|
Nov. 11, 1998 -- Some of this week's stories
Researchers take 1st production HEV for a
spin
|
There's a sleek silver sedan silently cruising the Argonne-East site. Most car aficionados sighting the car are challenged to place the model or make, but that's because this 1998 Toyota Prius is only one of two dozen in the U.S.
While the exterior of the Prius is intriguing -- it resembles a VW Bug from the front and a Mercedes from the rear -- it is what's under the hood and behind the back seat that has piqued the curiosity of lab researchers.
The Prius is the first mass-produced hybrid electric car and just what Argonne'sAdvanced Powertrain Test Facility was designed to study. The powertrain facility is the nation's only laboratory dedicated to evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) components and system designs.
Typically HEVs combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor to achieve the efficiency and low emissions of an electric vehicle with the power and range of a traditional car.
"HEVs are a sophisticated combination of advanced engines, high-efficiency electric motors, battery technology and electronic control systems. We want to understand better the potential for improving vehicle efficiency and emissions," said Robert Larsen, manager of vehicle systems and fuels research at Argonne.
Before emissions testing at the powertrain facility begins, the Prius must be broken in with a combination of city and highway driving. Students are putting a majority of the needed 4,000 miles on the car, but interested transportation researchers have been helping, too.
ES Division Director Bill Schertz occasionally uses the car on his 30-mile-long commute from work to home. Schertz said "it's an eminently driveable machine -- acceleration is adequate to allow safe merges onto the expressways, it keeps up with traffic and seems to deliver about 50 miles per gallon while doing it."
Schertz added that he would consider owning one for commuting purposes when they are introduced in the U.S. in 2000.
Researchers have a second Prius and plans are underway to test the soon-to-be-released HEVs from Nissan and Honda.
Details for car fans
Engine:1.5 liter, 4-cylinder/16-valve Atkinson-cycle 58-horse power gasoline engine, 40-horsepower electric motor and a 20-horsepower generator.
Batteries:1.8 fW-hr high-power nickel-metal hydride pack that weighs only 88 pounds. The charge-sustaining design means it never has to be recharged from an outside source.
Transmission: Planetary gear power split device that functions as a continuously variable automatic
Cool features: A color, multi-functional display in the dashboard shows the energy flow and vehicle efficiency, and doubles as a television (but only in Japan); automatic air conditioning and retractable side mirrors designed for Japan's narrow streets.
-- Evelyn Brown
Once you get used to the right-hand drive and figure out that the windshield wipers are where you think the turn signals should be, the Prius is a fun, quiet car to drive.
The car even comes with entertainment: In the center of the dashboard is a computer screen that welcomes you to the car. Then it shows what is powering the car -- whether batteries, gas engine, or both -- with icons and arrows.
Another screen shows the trip's fuel economy, including sun icons to show when the energy from braking has charged the battery. In Japan, the screen is also used to watch TV.
The gas engine starts the car, but once everything is warmed up (in minutes), the batteries run the car. The electric motor is uncomfortably quiet at the first stop sign or two until you get used to it. On hard acceleration on the highway, the gas engine kicks in for added power, but instead of a grumbling transmission, the Prius whispers at a slightly higher pitch. The car moves well enough that I had to watch my speed during my I-55 test drive. I got a little over 45 mpg keeping up with traffic with the air conditioning on.
Toyota claims to have a Prius with improved highway fuel economy and emissions that meet the Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle standard when the car goes on sale here in 2000.
-- Evelyn Brown
Argonne-East employees can donate toys to brighten the holidays for children on Chicago's West Side, starting Nov. 13.
In cooperation with Bethel New Life, a partner with Argonne in several recycling and environmental projects, toys donated by laboratory employees during the Annual Recycled Toy Drive will benefit children in Chicago's West Garfield Park area.
On Friday, Nov. 13, toys in good condition can be dropped off at the America Recycles Day Event (see related story on page 3). From Nov. 13 through Friday, Dec. 11, toys will be collected at the Building 213 Cafeteria during lunch service hours, or at the Argonne-East Fire Department.
Toys must be reuseable, safe, clean, intact and in working condition. Toy guns or toys in poor condition will not be accepted.
The drive is sponsored by Argonne's Waste Management and Pollution Prevention Advisory Committee. For more information, call ext. 2-6778.
The wide-open desert roads of Idaho are looking better than ever to Argonne-West's Gerald Wilmot (OD), who won a brand-new Corvette convertible worth more than $45,000 in an oil-company contest.
Wilmot was shopping at the Grand Auto Supply store at the Blackfoot Plaza last spring when he entered the contest, sponsored by Penzoil and Grand Auto Supply. The grand prizes were three convertibles: a Corvette, a Lexus and a Mercedes.
But at the time, Wilmot's sights were set a bit lower. "They were giving away a free multi-purpose knife," he said, "and I needed one."
So he bought a case of oil, filled out the entry form, dropped it in the box and looked forward to receiving the knife (it arrived three weeks later). He figured his chance of winning an expensive automobile in a nationwide contest was next to nothing.
But Lady Luck was smiling on the young husband and father of two. Wilmot's form was one of three pulled from the 200,000 entries from stores across the country.
Wilmot picked up his Corvette at Cole Chevrolet in Pocatello Oct. 13. The price tag on the new car is $48,500. Taxes will amount to five percent of the total cost.
"I will come up with the tax money any way I can in order to keep the car," said Wilmot, whose previous car was an '86 Chevy Cavalier.
The Wilmot family is already planning its first road trip in the new vehicle.
-- Gaylene L. Flores
Akito Arima, who worked as a visiting scientist in Argonne'sPhysics Division from 1959 to 1960 and returned to work at the laboratory several summers thereafter, has been named Japan's new education minister.
During these years, theoretical physicists at Argonne introduced the use of then-modern computers to study the structure of atomic nuclei and formed the basis of the nuclear shell model.
Arima worked mainly with Dieter Kurath, Stanley Cohen, Robert Lawson and Malcolm McFarlane to achieve an understanding of the structures of the oxygen, fluorine and neon nuclei. Earlier, the computational complexity of the problem had made this impossible.
Upon returning to Japan, Arima continued to be an internationally prominent leader in nuclear physics research. He set his sights on reforming Japan's science education system, and became president of the University of Tokyo. As the new head of Japan's Monbusho - the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture - he is empowered to direct Japanese spending on science.
Arima now oversees all of Japan's national universities and major physics centers, and hopes to merge Monbusho with the Science and Technology Agency (STA). Under the STA purview are major physics labs, including the Spring-8 synchrotron radiation source, the JAERI fusion laboratory and the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research. It also oversees the country's space agency.
The Argonne Choral Group is looking for singers to join in its 17th season of spreading holiday cheer at Argonne-East.
No experience is required, just a willingness to sing, said Harry Bell (PFS), who has led the group since its inception. Rehearsals will start in November and be held at lunchtime in the Building 213 Cafeteria. The group will perform at the cafeteria, the Argonne Credit Union and in Building 201 on Dec. 10.
For more information, or to volunteer, call Bell at ext. 2-7092.
CIGNA will increase premiums for supplemental life insurance coverage on Jan. 1, 1999, due to increased claim costs.
New premium rates shown below are monthly rates for $1,000 of coverage. For more information, call ext. 2-2991 (Argonne-East) or ext. 3-7227 (Argonne-West).
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Argonne's retirement vendors will have representatives at Argonne-East to meet individually with employees to answer questions about retirement plans or retirement plan assets.
Appointments are for one-half hour each and will be held in Building 201. To schedule an appointment with these representatives, call the number listed.
| Vendor | Day | Call: |
| Fidelity | Wednesday, Nov. 11,
Thursday, Nov. 12 |
Appointment Desk
(800) 642-7131 |
| TIAA-CREF | Wednesday, Nov. 18
Thursday, Nov. 19 |
Appointment Desk
(800)842-2005 |
"America Recycles Day" will be marked with activities and exhibits at the Argonne-East Cafeteria Friday, Nov. 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
From Monday, Nov. 9 through Nov. 13, employees can sign America Recycles Day cards, pledging to buy more recycled products and increase recycling efforts at home and work.
Those signing pledge cards will be eligible to win a variety of prizes, such as an American Green Dream Home, a Barnett 1400 sailboat, a sky box party at a Blackhawks game, a celebrity dinner cruise on the Spirit of Chicago, a John Deere mulching mower, an IBM computer for classroom use, a Hobie Kat kayak, a getaway weekend for four, an outdoor camping package, a Huffy mountain bike and Argonne-East pollution prevention T-shirts and coffee mugs.
Several companies have set up exhibits in the cafeteria, including:
BT
Office Products
Spent
Lamp Recycling Technologies
Safety-Kleen
Illinois
Recycling Services
America Recycles Day activities at Argonne-East will be sponsored by the Argonne-East Pollution Prevention Program and the Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Advisory Committee.
For more information, call the Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Hotline at ext. 2-6778.
Early registration for Joliet Junior College spring classes will be offered Friday, Nov. 20, from noon to 4 p.m. in theHuman Resources offices in Argonne-East's Building 201.
College representatives will be available to register students for the spring classes that begin in mid-January.
Employees must bring an approved Educational Assistance Form (ANL-89) to the registration.
Call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410 for more information.
Service Awards for November include:
40 Years
Michael A. Essling (CMB).
35 Years
Rudolph Bouie (PFS-PMO), Edwin A. Kemereit Sr. (CHM).
30 Years
Douglas E. Engert (ECT-CTT).
25 Years
Georgia A. Anast (EA), C. Dwayne Bryngelson (TD-AW), John M. Carpenter (PNS), Patricia A. Finn (CMT), Robert C. Hischier (IPD-MIS), Elliot L. Kolsto (LEG), Ada L. Lewis (PFS-DR).
20 Years
A. James Aicher (OD), Robert B. Belcher (OD), Cheryl A. Uzzardo (PFS-CU), Michael E. Vaught (IPD-MED), Karen S. White (ERD).
15 Years
Vinod K. Gambhir (PFS-FPE), Richard H. Piech (ASD), Dai-Kai Sze (TD), Pappannan Thiyagarajan (PNS), Kathleen Winner (OTD), Linda Young (PHY), Michael P. Zacher (OD).
10 Years
Evelyn A. Brown (OPA), Youngsoo Chang (EA), Lisa A. Durham (EA), Ian T. Foster (MCS), George Friedericks (ESH-FD), Panakkal Kunjathu Job (XFD), Dennis M. Larsen (RPS-SEC), Steven Leather-man (ASO), Neil E. Lish (OD-PS), David E. Moncton (APS-PA), John A. Monson (OD), Julie L. Muzzarelli (DIS), Michael R. Nevins (DIS), Stephen Karl Peters (RPS-SEC), Lawrence E. Rudsinski (ECT-CTT), Jack M. Sepich Jr. (EMO-WMO).
5 Years
Mary Ann Bludgen (OTD), John Carwardine (ASD), Ernest E. Cherbak (ASD), Matthew Elliott (TD), Yiying Ge (IPD-TIS), Carlos Gonzalez (ASD), Todd A. Kimmell (EA), Alan McArthur (ECT-EE), Bruce T. Murdoch (ESH-HP), Michael O'Connor (ESH-HP), Jerome P. Rivette Jr. (ESH-FD), Ervina M. Scott (PFS-BM), Scott Wesling (ASD), Bingxin Yang (ASD).
