Hydrodynamic forces on partly buried tandem, twin pipelines in current

This study extends the investigations of the forces on a cylinder, laid on, or partly buried in the bed with a parallel twin dummy cylinder nearby and without it, and were determined by measuring the pressure distribution on the cylinder in the case of a steady current. The pressure distribution around the cylinder was measured by using pressure transducers. The forces on the cylinder were calculated by the integration of the measured pressures on the surface of the cylinder. Force coefficients were obtained for the ranges of Re=0.8×10⁴–1.5×10⁴ for the burial depth to diameter RATIO=0:0.7. The distance between axis of the measurement and dummy cylinders to diameter ratio (x/D) was 2, 1.5 and 1. The dummy cylinder was replaced downstream and upstream of the measurement cylinder.     

Laboratory experiments of sediment transport from bare soil with a rill

Abstract

Mathematical models developed for quantification of sediment transport in hydrological watersheds require data collected through field or laboratory experiments, but these are still very rare in the literature. This study aims to collect such data at the laboratory scale. To this end, a rainfall simulator equipped with nozzles to spray rainfall was constructed, together with an erosion flume that can be given longitudinal and lateral slopes. Eighty experiments were performed, considering microtopographical features by pre-forming a rill on the soil surface before the start of each experiment. Medium and fine sands were used as soil, and four rainfall intensities (45, 65, 85 and 105 mm h^-1) were applied in the experiments. Rainfall characteristics such as uniformity, granulometry, drop velocity and kinetic energy were evaluated; flow and sediment discharge data were collected and analysed. The analysis shows that the sediment transport rate is directly proportional to rainfall intensity and slope. In contrast, the volumetric sediment concentration stays constant and does not change with rainfall intensity unless the slope changes. These conclusions are restricted to the conditions of experiments performed under rainfall intensities between and 105 mm h^-1 for medium and fine sands in a 136-cm-wide, 650-cm-long and 17-cm-deep erosion flume with longitudinal and lateral slopes varying between 5 and 20%.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor G. Mahé

Citation Aksoy, H., Unal, N.E., Cokgor, S., Gedikli, A., Yoon, J., Koca, K., Inci, S.B., Eris, E., and Pak, G., 2013. Laboratory experiments of sediment transport from bare soil with a rill. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (7), 1505–1518.     

Comparative Assessment of Sludge Pre‐Treatment Techniques to Enhance Sludge Dewaterability and Biogas Production

Effectiveness of ultrasonication, microwave technologies, and enzyme addition prior to anaerobic digestion is investigated using sludge samples taken from the secondary settling tank of a domestic wastewater treatment plant to improve methane production, enhance dewaterability characteristics of the sludge, and to reduce excess sludge. Microwave pre‐treatment (1500 W, 10 min at 175 °C) results in better extra digester performance (compared to the control reactor) in terms of methane production (25 m³ ton^?1 suspended solids (SS)) than ultrasound (no improvement) and enzyme pre‐treatment (11 m³ ton^?1 SS). While methane production is not improved as a result of ultrasonication pre‐treatment (15 000 kJ kg^?1 SS), a noticeable increase (19%) is observed in the case of microwave pre‐treatment. Higher compactibility values are obtained after ultrasonication and microwave application compared to the control (i.e., from 7.1 to 8.7 and 9.2%, respectively) before anaerobic digestion. Although ultrasonication and microwave application decrease the dewaterability of the raw sludge (capillary suction time (CST) from 827 to 1364 and 2290 s, respectively), similar dewaterability results are obtained at the end of the anaerobic digestion process for all pre‐treated sludge samples. An economic assessment of this study shows that pre‐treatment with microwave results in more than 10‐fold less net cost compared to the enzyme application.     

Magnetostratigraphy and revised chronology of the late Miocene mammal localities of Samos,Greece

The late Miocene mammalian record in Samos Island, Greece, is extremely important for the Eurasian Neogene mammalian history and chronology. However, due to the mixed nature of old fossil collections and controversies on the stratigraphic position of fossil quarries, great confusion has arisen concerning the recognition of distinct faunal assemblages, their age(s) and biostratigraphic significance. This paper presents the magnetostratigraphy of the late Miocene continental deposits of the fossiliferous Mytilinii Basin, Samos Island, Greece. Old and new sites are stratigraphically controlled with accuracy and correlated with each other. The magnetostratigraphy of seven individual sections, covering the entire Mytilinii Formation, provides good correlation with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS). These results, as well as the relocation and precise litho- and magnetostratigraphic correlation of the old and new mammal localities, combined with new and reviewed paleontological data and thorough studying of the numerous radiometric dates, allowed us to define five biostratigraphic horizons. Their correlation with, and implications to the European Neogene mammal chronology ages and zones make up the following discussion and provides a modified determination of the middle Turolian (MN 12) boundaries.Abbreviations GPTS Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale - IPGP Institute de Physic du Globe de Paris - MGL Musée Cantonal de Géologie, Lausanne - MNHA Museum of Natural History of the Aegean, Samos - BMNH Natural History Museum of London - Q quarries - Fm Formation     

Hydrodynamic forces on a partly buried cylinder exposed to combined waves and current

The present study extends the investigations of the hydrodynamic forces on a cylinder, laid on, or partly buried in the bed. They were determined by measuring the pressure distribution on the cylinder surface in the case of steady current, waves and coexisting flow. The pressure distribution around the cylinder was measured by using pressure transducers, which were replaced in the cylinder. Force coefficients were obtained for the ranges of Re=0.8×10⁴–1.5×10⁴, for steady current, low KC numbers (KC<5) for wave alone case and, for current-to-wave velocity RATIO=0, 3, 6 and infinity (current) for coexisting flow. The forces were also determined for the various burial-depth-to-diameter ratios between 0 and 0.7 values of the cylinder.     

Example of application of response spectrum analysis for seismically isolated curved bridges including soil-foundation effects

This paper presents seismic behaviour of isolated curved bridges in the earthquake prone regions.     

The effect of spatially varying earthquake ground motions on the stochastic response of bridges isolated with friction pendulum systems

In this paper, a comprehensive investigation of the effect of spatially varying earthquake ground motions on the stochastic response of bridges isolated with friction pendulum systems is performed. The spatially varying earthquake ground motions are considered with incoherence, wave-passage and site-response effects. The importance of the site-response effect, which arises from the difference in the local soil conditions at different support points of the isolated bridge, is investigated particularly. Mean of maximum and variance response values obtained from the spatially varying earthquake ground motions are compared with those of the specialised cases of the ground motion model. It is shown that site-response component of the spatially varying earthquake ground motion model has important effects on the stochastic response of the isolated bridges. Therefore, to be more realistic in calculating the isolated bridge responses, the spatially varying earthquake ground motions should be incorporated in the analysis.     

Improving the CO2 well injectivity and enhanced coalbed methane production performance in coal seams

This paper reports on the performance comparison for different CO₂-ECBM schemes in relatively thin unminable seams typical of Northern Appalachian coal basin using a horizontal well configuration. Numerical simulations based upon public-domain coalbed reservoir properties indicated that injection of pure CO₂ is likely to result in only limited incremental methane recovery if any over primary recovery, due to the low injection rates that can be achieved. On the other hand, the presence of the nitrogen component in the injected gas stream is capable of improving the efficiency of enhanced methane recovery significantly without compromising the net CO₂ injection rates, as a result of improved injectivity over pure CO₂ injection. There is, however, a trade off between incremental methane recovery and produced gas purity due to early nitrogen breakthrough.     

System Performance in UASB Reactors Receiving Increasing Levels of Sulfate

Glucose‐fed high‐rate UASB reactors were tested at three COD/SO₄ ratios and hydraulic retention times to promote sulfate reducing activity and observe the effects on reactor performance. Different COD/SO₄ ratios (20, 10, and 5) resulted in changes in organic matter removal, methane production, alkalinity, dissolved sulfide and biomass concentrations and profile. The COD removal dropped from 95 to 80–84 % at the lowest COD/SO₄ ratio. Sulfate was removed at 79 to 89 % at the highest ratio and dropped to 72 to 74 % with increasing sulfate loading. Alkalinity was produced at higher levels with increasing sulfate loading. Specific methane production dropped with decreasing hydraulic retention times. Sulfate‐reducing activity used a maximum of 11.7 % of organic matter at the highest sulfate loading level, producing a slight shift to sulfate‐reducing activity in the substrate competition between sulfate‐reducing bacteria and methanogens. Increased sulfate loading at COD/SO₄ ratios of 10 and 5 caused deterioration of the concentration profile of the sludge, resulting in biomass washout and decreased volatile fraction of biosolids in the reactors.     

Hot spot analysis based on network spatial weights to determine spatial statistics of traffic accidents in Rize,Turkey

The increased numbers of vehicles using roads in the world today are cause of traffic-related problems, and in this respect, road traffic accidents are an important topic relating to public health. Especially on the road connecting two border provinces, traffic accidents are increasing substantially in parallel with the quantity of transport facilities. By determining areas where traffic accidents result in deaths or injuries, accident prevention strategies can be developed. This study applies the spatial statistics techniques using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to determine the intensity of traffic accidents (hot-spot regions) over 45 km of main routes in Rize Province, Turkey. Traffic accidents recorded in data spanning 5 years are combined with a geographical dataset for evaluation using hot spot statistical analysis. Unlike other studies, this study used hot spot analysis based on network spatial weights (an innovative review in the methods of determining traffic accident hot spots: “novel application of GIScience”) to identify black spots for traffic safety. To perform the analysis using Hot Spot Analysis: Getis-Ord Gi*, a generated network dataset and the spatial weights of the road data are used to generate network spatial weights. Then, Kernel Density method is used to define traffic accident black spots. Finally, these two methods are compared each other with visually.