Modeling discrete gas bubble formation and mobilization during subsurface heating of contaminated zones

During thermal remediation the increase in subsurface temperature can lead to bubble formation and mobilization. In order to investigate the effect of gas formation on resulting aqueous concentrations, a 2D finite difference flow and mass transport model was developed which incorporates a macroscopic invasion percolation (MIP) model to simulate bubble expansion and movement. The model was used to simulate three soil scenarios with different permeabilities and entry pressures at various operating temperatures and groundwater velocities. It was observed that discrete bubble formation occurred in all three soils, upward mobility being limited by lower temperatures and higher entry pressures. Bubble mobilization resulted in a different aqueous mass distribution than if no discrete gas formation was modeled, especially at higher temperatures. This was a result of bubbles moving upwards to cooler areas, then collapsing, and contaminating previously clean zones. The cooling effect also led to possible non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) formation which was not predicted using a model without discrete bubble formation.     

MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR LIQUID-SOLID TWO-PHASE FLOW

I INTRODUCTIONTurbulence models for single-phase fluid flows have been developed and widely applied in mechanical,aeronautical, environmental and hydraulic engineering, and other fields. The closure techniques for theReynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for various levels of models including the simple turbulencemodel, one-equation turbulence model, k-s turbulence model and turbulence stress/flux model have beenverified to be physically reasonable and have acceptable accuracy in app…     

Stable isotope analysis of consumer food webs indicates ecosystem recovery following prolonged drought in a subtropical estuarine lake

Assessing changes in food-web structure provides a useful monitoring tool for gauging the resilience of ecosystems in the face of climatic impacts. We consider the ecological resilience of a large estuarine lake (St Lucia Estuary, South Africa) in the wake of an extreme climatic event (prolonged drought). Using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, food-web structure was assessed at five sites across the estuary during the winter and spring of 2013. Sampling occurred approximately three years after heavy rains flooded the system and returned it to a relatively diluted state following an almost decade-long drought that decimated food webs in the upper parts of the estuary due to hypersalinity effects. Comparisons of niche width and variance of consumer food webs among sites revealed a general homogenisation of food webs across the entire system, contrasting with the spatial differentiation of food webs documented during the drought phase. Our results indicate that the estuary is able to maintain ecological resilience at the whole-system level in the face of an extreme drought. This is likely facilitated by source pools of species residing in the relatively stable lower estuary, which are able to rapidly recolonise areas denuded by drought in the upper estuary.     

Changing trends in tropospheric methane and carbon monoxide: A sensitivity analysis of the OH-radical

A sensitivity analysis is performed in order to study recently observed changes in atmospheric methane and carbon monoxide trends. For the analysis we have adapted a one-dimensional transport/chemistry model in order to comply with changes in vertical transport, stratosphere-troposphere flux of ozone, the water vapour cycle and the short-wave radiative transfer. In addition we have formulated an improved relationship which expresses the steady state OH concentration in terms of longer lived compounds which has a fair agreement with the one-dimensional model results. An analysis of the observed changes and trends in methane and carbon monoxide shows that both emissions and changes in global OH concentrations can be main causes for the observed changes. Average methane emissions have slowed down, particularly in the NH, in the last five years, though perhaps not very significantly. Carbon monoxide emissions are decreasing faster in the last couple of years than in the period 1983–1990. The study suggests that climate fluctuations (tropospheric water vapour, temperature and convective activity) and the stratospheric ozone depletion (tropospheric UV radiation) have a significant influence on tropospheric composition and thus on trends in methane and carbon monoxide concentrations.The IMAU is partner in the Netherlands Centre for Climate Research (CCR).     

伽师地震区地壳细结构及发震断层的初步研究

199年至1998年伽师地区共出现9次震级为6.1-6.8级的强震. 在一个非常短的时间间隔内和非常小的地区范围内接连出现这么多次震级非常接近的地震,确实非常罕见. 为研究伽师强震区的深部构造背景和孕震机制,本文对伽师地震区的余震观测资料进行了分析处理. 利用联合反演技术同时得到了地震震源位置和地震区地壳三维速度结构. 余震震中沿一北北东向条带分布,与强震分布的两个条带中的北东向条带位置基本重合. 三维反演得到的速度结构结果表明,在地下12 km以下存在一条北北东向和一条北北西向的低速条带. 上述两低速条带与强震分布的两个条带位置很接近. 初步推测,低速条带对应了地壳深部的两条断裂. 在我们观测期间,北北东向断裂有微震活动,北北西向断裂相对平静.     

Indoor Air Background Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds and Air-Phase Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Office Buildings and Schools

A background indoor air study has been completed which includes the collection of indoor air samples from office buildings and schools. The anonymous study was designed with input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The sampling was implemented in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and included the collection of 25 school building samples and 61 office building samples. The study generated 14,668 new indoor air background data points, with samples collected from buildings located in 26 cities in 18 states, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Indoor air background concentrations of target compound volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ranged from less than the laboratory method reporting limit of 0.044 μg/m³ to concentrations up to 1190 μg/m³, with hydrocarbon ranges from less than the reporting method limit of 10 μg/m³ to concentrations up to 3000 μg/m³. Some VOCs were identified ubiquitously in indoor air background, and some were identified at concentrations which exceeded risk-based regulatory screening levels. These study results provide useful and updated information on indoor air background and air quality in offices and schools and can be used in future regulatory guidance update considerations, for further examination of relationships between these data and residential study data, in human health risk assessments and risk communication, and in planning future studies.     

Biomimetic reduction of wake deficit using tail articulation at low Reynolds number

The field of biomimetics seeks to distill biological principles from nature and implement them in engineering systems in an effort to improve various performance metrics. In this paper, a biology-based approach is used to address the problem of radiated propulsor noise in underwater vehicles using active control. This approach is one of "tail articulation" of a stator blade, which is carried out using a suitable strategy that effectively alters the flow field impinging on a rotor downstream and in turn changes the radiated noise characteristics of the rotor blades. A reduced-order two-dimensional noise model is developed by characterizing the impact of the articulation as a point circulation input, which is then used to develop an active control strategy. An experimental investigation of such a control strategy is also carried out in this paper using a simple benchtop open-channel water tunnel at Re=4000 and stepper motor controlled articulation. Tail articulations using sinusoidal and transient motion were able to reduce the wake deficit behind the stator by as much as 40-60%. The implications of the proposed method for reducing blade tonal noise in autonomous underwater vehicles are briefly discussed at the end of the paper.     

A Peculiar Broad Line Radio Galaxy 1938-155： VLA Observation at 90 cm

We observed 1938-155, a broad line radio galaxy (BLRG), with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 90cm with an angular resolution of 6.8" × 4.0". The source consists of two components separated by 4 arcsec (- 20kpc, for H0 = 65km s-1 Mpc-1, q0 = 0.5) along the SE-NW direction. Both components show steep-spectra with a similar spectral index α - 0.83 ± 0.07 (Sv ∝ v-α). The bright double components are surrounded by a low-brightness cocoon. The radio properties of the two bright components are consistent with the hot spots produced by twin jets. An upper limit of - 0.0008 for the core dominance parameter (R) is inferred, suggesting there is no prominent radio core in the source. Assuming a modest viewing angle 30f77, a jet velocity is estimated - 0.07 c, based on the jet to counter-jet brightness ratio (J). The lower limit in jet speed inferred is consistent with no Doppler beaming effect on the jet. The radio galaxy 1938-155 could be an exceptional BLRG with no prominent radio core or jet.     

Lutz Creek watershed,Barro Colorado Island,Republic of Panama

Lutz creek is a small (9.69 ha) catchment located on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), a 1500-ha island in Lake Gatún, the principal freshwater reservoir (425 ha, 26 m above sea level) of the Panama Canal watershed in central Panama. In 1972, a concrete V-notch weir was installed on the creek, located at 9°09′42.8358″N, 79°50′15.6699″W, and hydrological record keeping began. The island was first established as a research station in 1923 and precipitation data collection was initiated in 1925. A meteorological tower, installed in 1972 and located a few meters from the weir, is currently instrumented to collect air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, evapotranspiration and solar radiation. In addition, since 1972, gravimetric soil moisture has been measured at least biweekly at 10 sites located throughout the Lutz Catchment above the location of the weir. Data collection and the administration of BCI are the responsibility of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI; https://stri.si.edu ) which funds the data collection and storage. Data are in the public domain, entitled ‘Lutz Watershed And Meteorological Tower’ and are available at the STRI Physical monitoring website https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/physical_monitoring/ .