State-of-the-Art of Gas Hydrates and Relative Permeability of Hydrate Bearing Sediments

The methane gas production potential from its hydrates, which are solid clathrates, with methane gas entrapped inside the water molecules, is primarily dependent on permeability characteristics of their bearing sediments. Moreover, the dissociation of gas hydrates, which results in a multi-phase fluid migration through these sediments, becomes mandatory to determine the relative permeability of both gaseous and aqueous fluids corresponding to different hydrate saturations. However, in this context, the major challenges are: (1) obtaining undisturbed in-situ samples bearing gas hydrates; and (2) maintenance of the thermodynamic conditions to counter hydrate dissociation. One of the ways to overcome this situation is synthesis of gas hydrates in laboratory conditions, followed by conducting permeability tests on them. In addition, empirical relationships that relate permeability of the gas hydrate bearing sediments to pore-structure characteristics (viz., pore size distribution and interconnectivity) can also be conceived. With this in view, a comprehensive review of the literature dealing with different techniques adopted by researchers for synthesis of gas hydrates, permeability tests conducted on the sediments bearing them, and analytical and empirical correlations employed for determination of permeability of these sediments was conducted and a brief account of the same is presented in this article.     

低空无人机遥感在水利工程测绘中的应用研究

介绍低空无人机遥感的特点及其应用现状,分析在小范围水利工程测绘的应用优势。此外,根据实践,论述无人机遥感数据处理的基本流程以及一些关键技术,并对其精度进行分析,论证了其在工程测绘中的可行性。最后,对低空无人机遥感在测绘中的应用趋势及有待进一步解决的问题进行了探讨。     

CYG-300型多功能全液压钻机的设计

主要介绍了CYG-300型多功能全液压钻机的总体结构和液压系统的设计及其主要功能。该钻机采用负载反馈系统,动力头双液压马达和两挡手动变速,使之输出4挡不同无级变化的扭矩和转速;在液压系统给进回路中设置相应的控制阀,增加了钻机的旋喷功能,使得钻机适用范围更广,实现功能更多。野外试钻表明,该钻机运行情况良好,钻进能力强,操作方便。     

Improving runoff prediction using agronomical information in a cropped,loess covered catchment

Predicting runoff hot spots and hot‐moments within a headwater crop‐catchment is of the utmost importance to reduce adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems by adapting land use management to control runoff. Reliable predictions of runoff patterns during a crop growing season remain challenging. This is mainly due to the large spatial and temporal variations of topsoil hydraulic properties controlled by complex interactions between weather, growing vegetation, and cropping operations. This interaction can significantly modify runoff patterns and few process‐based models can integrate this evolution of topsoil properties during a crop growing season at the catchment scale. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to better constrain the event‐based hydrological model Limburg Soil Erosion Model by incorporating temporal constraints for input topsoil properties during a crop growing season (LISEM). The results of the temporal constraint strategy (TCS) were compared with a classical event per event calibration strategy (EES) using multi‐scale runoff information (from plot to catchment). The EES and TCS approaches were applied in a loess catchment of 47 ha located 30 km northeast of Strasbourg (Alsace, France). A slight decrease of the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency criterion on runoff discharge for TCS compared to EES was counterbalanced by a clear improvement of the spatial runoff patterns within the catchment. This study showed that limited agronomical and climatic information added during the calibration step improved the spatial runoff predictions of an event‐based model. Reliable prediction of runoff source, connectivity, and dynamics can then be derived and discussed with stakeholders to identify runoff hot spots and hot‐moments for subsequent land use and crop management modifications.     

Thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling of fracturing porous media with two-phase fluid flow using X-FEM technique

In this paper, a fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical model is presented for two-phase fluid flow and heat transfer in fractured/fracturing porous media using the extended finite element method. In the fractured porous medium, the traction, heat, and mass transfer between the fracture space and the surrounding media are coupled. The wetting and nonwetting fluid phases are water and gas, which are assumed to be immiscible, and no phase-change is considered. The system of coupled equations consists of the linear momentum balance of solid phase, wetting and nonwetting fluid continuities, and thermal energy conservation. The main variables used to solve the system of equations are solid phase displacement, wetting fluid pressure, capillary pressure, and temperature. The fracture is assumed to impose the strong discontinuity in the displacement field and weak discontinuities in the fluid pressure, capillary pressure, and temperature fields. The mode I fracture propagation is employed using a cohesive fracture model. Finally, several numerical examples are solved to illustrate the capability of the proposed computational algorithm. It is shown that the effect of thermal expansion on the effective stress can influence the rate of fracture propagation and the injection pressure in hydraulic fracturing process. Moreover, the effect of thermal loading is investigated properly on fracture opening and fluids flow in unsaturated porous media, and the convective heat transfer within the fracture is captured successfully. It is shown how the proposed computational model is capable of modeling the fully coupled thermal fracture propagation in unsaturated porous media.     

Salinity‐induced increase of the hydraulic conductivity in the hyporheic zone of coastal wetlands

In coastal zones globally, salinization is rapidly taking place due to the combined effects of sea level rise, land subsidence, altered hydrology, and climate change. Although increased salinity levels are known to have a great impact on both biogeochemical and hydrological processes in aquatic sediments, only few studies have included both types of processes and their potential interactions. In the present paper, we used a controlled 3‐year experimental mesocosm approach to test salinity induced interactions and discuss mechanisms explaining the observed hydrological changes. Surface water salinity was experimentally increased from 14 to 140 mmol Cl per L (0.9 and 9 PSU) by adding sea salt which increased pore water salinity but also increased sulfate reduction rates, leading to higher sulfide, and lower methane concentrations. By analyzing slug test data with different slug test analysis methods, we were able to show that hydraulic conductivity of the hyporheic zone increased 2.8 times by salinization. Based on our hydrological and biogeochemical measurements, we conclude that the combination of pore dilation and decreased methane production rates were major controls on the observed increase in hydraulic conductivity. The slug test analysis method comparison allowed to conclude that the adjusted Bouwer and Rice method results in the most reliable estimate of the hydraulic conductivity for hyporheic zones. Our work shows that both physical and biogeochemical processes are vital to explain and predict hydrological changes related to the salinization of hyporheic zones in coastal wetlands and provides a robust methodological approach for doing so.     

The influence of pumping parameters in fluid‐driven fractures in weak porous formations

In this work, we investigate the main pumping parameters that influence a fluid‐driven fracture in cohesive poroelastic and poroelastoplastic weak formations. These parameters include the fluid viscosity and the injection rate. The first parameter dominates in the mapping of the propagation regimes from toughness to viscosity, whereas the second parameter controls the storage to leak‐off dominated regime through diffusion. The fracture is driven in weak permeable porous formation by injecting an incompressible viscous fluid at the fracture inlet assuming that the fracture propagates under plane strain conditions. Fluid flow in the fracture is modeled by lubrication theory. Pore fluid movement in the porous formation is based on the Darcy law. The coupling follows the Biot theory, whereas the irreversible rock deformation is modeled with the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion with associative flow rule. Fracture propagation criterion is based on the cohesive zone approach. Leak‐off is also considered. The investigation is performed numerically with the FEM to obtain the fracture opening, length, and propagation pressure versus time. We demonstrate that pumping parameters influence the fracture geometry and fluid pressures in weak formations through the viscous fluid flow and the diffusion process that create back stresses and large plastic zones as the fracture propagates. It is also shown that the product of the propagation velocity and fluid viscosity, µv that appears in the scaling controls the magnitude of the plastic zones and influences the net pressure and fracture geometry. These findings may explain partially the discrepancies in net pressures between field measurements and conventional model predictions for the case of weak porous formation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

At‐a‐station hydraulic geometry relations, 2: calibration and testing

Using a large number of data sets obtained from various sources, the geometric relations derived in Part 1 are calibrated and verified using the split sampling approach. The calibration of parameters shows that the change in stream power is not shared equally among hydraulic variables and that the unevenness depends on the boundary conditions to be satisfied by the channel under consideration. The agreement between the observed values of the hydraulic variables and those predicted by the derived relations is close for the verification data set and lends credence to the hypotheses employed in this study. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting river width,depth and velocity at ungauged sites in England and Wales using multilevel models

Using a dataset of gauged river discharges taken from sites in England and Wales, linear multilevel models (also known as mixed effects models) were applied to quantify the variability in discharge and the discharge‐hydraulic geometry relationships across three nested spatial scales. A jackknifing procedure was used to test the ability of the multilevel models to predict hydraulic geometry, and therefore width, mean depth and mean velocity, at ungauged stations. These models provide a framework for making predictions of hydraulic geometry parameters, with associated levels of uncertainty, using different levels of data availability. Results indicate that as one travels downstream along a river there is greater variability in hydraulic geometry than is the case between rivers of similar sizes. This indicates that hydraulic geometry (and therefore hydrology) is driven by catchment area, to a greater extent than by natural geomorphological variations in the streamwise direction at the mesoscale, but these geomorphological variations can still have a major impact on channel structure. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impacts of climate change and hydraulic structures on runoff and sediment discharge in the middle Yellow River

Due to climate change and its aggravation by human activities (e.g. hydraulic structures) over the past several decades, the hydrological conditions in the middle Yellow River have markedly changed, leading to a sharp decrease in runoff and sediment discharge. This paper focused on the impacts of climate change and hydraulic structures on runoff and sediment discharge, and the study area was located in the 3246 km² Huangfuchuan (HFC) River basin. Changes in annual runoff and sediment discharge were initially analysed by using the Mann–Kendall trend test and Pettitt change point test methods. Subsequently, periods of natural and disturbed states were defined. The results showed that both the annual runoff and sediment discharge presented statistically significant decreasing trends. However, compared with the less remarkable decline in annual rainfall, it was inferred that hydraulic structures might be another important cause for the sharp decrease in runoff and sediment discharge in this region. Consequently, sediment‐trapping dams (STDs, a type of large‐sized check dam used to prevent sediment from entering the Yellow River main stem) were considered in this study. Through evaluating the impacts of the variation in rainfall patterns (i.e. amount and intensity) and the STD construction, a positive correlation between rainfall intensity and current STD construction was found. This paper revealed that future soil and water conservation measures should focus on areas with higher average annual rainfall and more rainstorm hours. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.