No abstract

Biomass preprocessing is a critical operation in the preparation of feedstock for the front-end of a cellulosic ethanol biorefinery. Its purpose is to chop, grind, or otherwise format the biomass material into a suitable feedstock for optimum conversion to ethanol and other bioproducts. Without this operation, the natural size, bulk density, and flowability characteristics of harvested biomass would decrease the capacities and efficiencies of feedstock assembly unit operations and biorefinery conversion processes to the degree that programmatic cost targets could not be met. The preprocessing unit operation produces a bulk flowable material that 1) improves handling and conveying efficiencies throughout the feedstock assembly system and biorefinery 2) increases biomass surface areas for improved pretreatment efficiencies, 3) reduces particle sizes for improved feedstock uniformity and density, and 4) fractionates structural components for improved compositional quality. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is tasked with defining the overall efficiency/effectiveness of current commercial hammer and fixed cutter grinding systems and other connecting systems such as harvest and collection, storage, transportation, and handling for a wide variety of feedstock types used in bioethanol or syngas production. This test plan details tasks and activities for two separate full-scale grinding tests: Material Characterization Test and Machine Characterization Test. For the Material Characterization Test, a small amount (~5-7 tons each) of several feedstock varieties will be ground. This test will define the fractionation characteristics of the grinder that affect the bulk density, particle size distribution, and quality of the size reduced biomass resulting from different separation screen sizes. A specific screen size will be selected based on the characteristics of the ground material. The Machine Characterization Test will then use this selected screen to grind several 30-ton batches of different feedstock varieties and moistures. This test will focus on identifying the performance parameters of the grinding system specific to the feed, fractionation, and screen separation components and their affect on machine capacity and efficiency.

No abstract

No abstract

The Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) under the Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) program is responsible for developing fuels technologies to support the various fuel cycle options defined in the DOE Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap, Report to Congress, April 2010. The fiscal year 2011 (FY 2011) accomplishments are highlighted below. The AFC uses a "goal-oriented science-based approach" aimed at a fundamental understanding of the fuel fabrication methods and fuel performance in the reactor, enabling the pursuit of multiple fuel forms for the future fuel cycle options. This approach comprises fundamental experiments, theory and advanced modeling and simulation. The modeling and simulation activities for fuel performance are carried out under the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program and the AFC activities are closely coordinated with the NEAMS team. AFC management and integration activities included continued support for International collaborations, primarily with France, Japan, European Union, Russian Federation, Republic of Korea, and China. A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was signed with the Republic of Korea to jointly develop metallic fast reactor fuels and the corresponding recycling technologies. Quarterly campaign meetings focused on reviewing technical progress and overall program integration. Three quarterly meetings were held jointly with other FCRD campaigns. They include Separations and Waste Forms, Systems Analysis, and Modeling and Simulation. Industry involvement, via Department of Energy (DOE) Task Orders, increased in both the quarterly meetings and the Advanced LWR industry meetings sponsored by AFC. As a result of the Fukushima event, an increased emphasis was placed on the development of advanced LWR fuels with enhanced accident tolerance. Industry meetings specific to the development of advanced LWR fuels were held in conjunction with the AFC quarterly meetings. The Advanced LWR Fuel Advisory Committee was chartered to provide input to the National Technical Director (NTD) on industry-valued objectives for fuel development. Representatives included utilities, vendors, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). They issued a request for oral proposals and developed criteria to make recommendations for the development of advanced fuels. The technical accomplishments are reported under the following research and development (R&D)