Experiment Study of the Evolution of Coral Sand Particle Clouds in Water

The motion of particle clouds (i.e., sediment clouds) usually can be found in engineering applications such as wastewater discharge, land reclamation, and marine bed capping. In this paper, a series of laboratory tests are conducted on coral sand to investigate the shape feature of the single particle and the mixing processes of the coral sand particle clouds. The shape of coral sand particle is measured and quantified. The experimental results demonstrate that the shape of coral sand particles tends to be spherical as the particle size decreases, and empirical equations were established to explain the variation of D₅₀ and f_S,50 of coral sand. Compared with the silica sand, the evolution of the coral sand particle cloud still experiences three stages, but the threshold for the Reynolds number of particle clouds entering the next stage changes. Further, the normalized axial distance of the coral sand particle clouds is 58% smaller. The frontal velocity exhibits similar varying tendency for the coral sand particle cloud. Considering the difference in shape between coral sand particles and silica sand particles, a semi-empirical formula was proposed based on the original silica sand prediction formula by adding the shape factor and the experimental data of 122 µm⩽D₅₀⩽842 µm. It can predict the frontal velocity of the coral sand particle clouds.

     

粗颗粒两相流计算方法研究

针对具有颗粒粒级跨度大且粒径大特点的固液两相流系统,如深海采矿系统等,开发新型粗颗粒—均质浆体计算模型,该模型采用欧拉—拉格朗日计算法,大粒径颗粒视为固相粗颗粒,其余视为细颗粒与海水组成液相均质浆体。固—液相间滑移速度v_(slip)作为粗细颗粒划分标准,通过联立颗粒雷诺数Re_p,液相对颗粒绕流阻力系数C_d,颗粒粒径d_p等参数,得到滑移速度v_(slip)与颗粒粒径d_p的相关函数,获得粗细颗粒的划分粒径,进而得到两相流控制方程。利用CFD软件,使用该方法对粗颗粒固—液两相流垂直管提升系统进行仿真计算,并将所获得的仿真结果与已发表成果进行对比,发现数据较为吻合,从一定程度上验证了该计算模型的准确性。     

Anomalous Decimeter Radio Noise from the Region of the Atmospheric Front: II. On the Nonthermal Mechanism of UHF Noise

The intensity and spectrum of nonthermal radiation from a cloud of oppositely charged drops as a possible explanation for the anomalous UHF radio noise originating from frontal clouds have been considered. It has been shown that the noise intensity is determined by the dimensions of charged particles and the particle electrification rate, which must equal 0.1–0.3 C/s km³. The radiation spectrum in the UHF range strongly depends on the resistance of microdischarge channels between drops. The frequency dependence of the radiation agrees with experimental data if R ≤ 377 Ω, i.e., if oscillations of the discharge current appear.     

Settling velocity and porosity of large suspended particle

The settling velocity of large suspended particles which were formed in turbid water due to re-coagulation was measured in the laboratory, and the relation to the particle diameter which was taken as that of a sphere with the same volume, was obtained. This is, however, different from Stokes' law in regard to the relation to the particle diameter, though the Reynolds numbers are almost in the region of Stokes' law. This may be caused by the change of apparent density with the particle diameter. Stokes' law for a porous particle was applied to the settling velocity and the diameter found was compared with the real diameter to obtain an expression for the porosity. From the result, it is considered that the large suspended particles of “marine snow” have a porosity of above 90 %.     

基于CFD-DEM方法对海底管道床面冲刷的研究

采用计算流体力学—离散元耦合方法（CFD-DEM）模拟海底管道床面的冲刷过程。经过模型验证,该方法的计算结果与前人的研究具有较好的一致性,证明其可以应用于海底管道周围的冲刷模拟计算。冲刷初期的结果增强了目前对启动阶段粒子运动机理的理解,即管前后压力梯度造成的渗流作用导致粒子运动。对完整冲刷过程的模拟中,发现冲刷分为冲刷启动阶段、间隙冲刷阶段和尾迹冲刷阶段。间隙冲刷阶段管道下方粒子具有较大速度,冲刷坑快速向下方发展。进入尾迹冲刷阶段后,管道后方出现周期性脱落的涡旋,沙丘上的粒子速度更大。同时利用DEM更具直观性的独特优势,首次得到了14个典型位置处颗粒的运动轨迹和运动速度,对于理解冲刷过程中粒子的运动情况具有较大帮助。     

Numerical study on scale effect of form factor

The scale effect of form factor is investigated via a numerical approach in this paper, where the turbulent ship flow is computed by solving the steady and incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes and continuity equations. A wall function approach is employed to bridge the near-wall and outer turbulent flow region. The numerical scheme based on a finite-volume formulation is applied to discretize the coupled governing equation. For the sake of numerical stability, accuracy and economy, an identical grid is employed to compute ship flow at different Reynolds number, where the grid is optimized for the medium Reynolds number of the investigated range. Four surface ships and two sub-bodies with notably different geometrical characteristics are chosen as the investigated cases, where double-model flow without appendages is computed. The calculated total resistance coefficient shows a decreasing tendency against Reynolds number among all studied hulls. Similar to the calculated total resistance coefficient, the calculated friction resistance coefficient decreases with the Reynolds number and varies relatively little for a given Reynolds number among different hulls. The viscous pressure resistance coefficient is less insensitive to the Reynolds number but apparently depends on hull form. Compared with the form factor calculation based on empirical friction lines, the flat-plate friction prediction based on CFD approach clearly gives smaller Re-dependent form factor, which should more realistically reflect the scale effect of form factor. The form factor exhibits a near linear and increasing dependence on Reynolds number. The numerical results show that the dependence of r_P on Reynolds number mainly governs the scale effect of form factor.     

Vortex modes and vortex-induced vibration of a long,flexible riser

Investigations of the velocity and vorticity fields in the wake of a flexible riser with a length to diameter ratio of 181 were conducted in a towing tank at moderate Reynolds numbers in the range of 9400–47,000. Wake velocity measurements were made with the riser freely vibrating in both in-line and cross-flow directions. The motion and wake field of the riser, undergoing free vibration, were simultaneously measured by accelerometers installed inside the riser and by using a digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) system. The vortex-induced vibration (VIV) results show that the riser freely oscillated at multiple vibration frequencies and amplitudes at each Reynolds number. Mixed vortex modes, ‘2S’, ‘2P’ and ‘P+S’, were observed in the near wake of the riser at different instants of time. The occurrence of these vortex modes depended on the Reynolds number, dominant frequency and mean amplitude. At lower Reynolds number, the single stable mode ‘2S’ dominated the wake. With the increase of Reynolds number, the percentage of the ‘2S’ modes decreased while the percentage of ‘2P’ modes increased steadily except at Reynolds numbers of 14,100 and 47,000. The ‘P+S’ modes occurred mostly at a Reynolds number of 14,100 accompanied by more ‘2P’ modes and less ‘2S’ modes. At this Reynolds number, the frequency of the VIV was very close to the natural frequency of 0.72 Hz, which was obtained from a riser decay test in steady water and the average amplitude to diameter ratio reached 0.95, the highest found in these tests.     

Organic biomarkers in the twilight zone—Time series and settling velocity sediment traps during MedFlux

The transfer of material through the twilight zone of the ocean is controlled by sinking particles that contain organic matter (OM) and mineral ballast. During the MedFlux field program in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea in 2003, sinking particulate matter was collected in time series (TS) and settling velocity (SV) traps and analyzed for amino acids, lipids, and pigments (along with ballast minerals) [Lee, C., Armstrong, R.A., Wakeham, S.G., Peterson, M.L., Miquel, J.C., Cochran, J.K., Fowler, S.W., Hirschberg, D., Beck, A. Xue, J., 2009b. Particulate matter fluxes in time series and settling velocity sediment traps in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Deep-Sea Research II, this volume [doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.12.003]]. The goal was to identify how organic chemical compositions of sinking particles varied as a function of their in-situ settling velocity. The TS record was used to define the biogeochemical character and temporal pattern in flux during the period of SV trap deployment. Temporal variations in organic and mineral compositions are consistent with particle biogeochemistry being driven by the seasonal succession of phytoplankton. Spring diatom bloom conditions led to a high flux of rapidly sinking aggregates and zooplankton fecal matter; summer oligotrophy followed and was characterized by a higher proportion of slowly sinking phytoplankton cells. Bacterial degradation is particularly important during the low-flux summer period. Settling velocity traps show that a large proportion of particulate organic matter sinks at 200–500 m d⁻¹. Organic compositions of this fast-sinking material mirrors that of fecal pellets and aggregated material that sinks as the spring bloom terminates. More-slowly sinking OM bears a stronger signature of bacterial degradation than do the faster-sinking particles. The observation that compositions of SV-sorted fractions are different implies that the particle field is compositionally heterogeneous over a range of settling velocities. Thus physical and biological exchange between fast-sinking and slow-sinking particles as they pass down the water column must be incomplete.     

The POC / Th ratio of settling particles isolated using split flow-thin cell fractionation (SPLITT)

The common assumption that the ratio between particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate ²³⁴Th obtained from shallow sediment traps and filterable particles are representative of the ratio in the total particle settling flux should be treated with caution in view of well-known biases associated with tethered shallow sediment traps and the decoupling between size and settling velocity of many natural particle regimes. To make progress toward reliably constraining the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio on truly settling particles, we have tested here a settling collection technique designed to remove any hydrodynamic bias; split flow-thin cell fractionation (SPLITT). These first results from a North Sea fjord and an open Baltic Sea time-series station indicates that the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio on the more complete particle-settling spectrum, isolated with SPLITT, was higher than the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio obtained simultaneously from tethered shallow sediment traps in seven out of seven parallel deployments with an average factor of 210%. The POC / ²³⁴Th ratio from the SPLITT was either in the same range or higher than that obtained on filtered “bulk” particles. To explain this novel data we hypothesize that the slowest settling fraction is organic-matter rich and does not strongly complex ²³⁴Th (i.e., high POC / ²³⁴Th). We suggest that this ultra-slow sinking fraction is better collected by SPLITT than with tethered sediment traps because of minimized hydrodynamic bias.This was tested using the ratio of POC / Al as a tracer of detrital mineral-ballast influenced settling velocity. The higher POC / Al ratios in SPLITT samples relative to in traps is consistent with the hypothesis that SPLITT is better suited for collecting also the slow-settling component of sinking particles. This important slow-settling component appears to here consist primarily of non-APS/TEP components of plankton exudates or other less-strongly ²³⁴Th-complexing organic matter. Further applications of the SPLITT technique are likely to return increasingly new insights on the composition (including “truly settling” POC / ²³⁴Th) of the total spectrum of particles settling out of the upper ocean.     

Accuracy of asymptotic series for the kinematics of high solitary waves

The accuracy of several asymptotic series expansions for wave speed and particle velocity under the crest of a solitary wave (on a fluid at rest) up to maximum height is investigated. The very accurate numerical results of Williams (1985) are the measure for our comparisons. The results are based on a scaling of calculated properties of long periodic waves to the case of solitary waves.For wave speeds the classical Boussinesq–Rayleigh expression gives good agreement up to a relative wave height of, say, 0.3. An asymptotic fourth-order expression based on Fenton (1990) can be used up to a relative wave height of 0.7, whereas the corresponding fifth-order expression is slightly less accurate.The Eulerian particle velocity profile under the wave crest is examined using a cnoidal wave expression from Fenton (1990) in the limit of the solitary wave. For low waves a `consistent' (i.e. properly truncated) fifth-order expression and an `inconsistent' ditto both coincide with Williams' results. Beginning at medium high waves, the consistent expression surprisingly exhibits oscillations in the velocity profile, and the oscillations become stronger as the wave gets higher. The inconsistent expression, however, yields the same shape as Williams' profile, but is displaced parallel to this, resulting in slightly larger velocities. For high waves also the inconsistent expression begins to differ in shape from Williams' profile, and asymptotic theory fails. Only for low waves `lowest order theory' gives acceptable results. We show analytically that for the highest wave the particle velocity profile has a horizontal tangent at the water surface; this is corroborated by Williams' numerical results.We also study the particle velocity at the wave crest as a function of wave height. It is shown that the variation has a vertical tangent for the highest wave. Two fifth-order asymptotic series for this velocity, based on the wave speed through the Bernoulli equation, show very good agreement with Williams up to a relative wave height of about 0.6.It is finally shown that it is possible to produce very accurate rational-function approximations to Williams' results for the wave speed as well as for the particle velocity at the wave crest.     

海水悬浮物浓度原位测量技术进展

海水悬浮物指海水中的悬浮颗粒物和浮游微生物等，对海水悬浮物浓度进行准确的测量具有重要的意义。海水悬浮物浓度测量技术，无论是传统方法（即现场采水），还是现代方法（即间接测量方式，包括光学法和声学法等）都有一定的不足。本文主要综述了几种海水悬浮物浓度间接测量方法、国内外有关海水原位过滤测量的技术研发进展及深海原位微孔过滤技术。最后，对海水悬浮物原位过滤技术的发展方向进行了探讨。     

On the accuracy of upper ocean particulate organic carbon export fluxes estimated from 234Th/238U disequilibrium

An analysis of the ²³⁴Th method for determining the export flux of particulate organic carbon (P_POC) from the upper ocean using in situ pumps or water bottles shows that the accuracy of the method (the ratio of the experimental value of P_POC divided by the true POC flux, F_POC), defined as the p-ratio, is equal to the mean settling velocity of particulate ²³⁴Th divided by that of POC. Therefore, P_POC is equivalent to the true POC flux (F_POC) and the p-ratio is equal to unity if, and only if, POC and particulate ²³⁴Th have the same mean sinking velocities. A simple particle settling model is discussed that invokes Stokes’ Law settling velocities, volume:surface area (V:SA) fractionation of C:²³⁴Th and two assemblages of particles having different sizes and densities. The model is used to illustrate the ranges of parameter values that conform to values of the p-ratio sufficiently close to unity that the experimentally determined POC flux can be considered to be an accurate representation of the true POC flux.Despite the over-simplification of real systems implicit in the model, the results suggest that p-ratios<1, equivalent to an under-estimate of the POC flux, are representative of single particle settling regimes in which the larger particles dominate the vertical flux. This follows from the assumption that the ratio of C/²³⁴Th on particles is governed by the volume to surface area (V:SA) ratio of the particles. This results in a greater proportion of ²³⁴Th compared to C being associated with the smaller, more slowly settling particles and, as a result, normalization of the POC flux to the ²³⁴Th flux provides an under-estimate of the former quantity. However, when the smaller particle assemblage dominates the vertical flux, as could occur in open ocean regimes having high aeolian inputs of dense, rapidly settling, inorganic particles, then the p-ratio could exceed unity (p-ratio >1) resulting in an over-estimate of the POC flux using the ²³⁴Th method. High levels of flocculation associated with phytoplankton blooms in productive regions of the ocean are likely to produce p-ratios approaching unity, because flocs would tend to preserve the V:SA partitioning of the original particle size distribution and thereby minimize differences in the mean settling speeds of POC and particulate ²³⁴Th (Waite, A.W., Hill, P.S., 2006. Flocculation, phytoplankton and the accuracy of ²³⁴Th-based estimates of the vertical flux of particulate organic carbon in the sea. Marine Chemistry in press). Selective sampling of the large particle fraction using, for example, 53-μm screens can produce a more accurate estimate of the true POC flux, but may not entirely shift the p-ratio to a value of unity.     

Experimental study on the hydraulic conductivity of calcareous sand in South China Sea

Characterization of the hydraulic property of a specific geomaterial is of fundamental importance in engineering design and application. This paper reports an experimental investigation to the hydraulic conductivity of a typical marine sand, i.e., calcareous sand, which becomes increasingly popular as sea-filling material for land reclamation or construction of artificial islands. A series of permeability tests have been performed using the calcareous sand collected from Nansha islands in South China Sea. Using the home-made permeability test apparatus (so-called velocity-controlled pressure-differential acquisition flow apparatus), the relationship between flow velocity and hydraulic gradient was obtained and the hydraulic conductivity of calcareous sand was then determined accordingly. The effects of important parameters, including particle shape and particle size distribution on the hydraulic conductivity of calcareous sand, were assessed. To investigate the effect of particle size distribution on the hydraulic conductivity of calcareous sand, two often-used parameters, i.e., nonuniformity coefficient and curvature coefficient were considered in this study. To quantitatively evaluate the irregularity of soil particle, a particle-shape parameter was introduced and it was able to consider sphericity and circularity of highly irregular particle. Two materials, namely, Fujian quartz sand and glass beads consisting of particles of characteristic shape, were also used in the permeability tests, and they were used to compare with calcareous sand. Through the comparison, the effect of particle shape of calcareous sand on its hydraulic conductivity was examined based on the newly introduced particle shape parameter. The test results indicate that the particle size distribution has a significant influence on the hydraulic conductivity of calcareous sand. The quite irregular particle shape is able to reduce the hydraulic conductivity of the calcareous sand. A comparative study of hydraulic conductivity between the theoretical prediction and experimental measurement was performed, and it is concluded that an improvement of theoretical model for prediction of the hydraulic conductivity of the porous media consisting of particles with highly irregular shapes, such as the calcareous sand, is still required.     

Flow through nets and trawls of low porosity

In trawls intended for harvesting marine zooplankton the mesh size and twine thickness may be as small as O(10⁻⁴ m), the porosity less than 0.5 and the appropriate Reynolds number O(10⁰−10²). The flow locally through the meshes varies strongly with the Reynolds number in this range, and the entire flow field, filtered volume and drag of such nets therefore depend strongly on the net parameters and towing velocity.This paper presents a simplified model for the flow through and forces on inclined permeable screens based on pressure drop considerations. For conical nets the model provides simple expressions for the filtration efficiency and drag as functions of twine diameter, mesh opening, porosity, taper angle and flow (towing) velocity. Comparisons with test tank measurements of typical plankton nets show good agreement.     

Numerical modeling investigation on turbulent oscillatory flow over a plane rough bed composed by randomly arrayed particles

A three-dimensional numerical model is established to simulate the turbulent oscillatory boundary layer over a fixed and rough bed composed by randomly arrayed solid spheres based on the lattice Boltzmann method and the large eddy simulation model.The equivalent roughness height,the location of the theoretical bed and the time variation of the friction velocity are investigated using the log-fit method.The time series of turbulent intensity and Reynolds stress are also investigated.The equivalent roughness height of cases with Reynolds numbers of 1×10~4–6×10~4 is approximately 2.81 d(grain size).The time variation of the friction velocity in an oscillatory cycle exhibits sinusoidal-like behavior.The friction factor depends on the relative roughness in the rough turbulent regime,and the pattern of solid particles arrayed as the rough bed in the numerical simulations has no obvious effect on the friction factor.     

Numerical simulation of sloshing with large deforming free surface by MPS-LES method

Moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method is a fully Lagrangian particle method which can easily solve problems with violent free surface. Although it has demonstrated its advantage in ocean engineering applications, it still has some defects to be improved. In this paper, MPS method is extended to the large eddy simulation (LES) by coupling with a sub-particle-scale (SPS) turbulence model. The SPS turbulence model turns into the Reynolds stress terms in the filtered momentum equation, and the Smagorinsky model is introduced to describe the Reynolds stress terms. Although MPS method has the advantage in the simulation of the free surface flow, a lot of non-free surface particles are treated as free surface particles in the original MPS model. In this paper, we use a new free surface tracing method and the key point is "neighbor particle". In this new method, the zone around each particle is divided into eight parts, and the particle will be treated as a free surface particle as long as there are no "neighbor particles" in any two parts of the zone. As the number density parameter judging method has a high efficiency for the free surface particles tracing, we combine it with the neighbor detected method. First, we select out the particles which may be mistreated with high probabilities by using the number density parameter judging method. And then we deal with these particles with the neighbor detected method. By doing this, the new mixed free surface tracing method can reduce the mistreatment problem efficiently. The serious pressure fluctuation is an obvious defect in MPS method, and therefore an area-time average technique is used in this paper to remove the pressure fluctuation with a quite good result. With these improvements, the modified MPS-LES method is applied to simulate liquid sloshing problems with large deforming free surface. Results show that the modified MPS-LES method can simulate the large deforming free surface easily. It can not only capture the large impact pressure accurately on rolling tank wall but also can generate all physical phenomena successfully. The good agreement between numerical and experimental results proves that the modified MPS-LES method is a good CFD methodology in free surface flow simulations.     

Modification of the damping function in the k–ε model to analyse oscillatory boundary layers

A simple relationship has been developed between the wall coordinate y⁺ and Kolmogorov's length scale using direct numerical simulation (DNS) data for a steady boundary layer. This relationship is then utilized to modify two popular versions of low Reynolds number k–ε model. The modified models are used to analyse a transitional oscillatory boundary layer. A detailed comparison has been made by virtue of velocity profile, turbulent kinetic energy, Reynolds stress and wall shear stress with the available DNS data. It is observed that the low Reynolds number models used in the present study can predict the boundary layer properties in an excellent manner.     

PIV measurements of hull wake behind a container ship model with varying loading condition

Flow characteristics of the hull wake behind a container ship model were investigated under different loading conditions (design and ballast loadings) by employing the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Measurements were made at four transverse locations and two longitudinal planes for three Reynolds numbers (Re) (=U₀Lpp/ν, where U₀ is the freestream velocity, Lpp is the length between two perpendiculars of the ship model and ν is the kinematic viscosity) of 5.08×10⁵, 7.60×10⁵, and 1.01×10⁶. It was observed that symmetric, large-scale, longitudinal counter-rotating vortices (with respect to centerline) of nearly the same strength were formed in the near wake. For the ballast-loading condition, the vortices appear at propeller plane below the propeller-boss. The vortex center exhibits a significant upward shift near the propeller-boss as the Reynolds number increase, and as the flow moves downstream. Under the design-loading condition, the vortices first appear at a further downstream location than that for the ballast-loading condition above the propeller-boss. This difference in the flow structure can significantly change the inflow conditions to the propeller blades, such as the streamwise mean velocity profiles and turbulence intensity distributions at the propeller plane. In particular, under the ballast-loading condition, asymmetric inflow may weaken the propulsion and cavitation performance of the marine propeller.     

Thorium speciation in seawater

Since the 1960s, thorium isotopes occupy a special place in the oceanographer's toolbox as tracers for determining rates and mechanisms of oceanic scavenging, particle dynamics, and carbon fluxes. Due to their unique and constant production rates from soluble parent nuclides of uranium and radium, their disequilibrium can be used to calculate rates and time scales of sinking particles. In addition, by ratio-ing particulate ²³⁴Th (as well, in principle, other Th-nuclides) to carbon (and other elements), and linking this ratio to the parent–daughter disequilibrium in the water column, it is possible to calculate fluxes of carbon and other elements. Most of these applications are possible with little knowledge of the dissolved chemical properties of thorium, other than its oxidation state (IV) and tendency to strongly sorb to surfaces, i.e., its “particle- or surface-activity”. However, the use of any tracer is hindered by a lack of knowledge of its chemical properties. Recent observations in the variability of carbon to ²³⁴Th ratios in different particle types, as well as of associations of Th(IV) with various marine organic biomolecules has led to the need for a review of current knowledge and what future endeavors should be taken to understand the marine chemistry of thorium.