Short-pulsed, electric-discharge degradation of toxic and sludge wastes

This is the final report of a three-year, Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project funded by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The project was a collaborative effort with the University of California at Irvine (UCI), which was the lead project performer. Short-pulse, electric-discharge streamers were used to degrade aromatic and chlorinated compounds in water aerosols. An atomizer supplies 10--50 {micro}m aerosol droplets to a discharge chamber containing thin wires that are driven by electric pulses of 50--90 kV amplitude, 50--150 ns pulse duration, and 100 Hz repetition rate. The combination of a high electric field, large H{sub 2}O dielectric constant and atomization provide efficient degradation of organic molecules including: paranitrophenol, di-chlorophenol and perchloroethylene. The specific energy input for degradation of a pollutant molecule depends on the particular compound, its concentration, and the operational parameters of the discharge

Generation and transport of a low energy intense ion beam

The paper describes experiments on the generation and transport of a low energy (70-120 keV), high intensity (10-30 A/cm(2)) microsecond duration H+ ion beam (IB) in vacuum and plasma. The IB was generated in a magnetically insulated diode (MID) with an applied radial B field and an active hydrogen-puff ion source. The annular IB, with an initial density of j(i)similar to10-20 A/cm(2) at the anode surface, was ballistically focused to a current density in the focal plane of 50-80 A/cm(2). The postcathode collimation and transport of the converging IB were provided by the combination of a "concave" toroidal magnetic lens followed by a straight transport solenoid section. With optimized MID parameters and magnetic fields in the lens/solenoid system, the overall efficiency of IB transport at the exit of the solenoid 1 m from the anode was similar to 50% with an IB current density of 20 A/cm(2). Two-dimensional computer simulations of post-MID IB transport supported the optimization of system parameters. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics

Foreign Trade and the Development of the Far East Region

International economic collaboration, including foreign trade, facilitates the unification of national economies into one system that has efficiency much higher than the economy of an individual nation. This is a general law, but it is not an absolute for all conditions or all countries. When the level of economic development is not high enough, such collaboration can lead to a destructuring of the national economy of a country, since its development is limited only to the narrow sector that can be fit into the unified (combined) system according to the criteria of economic efficiency. Thus, while bearing in mind the generally progressive nature of the inclusion of any country in foreign trade, we must also bear in mind the specific features of its development and the interests of the national economy.