individual external requirements. These documents also have a high degree of variability in format and content, both in a particular document and between document types. Given the large number and scope of issues encompassed by these requirements, our review found that the “historical situation” (i.e., information distributed from personal computers, lists, manuals, procedures, correspondence, and personal memory) was no longer sufficient. No unified requirements analysis set identified all of the individual, applicable external requirements in readily retrievable form, nor were the external requirements linked to the systems to which they apply.Similar external requirement document integration efforts by other organizations have produced work that is obsolete by the time they publish it, because of the failure to address the dynamic nature of the external requirements documents. This report describes an automation tool (“System Level Automation Tool for Engineers” [SLATE]) that we use to support requirements analysis and the ongoing management of requirements. Experience with this tool as a key element of requirements analysis and management in a timely, cost‐effective, Laboratory‐wide manner is discussed.Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE‐AC06‐76RLO 1830.