Pressure Relief Devices for High-Pressure Gaseous Storage Systems: Applicability to Hydrogen Technology

Pressure relief devices (PRDs) are viewed as essential safety measures for high-pressure gas storage and distribution systems. These devices are used to prevent the over-pressurization of gas storage vessels and distribution equipment, except in the application of certain toxic gases. PRDs play a critical role in the implementation of most high-pressure gas storage systems and anyone working with these devices should understand their function so they can be designed, installed, and maintained properly to prevent any potentially dangerous or fatal incidents. As such, the intention of this report is to introduce the reader to the function of the common types of PRDs currently used in industry. Since high-pressure hydrogen gas storage systems are being developed to support the growing hydrogen energy infrastructure, several recent failure incidents, specifically involving hydrogen, will be examined to demonstrate the results and possible mechanisms of a device failure. The applicable codes and standards, developed to minimize the risk of failure for PRDs, will also be reviewed. Finally, because PRDs are a critical component for the development of a successful hydrogen energy infrastructure, important considerations for pressure relief devices applied in a hydrogen gas environment will be explored

Concentration of Selected Priority Organic Contaminants in Fish Maintained on Formulated Diets in Lake Ontario Waters

Fish were grown in Lake Ontario water under conditions simulating commercial aquaculture and then analyzed for 10 priority organic contaminants. Black bullheads (Ameiurus meias) were grown in cages placed in a bay of Lake Ontario. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were grown in terrestrial raceways served with Lake Ontario water. Yearlings were reared on a commercial ration in these systems, which partially isolated them from the contaminant-laden food web and bottom sediments, to an average weight of 93 g for black bullheads (range, 31-220 g) and 213 g (29-558 g) for rainbow trout. Concentrations of contaminants in skinless fillets of both rainbow trout cultivated 6 months and black bullheads cultured 3.5 months in Lake Ontario waters were nondetectable or less than one-sixth the action levels defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Contaminant levels in rainbow trout were consistently less than concentrations observed in black bullheads. Of the 10 priority contaminants surveyed, 7 were nondetectable in rainbow trout and 3 were nondetectable in black bullheads. Concentrations of contaminants in both species were generally much lower than levels observed in wild fish from Lake Ontario. This investigation demonstrated that bioaccumulation of lipophilic contaminants by fish cultured under simulated commercial conditions in Lake Ontario was not significant. These findings have implications for commercial aquaculture, regulatory decisions, and fish consumers in the Great Lakes basin and elsewhere

Uptake and Retention of Mirex By Fish Maintained on Formulated and Natural Diets in Lake Ontario Waters

Fish with no detectable levels of the contaminant mirex were grown in Lake Ontario waters under conditions simulating commercial aquaculture. Benthic black bullheads (Ameiurus me/as) were grown in cages placed in a bay of the lake. Pelagic rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were grown in terrestrial raceways served with Lake Ontario waters. Contaminant-free fingerlings were reared to a large size on a commercial ration in these systems, which partially isolated them from the contaminant-laden food web and bottom sediments. Black bullheads fed a mirex-spiked, commercially prepared food had mirex concentrations that exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action level of 0.1 p,g/g, significantly higher than concen, trations in fish receiving the same commercial food without mirex. Ninety percent offish receiving the unspiked ration had nondetectable levels of mirex (values below 0.002 p,g/g). The 10% containing mirex had concentrations 94% below FDA action level. In the rainbow trout study, 97% of the fish had no detectable levels ofmirex. This investigation demonstrated that bioaccumulation of the lipophilic contaminant mirex by fish cultured under simulated commercial conditions in Lake Ontario waters was not significant. These findings have implications for commercial aquaculture, regulatory decisions, and health-conscious fish consumers in the Great Lakes Basin

Codes and Standards Requirements for Deployment of Emerging Fuel Cell Technologies

The objective of this NREL report is to provide information on codes and standards (of two emerging hydrogen power fuel cell technology markets; forklift trucks and backup power units), that would ease the implementation of emerging fuel cell technologies. This information should help project developers, project engineers, code officials and other interested parties in developing and reviewing permit applications for regulatory compliance

Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Macrobenthos and lchthyoplankton Abundance, Biomass and Species Composition in Onondaga Lake, 1994

Once a pristine recreational center and a productive fishery that supplied New York City markets with fresh fish, Onondaga Lake is now considered one of the most badly degraded bodies of water in the entire world (Sage 1993). The Onondaga Lake Management Conference was established to develop a comprehensive restoration, conservation, and management plan for Onondaga Lake that recommends priority corrective actions and a compliance schedule for cleanup of the lake. Biological assessment of the lake has been infrequent and concentrated on a few biological groups. This study either updates or establishes baseline characteristics for the following biological components of the Onondaga Lake ecosystem: phytoplankton, zooplankton, ichthyoplankton and macrobenthos

Summary and Findings from the NREL/DOE Hydrogen Sensor Workshop (June 8, 2011)

On June 8, 2011, DOE/NREL hosted a hydrogen sensor workshop attended by nearly forty participants from private organizations, government facilities, and academic institutions . The workshop participants represented a cross section of stakeholders in the hydrogen community, including sensor developers, end users, site safety officials, and code and standards developers. The goals of the workshop were to identify critical applications for the emerging hydrogen infrastructure that require or would benefit from hydrogen sensors, to assign performance specifications for sensor deployed in each application, and to identify shortcomings or deficiencies (i.e., technical gaps) in the ability of current sensor technology to meet the assigned performance requirements

TOWARDS HIGH PERFORMANCE PROCESSING IN MODERN JAVA BASED CONTROL SYSTEMS

Abstract CERN controls software is often developed on Java foundation. Some systems carry out a combination of data, network and processor intensive tasks within strict time limits. Hence, there is a demand for high performing, quasi real time solutions. Extensive prototyping of the new CERN monitoring and alarm software required us to address such expectations. The system must handle dozens of thousands of data samples every second, along its three tiers, applying complex computations throughout. To accomplish the goal, a deep understanding of multithreading, memory management and interprocess communication was required. There are unexpected traps hidden behind an excessive use of 64 bit memory or severe impact on the processing flow of modern garbage collectors. Tuning JVM configuration significantly affects the execution of the code. Even more important is the amount of threads and the data structures used between them. Accurately dividing work into independent tasks might boost system performance. Thorough profiling with dedicated tools helped understand the bottlenecks and choose algorithmically optimal solutions. Different virtual machines were tested, in a variety of setups and garbage collection options. The overall work provided for discovering actual hard limits of the whole setup. We present this process of architecting a challenging system in view of the characteristics and limitations of the contemporary Java runtime environment

Field-usable portable analyzer for chlorinated organic compounds

In 1992, a chemical sensor was developed which showed almost perfect selectivity to vapors of chlorinated solvents. When interfaced to an instrument, a chemical analyzer will be produced that has near- absolute selectivity to vapors of volatile chlorinated organic compounds. TRI has just completed the second of a 2-phase program to develop this new instrument system, which is called the RCL MONITOR. In Phase II, this instrument was deployed in 5 EM40 operations. Phase II applications covered clean-up process monitoring, environmental modeling, routine monitoring, health and safety, and technology validation. Vapor levels between 0 and 100 ppM can be determined in 90 s with a lower detection limit of 0.5 ppM using the hand-portable instrument. Based on the favorable performance of the RCL MONITOR, the commercial instrument was released for commercial sales on Sept. 20, 1996

Is Entrepreneurial Success Predictable? An Ex-Ante Analysis of the Character-Based Approach

This paper empirically analyzes whether the character-based approach, which focuses on the personality structure and the human capital of business founders, allows prediction of entrepreneurial success. A unique data set is used consisting of 414 persons whose personal characteristics were analyzed by different methods, namely an one-day assessment center (AC) and a standardized questionnaire, before they launched their business. Results are partly unexpected and weaker than previous ex-post findings: first, we found correlations between the AC data and the questionnaire in one subgroup only. Second, the predictive power of the AC data is slightly better than that of the questionnaire, but lower than expected in theory. Interestingly, for those subgroups where the AC data have low predictive power, the questionnaire does better. Third, when success is measured in terms of employees hired, the character-based approach is a poor predictor. Copyright 2008 The Authors.

Onboard Hydrogen/Helium Sensors in Support of the Global Technical Regulation: An Assessment of Performance in Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Crash Tests

Automobile manufacturers in North America, Europe, and Asia project a 2015 release of commercial hydrogen fuel cell powered light-duty road vehicles. These vehicles will be for general consumer applications, albeit initially in select markets but with much broader market penetration expected by 2025. To assure international harmony, North American, European, and Asian regulatory representatives are striving to base respective national regulations on an international safety standard, the Global Technical Regulation (GTR), Hydrogen Fueled Vehicle, which is part of an international agreement pertaining to wheeled vehicles and equipment for wheeled vehicles