Towards an operational system for oil-spill forecast over Spanish waters: initial developments and implementation test

The ESEOO Project, launched after the Prestige crisis, has boosted operational oceanography capacities in Spain, creating new operational oceanographic services and increasing synergies between these new operational tools and already existing systems. In consequence, the present preparedness to face an oil-spill crisis is enhanced, significantly improving the operational response regarding ocean, meteorological and oil-spill monitoring and forecasting. A key aspect of this progress has been the agreement between the scientific community and the Spanish Search and Rescue Institution (SASEMAR), significantly favoured within the ESEOO framework. Important achievements of this collaboration are: (1) the design of protocols that at the crisis time provide operational state-of-the-art information, derived from both forecasting and observing systems; (2) the establishment, in case of oil-spill crisis, of a new specialized unit, named USyP, to monitor and forecast the marine oceanographic situation, providing the required met-ocean and oil-spill information for the crisis managers. The oil-spill crisis scenario simulated during the international search and rescue Exercise "Gijón-2006", organized by SASEMAR, represented an excellent opportunity to test the capabilities and the effectiveness of this USyP unit, as well as the protocols established to analyze and transfer information. The results presented in this work illustrate the effectiveness of the operational approach, and constitute an encouraging and improved base to face oil-spill crisis.     

THM analysis of a large‐scale heating test incorporating material fabric changes

Engineered barriers are basic elements in the design of repositories for the isolation of high‐level radioactive waste. This paper presents the thermo‐hydro‐mechanical (THM) analysis of a clay barrier subjected to heating and hydration. The study focuses on an ongoing large‐scale heating test, at almost full scale, which is being carried out at the CIEMAT laboratory under well‐controlled boundary conditions. The test is intensely instrumented and it has provided the opportunity to study in detail the evolution of the main THM variables over a long period of time. Comprehensive laboratory tests carried out in the context of the FEBEX and NF‐PRO projects have allowed the identification of the model parameters to describe the THM behaviour of the compacted expansive clay. A conventional THM approach that assumes the swelling clay as a single porosity medium has been initially adopted to analyse the evolution of the test. The model was able to predict correctly the global THM behaviour of the clay barrier in the short term (i.e. for times shorter than three years), but some model limitations were detected concerning the prediction of the long‐term hydration rate. An additional analysis of the test has been carried out using a double structure model to describe the actual behaviour of expansive clays. The double structure model explicitly considers the two dominant pore levels that actually exist in the FEBEX bentonite and it is able to account for the evolution of the material fabric. The simulation of the experiment using this enhanced model provides a more satisfactory reproduction of the long‐term experimental results. It also contributes to a better understanding of the observed test behaviour and it provides a physically based explanation for the very slow hydration of the barrier. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3D modelling of strip reinforced MSE walls

Acta Geotechnica - This paper reports the results of 3D numerical modelling of a 6-m-high mechanically stabilised earth (MSE) wall constructed with concrete panels and steel or polymeric strip...     

Crack patterns in clayey soils: Experiments and modeling

The paper presents an experimental and numerical study to investigate the behavior of desiccated clayey soils. The performed tests permit to evaluate the crack pattern as well as the tensile strength as a function of suction. A new model that relates the porosity evolution to the suction and to the tensile strength was developed and implemented in the finite element program CODE_BRIGHT. The proposed model captured the initiation and propagation of cracks in a thin layer of desiccated clay and predicted crack patterns in terms of the Minkowski densities (i.e. average crack length and crack intensity factor). The effect of the heterogeneity of the tested specimens, modeled by random clusters, was also quantified. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New aromatic biomarkers in sulfur-rich coal

A molecular study of linear, branched and isoprenyl alkylbenzene skeletons and alkenylbenzenes in the soluble fraction extracted from a sulfur-rich Utrillas coal was carried out using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The presence of C₂₄–C₂₈ diaromatic compounds, not previously reported in coals, suggests that photosynthetic green sulfur bacteria may have made an input of organic matter to these coals. The unsaturated linear alkenylbenzenes and isoprenyl (C₁₅ and C₂₀) alkylbenzene skeletons are also described for the first time in the soluble fraction of geological samples.     

A double structure generalized plasticity model for expansive materials

The constitutive model presented in this work is built on a conceptual approach for unsaturated expansive soils in which the fundamental characteristic is the explicit consideration of two pore levels. The distinction between the macro‐ and microstructure provides the opportunity to take into account the dominant phenomena that affect the behaviour of each structural level and the main interactions between them. The microstructure is associated with the active clay minerals, while the macrostructure accounts for the larger‐scale structure of the material. The model has been formulated considering concepts of classical and generalized plasticity theories. The generalized stress–strain rate equations are derived within a framework of multidissipative materials, which provides a consistent and formal approach when there are several sources of energy dissipation. The model is formulated in the space of stresses, suction and temperature; and has been implemented in a finite element code. The approach has been applied to explaining and reproducing the behaviour of expansive soils in a variety of problems for which experimental data are available. Three application cases are presented in this paper. Of particular interest is the modelling of an accidental overheating, that took place in a large‐scale heating test. This test allows the capabilities of the model to be checked when a complex thermo‐hydro‐mechanical (THM) path is followed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiphase flow and reactive transport model in vadose tailings

Weathering processes affecting pyritic wastes may generate huge amounts of acid waters with high concentrations of potentially toxic contaminants (acid mine drainage). Acid mine drainage is mainly produced in the vadose zone. In the present study, a coupled non-isothermal multiphase flow and reactive transport model of the vadose zone of sulfide mine tailings was developed. The geochemical model included kinetically controlled reactions for Fe(II)-oxidation and for the dissolution of sulfide and aluminosilicate phases and the Pitzer ion-interaction model to describe the behavior of the pore-water solutions. Model results were compared with experimental observations in unsaturated column experiments under strongly evaporative conditions similar to arid or semiarid climates. Evolution trends for temperature, water saturation, evaporation rates, pore-water hydrochemistry and mineral phases observed during the drying experiment were adequately reproduced. The coupled model reproduced the increase of solute concentrations in the column top and the precipitation of a crust of secondary mineral phases. This crust became a barrier for water vapour diffusion to the atmosphere and modified the thermohydraulic behavior of the tailings. Enhanced downward migration of water vapour and its condensation in this colder end of the column were correctly taken into account by the model, which reproduced the dilution observed in the lower part of the column during the experiments.     

Surface movements in a rock massif induced by drainage associated to tunnel excavation

Surface movements were measured in the Gotthard massif as the Gotthard Base Tunnel was excavated. These movements might damage concrete dams constructed on the surface valleys. The leading assumption of this work is that deformation is induced by the dissipation of pore pressures in the massif caused by tunnel drainage. Deformations induce both horizontal and vertical surface displacements. Horizontal displacements, may lead to valley closures if they are in opposite direction, which would induce negative effects on arch dams. An analytical solution is derived using the method of images and an approximated integration of deformations to calculate the movements and the flow rate collected in the tunnel. Numerical calculations were carried out in 2D (vertical cross section) and 3D to investigate the problem under different conditions and to study the effect of parameters. The 3D models permit to incorporate the presence of a vertical fracture perpendicular to the tunnel that increases the drainage and pressure drop as it is hit by the tunnel. It was also possible to simulate the impermeabilization works in the tunnel to reduce drainage and consequently, movements. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gas flow in anisotropic claystone: modelling triaxial experiments

Selected gas pulse tests on initially saturated claystone samples under isotropic confinement pressure are simulated using a 3D thermo‐hydro‐mechanical code. The constitutive model considers the hydro‐mechanical anisotropy of argillaceous rocks. A cross‐anisotropic linear elastic law is adopted for the mechanical behaviour. Elements for a proper modelling of gas flow along preferential paths include an embedded fracture permeability model. Rock permeability and its retention curve depend on strains through a fracture aperture. The hydraulic and mechanical behaviours have a common anisotropic structure. Small‐scale heterogeneity is considered to enhance the initiation of flow through preferential paths, following the direction of the bedding planes. The numerical simulations were performed considering two different bedding orientations, parallel and normal to the imposed flow in the test. Simulations are in agreement with recorded upstream and downstream pressures in the tests. The evolution of fluid pressures, degree of saturation, element permeability and stress paths are presented for each case analysed. This information provides a good insight into the mechanisms of gas transport. Different flow patterns are obtained depending on bedding orientation, and the results provide an explanation for the results obtained in the tests. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.