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July
2, 2004
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Photo
by: Kathie Koenig
New
NIST research results reported in Nature may help
move the promising technology of magnetically generated
refrigeration closer to market.
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Nanomaterial
Yields Cool Results
A
pinch of
iron dramatically boosts the cooling performance of a material
considered key to the development of magnetic refrigerators,
report researchers at the National Institute of Standards
and
Technology (NIST) in the June 24 issue of the journal Nature.
The achievement might move the promising technology closer
to
market, opening the way to substantial energy and cost savings
for homes and businesses.
By adding
a small amount of iron (about 1 percent by volume), the NIST
team enhanced the effective cooling capacity of the so-called
“giant magnetocaloric effect” material by 15 to
30 percent. The result, writes materials scientist Virgil Provenzano
and his NIST colleagues, “is a much-improved magnetic
refrigerant for near-room-temperature applications.”
The original
material—a gadolinium-germanium-silicon alloy—already
is considered an attractive candidate for a room-temperature
magnetic refrigerant. However, its cooling potential is undercut
by significant energy costs exacted during the on-and-off cycling
of an applied magnetic field, the process that drives the refrigeration
device. These costs—called hysteresis losses—translate
into commensurate losses of energy available for cooling.
The iron
supplement overcomes this disadvantage. It nearly eliminates
hysteresis and the associated energy cost, permitting the material
to perform near the peak of its potential.
Independently
suggested by two scientists in the 1920s, earning one the Nobel
Prize in 1949, magnetic refrigerators offer sizable prospective
advantages over the century-old technology of today’s
vapor-compression cooling systems. Potential pluses include
substantial gains in energy efficiency, lower cost of operation,
elimination of environmentally damaging coolants, and nearly
noise- and vibration-free operation.
Media
Contact:
Mark
Bello, (301) 975-3776
WTC
Investigation Identifies Standards, Codes Issues
The
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) team
conducting the federal building and fire safety investigation
into the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster of Sept. 11, 2001,
announced on June 18 that it has identified a series of issues
about test methods, standards, codes and emergency operations
currently used for buildings that merit further analysis as
the investigation moves toward completion. At
a press briefing in New York City, lead investigator Shyam
Sunder released the second major progress report on the WTC
investigation in which these issues and the interim findings
that led to their identification are documented. Sunder said
that the team’s final report—scheduled for release
as a draft document in December 2004—would feature recommendations
for improvements in the way people design, construct, maintain
and use buildings, especially high-rises.
Among
the findings discussed in the report are:
-
working
hypotheses for the collapses of WTC 1 and WTC 2 (“The
Twin Towers”) and WTC 7, a 47-story building that fell
later in the day on 9-11;
-
key
visual observations on the building, fire and smoke conditions
in all three WTC buildings (the WTC towers and WTC 7) from
analysis of a large collection of photographic and videographic
images;
-
a
summary of what has been learned from computer models used
to analyze aircraft impact damage, fire and smoke behavior,
and collapse mechanisms;
-
results
from experimental work to analyze steel recovered from
the
WTC and laboratory fire tests of WTC structural components/office
environments; and
-
information
gained from nearly 1,200 first-person interviews of WTC
surviving occupants,
first
responders and families of victims.
The complete
report, including appendices, is available on the comprehensive
NIST WTC investigation Web site, http://wtc.nist.gov.
Lack
of Supply Chain Standards Costing Billions of Dollars
Inadequacies
in managing inventory, scheduling and accounting information
cost the automotive and electronics industries a combined
total of almost $9 billion annually, according to a newly
released study* commissioned by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST). Almost all of these costs
could be eliminated with optimally integrated systems for
exchanging information throughout supply chains, the study
concludes.
Conducted by RTI
International (Research Triangle Park, NC), the analysis found
that only a handful of firms are close to achieving "ideal"
information integration with some or most of their supply
chain partners. The lack of widespread interoperability costs
the auto industry more than $5 billion a year and the electronics
industry almost $3.9 billion a year, or about 1.2 percent
of the value of shipments in each industry.
An underlying problem,
according to the study, is the lack of universally accepted
and implemented standards for the format and content of messages
that flow between supply chain partners. This reduces opportunities
for cost savings and leads to duplication of effort, maintenance
of redundant systems, and investment in inefficient processes
such as manual entry of data when machine sources are available.
RTI
defined excessive costs for several categories of logistics
and accounting information
flows, and used case studies and Internet surveys to determine
costs per occurrence for each category. These results then
were combined with secondary data on sales, employment and
wage rates to estimate industry-level impacts.
The study is part
of NIST's strategic planning process for implementing the
2002 Enterprise Integration Act, which authorizes the Institute
to help industry improve supply chain integration.
Media
Contact:
Laura
Ost, (301) 975-4034
*The report,
Economic Impact of Inadequate Infrastructure for Supply Chain
Integration, is available online at http://www.nist.gov/director/prog-ofc/report04-2.pdf.
(.pdf;
download Acrobat Reader)
Paper copies
can be requested from Denise Herbert at dherbert@nist.gov.
Measuring
Artificial Viruses To Improve Disease Detection
A
new method* developed by researchers at the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) for accurately measuring
the concentration of artificial viruses in a solution may
ultimately help doctors diagnose diseases like HIV and hepatitis
C earlier.
These artificial viruses are commercial standards made from
the same basic chemical components in RNA (the single stranded
version of DNA needed for protein synthesis.) They are constructed
to be nearly identical chemically to real viruses but are encased
with a protein covering to prevent degradation. The standards
are currently used in research laboratories to help check analysis
methods for detecting specific types of RNA, but the product
has not been approved for clinical use.
What's
needed according to NIST researcher Susan Krueger is a standard,
reliable
way to measure the concentration of artificial
RNA in solution. By knowing exactly how much of the "fake" virus
is present in a patient sample, a lab can better detect any
additional signal caused by real virus molecules. Traditional
methods for measuring concentrations don't work well with the
new product since the artificial viruses are not infectious.
Instead, NIST scientists measured the concentration of artificial
RNA virus solutions using a beam of neutrons as probes. As
neutrons pass through the test solution, they interact in very
specific ways with particular atoms, providing scientists with
detailed information on molecular weight and geometry. This
information can be used to very accurately measure the amount
of RNA in a given solution. Precise calibration of artificial
RNA concentrations may, in turn, allow laboratories to reliably
detect lower concentrations of real viruses at earlier stages
of infection.
The NIST research was conducted in collaboration with the
U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Md.
Media
Contact:
Scott
Nance,
(301) 975-5226
*The
researchers presented their work at the second American Conference
on Neutron Scattering, held June 6-10, in College Park, Md.
Lasers
Key to Construction, Manufacturing Advances
Lasers,
already used for everything from price scanning at the
supermarket
to eye surgery, now are
likely to dramatically change the construction, large-scale
manufacturing, remote sensing and defense
industries.
A new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
report* predicts "tremendous" applications for laser
scanning devices, also known as LADARs (for Laser Detection
and Ranging)
and argues for a vigorous effort to create next-generation
LADAR—a
coffee-cup-size device with millimeter accuracy. The results,
says study director William C. Stone, “could
be comparable to the advances achieved when computers
were first matched with
machinery."
Industry
has used LADAR systems, which create three-dimensional images
of areas and objects, since the late 1970s. Recent advances
in microchip lasers, optics, microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) and computers, however, have increased LADAR's speed
of data acquisition, range accuracy and reliability, as well
as reduced its size and costs. LADARs now are used to generate
topographic images, to survey the depths of large bodies
of
water, and as three-dimensional documentation of construction
when building plans are not available. Manufacturers also
are beginning to use LADARs as a tool to recreate critical
machine components from single examples.
NIST is
testing LADAR as a tool for remote management of construction
sites and for navigating unoccupied military vehicles. (The
latter research could soon lead to collision-avoidance advances
for civilian automobiles.) To spur greater LADAR industrial
use, NIST also is working to develop test objects for LADAR
performance standards so industry can have confidence in laser
scanning readings and comparison of systems. Other LADAR
research
currently under way at NIST includes work on rapid, long-range
automated identification systems for remote scanning and
inventory
of construction materials; automated LADAR-based docking systems
for building construction cranes; and basic scientific and
engineering
research that will enable development of miniature, high-resolution,
low-cost, next-generation LADAR systems.
Input
Sought for 'Next Generation' Manufacturing Programs
The
Commerce Department and the National Academy of Public Administration
(NAPA) recently released reports (http://www.manufacturing.gov
and http://www.napawash.org/Pubs/NIST6-2-04.pdf
respectively) (.pdf;
download Acrobat Reader)
making recommendations to address the challenges faced by
the manufacturing industry. One of the recommendations in
the NAPA report suggests creating a strategic plan that
articulates the "next generation" of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension
Partnership (MEP). In order to gather public comment on
this strategic plan and respond to the recommendations in
both the Commerce and NAPA reports, MEP will be holding
a series of regional roundtables (Philadelphia, Cleveland,
Detroit, Minneapolis, Orlando, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles
and Washington, D.C.) and scheduling web casts. To register
for a meeting or web cast, go to http://www.mep.nist.gov/competition/intro.htm.
NVLAP
Announces Program for Voting Systems Test Labs
On
June 23, 2004, a Federal Register notice was published
announcing that the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation
Program (NVLAP) will establish a laboratory accreditation
program for laboratories that test voting systems, including
hardware and software components. This program will use
standards determined by the Election Assistance Commission
to accredit the laboratories. For more information, access
the Federal Register notice at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-14137.htm
or contact Jeffrey Horlick, NVLAP, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop
2140, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-2140; (301) 975-4016; nvlap.voting@nist.gov.
Scientists
Discover New Interstellar Molecules
A team
of scientists using the National Science Foundation's Robert
C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) has discovered two new
molecules in an interstellar cloud near the center of the
Milky Way Galaxy. The team included scientists from the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Space Flight
Center, the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
the University of Oslo, Norway, and the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory in Green Bank, W.Va. Their results were accepted
for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
This discovery is the GBT's first detection of new molecules
and
is already helping astronomers better understand the complex
processes by which large molecules form in space. For more
information, see www.nrao.edu/pr/2004/GBTMolecules/.
Report
Spotlights Fire/Construction Research
A
new 332-page history of a quarter century of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Building
and Fire Research Laboratory activities summarizes the
critical
work of NIST researchers on behalf of the nation’s
construction and fire safety communities. The well-illustrated
report details NIST research on topics such as construction
integration and automation, simulation of building fires,
development and testing of smoke detectors, development
of air quality control software, lessons learned from site
investigations in the aftermath of earthquakes and hurricanes,
high-performance concrete durability tests, and efforts
to improve fire fighter protective clothing. Building
and Fire Research at NBS/NIST 1975-2000 by Richard
N. Wright is available at http://www2.bfrl.nist.gov/info/bfrl_history.
Individual chapters are available as PDF files. To request
a hard copy of the report, contact Kellie Beall at 301-975-5643
or kbeall@nist.gov.
(Return
to NIST News Page)
Editor:
Gail Porter
Date
created: 07/01/04
Date updated: 07/01/04
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
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