Sequential Application of Soil Vapor Extraction and Bioremediation Processes for the Remediation of Ethylbenzene-Contaminated Soils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soares, António Carlos Alves; Pinho, Maria Teresa; Albergaria, José Tomás

2012-01-01

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is an efficient, well-known and widely applied soil remediation technology. However, under certain conditions it cannot achieve the defined cleanup goals, requiring further treatment, for example, through bioremediation (BR). The sequential application of these technol......Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is an efficient, well-known and widely applied soil remediation technology. However, under certain conditions it cannot achieve the defined cleanup goals, requiring further treatment, for example, through bioremediation (BR). The sequential application...

Effects of seasonal and well construction variables on soil vapor extraction pilot tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, R.; Hudon, N.; Bass, D.

1995-01-01

The selection and design of an effective soil vapor extraction system is dependent upon data generated from pilot testing. Therefore, it is critical to understand factors that may affect the testing prior to selecting or designing a system. In Sebago Lake Village, Maine, two adjacent gasoline stations experienced a release. Gasoline migrated through fine sand into the groundwater and discharged to a small stream. Soil vapor extraction was investigated as a remedial alternative to reduce volatile organic compounds in the unsaturated soil. Three soil vapor extraction pilot tests were performed at one of the sites and one test at the other site. The results of the testing varied. Data collected during a summer test indicated soil vapor extraction was less likely to work. The wells tested were installed using an excavator. An adequate surface seal was not present in any of the tested wells. An additional test was performed in the winter using wells installed by a drill rig. Winter test results indicated that soil vapor extraction could be effective. Another test was performed after a horizontal soil vapor extraction system with a surface seal was installed. The results of this testing indicated that soil vapor extraction was more effective than predicted by the earlier tests. Tests performed on the other property indicated that the horizontal wells were more effective than the vertical wells. Testing results were affected by the well installation method, well construction, proximity to manmade structures, and the season in which testing was performed. Understanding factors that affect the testing is critical in selecting and designing the system

An Excel®-based visualization tool of 2-D soil gas concentration profiles in petroleum vapor intrusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Verginelli, Iason; Yao, Yijun; Suuberg, Eric M

2016-01-01

In this study we present a petroleum vapor intrusion tool implemented in Microsoft ® Excel ® using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and integrated within a graphical interface. The latter helps users easily visualize two-dimensional soil gas concentration profiles and indoor concentrations as a function of site-specific conditions such as source strength and depth, biodegradation reaction rate constant, soil characteristics and building features. This tool is based on a two-dimensional explicit analytical model that combines steady-state diffusion-dominated vapor transport in a homogeneous soil with a piecewise first-order aerobic biodegradation model, in which rate is limited by oxygen availability. As recommended in the recently released United States Environmental Protection Agency's final Petroleum Vapor Intrusion guidance, a sensitivity analysis and a simplified Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis are also included in the spreadsheet.

A numerical investigation of vapor intrusion--the dynamic response of contaminant vapors to rainfall events.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Rui; Pennell, Kelly G; Suuberg, Eric M

2012-10-15

The U.S. government and various agencies have published guidelines for field investigation of vapor intrusion, most of which suggest soil gas sampling as an integral part of the investigation. Contaminant soil gas data are often relatively more stable than indoor air vapor concentration measurements, but meteorological conditions might influence soil gas values. Although a few field and numerical studies have considered some temporal effects on soil gas vapor transport, a full explanation of the contaminant vapor concentration response to rainfall events is not available. This manuscript seeks to demonstrate the effects on soil vapor transport during and after different rainfall events, by applying a coupled numerical model of fluid flow and vapor transport. Both a single rainfall event and seasonal rainfall events were modeled. For the single rainfall event models, the vapor response process could be divided into three steps: namely, infiltration, water redistribution, and establishment of a water lens atop the groundwater source. In the infiltration step, rainfall intensity was found to determine the speed of the wetting front and wash-out effect on the vapor. The passage of the wetting front led to an increase of the vapor concentration in both the infiltration and water redistribution steps and this effect is noted at soil probes located 1m below the ground surface. When the mixing of groundwater with infiltrated water was not allowed, a clean water lens accumulated above the groundwater source and led to a capping effect which can reduce diffusion rates of contaminant from the source. Seasonal rainfall with short time intervals involved superposition of the individual rainfall events. This modeling results indicated that for relatively deeper soil that the infiltration wetting front could not flood, the effects were damped out in less than a month after rain; while in the long term (years), possible formation of a water lens played a larger role in determining

The continuous similarity model of bulk soil-water evaporation

Science.gov (United States)

Clapp, R. B.

1983-01-01

The continuous similarity model of evaporation is described. In it, evaporation is conceptualized as a two stage process. For an initially moist soil, evaporation is first climate limited, but later it becomes soil limited. During the latter stage, the evaporation rate is termed evaporability, and mathematically it is inversely proportional to the evaporation deficit. A functional approximation of the moisture distribution within the soil column is also included in the model. The model was tested using data from four experiments conducted near Phoenix, Arizona; and there was excellent agreement between the simulated and observed evaporation. The model also predicted the time of transition to the soil limited stage reasonably well. For one of the experiments, a third stage of evaporation, when vapor diffusion predominates, was observed. The occurrence of this stage was related to the decrease in moisture at the surface of the soil. The continuous similarity model does not account for vapor flow. The results show that climate, through the potential evaporation rate, has a strong influence on the time of transition to the soil limited stage. After this transition, however, bulk evaporation is independent of climate until the effects of vapor flow within the soil predominate.

A Numerical Investigation of Vapor Intrusion — the Dynamic Response of Contaminant Vapors to Rainfall Events

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Rui; Pennell, Kelly G.; Suuberg, Eric M.

2013-01-01

The U.S. government and various agencies have published guidelines for field investigation of vapor intrusion, most of which suggest soil gas sampling as an integral part of the investigation. Contaminant soil gas data are often relatively more stable than indoor air vapor concentration measurements, but meteorological conditions might influence soil gas values. Although a few field and numerical studies have considered some temporal effects on soil gas vapor transport, a full explanation of the contaminant vapor concentration response to rainfall events is not available. This manuscript seeks to demonstrate the effects on soil vapor transport during and after different rainfall events, by applying a coupled numerical model of fluid flow and vapor transport. Both a single rainfall event and seasonal rainfall events were modeled. For the single rainfall event models, the vapor response process could be divided into three steps: namely, infiltration, water redistribution, and establishment of a water lens atop the groundwater source. In the infiltration step, rainfall intensity was found to determine the speed of the wetting front and wash-out effect on the vapor. The passage of the wetting front led to an increase of the vapor concentration in both the infiltration and water redistribution steps and this effect is noted at soil probes located 1 m below the ground surface. When the mixing of groundwater with infiltrated water was not allowed, a clean water lens accumulated above the groundwater source and led to a capping effect which can reduce diffusion rates of contaminant from the source. Seasonal rainfall with short time intervals involved superposition of the individual rainfall events. This modeling results indicated that for relatively deeper soil that the infiltration wetting front could not flood, the effects were damped out in less than a month after rain; while in the long term (years), possible formation of a water lens played a larger role in

Green Remediation Best Management Practices: Soil Vapor Extraction & Air Sparging

Science.gov (United States)

Historically, approximately one-quarter of Superfund source control projects have involved soil vapor extraction (SVE) to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sorbed to soil in the unsaturated (vadose) zone.

1,4-Dioxane Remediation by Extreme Soil Vapor Extraction (XSVE). Screening-Level Feasibility Assessment and Design Tool in Support of 1,4-Dioxane Remediation by Extreme Soil Vapor Extraction (XSVE) ESTCP Project ER 201326

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

USER GUIDE 1,4-Dioxane Remediation by Extreme Soil Vapor Extraction (XSVE) Screening-Level Feasibility Assessment and Design Tool in...Support of 1,4-Dioxane Remediation by Extreme Soil Vapor Extraction (XSVE) ESTCP Project ER-201326 OCTOBER 2017 Rob Hinchee Integrated Science...Technology, Inc. 1509 Coastal Highway Panacea, FL 32346 8/8/2013 - 8/8/2018 10-2017 1,4-Dioxane Remediation by Extreme Soil Vapor Extraction (XSVE) Screening

Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soils using soil vapor extraction: Case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, R.J.; Peterson, R.M.

1994-01-01

Soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons are being remediated in situ at a site in Lakewood, New Jersey by bioremediation in conjunction with soil vapor extractions (SVE) and nutrient addition. The contaminants were from hydraulic oils which leaked from subsurface hydraulic lifts, waste oil from leaking underground storage tanks (USTs), an aboveground storage tank, and motor oil from a leaking UST. The oils contaminated subsurface soils at the site to a depth of 25 feet. Approximately 900 cubic yards of soil were contaminated. Soil sample analyses showed total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations up to 31,500 ppm. The design of the remedial system utilized the results of a treatability study which showed that TPH degrading microorganisms, when supplied with oxygen and nutrients, affected a 14% reduction in TPH in 30 days. A SVE system was installed which used three wells, each installed to a depth of 25 feet below grade. The SVE system was operated to achieve an extracted air flow of approximately 20 to 30 scfm from each well. Bioremediation of the TPH was monitored by measuring CO 2 and O 2 concentrations at the wellheads and vapor monitoring probes. After four months of remediation, CO 2 concentrations were at a minimum, at which point the subsurface soils were sampled and analyzed for TPH. The soil analyses showed a removal of TPH by biodegradation of up to 99.8% after four months of remediation

Remediation of soils combining soil vapor extraction and bioremediation: benzene.

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, António Alves; Albergaria, José Tomás; Domingues, Valentina Fernandes; Alvim-Ferraz, Maria da Conceição M; Delerue-Matos, Cristina

2010-08-01

This work reports the study of the combination of soil vapor extraction (SVE) with bioremediation (BR) to remediate soils contaminated with benzene. Soils contaminated with benzene with different water and natural organic matter contents were studied. The main goals were: (i) evaluate the performance of SVE regarding the remediation time and the process efficiency; (ii) study the combination of both technologies in order to identify the best option capable to achieve the legal clean up goals; and (iii) evaluate the influence of soil water content (SWC) and natural organic matter (NOM) on SVE and BR. The remediation experiments performed in soils contaminated with benzene allowed concluding that: (i) SVE presented (a) efficiencies above 92% for sandy soils and above 78% for humic soils; (b) and remediation times from 2 to 45 h, depending on the soil; (ii) BR showed to be an efficient technology to complement SVE; (iii) (a) SWC showed minimum impact on SVE when high airflow rates were used and led to higher remediation times for lower flow rates; (b) NOM as source of microorganisms and nutrients enhanced BR but hindered the SVE due the limitation on the mass transfer of benzene from the soil to the gas phase. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multilevel soil-vapor extraction test for heterogeneous soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widdowson, M.A.; Haney, O.R.; Reeves, H.W.

1997-01-01

The design, performance, and analysis of a field method for quantifying contaminant mass-extraction rates and air-phase permeability at discrete vertical locations of the vadose zones are presented. The test configuration consists of a multiscreen extraction well and multilevel observation probes located in soil layers adjacent to the extraction well. For each level tested an inflatable packer system is used to pneumatically isolate a single screen in the extraction well, and a vacuum is applied to induce air flow through the screen. Test data include contaminant concentration and flow characteristics at the extraction well, and transient or steady-state pressure drawdown data at observation probes located at variable radii from the extraction well. The test method is applicable to the design of soil-vapor extraction (SVE) and bioventing remediation systems in a variety of geologic settings, particularly stratified soils. Application of the test method at a gasoline-polluted site located in the Piedmont physiographic region is described. Contaminant mass-extraction rates, expressed in terms of volatile hydrocarbons, varied from 0.16 to 14 kg/d

In situ separation of root hydraulic redistribution of soil water from liquid and vapor transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Warren, Jeffrey [ORNL; Brooks, J Renee [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR; Dragila, Maria [Oregon State University, Corvallis; Meinzer, Rick [USDA Forest Service

2011-01-01

Nocturnal increases in water potential ( ) and water content (WC) in the upper soil profile are often attributed to root water efflux into the soil, a process termed hydraulic lift or hydraulic redistribution (HR). We have previously reported HR values up to ~0.29 mm day-1 in the upper soil for a seasonally dry old-growth ponderosa pine site. However, unsaturated liquid or vapor flux of water between soil layers independent of roots also contributes to the diurnal patterns in WC, confounding efforts to determine the actual magnitude of HR. In this study, we estimated liquid (Jl) and vapor (Jv) soil water fluxes and their impacts on quantifying HR in situ by applying existing data sets of , WC, temperature (T) and soil physical properties to soil water transport equations. Under moist conditions, Jl between layers was estimated to be larger than necessary to account for measured nocturnal increases in WC of upper soil layers. However, as soil drying progressed unsaturated hydraulic conductivity declined rapidly such that Jl was irrelevant (< 2E-06 cm hr-1 at 0-60 cm depths) to total water flux by early August. In surface soil at depths above 15 cm, large T fluctuations can impact Jv leading to uncertainty concerning the role, if any, of HR in nocturnal WC dynamics. Vapor flux was estimated to be the highest at the shallowest depths measured (20 - 30 cm) where it could contribute up to 40% of hourly increases in nocturnal soil moisture depending on thermal conditions. While both HR and net soil water flux between adjacent layers contribute to WC in the 15-65 cm soil layer, HR was the dominant process and accounted for at least 80% of the diurnal increases in WC. While the absolute magnitude of HR is not easily quantified, total diurnal fluctuations in upper soil water content can be quantified and modeled, and remain highly applicable for establishing the magnitude and temporal dynamics of total ecosystem water flux.

Bioventing - a new twist on soil vapor remediation of the vadose zone and shallow ground water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yancheski, T.B.; McFarland, M.A.

1992-01-01

Bioventing, which is a combination of soil vapor remediation and bioremediation techniques, may be an innovative, cost-effective, and efficient remedial technology for addressing petroleum contamination in the vadose zone and shallow ground water. The objective of bioventing is to mobilize petroleum compounds from the soil and ground water into soil vapor using soil vapor extraction and injection technology, and to promote the migration of the soil vapor upward to the turf root zone for degradation by active near-surface microbiological activity. Promoting and maintaining optimum microbiological activity in the turf root rhizosphere is a key component to the bioventing technique. Preliminary ongoing USEPA bioventing pilot studies (Kampbell, 1991) have indicated that this technique is a promising remediation technology, although feasibility studies are not yet complete. However, based on the preliminary data, it appears that proper bioventing design and implementation will result in substantial reductions of petroleum compounds in the capillary zone and shallow ground water, complete degradation of petroleum compounds in the turf root zone, and no surface emissions. A bioventing system was installed at a site in southern Delaware with multiple leaking underground storage tanks in early 1992 to remediate vadose zone and shallow ground-water contaminated by petroleum compounds. The system consists of a series of soil vapor extraction and soil vapor/atmospheric air injection points placed in various contamination areas and a central core remediation area (a large grassy plot). This system was chosen for this site because it was least costly to implement and operate as compared to other remedial alternatives (soil vapor extraction with carbon or catalytic oxidation of off-gas treatment, insitu bioremediation, etc.), and results in the generation of no additional wastes

Measurement of air and VOC vapor fluxes during gas-driven soil remediation: bench-scale experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Heonki; Kim, Taeyun; Shin, Seungyeop; Annable, Michael D

2012-09-04

In this laboratory study, an experimental method was developed for the quantitative analyses of gas fluxes in soil during advective air flow. One-dimensional column and two- and three-dimensional flow chamber models were used in this study. For the air flux measurement, n-octane vapor was used as a tracer, and it was introduced in the air flow entering the physical models. The tracer (n-octane) in the gas effluent from the models was captured for a finite period of time using a pack of activated carbon, which then was analyzed for the mass of n-octane. The air flux was calculated based on the mass of n-octane captured by the activated carbon and the inflow concentration. The measured air fluxes are in good agreement with the actual values for one- and two-dimensional model experiments. Using both the two- and three-dimensional models, the distribution of the air flux at the soil surface was measured. The distribution of the air flux was found to be affected by the depth of the saturated zone. The flux and flux distribution of a volatile contaminant (perchloroethene) was also measured by using the two-dimensional model. Quantitative information of both air and contaminant flux may be very beneficial for analyzing the performance of gas-driven subsurface remediation processes including soil vapor extraction and air sparging.

Resistive heating enhanced soil vapor extraction of chlorinated solvents from trichloroethylene contaminated silty, low permeable soil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zutphen, M. van; Heron, G.; Enfield, C.G.; Christensen, T.H.

1998-01-01

A 2D-laboratory box experiment (12 x 56 x 116 cm) was conducted to simulate the enhancement of soil vapor extraction by the application of low frequency electrical heating Uoule heating) for the remediation of a low permeable, silty soil contaminated with trichloroethylene. Joule heating enlarged

Impact of groundwater levels on evaporation and water-vapor fluxes in highly saline soils

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz, J. F.; Hernández, M. F.; Braud, I.; Gironas, J. A.; Suarez, F. I.

2012-12-01

In aquifers of arid and hyper-arid zones, such as those occurring in the Chilean Andes high plateau, it is important to determine both the quantity and location of water discharges at the temporal scales of interest to close the basin's water budget and thus, to manage the water resource properly. In zones where shallow aquifers are the main source of water, overexploitation of the water resource changes the dynamics of water, heat and solute transport in the vadose zone. As aquifers are exploited, fluctuations in depth to groundwater are exacerbated. These fluctuations modify both soil structure and evaporation from the ground, which is typically the most important discharge from the water budget and is very difficult to estimate. Therefore, a correct quantification of evaporation from these soils is essential to improve the accuracy of the water balance estimation. The objective of this study was to investigate the evaporation processes and water-vapor fluxes in a soil column filled with a saline soil from the Salar del Huasco basin, Chile. Water content, electrical conductivity and temperature at different depths in the soil profile were monitored to determine the liquid and vapor fluxes within the soil column. The results showed that evaporation is negligible when the groundwater table is deeper than 1 m. For shallower groundwater levels, evaporation increases in an exponential fashion reaching a value of 3 mm/day when the groundwater table is near the surface of the ground. These evaporation rates are on the same order of magnitude than the field measurements, but slightly lower due to the controlled conditions maintained in the laboratory. Isothermal fluid fluxes were predominant over the non-isothermal fluid and water vapor fluxes. The net flux for all the phreatic levels tested in the laboratory showed different behaviors, with ascending or descending flows as a consequence of changes in water content and temperature distribution within the soil. It was

HTO deposition by vapor exchange between atmosphere and soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bunnenberg, C.

1989-01-01

HTO deposition to soils occurs by vapor exchange between atmosphere and soil-air, when the concentration gradient is directed downwards, and it is principally independent from simultaneous transport of H 2 O. In relatively dry top soil, which is frequently the case, as it tries to attain equilibrium with the air humidity, HTO diffuses into deeper soil driven by the same mechanisms that caused the deposition process. The resulting HTO profile is depending on the atmospheric supply and the soil physical conditions, and it is the source for further tritium pathways, namely root uptake by plants and reemission from soil back into the ground-level air. Simulation experiments with soil columns exposed to HTO labeled atmospheres have proved the theoretical expectation that under certain boundary conditions the HTO profile can be described by an error function. The key parameter is the effective diffusion coefficient, which in turn is a function of the sorption characteristics of the particular soil. (orig.) [de

Fate of sulfur mustard on soil: Evaporation, degradation, and vapor emission.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Hyunsook; Kah, Dongha; Chan Lim, Kyoung; Lee, Jin Young

2017-01-01

After application of sulfur mustard to the soil surface, its possible fate via evaporation, degradation following absorption, and vapor emission after decontamination was studied. We used a laboratory-sized wind tunnel, thermal desorber, gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance ( 13 C NMR) for systematic analysis. When a drop of neat HD was deposited on the soil surface, it evaporated slowly while being absorbed immediately into the matrix. The initial evaporation or drying rates of the HD drop were found to be power-dependent on temperature and initial drop volume. Moreover, drops of neat HD, ranging in size from 1 to 6 μL, applied to soil, evaporated at different rates, with the smaller drops evaporating relatively quicker. HD absorbed into soil remained for a month, degrading eventually to nontoxic thiodiglycol via hydrolysis through the formation of sulfonium ions. Finally, a vapor emission test was performed for HD contaminant after a decontamination process, the results of which suggest potential risk from the release of trace chemical quantities of HD into the environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of meteorological models on the solution of the surface energy balance and soil temperature variations in bare soils

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Hirotaka; Šimůnek, Jiri

2009-07-01

SummaryA complete evaluation of the soil thermal regime can be obtained by evaluating the movement of liquid water, water vapor, and thermal energy in the subsurface. Such an evaluation requires the simultaneous solution of the system of equations for the surface water and energy balance, and subsurface heat transport and water flow. When only daily climatic data is available, one needs not only to estimate diurnal cycles of climatic data, but to calculate the continuous values of various components in the energy balance equation, using different parameterization methods. The objective of this study is to quantify the impact of the choice of different estimation and parameterization methods, referred together to as meteorological models in this paper, on soil temperature predictions in bare soils. A variety of widely accepted meteorological models were tested on the dataset collected at a proposed low-level radioactive-waste disposal site in the Chihuahua Desert in West Texas. As the soil surface was kept bare during the study, no vegetation effects were evaluated. A coupled liquid water, water vapor, and heat transport model, implemented in the HYDRUS-1D program, was used to simulate diurnal and seasonal soil temperature changes in the engineered cover installed at the site. The modified version of HYDRUS provides a flexible means for using various types of information and different models to evaluate surface mass and energy balance. Different meteorological models were compared in terms of their prediction errors for soil temperatures at seven observation depths. The results obtained indicate that although many available meteorological models can be used to solve the energy balance equation at the soil-atmosphere interface in coupled water, vapor, and heat transport models, their impact on overall simulation results varies. For example, using daily average climatic data led to greater prediction errors, while relatively simple meteorological models may

Test plan for the FY 1997 rebound study at the carbon tetrachloride soil vapor extraction site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rohay, V.J.; Tranbarger, R.K.

1996-11-01

This test plan describes the strategy and field measurements designed to evaluate the potential rebound of carbon tetrachloride vapor concentrations following cessation of soil vapor extraction (SVE) operations at the 200-ZP-2 Operable Unit in the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site. Soil vapor extraction was initiated in February 1992 as the preferred remedial alternative of the Carbon Tetrachloride Expedited Response Action for removal of carbon tetrachloride from the unsaturated zone beneath the primary carbon tetrachloride disposal sites. The magnitude, extent, and rate of rebound in carbon tetrachloride vapor concentrations will help determine the availability of additional carbon tetrachloride for removal using SVE. At the conclusion of the field measurements, a report will be completed to evaluate the results of the rebound study

Results of Soil Vapor Sampling at SA 6, McClellan Air Force Base, California

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1998-01-01

...) and total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contamination in site soil. The soil vapor sampling event was performed in accordance with the Final Sampling and Analysis Plan to Support Recommendation for No Further Investigation at SA 6 (Parsons ES, 1998...

Heat and Water Transport in Soils and Across the Soil-Atmosphere Interface: Comparison of Model Concepts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vanderborght, Jan; Smits, Kathleen; Mosthaf, Klaus

Evaporation from the soil surface represents a water flow and transport process in a porous medium that is coupled with free air flow and with heat fluxes in the system. We give an overview of different model concepts that are used to describe this process. These range from non-isothermal two......-phase flow two-component transport in the porous medium that is coupled with one-phase flow two-component transport in the free air to isothermal water flow in the porous with upper boundary conditions defined by a potential evaporation flux when available energy and transfer to the free air flow...... models were found. The effect of vapor flow in the porous medium on cumulative evaporation could be evaluated using the desorptivity, Sevap, which represents a weighted average of liquid and vapor diffusivity over the range of soil water contents between the soil surface water content and the initial...

Contaminant Gradients in Trees: Directional Tree Coring Reveals Boundaries of Soil and Soil-Gas Contamination with Potential Applications in Vapor Intrusion Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jordan L; Samaranayake, V A; Limmer, Matthew A; Schumacher, John G; Burken, Joel G

2017-12-19

Contaminated sites pose ecological and human-health risks through exposure to contaminated soil and groundwater. Whereas we can readily locate, monitor, and track contaminants in groundwater, it is harder to perform these tasks in the vadose zone. In this study, tree-core samples were collected at a Superfund site to determine if the sample-collection location around a particular tree could reveal the subsurface location, or direction, of soil and soil-gas contaminant plumes. Contaminant-centroid vectors were calculated from tree-core data to reveal contaminant distributions in directional tree samples at a higher resolution, and vectors were correlated with soil-gas characterization collected using conventional methods. Results clearly demonstrated that directional tree coring around tree trunks can indicate gradients in soil and soil-gas contaminant plumes, and the strength of the correlations were directly proportionate to the magnitude of tree-core concentration gradients (spearman's coefficient of -0.61 and -0.55 in soil and tree-core gradients, respectively). Linear regression indicates agreement between the concentration-centroid vectors is significantly affected by in planta and soil concentration gradients and when concentration centroids in soil are closer to trees. Given the existing link between soil-gas and vapor intrusion, this study also indicates that directional tree coring might be applicable in vapor intrusion assessment.

Limited recovery of soil microbial activity after transient exposure to gasoline vapors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Modrzyński, Jakub J.; Christensen, Jan H.; Mayer, Philipp

2016-01-01

During gasoline spills complex mixtures of toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released to terrestrial environments. Gasoline VOCs exert baseline toxicity (narcosis) and may thus broadly affect soil biota. We assessed the functional resilience (i.e. resistance and recovery of microbial...... functions) in soil microbial communities transiently exposed to gasoline vapors by passive dosing via headspace for 40 days followed by a recovery phase of 84 days. Chemical exposure was characterized with GC-MS, whereas microbial activity was monitored as soil respiration (CO2 release) and soil bacterial...... microbial activity indicating residual soil toxicity, which could not be attributed to BTEX, but rather to mixture toxicity of more persistent gasoline constituents or degradation products. Our results indicate a limited potential for functional recovery of soil microbial communities after transient...

Evaluation of a Fully Automated Analyzer for Rapid Measurement of Water Vapor Sorption Isotherms for Applications in Soil Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arthur, Emmanuel; Tuller, Markus; Moldrup, Per

2014-01-01

The characterization and description of important soil processes such as water vapor transport, volatilization of pesticides, and hysteresis require accurate means for measuring the soil water characteristic (SWC) at low water potentials. Until recently, measurement of the SWC at low water...... potentials was constrained by hydraulic decoupling and long equilibration times when pressure plates or single-point, chilled-mirror instruments were used. A new, fully automated Vapor Sorption Analyzer (VSA) helps to overcome these challenges and allows faster measurement of highly detailed water vapor...

Multimedia risk-based soil cleanup at a gasoline-contaminated site using vapor extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, W.B.; Johnson, K.M.; Liu, S.; Loh, J.Y.; Lew, C.S.

1996-01-01

At a utility service center, gasoline from an underground storage tank had leaked into subsurface vadose zone soils for several years. To remediate the site, a soil vapor extraction (SVE) system was installed and operated. At the completion of the SVE operation, gasoline-containing residues in several confirmation soil borings exceeded agency-mandated cleanup levels. Rather than continue with SVE, a risk-based approach was developed to evaluate what levels of gasoline-containing residues could be left in the soil and still protect human health. The risk-based approach consisted of simulating the fate of chemical residues through the vadose zone and then into both the ground water and atmosphere. Receptor point concentrations were predicted, and health risks were assessed. The risk assessment concluded that ingestion of contaminated ground water and inhalation of air while showering were the largest potential contributors to risk, and that risks associated with inhalation of vapor-containing ambient air are small. However, all predicted risks are below the acceptable risk levels of 10 -6 individual cancer risk probability and 1.0 hazard index. Therefore, the lead agency accepted the recommendation that the site requires no further remediation. The service center continues normal operations today

Investigation of Pore Scale Processes That Affect Soil Vapor Extraction. Final Technical Report EMSP 70045

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valocchi, Albert J.; Werth, Charles W.; Webb, Andrew W.

2004-01-01

Dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) contamination in the vadose zone is a significant problem at Department of Energy sites. Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is commonly used to remediate DNAPLs from the vadose zone. In most cases, a period of high recovery has been followed by a sustained period of low recovery. This behavior has been attributed to multiple processes including slow interphase mass transfer, retarded vapor phase transport, and diffusion from unswept zones of low permeability. This research project used a combination of laboratory experimentation and mathematical modeling to determine how these various processes interact to limit the removal of DNAPL components in heterogeneous porous media during SVE. Our results were applied to scenarios typical of the carbon tetrachloride spill zone at the Hanford Site. Our results indicate that: (a) the initial distribution of the spilled DNAPL (i.e., the spill-zone architecture) has a major influence upon the performance of any subsequent SVE operations; (b) while the pattern of higher and lower conductivity soil zones has an important impact upon spill zone architecture, soil moisture distribution plays an even larger role when there are large quantities of co-disposed waste-water (as in the Hanford scenario); (c) depending upon soil moisture dynamics, liquid DNAPL that is trapped by surrounding water is extremely difficult to remove by SVE; (d) natural barometric pumping can remove a large amount of the initial DNAPL mass for spills occurring close to the land surface, and hence the initial spilled inventory will be over-estimated if this process is neglected

Stakeholder acceptance analysis: Passive soil vapor extraction using borehole flux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, T.S.

1995-12-01

This report presents evaluations, recommendations, and requirements concerning passive soil vapor extraction (PSVE) derived from a three-year program of stakeholder involvement. PSVE takes advantage of the naturally occurring tendency of soil vapor to leave the subsurface during periods of low barometric pressure. PSVE seeks to expedite the release of volatile contaminants through the use of boreholes and technological enhancements. This report is for technology developers and those responsible for making decisions about the use of technology to remediate contamination by volatile organic compounds. Stakeholders' perspectives help those responsible for technology deployment to make good decisions concerning the acceptability and applicability of PSVE to the remediation problems they face. The report provides: stakeholders' final evaluation of the acceptability of PSVE in light of the technology's field test; stakeholders' principal comments concerning PSVE; requirements that stakeholders have of any remediation technology. Technology decision makers should take these conclusions into account in evaluating the effectiveness and acceptability of any remedial method proposed for their site. In addition, the report presents data requirements for the technology's field demonstration defined by stakeholders associated with the Hanford site in Washington State, as well as detailed comments on PSVE from stakeholders from Sandia National Laboratory, Rocky Flats, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory

Application of tracer gas studies in the optimal design of soil vapor extraction systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marley, M.C.; Cody, R.J.; Polonsky, J.D.; Woodward, D.D.; Buterbaugh, G.J.

1992-01-01

In the design of an optimal, cost effective vapor extraction system (VE) for the remediation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), it is necessary to account for heterogeneities in the vadose zone. In some cases, such as those found in relatively homogeneous sands, heterogeneities can be neglected as induced air flow through the subsurface can be considered uniform. The subsurface conditions encountered at many sites (soil/bedrock interfaces, fractured bedrock) will result in preferential subsurface-air flow pathways during the operation of the VES. The use of analytical and numerical compressible fluid flow models calibrated and verified from parameter evaluation tests can be utilized to determine vadose zone permeability tensors in heterogeneous stratifications and can be used to project optimal, full scale VES performance. Model-derived estimations of the effect of uniform and/or preferential air flow pathways on subsurface induced air flow velocities can be enhanced, confirmed utilizing tracer gas studies. A vadose zone tracer gas study entails the injection of an easily detected, preferably inert gas into differing locations within the vadose zone at distances away from the VES extraction well. The VES extraction well is monitored for the detection of the gas. This is an effective field methodology to qualify and quantify the subsurface air flow pathways. It is imperative to gain an understanding of the dynamics of the air flow in the soils and lithologies of each individual site, and design quick and effective methodologies for the characterization of the subsurface to streamline remediation costs and system operations. This paper focuses on the use of compressible fluid flow models and tracer gas studies in the enhancement of the design of vapor extraction systems

In situ separation of root hydraulic redistribution of soil water from liquid and vapor transport

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffrey M. Warren; J. Renée Brooks; Maria I. Dragila; Frederick C. Meinzer

2011-01-01

Nocturnal increases in water potential and water content in the upper soil profile are often attributed to root water efflux, a process termed hydraulic redistribution (HR). However, unsaturated liquid or vapor flux of water between soil layers independent of roots also contributes to the daily recovery in water content, confounding efforts to determine the actual...

Preliminary analysis of NAPL behavior in soil-heated vapor extraction for in-situ environmental restoration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, S.W.; Phelan, J.M.

1995-01-01

Simulations of soil-heated vapor extraction have been performed to evaluate the NAPL removal performance as a function of borehole vacuum. The possibility of loss of NAPL containment, or NAPL migration into the unheated soil, is also evaluated in the simulations. A practical warning sign indicating migration of NAPL into the unheated zone is discussed

Chemically enhanced mixed region vapor stripping of TCE-contaminated saturated peat and silty clay soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, O.R.; Cameron, P.A.; Lucero, A.J.; Koran, L.J. Jr.

1996-01-01

The objective of this study was to conduct further testing of MRVS, chemically enhanced with calcium oxide conditioning, on field- contaminated soils collected from beneath the NASA Michoud Rinsewater Impoundment. In this study, residual soil VOC levels as a function of vapor stripping time were measured to quantify VOC removal rates. Physical and chemical soil parameters expected to affect MRVS efficiency were measures. The effects of varying the calcium oxide loadings as well as varying the vapor stripping flow rates on VOC removal were also evaluated. The results of this study will be used to determine whether acceptable removals can be achieved within reasonable treatment times, remediation costs being directly proportional to the latter. The purpose of this report is to document the experimental results of this study, as well as to address issues that were raised after completion of the previous Michoud treatability work

Effects of biochar and manure amendments on water vapor sorption in a sandy loam soil

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arthur, Emmanuel; Tuller, Markus; Moldrup, Per

2015-01-01

Over the last few years, the application of biochar (BC) as a soil amendment to sequester carbon and mitigate global climate change has received considerable attention. While positive effects of biochar on plant nutrition are well documented, little is known about potential impacts on the physical....... Hysteresis of the water vapor sorption isotherms increased with increasing BC application rates. Biochar age did not significantly affect vapor sorption and SSA....

Remedial design for petroleum hydrocarbons: Soil vapor extraction, product skimmers, and air stripping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anastasi, F.S.; Loftin, H.J.

1994-01-01

Site characterization activities at an Army installation in Virginia performed prior to closure identified a significant release of gasoline from underground storage tanks and piping associated with the post exchange service station. Floating liquid-phase petroleum hydrocarbons (FLPH) observed in the subsurface over an area of approximately 80,000 square feet ranged up to 5 feet in thickness. Ground water was found to be contaminated with dissolved components of gasoline over an area of approximately 150,000 square feet. A nearby lake and adjacent streams were not impacted by either free-phase or dissolved contamination. Interim remedial measures, including pilot testing of FLPH, vapor-phase, and ground water recovery technologies, were implemented following discovery of the release. Over 5,000 gallons of free-phase product were recovered by skimming and approximately 1,450 gallons of product equivalent were recovered during pilot testing of a soil vapor extraction (SVE) system. At the conclusion of these actions, hydrocarbons remain distributed in the subsurface in the adsorbed-, dissolved-, and vapor-phase. The majority of residual on-site contamination is believed to be either adsorbed to soil particles or as FLPH. The final design of an integrated remediation system based on the pilot test results addressed these conditions

Enhanced Attenuation Technologies: Passive Soil Vapor Extraction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vangelas, K.; Looney, B.; Kamath, R.; Adamson, D.; Newell, C.

2010-03-15

Passive soil vapor extraction (PSVE) is an enhanced attenuation (EA) approach that removes volatile contaminants from soil. The extraction is driven by natural pressure gradients between the subsurface and atmosphere (Barometric Pumping), or by renewable sources of energy such as wind or solar power (Assisted PSVE). The technology is applicable for remediating sites with low levels of contamination and for transitioning sites from active source technologies such as active soil vapor extraction (ASVE) to natural attenuation. PSVE systems are simple to design and operate and are more cost effective than active systems in many scenarios. Thus, PSVE is often appropriate as an interim-remedial or polishing strategy. Over the past decade, PSVE has been demonstrated in the U.S. and in Europe. These demonstrations provide practical information to assist in selecting, designing and implementing the technology. These demonstrations indicate that the technology can be effective in achieving remedial objectives in a timely fashion. The keys to success include: (1) Application at sites where the residual source quantities, and associated fluxes to groundwater, are relatively low; (2) Selection of the appropriate passive energy source - barometric pumping in cases with a deep vadose zone and barrier (e.g., clay) layers that separate the subsurface from the atmosphere and renewable energy assisted PSVE in other settings and where higher flow rates are required. (3) Provision of sufficient access to the contaminated vadose zones through the spacing and number of extraction wells. This PSVE technology report provides a summary of the relevant technical background, real-world case study performance, key design and cost considerations, and a scenario-based cost evaluation. The key design and cost considerations are organized into a flowchart that dovetails with the Enhanced Attenuation: Chlorinated Organics Guidance of the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC). The PSVE

Vapor generation rate model for dispersed drop flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Unal, C.; Tuzla, K.; Cokmez-Tuzla, A.F.; Chen, J.C.

1991-01-01

A comparison of predictions of existing nonequilibrium post-CHF heat transfer models with the recently obtained rod bundle data has been performed. The models used the experimental conditions and wall temperatures to predict the heat flux and vapor temperatures at the location of interest. No existing model was able to reasonably predict the vapor superheat and the wall heat flux simultaneously. Most of the models, except Chen-Sundaram-Ozkaynak, failed to predict the wall heat flux, while all of the models could not predict the vapor superheat data or trends. A recently developed two-region heat transfer model, the Webb-Chen two-region model, did not give a reasonable prediction of the vapor generation rate in the far field of the CHF point. A new correlation was formulated to predict the vapor generation rate in convective dispersed droplet flow in terms of thermal-hydraulic parameters and thermodynamic properties. A comparison of predictions of the two-region heat transfer model, with the use of a presently developed correlation, with all the existing post-CHF data, including single-tube and rod bundle, showed significant improvements in predicting the vapor superheat and tube wall heat flux trends. (orig.)

Modeling UTLS water vapor: Transport/Chemistry interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulstad, Line

2005-01-01

This thesis was initially meant to be a study on the impact on chemistry and climate from UTLS water vapor. However, the complexity of the UTLS water vapor and its recent changes turned out to be a challenge by it self. In the light of this, the overall motivation for the thesis became to study the processes controlling UTLS water vapor and its changes. Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas, involved in important climate feedback loops. Thus, a good understanding of the chemical and dynamical behavior of water vapor in the atmosphere is crucial for understanding the climate changes in the last century. Additionally, parts of the work was motivated by the development of a coupled climate chemistry model based on the CAM3 model coupled with the Chemical Transport Model Oslo CTM2. The future work will be concentrated on the UTLS water vapor impact on chemistry and climate. We are currently studying long term trends in UTLS water vapor, focusing on identification of the different processes involved in the determination of such trends. The study is based on natural as well as anthropogenic climate forcings. The ongoing work on the development of a coupled climate chemistry model will continue within our group, in collaboration with Prof. Wei-Chyung Wang at the State University of New York, Albany. Valuable contacts with observational groups are established during the work on this thesis. These collaborations will be continued focusing on continuous model validation, as well as identification of trends and new features in UTLS water vapor, and other tracers in this region. (Author)

Soil Moisture (SMAP) and Vapor Pressure Deficit Controls on Evaporative Fraction over the Continental U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvucci, G.; Rigden, A. J.; Gianotti, D.; Entekhabi, D.

2017-12-01

We analyze the control over evapotranspiration (ET) imposed by soil moisture limitations and stomatal closure due to vapor pressure deficit (VPD) across the United States using estimates of satellite-derived soil moisture from SMAP and a meteorological, data-driven ET estimate over a two year period at over 1000 locations. The ET data are developed independent of soil moisture using the emergent relationship between the diurnal cycle of the relative humidity profile and ET based on ETRHEQ (Salvucci and Gentine (2013), PNAS, 110(16): 6287-6291, Rigden and Salvucci, 2015, WRR, 51(4): 2951-2973; Rigden and Salvucci, 2017, GCB, 23(3) 1140-1151). The key advantage of using this approach to estimate ET is that no measurements of surface limiting factors (soil moisture, leaf area, canopy conductance) are required; instead, ET is estimated from only meteorological data. The combination of these two independent datasets allows for a unique spatial analysis of the control on ET imposed by the availability of soil moisture vs. VPD. Spatial patterns of limitations are inferred by fitting the ETRHEQ-inferred surface conductance to a weighted sum of a Jarvis type stomatal conductance model and bare soil evaporation conductance model, with separate moisture-dependent evaporation efficiency relations for bare soil and vegetation. Spatial patterns are visualized by mapping the optimal curve fitting coefficients and by conducting sensitivity analyses of the resulting fitted model across the Unites States. Results indicate regional variations in rate-limiting factors, and suggest that in some areas the VPD effect on stomatal closure is strong enough to induce a decrease in ET under projected climate change, despite an increase in atmospheric drying (and thus evaporative demand).

Performance Evaluation Report for Soil Vapor Extraction Operations at the Carbon Tetrachloride Site, February 1992 - September 1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rohay, V. J.

1999-01-01

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is being used to remove carbon tetrachloride from the vadose zone at the 200-ZP-2 Operable Unit. The purpose of this report is to evaluate both the SVE system operating data and the effectiveness of SVE in remediating the carbon tetrachloride contamination. This report has been revised to cover the operating period from February 25, 1992 through September 30, 1998. The scope of the report includes the history of SVE operations at 200-ZP-2, the efficiency of those operations over time, the volume of vapor processed per extraction system, the change in carbon tetrachloride concentrations with time, the mass of carbon tetrachloride removed per site, and recommendations for future operations and evaluations. This revision includes an update to the carbon tetrachloride conceptual model

Toluene removal from sandy soils via in situ technologies with an emphasis on factors influencing soil vapor extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Mohammad Mehdi; Hatamipour, Mohammad Sadegh; Momenbeik, Fariborz; Nourmoradi, Heshmatollah; Farhadkhani, Marzieh; Mohammadi-Moghadam, Fazel

2014-01-01

The integration of bioventing (BV) and soil vapor extraction (SVE) appears to be an effective combination method for soil decontamination. This paper serves two main purposes: it evaluates the effects of soil water content (SWC) and air flow rate on SVE and it investigates the transition regime between BV and SVE for toluene removal from sandy soils. 96 hours after air injection, more than 97% removal efficiency was achieved in all five experiments (carried out for SVE) including 5, 10, and 15% for SWC and 250 and 500 mL/min for air flow rate on SVE. The highest removal efficiency (>99.5%) of toluene was obtained by the combination of BV and SVE (AIBV: Air Injection Bioventing) after 96 h of air injection at a constant flow rate of 250 mL/min. It was found that AIBV has the highest efficiency for toluene removal from sandy soils and can remediate the vadose zone effectively to meet the soil guideline values for protection of groundwater.

Toluene Removal from Sandy Soils via In Situ Technologies with an Emphasis on Factors Influencing Soil Vapor Extraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Mehdi Amin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The integration of bioventing (BV and soil vapor extraction (SVE appears to be an effective combination method for soil decontamination. This paper serves two main purposes: it evaluates the effects of soil water content (SWC and air flow rate on SVE and it investigates the transition regime between BV and SVE for toluene removal from sandy soils. 96 hours after air injection, more than 97% removal efficiency was achieved in all five experiments (carried out for SVE including 5, 10, and 15% for SWC and 250 and 500 mL/min for air flow rate on SVE. The highest removal efficiency (>99.5% of toluene was obtained by the combination of BV and SVE (AIBV: Air Injection Bioventing after 96 h of air injection at a constant flow rate of 250 mL/min. It was found that AIBV has the highest efficiency for toluene removal from sandy soils and can remediate the vadose zone effectively to meet the soil guideline values for protection of groundwater.

Soil Vapor Extraction and Bioventing Test Work Plan for the MOGAS Site, Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1995-01-01

This work plan presents an evaluation of soil vapor extraction (SVE) and bioventing, and describes the SVE pilot scale and bioventing activities to be conducted to extract and treat soil gas at Installation Restoration Program (IRP...

Comparison of passive soil vapor survey techniques at a Tijeras Arroyo site, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberle, C.S.; Wade, W.M.; Tharp, T.; Brinkman, J.

1996-01-01

Soil vapor surveys were performed to characterize the approximate location of soil contaminants at a hazardous waste site. The samplers were from two separate companies and a comparison was made between the results of the two techniques. These results will be used to design further investigations at the site

Transport and sorption of volatile organic compounds and water vapor in porous media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Tsair-Fuh [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

1995-07-01

To gain insight on the controlling mechanisms for VOC transport in porous media, the relations among sorbent properties, sorption equilibrium and intraparticle diffusion processes were studied at the level of individual sorbent particles and laboratory columns for soil and activated carbon systems. Transport and sorption of VOCs and water vapor were first elucidated within individual dry soil mineral grains. Soil properties, sorption capacity, and sorption rates were measured for 3 test soils; results suggest that the soil grains are porous, while the sorption isotherms are nonlinear and adsorption-desorption rates are slow and asymmetric. An intragranular pore diffusion model coupled with the nonlinear Freundlich isotherm was developed to describe the sorption kinetic curves. Transport of benzene and water vapor within peat was studied; partitioning and sorption kinetics were determined with an electrobalance. A dual diffusion model was developed. Transport of benzene in dry and moist soil columns was studied, followed by gaseous transport and sorption in activated carbon. The pore diffusion model provides good fits to sorption kinetics for VOCs to soil and VOC to granular activated carbon and activated carbon fibers. Results of this research indicate that: Intraparticle diffusion along with a nonlinea sorption isotherm are responsible for the slow, asymmetric sorption-desorption. Diffusion models are able to describe results for soil and activated carbon systems; when combined with mass transfer equations, they predict column breakthrough curves for several systems. Although the conditions are simplified, the mechanisms should provide insight on complex systems involving transport and sorption of vapors in porous media.

Collecting soil vapor from the Vadose Zone with an instrumented membrane system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, S.A.

1992-07-01

As part of an on-going program to monitor ground water pollution, the SEAMIST instrumented membrane system was purchased and installed in two boreholes at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). SEAMIST is a flexible, removable, polyvinylchloride-coated, nylon membrane tube used to seal the sides of a borehole and to which sampling devices and other types of instrumentation may be attached. This paper describes a method to sample soil vapor (a component of soil gas) with the SEAMIST system from a borehole at several depths simultaneously. The cryotraps used with this technique were tested for their collection efficiency, and those data are presented. Data on the integrity of the SEAMIST borehole seal are also reported

Case study: Free product recovery and site remediation using horizontal trenching, soil vapor treatment and groundwater extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanderson, E.P.; Johnston, H.S. Jr.; Farrell, M.; Twedell, D.B.

1993-01-01

Sites with soil and groundwater impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons have been remediated using a variety of traditional techniques. However, when the site impacted lies within a very confined downtown area of an expanding metropolitan city, a more complex array of technologies must be considered. The Law Enforcement Center site is the City of Charlotte's worst known underground storage tank (UST) release to date. A cost effective free product recovery, soil vapor and groundwater extraction system is being piloted here using new horizontal trenching technology and state of the art equipment. On-site low permeability soil required that an alternative to standard recovery wells be developed for groundwater recovery and vapor extraction. Operation and maintenance (O and M) of the large number of recovery wells required would have been extremely costly over the expected lifetime of the project. Although horizontal trenching was the best solution to the O and M costs, many problems were encountered during their installation

Vapor Extraction/Bioventing Sequential Treatment of Soil Contaminated with Volatile and SemiVolatile Hydrocarbon Mixtures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malina, G.; Grotenhuis, J.T.C.; Rulkens, W.H.

2002-01-01

A cost-effective removal strategy was studied in bench-scale columns that involved vapor extraction and bioventing sequential treatment of toluene- and decane-contaminated soil. The effect of operating mode on treatment performance was examined at a continuous air flow and consecutively at two

Considering Organic Carbon for Improved Predictions of Clay Content from Water Vapor Sorption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arthur, Emmanuel; Tuller, Markus; Moldrup, Per

2014-01-01

Accurate determination of the soil clay fraction (CF) is of crucial importance for characterization of numerous environmental, agricultural, and engineering processes. Because traditional methods for measurement of the CF are laborious and susceptible to errors, regression models relating the CF...... to water vapor sorption isotherms that can be rapidly measured with a fully automated vapor sorption analyzer are a viable alternative. In this presentation we evaluate the performance of recently developed regression models based on comparison with standard CF measurements for soils with high organic...... carbon (OC) content and propose a modification to improve prediction accuracy. Evaluation of the CF prediction accuracy for 29 soils with clay contents ranging from 6 to 25% and with OC contents from 2.0 to 8.4% showed that the models worked reasonably well for all soils when the OC content was below 2...

Water vapor weathering of Taurus-Littrow orange soil - A pore-structure analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Cadenhead, D. A.; Mikhail, R. S.

1975-01-01

A pore-volume analysis was performed on water vapor adsorption data previously obtained on a fresh sample of Taurus-Littrow orange soil, and the analysis was repeated on the same sample after its exposure to moist air for a period of approximately six months. The results indicate that exposure of an outgassed sample to high relative pressures of water vapor can result in the formation of substantial micropore structure, the precise amount being dependent on the sample pretreatment, particularly the outgassing temperature. Micropore formation is explained in terms of water penetration into surface defects. In contrast, long-term exposure to moist air at low relative pressures appears to reverse the process with the elimination of micropores and enlargement of mesopores possibly through surface diffusion of metastable adsorbent material. The results are considered with reference to the storage of lunar samples.

Isotopic study of water evaporation in a clayey soil, experimentation and modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathieu, R.; Bariac, T.

1995-01-01

The isotopic theory of soil water evaporation in steady-state was applied to the quantification of shallow water table discharge rates in arid and semi-arid climates. This approach is limited by the time needed by the soil to reach the steady state after the last significant rain event. The 1D numerical model ''Moise'', proposed here, was developed for the simulation of the vertical profiles of water and stable isotope contents in a drying soil for any initial profile and atmospheric condition. Six non-perturbed soil columns of 1.1 m length were taken from Barogo, Burkina Faso and were saturated in the laboratory by infiltration and free drainage of pounding water and then allowed to evaporate freely. The columns were then sequentially sampled after 11, 42, 92, 162 and 253 days of drying for 18 O and 2 H isotopic analyses. 18 O profiles show an exponential shape during the first drying stage with a maximum isotopic enrichment at the surface. During the second drying stage, the penetration of very depleted atmospheric vapor tends to lower the isotopic content at the surface. The water and isotopic content were simulated with the Moise model. The model satisfactory reproduces the hydrodynamic evolution and the qualitative evolution of soil water isotopic content, but it largely overestimates the overall enrichment. It is thus plausible that a fraction of the soil water may keep its own isotopic composition with restricted exchanges with the surrounding mobile water and vapor, while a mobile phase can be affected by the isotopic enrichment. (J.S.). 27 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs

An evaluation of vapor extraction of vadose zone contamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crotwell, A.T.; Waehner, M.J.; MacInnis, J.M.; Travis, C.C.; Lyon, B.F.

1992-05-01

An in-depth analysis of vapor extraction for remediation of soils contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCS) was conducted at 13 sites. The effectiveness of vapor extraction systems (VES) was evaluated on the basis of soil concentrations of VOCs and soil-gas concentrations of VOC's. The range of effectiveness was found to be 64%--99% effective in removing organic contaminants from soil. At nine of the 13 sites studied in this report, vapor extraction was found to be effective in reducing VOC cooncentrations by at least 90%. At the remaining four sites studied, vapor extraction was found to reduce VOC concentrations by less than 90%. Vapor extraction is ongoing at two of these sites. At a third, the ineffectiveness of the vapor extraction is attributed to the presence of ''hot spots'' of contamination. At the fourth site, where performance was found to be relatively poor, the presence of geological tar deposits at the site is thought to be a major factor in the ineffectiveness

Full-scale testing and early production results from horizontal air sparging and soil vapor extraction wells remediating jet fuel in soil and groundwater at JFK International Airport, New York

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, R.J.; Bianco, P.; Pressly, N.C.

1996-01-01

Jet fuel contaminated soil and groundwater contaminated at the International Arrivals Building (IAB) of the JFK International Airport in Jamaica, New York, are being remediated using soil vapor extraction (SVE) and air sparging (AS). The areal extent of the contaminated soil is estimated to be 70 acres and the volume of contaminated groundwater is estimated to be 2.3 million gallons. The remediation uses approximately 13,000 feet of horizontal SVE (HSVE) wells and 7,000 feet of horizontal AS (HAS) wells. The design of the HSVE and HAS wells was based on a pilot study followed by a full-scale test. In addition to the horizontal wells, 28 vertical AS wells and 15 vertical SVE wells are used. Three areas are being remediated, thus, three separate treatment systems have been installed. The SVE and AS wells are operated continuously while groundwater will be intermittently extracted at each HAS well, treated by liquid phase activated carbon and discharged into stormwater collection sewerage. Vapors extracted by the SVE wells are treated by vapor phase activated carbon and discharged into ambient air. The duration of the remediation is anticipated to be between two and three years before soil and groundwater are remediated to New York State cleanup criteria for the site. Based on the monitoring data for the first two months of operation, approximately 14,600 lbs. of vapor phase VOCs have been extracted. Analyses show that the majority of the VOCs are branched alkanes, branched alkenes, cyclohexane and methylated cyclohexanes

Modeling Soil Water Retention Curves in the Dry Range Using the Hygroscopic Water Content

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Chong; Hu, Kelin; Arthur, Emmanuel

2014-01-01

Accurate information on the dry end (matric potential less than −1500 kPa) of soil water retention curves (SWRCs) is crucial for studying water vapor transport and evaporation in soils. The objectives of this study were to assess the potential of the Oswin model for describing the water adsorption...... curves of soils and to predict SWRCs at the dry end using the hygroscopic water content at a relative humidity of 50% (θRH50). The Oswin model yielded satisfactory fits to dry-end SWRCs for soils dominated by both 2:1 and 1:1 clay minerals. Compared with the Oswin model, the Campbell and Shiozawa model...... for soils dominated by 2:1 and 1:1 clays, respectively. Comparison of the Oswin model combined with the Kelvin equation, with water potential estimated from θRH50 (Oswin-KRH50), CS model combined with the Arthur equation (CS-A), and CS-K model, with water potential obtained from θRH50 (CS-KRH50) indicated...

Numerical modeling of coupled water flow and heat transport in soil and snow

Science.gov (United States)

Thijs J. Kelleners; Jeremy Koonce; Rose Shillito; Jelle Dijkema; Markus Berli; Michael H. Young; John M. Frank; William Massman

2016-01-01

A one-dimensional vertical numerical model for coupled water flow and heat transport in soil and snow was modified to include all three phases of water: vapor, liquid, and ice. The top boundary condition in the model is driven by incoming precipitation and the surface energy balance. The model was applied to three different terrestrial systems: A warm desert bare...

Evaluation of theoretical and empirical water vapor sorption isotherm models for soils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arthur, Emmanuel; Tuller, Markus; Moldrup, Per

2016-01-01

sorption isotherms of building materials, food, and other industrial products, knowledge about the 24 applicability of these functions for soils is noticeably lacking. We present validation of nine models for characterizing adsorption/desorption isotherms for a water activity range from 0.03 to 0...

HYDROCARBON VAPOR DIFFUSION IN INTACT CORE SLEEVES

Science.gov (United States)

The diffusion of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (TMP) and 2,2,5-trimethylhexane (TMH) vapors put of residually contaminated sandy soil from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) field research site at Traverse City, Michigan, was measured and modeled. The headspace of an intact ...

Soil tension mediates isotope fractionation during soil water evaporation

Science.gov (United States)

Gaj, Marcel; McDonnell, Jeffrey

2017-04-01

Isotope tracing of the water cycle is increasing in its use and usefulness. Many new studies are extracting soil waters and relating these to streamflow, groundwater recharge and plant transpiration. Nevertheless, unlike isotope fractionation factors from open water bodies, soil water fractionation factors are poorly understood and until now, only empirically derived. In contrast to open water evaporation where temperature, humidity and vapor pressure gradient define fractionation (as codified in the well-known Craig and Gordon model), soil water evaporation includes additionally, fractionation by matrix effects. There is yet no physical explanation of kinetic and equilibrium fraction from soil water within the soil profile. Here we present a simple laboratory experiment with four admixtures of soil grain size (from sand to silt to clay). Oven-dried samples were spiked with water of known isotopic composition at different soil water contents. Soils were then stored in sealed bags and the headspace filled with dry air and allowed to equilibrate for 24hours. Isotopic analysis of the headspace vapor was done with a Los Gatos Inc. water vapor isotope analyzer. Soil water potential of subsamples were measured with a water potential meter. We show for the first time that soil tension controls isotope fractionation in the resident soil water. Below a Pf 3.5 the δ-values of 18O and 2H of the headspace vapor is more positive and increases with increasing soil water potential. Surprisingly, we find that the relationship between soil tension and equilibrium fractionation is independent of soil type. However, δ-values of each soil type plot along a distinct evaporation line. These results indicate that equilibrium fractionation is affected by soil tension in addition to temperature. Therefore, at high soil water tension (under dry conditions) equilibrium fractionation is not consistent with current empirical formulations that ignore these effects. These findings may have

A Citizen's Guide to Vapor Intrusion Mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

This guide describes how vapor intrusion is the movement of chemical vapors from contaminated soil and groundwater into nearby buildings.Vapors primarily enter through openings in the building foundation or basement walls.

Kinetics of heterogeneous chemical reactions: a theoretical model for the accumulation of pesticides in soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, S H; Sahai, R; Eyring, H

1971-04-01

A theoretical model for the accumulation of pesticides in soil has been proposed and discussed from the viewpoint of heterogeneous reaction kinetics with a basic aim to understand the complex nature of soil processes relating to the environmental pollution. In the bulk of soil, the pesticide disappears by diffusion and a chemical reaction; the rate processes considered on the surface of soil are diffusion, chemical reaction, vaporization, and regular pesticide application. The differential equations involved have been solved analytically by the Laplace-transform method.

Numerical modeling of a vaporizing multicomponent droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Megaridis, C. M.; Sirignano, W. A.

The fundamental processes governing the energy, mass, and momentum exchange between the liquid and gas phases of vaporizing, multicomponent liquid droplets have been investigated. The axisymmetric configuration under consideration consists of an isolated multicomponent droplet vaporizing in a convective environment. The model considers different volatilities of the liquid components, variable liquid properties due to variation of the species concentrations, and non-Fickian multicomponent gaseous diffusion. The bicomponent droplet model was employed to examine the commonly used assumptions of unity Lewis number in the liquid phase and Fickian gaseous diffusion. It is found that the droplet drag coefficients, the vaporization rates, and the related transfer numbers are not influenced by the above assumptions in a significant way.

Lab-scale tests on ISV vapor transport phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farnsworth, R.K.; Gardner, B.M.

1996-01-01

In situ vitrification (ISV) is a promising technology for remediating buried waste sites and contaminated soil sites. However, concerns exist that low soil permeabilities may limit vapor transport away from the advancing melt front and cause a melt expulsion that breaches ISV containment. As a result, two ISV lab tests were conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) using INEL soil (permeability: 10 -6 cm/s) and a low permeability (10 -10 cm/s) clay material. The clay test also had a ceramic tube inserted vertically through the center of the area being melted to provide one-dimensional data on vapor transport. Results confirm that low soil permeabilities can limit vapor transport away from the advancing ISV melt front. In addition, peak pressures inside the ceramic tube were significantly greater than those outside the tube, indicating the importance of horizontal vapor transport around the advancing ISV melt front

Sensitivity of a soil-plant-atmosphere model to changes in air temperature, dew point temperature, and solar radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luxmoore, R.J. (Oak Ridge National Lab.,TN); Stolzy, J.L.; Holdeman, J.T.

1981-01-01

Air temperature, dew point temperature and solar radiation were independently varied in an hourly soil-plant-atmosphere model in a sensitivity analysis of these parameters. Results suggested that evapotranspiration in eastern Tennessee is limited more by meteorological conditions that determine the vapor-pressure gradient than by the necessary energy to vaporize water within foliage. Transpiration and soil water drainage were very sensitive to changes in air and dew point temperature and to solar radiation under low atmospheric vapor-pressure deficit conditions associated with reduced air temperature. Leaf water potential and stomatal conductance were reduced under conditions having high evapotranspiration. Representative air and dew point temperature input data for a particular application are necessary for satisfactory results, whereas irradiation may be less well characterized for applications with high atmospheric vapor-pressure deficit. The effects of a general rise in atmospheric temperature on forest water budgets are discussed.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Model for Saltstone Vault 4 Vapor Space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Si Young

2005-01-01

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods have been used to estimate the flow patterns for vapor space inside the Saltstone Vault No.4 under different operating scenarios. The purpose of this work is to examine the gas motions inside the vapor space under the current vault configurations. A CFD model took three-dimensional transient momentum-energy coupled approach for the vapor space domain of the vault. The modeling calculations were based on prototypic vault geometry and expected normal operating conditions as defined by Waste Solidification Engineering. The modeling analysis was focused on the air flow patterns near the ventilated corner zones of the vapor space inside the Saltstone vault. The turbulence behavior and natural convection mechanism used in the present model were benchmarked against the literature information and theoretical results. The verified model was applied to the Saltstone vault geometry for the transient assessment of the air flow patterns inside the vapor space of the vault region using the boundary conditions as provided by the customer. The present model considered two cases for the estimations of the flow patterns within the vapor space. One is the reference baseline case. The other is for the negative temperature gradient between the roof inner and top grout surface temperatures intended for the potential bounding condition. The flow patterns of the vapor space calculated by the CFD model demonstrate that the ambient air comes into the vapor space of the vault through the lower-end ventilation hole, and it gets heated up by the Benard-cell type circulation before leaving the vault via the higher-end ventilation hole. The calculated results are consistent with the literature information

Passive vapor extraction feasibility study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rohay, V.J.

1994-01-01

Demonstration of a passive vapor extraction remediation system is planned for sites in the 200 West Area used in the past for the disposal of waste liquids containing carbon tetrachloride. The passive vapor extraction units will consist of a 4-in.-diameter pipe, a check valve, a canister filled with granular activated carbon, and a wind turbine. The check valve will prevent inflow of air that otherwise would dilute the soil gas and make its subsequent extraction less efficient. The granular activated carbon is used to adsorb the carbon tetrachloride from the air. The wind turbine enhances extraction rates on windy days. Passive vapor extraction units will be designed and operated to meet all applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements. Based on a cost analysis, passive vapor extraction was found to be a cost-effective method for remediation of soils containing lower concentrations of volatile contaminants. Passive vapor extraction used on wells that average 10-stdft 3 /min air flow rates was found to be more cost effective than active vapor extraction for concentrations below 500 parts per million by volume (ppm) of carbon tetrachloride. For wells that average 5-stdft 3 /min air flow rates, passive vapor extraction is more cost effective below 100 ppm

Toxicity of vapor phase petroleum contaminants to microbial degrader communities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, S.C.; Davey, C.A.

1994-01-01

Petroleum products constitute the largest quantity of synthetic organic chemical products produced in the US. They are comprised of mostly hydrocarbon constituents from many different chemical classes including alkenes, cycloalkanes, aromatic compounds, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Many petroleum constituents are classified as volatile organic compounds or VOCs. Petroleum products also constitute a major portion of environmental pollution. One emerging technology, with promise for applications to VOCs in subsurface soil environments, is bioventing coupled with soil vapor extraction. These technologies involve volatilization of contaminants into the soil gas phase by injection and withdrawal of air. This air movement causes enhancement of the aerobic microbial degradation of the mobilized vapors by the indigenous populations. This study investigated the effects of exposure of mixed, subsurface microbial communities to vapor phase petroleum constituents or vapors of petroleum mixtures. Soil slurries were prepared and plated onto mineral salts agar plates and exposed to vapor phase contaminants at equilibrium with pure product. Representative n-alkane, branched alkane, cycloalkane, and aromatic compounds were tested as well as petroleum product mixtures. Vapor exposure altered the numbers and morphologies of the colonies enumerated when compared to controls. However, even at high, equilibrium vapor concentrations, microbial degrader populations were not completely inhibited

Uptake of mercury vapor by wheat. An assimilation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Browne, C.L.; Fang, S.C.

1978-01-01

Using a whole-plant chamber and 203 Hg-labeled mercury, a quantitative study was made of the effect of environmental parameters on the uptake, by wheat (Triticum aestivum), of metallic mercury vapor, an atmospheric pollutant. Factors were examined in relation to their influence on components of the gas-assimilation model, U(Hg) = (C/sub A' -- C/sub L')/(r/sub L.Hg/ + r/sub M.Hg/) where U(Hg) is the rate of mercury uptake per unit leaf surface, C/sub A'/ is the ambient mercury vapor concentration, C/sub L'/ is the mercury concentration at immobilization sites within the plant (assumed to be zero), r/sub L.Hg/ is the total leaf resistance to mercury vapor exchange, and r/sub M.Hg/ is a residual term to account for unexplained physical and biochemical resistances to mercury vapor uptake. Essentially all mercury vapor uptake was confined to the leaves. r/sub L.Hg/ was particularly influenced by illumination (0 to 12.8 klux), but unaffected by ambient temperature (17 to 33 0 C) and mercury vapor concentration (0 to 40 μg m -3 ). The principal limitation to mercury vapor uptake was r/sub M.Hg/, which was linearly related to leaf temperature, but unaffected by mercury vapor concentration and illumination, except for apparent high values in darkness. Knowing C/sub A'/ and estimating r/sub L.Hg/ and r/sub M.Hg/ from experimental data, mercury vapor uptake by wheat in light was accurately predicted for several durations of exposure using the above model

Effects of near surface soil moisture profiles during evaporation on far-field ground-penetrating radar data: A numerical study

KAUST Repository

Moghadas, Davood

2013-01-01

We theoretically investigated the effect of vapor flow on the drying front that develops in soils when water evaporates from the soil surface and on GPR data. The results suggest the integration of the full-wave GPR model with a coupled water, vapor, and heat flow model to accurately estimate the soil hydraulic properties. We investigated the Effects of a drying front that emerges below an evaporating soil surface on the far-field ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data. First, we performed an analysis of the width of the drying front in soils with 12 different textures by using an analytical model. Then, we numerically simulated vertical soil moisture profiles that develop during evaporation for the soil textures. We performed the simulations using a Richards flow model that considers only liquid water flow and a model that considers coupled water, vapor, and heat flows. The GPR signals were then generated from the simulated soil water content profiles taking into account the frequency dependency of apparent electrical conductivity and dielectric permittivity. The analytical approach indicated that the width of the drying front at the end of Stage I of the evaporation was larger in silty soils than in other soil textures and smaller in sandy soils. We also demonstrated that the analytical estimate of the width of the drying front can be considered as a proxy for the impact that a drying front could have on far-field GPR data. The numerical simulations led to the conclusion that vapor transport in soil resulted in S-shaped soil moisture profiles, which clearly influenced the GPR data. As a result, vapor flow needs to be considered when GPR data are interpreted in a coupled inversion approach. Moreover, the impact of vapor flow on the GPR data was larger for silty than for sandy soils. These Effects on the GPR data provide promising perspectives regarding the use of radars for evaporation monitoring. © Soil Science Society of America 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI

Design, operations, and maintenance of the soil vapor extraction systems for the 200 West Area Carbon Tetrachloride Expedited Response Action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tranbarger, R.K.

1996-05-01

This report provides the design, operating, and maintenance guidelines for the soil vapor extraction (SVE) systems implemented as part of the 200 West Area Carbon Tetrachloride ERA. Additionally, this document provides general information regarding the ERA, the SVE system design, and the general approach towards soil vapor extraction. The remaining content of this document includes the following: regulatory compliance; summary of vadose zone physical and containment characteristics; past and present SVE system designs and potential design upgrades; general design and monitoring considerations for the SVE systems; descriptions of the SVE system components and their respective functions; safety requirements; operation of the SVE systems including startup, surveillances, shutdown, GAC canister changeouts, and wellfield characterization; monitoring requirements; SVE optimization; and instrument calibrations, preventive maintenance, and spare parts and site inventory requirements

Modeling long-term uptake and re-volatilization of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) across the soil-atmosphere interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, Zhongwen; Haberer, Christina; Maier, Uli; Beckingham, Barbara; Amos, Richard T; Grathwohl, Peter

2015-12-15

Soil-atmosphere exchange is important for the environmental fate and atmospheric transport of many semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). This study focuses on modeling the vapor phase exchange of semi-volatile hydrophobic organic pollutants between soil and the atmosphere using the multicomponent reactive transport code MIN3P. MIN3P is typically applied to simulate aqueous and vapor phase transport and reaction processes in the subsurface. We extended the code to also include an atmospheric boundary layer where eddy diffusion takes place. The relevant processes and parameters affecting soil-atmosphere exchange were investigated in several 1-D model scenarios and at various time scales (from years to centuries). Phenanthrene was chosen as a model compound, but results apply for other hydrophobic organic compounds as well. Gaseous phenanthrene was assumed to be constantly supplied to the system during a pollution period and a subsequent regulation period (with a 50% decline in the emission rate). Our results indicate that long-term soil-atmosphere exchange of phenanthrene is controlled by the soil compartment - re-volatilization thus depends on soil properties. A sensitivity analysis showed that accumulation and transport in soils in the short term is dominated by diffusion, whereas in the long term groundwater recharge and biodegradation become relevant. As expected, sorption causes retardation and slows down transport and biodegradation. If atmospheric concentration is reduced (e.g. after environmental regulations), re-volatilization from soil to the atmosphere occurs only for a relatively short time period. Therefore, the model results demonstrate that soils generally are sinks for atmospheric pollutants. The atmospheric boundary layer is only relevant for time scales of less than one month. The extended MIN3P code can also be applied to simulate fluctuating concentrations in the atmosphere, for instance due to temperature changes in the topsoil. Copyright �

Soil remediation by heat injection: Experiments and numerical modelling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Betz, C.; Emmert, M.; Faerber, A. [Univ. of Stuttgart (Germany)] [and others

1995-03-01

In order to understand physical processes of thermally enhanced soil vapor extraction methods in porous media the isothermal, multiphase formulation for the numerical model MUFTE will be extended by a non-isothermal, multiphase-multicomponent formulation. In order to verify the numerical model, comparison with analytical solutions for well defined problems will be carried out. To identify relevant processes and their interactions, the results of the simulation will be compared with well controlled experiments with sophisticated measurement equipment in three different scales. The aim is to compare the different numerical solution techniques namely Finite Element versus Integral Finite Difference technique as implemented in MUFTE and TOUGH2 [9] respectively.

Molecular Models for DSMC Simulations of Metal Vapor Deposition

OpenAIRE

Venkattraman, A; Alexeenko, Alina A

2010-01-01

The direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is applied here to model the electron‐beam (e‐beam) physical vapor deposition of copper thin films. A suitable molecular model for copper‐copper interactions have been determined based on comparisons with experiments for a 2D slit source. The model for atomic copper vapor is then used in axi‐symmetric DSMC simulations for analysis of a typical e‐beam metal deposition system with a cup crucible. The dimensional and non‐dimensional mass fluxes obt...

Site-Specific Technical Report for the Evaluation of Thermatrix GS Series Flameless Thermal Oxidizer for Off-Gas Treatment of Soil Vapors with Volatile Organic Compounds at the Source Area Reduction System, Former Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Archabal, Steven

1998-01-01

The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) has sponsored an ongoing program to promote the use of cost-effective soil vapor treatment technologies in conjunction with soil vapor extraction (SVE...

Relationship between vapor intrusion and human exposure to trichloroethylene.

Science.gov (United States)

Archer, Natalie P; Bradford, Carrie M; Villanacci, John F; Crain, Neil E; Corsi, Richard L; Chambers, David M; Burk, Tonia; Blount, Benjamin C

2015-01-01

Trichloroethylene (TCE) in groundwater has the potential to volatilize through soil into indoor air where it can be inhaled. The purpose of this study was to determine whether individuals living above TCE-contaminated groundwater are exposed to TCE through vapor intrusion. We examined associations between TCE concentrations in various environmental media and TCE concentrations in residents. For this assessment, indoor air, outdoor air, soil gas, and tap water samples were collected in and around 36 randomly selected homes; blood samples were collected from 63 residents of these homes. Additionally, a completed exposure survey was collected from each participant. Environmental and blood samples were analyzed for TCE. Mixed model multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine associations between TCE in residents' blood and TCE in indoor air, outdoor air, and soil gas. Blood TCE concentrations were above the limit of quantitation (LOQ; ≥ 0.012 µg L(-1)) in 17.5% of the blood samples. Of the 36 homes, 54.3%, 47.2%, and >84% had detectable concentrations of TCE in indoor air, outdoor air, and soil gas, respectively. Both indoor air and soil gas concentrations were statistically significantly positively associated with participants' blood concentrations (P = 0.0002 and P = 0.04, respectively). Geometric mean blood concentrations of residents from homes with indoor air concentrations of >1.6 µg m(-3) were approximately 50 times higher than geometric mean blood TCE concentrations in participants from homes with no detectable TCE in indoor air (P < .0001; 95% CI 10.4-236.4). This study confirms the occurrence of vapor intrusion and demonstrates the magnitude of exposure from vapor intrusion of TCE in a residential setting.

Transport of Chemical Vapors from Subsurface Sources to Atmosphere as Affected by Shallow Subsurface and Atmospheric Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, A. K.; Smits, K. M.; Hosken, K.; Schulte, P.; Illangasekare, T. H.

2012-12-01

Understanding the movement and modeling of chemical vapor through unsaturated soil in the shallow subsurface when subjected to natural atmospheric thermal and mass flux boundary conditions at the land surface is of importance to applications such as landmine detection and vapor intrusion into subsurface structures. New, advanced technologies exist to sense chemical signatures at the land/atmosphere interface, but interpretation of these sensor signals to make assessment of source conditions remains a challenge. Chemical signatures are subject to numerous interactions while migrating through the unsaturated soil environment, attenuating signal strength and masking contaminant source conditions. The dominant process governing movement of gases through porous media is often assumed to be Fickian diffusion through the air phase with minimal or no quantification of other processes contributing to vapor migration, such as thermal diffusion, convective gas flow due to the displacement of air, expansion/contraction of air due to temperature changes, temporal and spatial variations of soil moisture and fluctuations in atmospheric pressure. Soil water evaporation and interfacial mass transfer add to the complexity of the system. The goal of this work is to perform controlled experiments under transient conditions of soil moisture, temperature and wind at the land/atmosphere interface and use the resulting dataset to test existing theories on subsurface gas flow and iterate between numerical modeling efforts and experimental data. Ultimately, we aim to update conceptual models of shallow subsurface vapor transport to include conditionally significant transport processes and inform placement of mobile sensors and/or networks. We have developed a two-dimensional tank apparatus equipped with a network of sensors and a flow-through head space for simulation of the atmospheric interface. A detailed matrix of realistic atmospheric boundary conditions was applied in a series of

VAPOR PRESSURES AND HEATS OF VAPORIZATION OF PRIMARY COAL TARS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eric M. Suuberg; Vahur Oja

1997-07-01

This project had as its main focus the determination of vapor pressures of coal pyrolysis tars. It involved performing measurements of these vapor pressures and from them, developing vapor pressure correlations suitable for use in advanced pyrolysis models (those models which explicitly account for mass transport limitations). This report is divided into five main chapters. Each chapter is a relatively stand-alone section. Chapter A reviews the general nature of coal tars and gives a summary of existing vapor pressure correlations for coal tars and model compounds. Chapter B summarizes the main experimental approaches for coal tar preparation and characterization which have been used throughout the project. Chapter C is concerned with the selection of the model compounds for coal pyrolysis tars and reviews the data available to us on the vapor pressures of high boiling point aromatic compounds. This chapter also deals with the question of identifying factors that govern the vapor pressures of coal tar model materials and their mixtures. Chapter D covers the vapor pressures and heats of vaporization of primary cellulose tars. Chapter E discusses the results of the main focus of this study. In summary, this work provides improved understanding of the volatility of coal and cellulose pyrolysis tars. It has resulted in new experimentally verified vapor pressure correlations for use in pyrolysis models. Further research on this topic should aim at developing general vapor pressure correlations for all coal tars, based on their molecular weight together with certain specific chemical characteristics i.e. hydroxyl group content.

The annual cycle of stratospheric water vapor in a general circulation model

Science.gov (United States)

Mote, Philip W.

1995-01-01

The application of general circulation models (GCM's) to stratospheric chemistry and transport both permits and requires a thorough investigation of stratospheric water vapor. The National Center for Atmospheric Research has redesigned its GCM, the Community Climate Model (CCM2), to enable studies of the chemistry and transport of tracers including water vapor; the importance of water vapor to the climate and chemistry of the stratosphere requires that it be better understood in the atmosphere and well represented in the model. In this study, methane is carried as a tracer and converted to water; this simple chemistry provides an adequate representation of the upper stratospheric water vapor source. The cold temperature bias in the winter polar stratosphere, which the CCM2 shares with other GCM's, produces excessive dehydration in the southern hemisphere, but this dry bias can be ameliorated by setting a minimum vapor pressure. The CCM2's water vapor distribution and seasonality compare favorably with observations in many respects, though seasonal variations including the upper stratospheric semiannual oscillation are generally too small. Southern polar dehydration affects midlatitude water vapor mixing ratios by a few tenths of a part per million, mostly after the demise of the vortex. The annual cycle of water vapor in the tropical and northern midlatitude lower stratosphere is dominated by drying at the tropical tropopause. Water vapor has a longer adjustment time than methane and had not reached equilibrium at the end of the 9 years simulated here.

Water vapor movement in freezing aggregate base materials.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

The objectives of this research were to 1) measure the extent to which water vapor movement results in : water accumulation in freezing base materials; 2) evaluate the effect of soil stabilization on water vapor movement : in freezing base materials;...

The impact of non-isothermal soil moisture transport on evaporation fluxes in a maize cropland

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Wei; Coenders-Gerrits, Miriam; Judge, Jasmeet; Zeng, Yijian; Su, Ye

2018-06-01

The process of evaporation interacts with the soil, which has various comprehensive mechanisms. Multiphase flow models solve air, vapour, water, and heat transport equations to simulate non-isothermal soil moisture transport of both liquid water and vapor flow, but are only applied in non-vegetated soils. For (sparsely) vegetated soils often energy balance models are used, however these lack the detailed information on non-isothermal soil moisture transport. In this study we coupled a multiphase flow model with a two-layer energy balance model to study the impact of non-isothermal soil moisture transport on evaporation fluxes (i.e., interception, transpiration, and soil evaporation) for vegetated soils. The proposed model was implemented at an experimental agricultural site in Florida, US, covering an entire maize-growing season (67 days). As the crops grew, transpiration and interception became gradually dominated, while the fraction of soil evaporation dropped from 100% to less than 20%. The mechanisms of soil evaporation vary depending on the soil moisture content. After precipitation the soil moisture content increased, exfiltration of the liquid water flow could transport sufficient water to sustain evaporation from soil, and the soil vapor transport was not significant. However, after a sufficient dry-down period, the soil moisture content significantly reduced, and the soil vapour flow significantly contributed to the upward moisture transport in topmost soil. A sensitivity analysis found that the simulations of moisture content and temperature at the soil surface varied substantially when including the advective (i.e., advection and mechanical dispersion) vapour transport in simulation, including the mechanism of advective vapour transport decreased soil evaporation rate under wet condition, while vice versa under dry condition. The results showed that the formulation of advective soil vapor transport in a soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer continuum can

Physical model for vaporization

OpenAIRE

Garai, Jozsef

2006-01-01

Based on two assumptions, the surface layer is flexible, and the internal energy of the latent heat of vaporization is completely utilized by the atoms for overcoming on the surface resistance of the liquid, the enthalpy of vaporization was calculated for 45 elements. The theoretical values were tested against experiments with positive result.

Navier slip model of drag reduction by Leidenfrost vapor layers

KAUST Repository

Berry, Joseph D.

2017-10-17

Recent experiments found that a hot solid sphere that is able to sustain a stable Leidenfrost vapor layer in a liquid exhibits significant drag reduction during free fall. The variation of the drag coefficient with Reynolds number deviates substantially from the characteristic drag crisis behavior at high Reynolds numbers. Measurements based on liquids of different viscosities show that the onset of the drag crisis depends on the viscosity ratio of the vapor to the liquid. Here we attempt to characterize the complexity of the Leidenfrost vapor layer with respect to its variable thickness and possible vapor circulation within, in terms of the Navier slip model that is defined by a slip length. Such a model can facilitate tangential flow and thereby alter the behavior of the boundary layer. Direct numerical and large eddy simulations of flow past a sphere at moderate to high Reynolds numbers (102≤Re≤4×104) are employed to quantify comparisons with experimental results, including the drag coefficient and the form of the downstream wake on the sphere. This provides a simple one parameter characterization of the drag reduction phenomenon due to a stable vapor layer that envelops a solid body.

Navier slip model of drag reduction by Leidenfrost vapor layers

KAUST Repository

Berry, Joseph D.; Vakarelski, Ivan Uriev; Chan, Derek Y. C.; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T

2017-01-01

Recent experiments found that a hot solid sphere that is able to sustain a stable Leidenfrost vapor layer in a liquid exhibits significant drag reduction during free fall. The variation of the drag coefficient with Reynolds number deviates substantially from the characteristic drag crisis behavior at high Reynolds numbers. Measurements based on liquids of different viscosities show that the onset of the drag crisis depends on the viscosity ratio of the vapor to the liquid. Here we attempt to characterize the complexity of the Leidenfrost vapor layer with respect to its variable thickness and possible vapor circulation within, in terms of the Navier slip model that is defined by a slip length. Such a model can facilitate tangential flow and thereby alter the behavior of the boundary layer. Direct numerical and large eddy simulations of flow past a sphere at moderate to high Reynolds numbers (102≤Re≤4×104) are employed to quantify comparisons with experimental results, including the drag coefficient and the form of the downstream wake on the sphere. This provides a simple one parameter characterization of the drag reduction phenomenon due to a stable vapor layer that envelops a solid body.

Work Plan for the Evaluation of Soil Vapor Extraction Using Internal Combustion Engine Technology at Site SS-42 Luke Air Force Base, Arizona

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1996-01-01

...). Luke AFB is one of several Air Force installations identified as prospective test sites to demonstrate the ICE system with advanced emission controls as part of a low-cost soil vapor extraction (SVE...

Effects of near surface soil moisture profiles during evaporation on far-field ground-penetrating radar data: A numerical study

KAUST Repository

Moghadas, Davood; Jadoon, Khan; Vanderborght, Jan P.; Lambot, Sé bastien; Vereecken, Harry

2013-01-01

We theoretically investigated the effect of vapor flow on the drying front that develops in soils when water evaporates from the soil surface and on GPR data. The results suggest the integration of the full-wave GPR model with a coupled water, vapor

Control technologies for soil vapor extraction at petroleum hydrocarbon impacted sites -- Regulatory challenges to system operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cacossa, K.F.; Campbell, G.E.; Devine, K.

1995-01-01

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is frequently used to remediate soils impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons. Four technologies have proven to be viable methods to control the off-gas emissions from SVE systems, namely, internal combustion, thermal oxidation, catalytic oxidation, and granular activated carbon adsorption. The optimal range of influent vapor concentrations for system operation differs for each of the technologies. Over the past several years the authors have worked proactively with the state regulatory community to develop general, all inclusive air pollution control permits which allow for the potential use of all four technologies over the life of the permit. Private industry has similarly worked with the state regulators to develop a less labor intensive sampling/monitoring procedure. Actual system performances, which were monitored using summa canisters and field equipment, provided the basis for the new procedure. System performance data indicated that field sampling with portable hydrocarbon analyzers, such as flame ionization detectors (FID), was preferable over the use of summa canister sampling. In addition, to reduce the costs associated with the analysis of samples, the new SVE monitoring protocol also reduced the number of system monitoring visits. These reductions equated into a cost effective, yet environmentally sound SVE system monitoring programs. Finally, the authors have worked with the regulatory community to establish permit limitations which allow operational flexibility

Physical and mathematical modeling of diesel fuel liquid and vapor movement in porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, T.E.; Kreamer, D.K.

1994-01-01

Two-dimensional physical modeling of diesel fuel leaks was conducted in sand tanks to determine liquid and vapor migration characteristics. Mathematical modeling provided estimation of vapor concentrations at discrete times and distances from the vapor source and was compared to the physical experiment. The mathematical gaseous diffusion model was analogous to the Theis equation for ground-water flow, accounted for sorptive effects of the media, and was calibrated using measured concentrations from the sand tank. Mathematically different positions of the vapor source were tested to better relate observed liquid flow rates and media configuration to gaseous concentrations. The calculated diffusion parameters were then used to estimate theoretical, three-dimensional vapor transport from a hypothetical liquid leak of 2.0 1/hr for 30 days. The associated three-dimensional vapor plume, which would be reasonably detectable by commercially available vadose zone monitors, was estimated to have a diameter of 8 m with a vapor concentration of 50 ppm at the outside edge of the vapor plume. A careful application of the method and values can be used to give a first approximation to the number of vapor monitors required at a field site as well as the optimal locations for the monitors

Soil Vapor Extraction System Optimization, Transition, and Closure Guidance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Truex, Michael J.; Becker, Dave; Simon, Michelle A.; Oostrom, Martinus; Rice, Amy K.; Johnson, Christian D.

2013-02-08

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is a prevalent remediation approach for volatile contaminants in the vadose zone. A diminishing rate of contaminant extraction over time is typically observed due to 1) diminishing contaminant mass, and/or 2) slow rates of removal for contamination in low-permeability zones. After a SVE system begins to show indications of diminishing contaminant removal rate, SVE performance needs to be evaluated to determine whether the system should be optimized, terminated, or transitioned to another technology to replace or augment SVE. This guidance specifically addresses the elements of this type of performance assessment. While not specifically presented, the approach and analyses in this guidance could also be applied at the onset of remediation selection for a site as a way to evaluate current or future impacts to groundwater from vadose zone contamination. The guidance presented here builds from existing guidance for SVE design, operation, optimization, and closure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment. The purpose of the material herein is to clarify and focus on the specific actions and decisions related to SVE optimization, transition, and/or closure.

Definition and implementation of a fully coupled THM model for unsaturated soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haxaire, A.; Galavi, V.; Brinkgreve, R.B.J.

2012-01-01

Document available in extended abstract form only. The governing equations of a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) model are presented. They are an extension to the previous work of Galavi (2011) in which a coupled THM model based on Biot's consolidation theory was developed for saturated and partially saturated soils. This study is based on the assumption of local thermodynamical equilibrium, meaning that all phases have the same temperature at a point of the multiphase porous medium. The model is implemented in a research version of PLAXIS 2D. The non isothermal partially saturated flow is modeled using the water mass balance described in Rutqvist et al. (2001), in which the flux is decomposed in water advection and vapor diffusion. A limiting hypothesis lies in the gas pressure assumed to be constant in the entire domain. The air flow as a separate phase is therefore neglected. This choice results in having only one independent unknown in the fluid mass balance equation, which is water pressure. However, the vapor diffusion can still be modeled. It depends on temperature by means of a decomposition in a water pressure gradient part and a temperature gradient part. The vapor density follows the psychrometric law. The water storage is described using the ratio of saturation in the soil, the mechanical volumetric strains, and the variation of the skeleton density. To model the influence of water flow in the heat transport equation, the flux term is split in an averaged conductive term and a water advection term. The other quantities such as heat capacity and density are also averaged. This yields a simple yet accurate representation of the interactions between water flow and temperature. The non-isothermal deformation is formulated in terms of Bishop stresses. The effective saturation is taken as the Bishop coefficient. This provides a better accuracy compared to experimental results. The anisotropic thermal expansion tensor is used for the drained linear

Tree Sampling as a Method to Assess Vapor Intrusion Potential at a Site Characterized by VOC-Contaminated Groundwater and Soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jordan L; Limmer, Matthew A; Samaranayake, V A; Schumacher, John G; Burken, Joel G

2017-09-19

Vapor intrusion (VI) by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the built environment presents a threat to human health. Traditional VI assessments are often time-, cost-, and labor-intensive; whereas traditional subsurface methods sample a relatively small volume in the subsurface and are difficult to collect within and near structures. Trees could provide a similar subsurface sample where roots act as the "sampler' and are already onsite. Regression models were developed to assess the relation between PCE concentrations in over 500 tree-core samples with PCE concentrations in over 50 groundwater and 1000 soil samples collected from a tetrachloroethylene- (PCE-) contaminated Superfund site and analyzed using gas chromatography. Results indicate that in planta concentrations are significantly and positively related to PCE concentrations in groundwater samples collected at depths less than 20 m (adjusted R 2 values greater than 0.80) and in soil samples (adjusted R 2 values greater than 0.90). Results indicate that a 30 cm diameter tree characterizes soil concentrations at depths less than 6 m over an area of 700-1600 m 2 , the volume of a typical basement. These findings indicate that tree sampling may be an appropriate method to detect contamination at shallow depths at sites with VI.

Tree sampling as a method to assess vapor intrusion potential at a site characterized by VOC-contaminated groundwater and soil

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jordan L.; Limmer, Matthew A.; Samaranayake, V. A.; Schumacher, John G.; Burken, Joel G.

2017-01-01

Vapor intrusion (VI) by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the built environment presents a threat to human health. Traditional VI assessments are often time-, cost-, and labor-intensive; whereas traditional subsurface methods sample a relatively small volume in the subsurface and are difficult to collect within and near structures. Trees could provide a similar subsurface sample where roots act as the “sampler’ and are already onsite. Regression models were developed to assess the relation between PCE concentrations in over 500 tree-core samples with PCE concentrations in over 50 groundwater and 1000 soil samples collected from a tetrachloroethylene- (PCE-) contaminated Superfund site and analyzed using gas chromatography. Results indicate that in planta concentrations are significantly and positively related to PCE concentrations in groundwater samples collected at depths less than 20 m (adjusted R2 values greater than 0.80) and in soil samples (adjusted R2 values greater than 0.90). Results indicate that a 30 cm diameter tree characterizes soil concentrations at depths less than 6 m over an area of 700–1600 m2, the volume of a typical basement. These findings indicate that tree sampling may be an appropriate method to detect contamination at shallow depths at sites with VI.

ER Operations Installation of Three FLUTe Soil-Vapor Monitoring Wells (MWL-SV03 MWL-SV04 and MWL-SV05) at the Mixed Waste Landfill.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Copland, John Robin [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2014-09-01

This installation report describes the May through July 2014 drilling activities performed for the installation of three multi-port soil-vapor monitoring wells (MWL-SV03, MWL-SV04, and MWL-SV05) at the Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL), which is located at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico (SNL/NM). SNL/NM is managed and operated by Sandia Corporation (Sandia), a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration. The MWL is designated as Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) 76 and is located in Technical Area (TA) III (Figure 1-1). The locations of the three soil-vapor monitoring wells (MWL-SV03, MWL-SV04, and MWL-SV05) are shown in Figure 1-2

Mercury speciation during in situ thermal desorption in soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Chang Min, E-mail: cmpark80@gmail.com; Katz, Lynn E.; Liljestrand, Howard M.

2015-12-30

Highlights: • Impact of soil conditions on distribution and phase transitions of Hg was identified. • Metallic Hg was slowly transformed to Hg{sup 0} gas until the temperature reached 358.15 K. • Phase change of HgCl{sub 2(s)} completely occurred without decomposition at 335.15 K. • HgS remained solid in dry soil sharply decreased in the narrow temperature range. • Hg gas can be easily captured with higher vapor pressures of soil compositions. - Abstract: Metallic mercury (Hg{sup 0}) and its compounds are highly mobile and toxic environmental pollutants at trace level. In situ thermal desorption (ISTD) is one of the soil remediation processes applying heat and vacuum simultaneously. Knowledge of thermodynamic mercury speciation is imperative to understand the fate and transport of mercury during thermal remediation and operate the treatment processes in a cost-effective manner. Hence, speciation model for inorganic mercury was developed over a range of environmental conditions to identify distribution of dissolved mercury species and potential transformations of mercury at near source environment. Simulation of phase transitions for metallic mercury, mercury(II) chloride and mercury sulfide with temperature increase showed that complete vaporization of metallic mercury and mercury(II) chloride were achieved below the boiling point of water. The effect of soil compositions on mercury removal was also evaluated to better understand thermal remediation process. Higher vapor pressures expected both from soil pore water and inorganic carbonate minerals in soil as well as creation of permeability were significant for complete vaporization and removal of mercury.

Mercury speciation during in situ thermal desorption in soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Chang Min; Katz, Lynn E.; Liljestrand, Howard M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Impact of soil conditions on distribution and phase transitions of Hg was identified. • Metallic Hg was slowly transformed to Hg"0 gas until the temperature reached 358.15 K. • Phase change of HgCl_2_(_s_) completely occurred without decomposition at 335.15 K. • HgS remained solid in dry soil sharply decreased in the narrow temperature range. • Hg gas can be easily captured with higher vapor pressures of soil compositions. - Abstract: Metallic mercury (Hg"0) and its compounds are highly mobile and toxic environmental pollutants at trace level. In situ thermal desorption (ISTD) is one of the soil remediation processes applying heat and vacuum simultaneously. Knowledge of thermodynamic mercury speciation is imperative to understand the fate and transport of mercury during thermal remediation and operate the treatment processes in a cost-effective manner. Hence, speciation model for inorganic mercury was developed over a range of environmental conditions to identify distribution of dissolved mercury species and potential transformations of mercury at near source environment. Simulation of phase transitions for metallic mercury, mercury(II) chloride and mercury sulfide with temperature increase showed that complete vaporization of metallic mercury and mercury(II) chloride were achieved below the boiling point of water. The effect of soil compositions on mercury removal was also evaluated to better understand thermal remediation process. Higher vapor pressures expected both from soil pore water and inorganic carbonate minerals in soil as well as creation of permeability were significant for complete vaporization and removal of mercury.

Analysis of vapor extraction data from applications in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiller, D.; Gudemann, H.

1989-01-01

This paper discusses vapor extraction, an in-situ process to remove volatile organic compounds (VOC) from soils of the vadose zone, applied in Europe since the early 1980s. In a vapor extraction well a negative differential pressure is created by a blower or similar device. The differential pressure generates a steady flow of soil gas towards the extraction well and thus provides a flushing of the soil with air undersaturated in respect to the contaminant concentration. Contaminants will evaporate into the gaseous phase both form the liquid phase and form the soil. Differential pressures applied range from 15 inches - 350 inches of water. The contaminated discharge air can be treated by activated carbon or other suitable methods. The effective radius of vapor extraction systems (VES) ranges typically form 20 feet to 150 feet underneath non-sealed - and up to 300 feet underneath sealed surfaces. Contamination from volatile organic compounds (VOC) have turned out to be widespread due to their almost ubiquitous presence in industrial processes. Specifically, VOC include halogenated hydrocarbons like TCE, PCE or TCA, aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene, toluene, xylene and volatile fuels like gasoline

Determination of mercury in ash and soil samples by oxygen flask combustion method-Cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geng Wenhua; Nakajima, Tsunenori; Takanashi, Hirokazu; Ohki, Akira

2008-01-01

A simple method was developed for the determination of mercury (Hg) in coal fly ash (CFA), waste incineration ash (WIA), and soil by use of oxygen flask combustion (OFC) followed by cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS). A KMnO 4 solution was used as an absorbent in the OFC method, and the sample containing a combustion agent and an ash or soil sample was combusted by the OFC method. By use of Hg-free graphite as the combustion agent, the determination of Hg in ash and soil was successfully carried out; the Hg-free graphite was prepared by use of a mild pyrolysis procedure at 500 deg. C. For six certified reference materials (three CFA samples and three soil samples), the values of Hg obtained by this method were in good agreement with the certified or reference values. In addition, real samples including nine CFAs collected from some coal-fired power plants, five WIAs collected from waste incineration plants, and two soils were analyzed by the present method, and the data were compared to those from microwave-acid digestion (MW-AD) method

Modeling of a diode-pumped thin-disk cesium vapor laser

Science.gov (United States)

An, Guofei; Cai, He; Liu, Xiaoxu; Han, Juhong; Zhang, Wei; Wang, Hongyuan; Wang, You

2018-03-01

A diode pumped alkali laser (DPAL) provides a significant potential for construction of high-powered lasers. Until now, a series of models have been established to analyze the kinetic process and most of them are based on the end-pumped alkali laser system in which the vapor cell are usually cylindrical and cuboid. In this paper, a mathematic model is constructed to investigate the kinetic processes of a diode pumped thin-disk cesium vapor laser, in which the cesium vapor and the buffer gases are beforehand filled in a sealed glass cell with a thin-disk structure. We systemically study the influences of the cell temperature and cell thickness on the output features of a thin-disk DPAL. Further, we study the thin-disk DPAL with the W-shaped resonator and multiple-disk configuration. To the best of our knowledge, there have not been any similar reports so far.

Development of atmosphere-soil-vegetation model for investigation of radioactive materials transport in terrestrial biosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katata, Genki; Nagai, Haruyasu; Zhang, Leiming; Held, Andreas; Serca, Dominique; Klemm, Otto

2010-01-01

In order to investigate the transport of radionuclides in the terrestrial biosphere we have developed a one-dimensional numerical model named SOLVEG that predicts the transfer of water, heat, and gaseous and particulate matters in atmosphere-soil-vegetation system. The SOLVEG represents atmosphere, soil, and vegetation as an aggregation of several layers. Basic equations used in the model are solved using the finite difference method. Most of predicted variables are interrelated with the source/sink terms of momentum, water, heat, gases, and particles based on mathematically described biophysical processes in atmosphere, soil and vegetation. The SOLVEG can estimate dry, wet and fog deposition of gaseous and particulate matters at each canopy layer. Performance tests of the SOLVEG with several observational sites were carried out. The SOLVEG predicted the observed temporal changes in water vapor, CO 2 , and ozone fluxes over vegetated surfaces. The SOLVEG also reproduced measured fluxes of fog droplets and of fine aerosols over the forest. (author)

Calculational model for condensation of water vapor during an underground nuclear detonation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knox, R.J.

1975-01-01

An empirally derived mathematical model was developed to calculate the pressure and temperature history during condensation of water vapor in an underground-nuclear-explosion cavity. The condensation process is non-isothermal. Use has been made of the Clapeyron-Clausius equation as a basis for development of the model. Analytic fits to the vapor pressure and the latent heat of vaporization for saturated-water vapor, together with an estimated value for the heat-transfer coefficient, have been used to describe the phenomena. The calculated pressure-history during condensation has been determined to be exponential, with a time constant somewhat less than that observed during the cooling of the superheated steam from the explosion. The behavior of the calculated condensation-pressure compares well with the observed-pressure record (until just prior to cavity collapse) for a particular nuclear-detonation event for which data is available

Soil remediation process and system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monlux, K.J.

1992-01-01

This patent describes a process for remediation of soil containing up to about 30,000 ppm hydrocarbon contaminants. It comprises: providing hydrocarbon-contaminated soil in a divided condition of minus 1 1/2 double-prime to a first confined zone where it is exposed to an open flame; heating while agitating the contaminated soil in an oxidizing atmosphere in the first zone to a temperature below soil ignition within a range of from about 375 degrees F. to about 750 degrees F. for a time sufficient to drive off as vapors a substantial percentage of the hydrocarbon contaminates from the soil; passing hot gases containing the hydrocarbon contaminates from the soil; passing hot gases containing the hydrocarbon vapors from the first zone to a second zone; recovering heat from the hot gases in the second zone to condense a substantial percentage of the hydrocarbon vapors as liquid hydrocarbons; recovering the liquid hydrocarbons; and removing the soil from the first zone as remediated soil having below about 1000 ppm hydrocarbon contaminants

Prediction model for initial point of net vapor generation for low-flow boiling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Qi; Zhao Hua; Yang Ruichang

2003-01-01

The prediction of the initial point of net vapor generation is significant for the calculation of phase distribution in sub-cooled boiling. However, most of the investigations were developed in high-flow boiling, and there is no common model that could be successfully applied for the low-flow boiling. A predictive model for the initial point of net vapor generation for low-flow forced convection and natural circulation is established here, by the analysis of evaporation and condensation heat transfer. The comparison between experimental data and calculated results shows that this model can predict the net vapor generation point successfully in low-flow sub-cooled boiling

Measurement of Vapor Flow As an Important Source of Water in Dry Land Eco-Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Z.; He, Z.; Wang, Y.; Gao, Z.; Hishida, K.

2014-12-01

When the temperature of land surface is lower than that of air and deeper soils, water vapor gathers toward the ground surface where dew maybe formed depending on the prevailing dew point and wind speed. Some plants are able to absorb the dew and vapor flow while the soil can readily absorb both. Certain animals such as desert beetles and ants harvest the dew or fog for daily survival. Recently, it is also realized that the dew and vapor flow can be a life-saving amount of water for plant survival at the driest seasons of the year in arid and semi-arid regions. Researches are conducted to quantify the amount of near-surface vapor flow in arid and semi-arid regions in China and USA. Quantitative leaf water absorption and desorption functions were derived based on laboratory experiments. Results show that plant leaves absorb and release water at different speeds depending on species and varieties. The "ideal" native plants in the dry climates can quickly absorb water and slowly release it. This water-holding capacity of plant is characterized by the absorption and desorption functions derived for plant physiology and water balance studies. Field studies are conducted to measure the dynamic vapor flow movements from the atmosphere and the groundwater table to soil surface. Results show that dew is usually formed on soil and plant surfaces during the daily hours when the temperature gradients are inverted toward the soil surface. The amount of dew harvested using gravels on the soil surface was enough to support water melon agriculture on deserts. The vapor flow can be effectively intercepted by artificially seeded plants in semi-arid regions forming new forests. New studies are attempted to quantify the role of vapor flow for the survival of giant sequoias in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

Modeling and measurement of boiling point elevation during water vaporization from aqueous urea for SCR applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dan, Ho Jin; Lee, Joon Sik

2016-01-01

Understanding of water vaporization is the first step to anticipate the conversion process of urea into ammonia in the exhaust stream. As aqueous urea is a mixture and the urea in the mixture acts as a non-volatile solute, its colligative properties should be considered during water vaporization. The elevation of boiling point for urea water solution is measured with respect to urea mole fraction. With the boiling-point elevation relation, a model for water vaporization is proposed underlining the correction of the heat of vaporization of water in the urea water mixture due to the enthalpy of urea dissolution in water. The model is verified by the experiments of water vaporization as well. Finally, the water vaporization model is applied to the water vaporization of aqueous urea droplets. It is shown that urea decomposition can begin before water evaporation finishes due to the boiling-point elevation

Modeling and measurement of boiling point elevation during water vaporization from aqueous urea for SCR applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dan, Ho Jin; Lee, Joon Sik [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-03-15

Understanding of water vaporization is the first step to anticipate the conversion process of urea into ammonia in the exhaust stream. As aqueous urea is a mixture and the urea in the mixture acts as a non-volatile solute, its colligative properties should be considered during water vaporization. The elevation of boiling point for urea water solution is measured with respect to urea mole fraction. With the boiling-point elevation relation, a model for water vaporization is proposed underlining the correction of the heat of vaporization of water in the urea water mixture due to the enthalpy of urea dissolution in water. The model is verified by the experiments of water vaporization as well. Finally, the water vaporization model is applied to the water vaporization of aqueous urea droplets. It is shown that urea decomposition can begin before water evaporation finishes due to the boiling-point elevation.

Macroscopic modeling for heat and water vapor transfer in dry snow by homogenization.

Science.gov (United States)

Calonne, Neige; Geindreau, Christian; Flin, Frédéric

2014-11-26

Dry snow metamorphism, involved in several topics related to cryospheric sciences, is mainly linked to heat and water vapor transfers through snow including sublimation and deposition at the ice-pore interface. In this paper, the macroscopic equivalent modeling of heat and water vapor transfers through a snow layer was derived from the physics at the pore scale using the homogenization of multiple scale expansions. The microscopic phenomena under consideration are heat conduction, vapor diffusion, sublimation, and deposition. The obtained macroscopic equivalent model is described by two coupled transient diffusion equations including a source term arising from phase change at the pore scale. By dimensional analysis, it was shown that the influence of such source terms on the overall transfers can generally not be neglected, except typically under small temperature gradients. The precision and the robustness of the proposed macroscopic modeling were illustrated through 2D numerical simulations. Finally, the effective vapor diffusion tensor arising in the macroscopic modeling was computed on 3D images of snow. The self-consistent formula offers a good estimate of the effective diffusion coefficient with respect to the snow density, within an average relative error of 10%. Our results confirm recent work that the effective vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow.

Improved thermal lattice Boltzmann model for simulation of liquid-vapor phase change

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qing; Zhou, P.; Yan, H. J.

2017-12-01

In this paper, an improved thermal lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is proposed for simulating liquid-vapor phase change, which is aimed at improving an existing thermal LB model for liquid-vapor phase change [S. Gong and P. Cheng, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 4923 (2012), 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.04.037]. First, we emphasize that the replacement of ∇ .(λ ∇ T ) /∇.(λ ∇ T ) ρ cV ρ cV with ∇ .(χ ∇ T ) is an inappropriate treatment for diffuse interface modeling of liquid-vapor phase change. Furthermore, the error terms ∂t 0(T v ) +∇ .(T vv ) , which exist in the macroscopic temperature equation recovered from the previous model, are eliminated in the present model through a way that is consistent with the philosophy of the LB method. Moreover, the discrete effect of the source term is also eliminated in the present model. Numerical simulations are performed for droplet evaporation and bubble nucleation to validate the capability of the model for simulating liquid-vapor phase change. It is shown that the numerical results of the improved model agree well with those of a finite-difference scheme. Meanwhile, it is found that the replacement of ∇ .(λ ∇ T ) /∇ .(λ ∇ T ) ρ cV ρ cV with ∇ .(χ ∇ T ) leads to significant numerical errors and the error terms in the recovered macroscopic temperature equation also result in considerable errors.

Six-phase soil heating accelerates VOC extraction from clay soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gauglitz, P.A.; Roberts, J.S.; Bergsman, T.M.; Caley, S.M.; Heath, W.O.; Miller, M.C.; Moss, R.W.; Schalla, R.; Jarosch, T.R.; Eddy-Dilek, C.A.

1994-08-01

Six-Phase Soil Heating (SPSH) was demonstrated as a viable technology for heating low permeability soils containing volatile organic contaminants. Testing was performed as part of the Volatile Organic Compounds in Non-Arid Soils Integrated Demonstration (VOC Non-Arid ID) at the Savannah River Site. The soil at the integrated demonstration site is contaminated with perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE); the highest soil contamination occurs in clay-rich zones that are ineffectively treated by conventional soil vapor extraction due to the very low permeability of the clay. The SPSH demonstration sought to heat the clay zone and enhance the performance of conventional soil vapor extraction. Thermocouples at thirty locations quantified the areal and vertical heating within the treated zone. Soil samples were collected before and after heating to quantify the efficacy of heat-enhanced vapor extraction of PCE and TCE from the clay soil. Samples were taken (essentially every foot) from six wells prior to heating and adjacent to these wells after heating. Results show that contaminant removal from the clay zone was 99.7% (median) within the electrode array. Outside the array where the soil was heated, but to only 50 degrees C, the removal efficiency was 93%, showing that heating accelerated the removal of VOCs from the clay soil. The accelerated remediation resulted from effective heating of the contaminated clay zone by SPSH. The temperature of the clay zone increased to 100 degrees C after 8 days of heating and was maintained near 100 degrees C for 17 days. Electrical heating removed 19,000 gal of water from the soil as steam, with peak removal rate of 1,500 gpd of condensed steam

A New Scheme for Considering Soil Water-Heat Transport Coupling Based on Community Land Model: Model Description and Preliminary Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chenghai; Yang, Kai

2018-04-01

Land surface models (LSMs) have developed significantly over the past few decades, with the result that most LSMs can generally reproduce the characteristics of the land surface. However, LSMs fail to reproduce some details of soil water and heat transport during seasonal transition periods because they neglect the effects of interactions between water movement and heat transfer in the soil. Such effects are critical for a complete understanding of water-heat transport within a soil thermohydraulic regime. In this study, a fully coupled water-heat transport scheme (FCS) is incorporated into the Community Land Model (version 4.5) to replaces its original isothermal scheme, which is more complete in theory. Observational data from five sites are used to validate the performance of the FCS. The simulation results at both single-point and global scale show that the FCS improved the simulation of soil moisture and temperature. FCS better reproduced the characteristics of drier and colder surface layers in arid regions by considering the diffusion of soil water vapor, which is a nonnegligible process in soil, especially for soil surface layers, while its effects in cold regions are generally inverse. It also accounted for the sensible heat fluxes caused by liquid water flow, which can contribute to heat transfer in both surface and deep layers. The FCS affects the estimation of surface sensible heat (SH) and latent heat (LH) and provides the details of soil heat and water transportation, which benefits to understand the inner physical process of soil water-heat migration.

Modeling vapor pressures of solvent systems with and without a salt effect: An extension of the LSER approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senol, Aynur

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A new polynomial vapor pressure approach for pure solvents is presented. • Solvation models reproduce the vapor pressure data within a 4% mean error. • A concentration-basis vapor pressure model is also implemented on relevant systems. • The reliability of existing models was analyzed using log-ratio objective function. - Abstract: A new polynomial vapor pressure approach for pure solvents is presented. The model is incorporated into the LSER (linear solvation energy relation) based solvation model framework and checked for consistency in reproducing experimental vapor pressures of salt-containing solvent systems. The developed two structural forms of the generalized solvation model (Senol, 2013) provide a relatively accurate description of the salting effect on vapor pressure of (solvent + salt) systems. The equilibrium data spanning vapor pressures of eighteen (solvent + salt) and three (solvent (1) + solvent (2) + salt) systems have been subjected to establish the basis for the model reliability analysis using a log-ratio objective function. The examined vapor pressure relations reproduce the observed performance relatively accurately, yielding the overall design factors of 1.084, 1.091 and 1.052 for the integrated property-basis solvation model (USMIP), reduced property-basis solvation model and concentration-dependent model, respectively. Both the integrated property-basis and reduced property-basis solvation models were able to simulate satisfactorily the vapor pressure data of a binary solvent mixture involving a salt, yielding an overall mean error of 5.2%

CFD modeling of condensation process of water vapor in supersonic flows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Yan; Walther, Jens Honore; Yan, Yuying

2017-01-01

The condensation phenomenon of vapor plays an important role in various industries, such as the steam flow in turbines and refrigeration system. A mathematical model is developed to predict the spontaneous condensing phenomenon in the supersonic flows using the nucleation and droplet growth...... theories. The numerical approach is validated with the experimental data, which shows a good agreement between them. The condensation characteristics of water vapor in the Laval nozzle are described in detail. The results show that the condensation process is a rapid variation of the vapor-liquid phase...... change both in the space and in time. The spontaneous condensation of water vapor will not appear immediately when the steam reaches the saturation state. Instead, it occurs further downstream the nozzle throat, where the steam is in the state of supersaturation....

Water transport in desert alluvial soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kearl, P.M.

1982-04-01

Safe storage of radioactive waste buried in an arid alluvial soil requires extensive site characterization of the physical process influencing moisture movement which could act as a transport medium for the migration of radionuclides. The field portion of this study included an infiltration plot instrumented with thermocouple psychrometers and neturon moisture probe access holes. Baseline information shows a zone of higher moisture content at approximately 1.5 m (5 ft) in depth. A sprinkler system simulated a 500-year precipitation event. Results revealed water penetrated the soil to 0.9 m (2.9 ft). Due to the low moisture content, vapor transport was primarily responsible for water movement at this depth. Temperature gradients are substantially responsible for vapor transport by preferentially sorting water-vapor molecules from the surrounding air by using the soil as a molecular sieve. Adsorbed and capillary water vapor pressure increases in response to a temperature increase and releases additional water to the soil pore atmosphere to be diffused away

Detailed kinetic and heat transport model for the hydrolysis of lignocellulose by anhydrous hydrogen fluoride vapor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rorrer, G.L.; Mohring, W.R.; Lamport, D.T.A.; Hawley, M.C.

1988-01-01

Anhydrous Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) vapor at ambient conditions efficiently and rapidly hydrolyzed lignocellulose to glucose and lignin. The unsteady-state reaction of HF vapor with a single lignocellulose chip was mathematically modeled under conditions where external and internal mass-transfer resistances were minimized. The model incorporated physical adsorption of HF vapor onto the lignocellulosic matrix and solvolysis of cellulose to glucosyl fluoride by adsorbed HF into the differential material and energy balance expressions. Model predictions for the temperature distribution and global glucose yield in the HF-reacting lignocellulose chip as a function of reaction time and HF vapor stream temperature agreed reasonably with the complimentary experimental data. The model correctly predicted that even when mass-transfer resistances for the reaction of HF vapor with a single lignocellulose chip are minimized, external and internal heat-transfer resistances are still significant.

Detonation and fragmentation modeling for the description of large scale vapor explosions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buerger, M.; Carachalios, C.; Unger, H.

1985-01-01

The thermal detonation modeling of large-scale vapor explosions is shown to be indispensable for realistic safety evaluations. A steady-state as well as transient detonation model have been developed including detailed descriptions of the dynamics as well as the fragmentation processes inside a detonation wave. Strong restrictions for large-scale vapor explosions are obtained from this modeling and they indicate that the reactor pressure vessel would even withstand explosions with unrealistically high masses of corium involved. The modeling is supported by comparisons with a detonation experiment and - concerning its key part - hydronamic fragmentation experiments. (orig.) [de

Thermal enhanced vapor extraction systems: Design, application and performance prediction including contaminant behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phelan, J.M.; Webb, S.W.

1994-01-01

Soil heating technologies have been proposed as a method to accelerate contaminant removal from subsurface soils. These methods include the use of hot air, steam, conductive heaters, in-situ resistive heating and in-situ radiofrequency heating (Buettner et.al., EPA, Dev et.al., Heath et.al.). Criteria for selection of a particular soil heating technology is a complex function of contaminant and soil properties, and efficiency in energy delivery and contaminant removal technologies. The work presented here seeks to expand the understanding of the interactions of subsurface water, contaminant, heat and vacuum extraction through model predictions and field data collection. Field demonstration will involve the combination of two soil heating technologies (resistive and dielectric) with a vacuum vapor extraction system and will occur during the summer of 1994

Reactions of atmospheric vapors with lunar soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuller, E.L. Jr.; Agron, P.A.

1976-03-01

Detailed experimental data have been acquired for the hydration of the surfaces of lunar fines. Inert vapor adsorption has been employed to measure the surface properties (surface energy, surface area, porosity, etc.) and changes wrought in the hydration-dehydration processes. Plausible mechanisms have been considered and the predominant process involves hydration of the metamict metallosilicate surfaces to form a hydrated laminar structure akin to terrestrial clays. Additional credence for this interpretation is obtained by comparison to existing geochemical literature concerning terrestrial weathering of primary metallosilicates. The surface properties of the hydrated lunar fines are compared favorably to those of terrestrial clay minerals. In addition, experimental results are given to show that fresh disordered surfaces of volcanic sand react with water vapor in a manner virtually identical to the majority of the lunar fines. The results show that ion track etching and/or grain boundary attack are minor contributions in the weathering of lunar fines in the realm of our microgravimetric experimental conditions. 14 references

Modelling the Impact of Soil Management on Soil Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, H. J.; Weller, U.; Rabot, E.; Stößel, B.; Lang, B.; Wiesmeier, M.; Urbanski, L.; Wollschläger, U.

2017-12-01

Due to an increasing soil loss and an increasing demand for food and energy there is an enormous pressure on soils as the central resource for agricultural production. Besides the importance of soils for biomass production there are other essential soil functions, i.e. filter and buffer for water, carbon sequestration, provision and recycling of nutrients, and habitat for biological activity. All these functions have a direct feed back to biogeochemical cycles and climate. To render agricultural production efficient and sustainable we need to develop model tools that are capable to predict quantitatively the impact of a multitude of management measures on these soil functions. These functions are considered as emergent properties produced by soils as complex systems. The major challenge is to handle the multitude of physical, chemical and biological processes interacting in a non-linear manner. A large number of validated models for specific soil processes are available. However, it is not possible to simulate soil functions by coupling all the relevant processes at the detailed (i.e. molecular) level where they are well understood. A new systems perspective is required to evaluate the ensemble of soil functions and their sensitivity to external forcing. Another challenge is that soils are spatially heterogeneous systems by nature. Soil processes are highly dependent on the local soil properties and, hence, any model to predict soil functions needs to account for the site-specific conditions. For upscaling towards regional scales the spatial distribution of functional soil types need to be taken into account. We propose a new systemic model approach based on a thorough analysis of the interactions between physical, chemical and biological processes considering their site-specific characteristics. It is demonstrated for the example of soil compaction and the recovery of soil structure, water capacity and carbon stocks as a result of plant growth and biological

Partitioning Water Vapor and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes using Correlation Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Scanlon, T. M.

2008-12-01

A variety of methods are currently available to partition water vapor fluxes (into components of transpiration and direct evaporation) and carbon dioxide fluxes (into components of photosynthesis and respiration), using chambers, isotopes, and regression modeling approaches. Here, a methodology is presented that accounts for correlations between high-frequency measurements of water vapor (q) and carbon dioxide (c) concentrations being influenced by their non-identical source-sink distributions and the relative magnitude of their constituent fluxes. Flux-variance similarity assumptions are applied separately to the stomatal and the non-stomatal exchange, and the flux components are identified by considering the q-c correlation. Water use efficiency for the vegetation, and how it varies with respect to vapor pressure deficit, is the only input needed for this approach that uses standard eddy covariance measurements. The method is demonstrated using data collected over a corn field throughout a growing season. In particular, the research focuses on the partitioning of the water flux with the aim of improving how direct evaporation is handled in soil-vegetation- atmosphere transfer models over the course of wetting and dry-down cycles.

Comparison of a model vapor deposited glass films to equilibrium glass films

Science.gov (United States)

Flenner, Elijah; Berthier, Ludovic; Charbonneau, Patrick; Zamponi, Francesco

Vapor deposition of particles onto a substrate held at around 85% of the glass transition temperature can create glasses with increased density, enthalpy, kinetic stability, and mechanical stability compared to an ordinary glass created by cooling. It is estimated that an ordinary glass would need to age thousands of years to reach the kinetic stability of a vapor deposited glass, and a natural question is how close to the equilibrium is the vapor deposited glass. To understand the process, algorithms akin to vapor deposition are used to create simulated glasses that have a higher kinetic stability than their annealed counterpart, although these glasses may not be well equilibrated either. Here we use novel models optimized for a swap Monte Carlo algorithm in order to create equilibrium glass films and compare their properties with those of glasses obtained from vapor deposition algorithms. This approach allows us to directly assess the non-equilibrium nature of vapor-deposited ultrastable glasses. Simons Collaboration on Cracking the Glass Problem and NSF Grant No. DMR 1608086.

Modeling stomatal conductance in the earth system: linking leaf water-use efficiency and water transport along the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum

Science.gov (United States)

Bonan, G. B.; Williams, M.; Fisher, R. A.; Oleson, K. W.

2014-09-01

The Ball-Berry stomatal conductance model is commonly used in earth system models to simulate biotic regulation of evapotranspiration. However, the dependence of stomatal conductance (gs) on vapor pressure deficit (Ds) and soil moisture must be empirically parameterized. We evaluated the Ball-Berry model used in the Community Land Model version 4.5 (CLM4.5) and an alternative stomatal conductance model that links leaf gas exchange, plant hydraulic constraints, and the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPA). The SPA model simulates stomatal conductance numerically by (1) optimizing photosynthetic carbon gain per unit water loss while (2) constraining stomatal opening to prevent leaf water potential from dropping below a critical minimum. We evaluated two optimization algorithms: intrinsic water-use efficiency (ΔAn /Δgs, the marginal carbon gain of stomatal opening) and water-use efficiency (ΔAn /ΔEl, the marginal carbon gain of transpiration water loss). We implemented the stomatal models in a multi-layer plant canopy model to resolve profiles of gas exchange, leaf water potential, and plant hydraulics within the canopy, and evaluated the simulations using leaf analyses, eddy covariance fluxes at six forest sites, and parameter sensitivity analyses. The primary differences among stomatal models relate to soil moisture stress and vapor pressure deficit responses. Without soil moisture stress, the performance of the SPA stomatal model was comparable to or slightly better than the CLM Ball-Berry model in flux tower simulations, but was significantly better than the CLM Ball-Berry model when there was soil moisture stress. Functional dependence of gs on soil moisture emerged from water flow along the soil-to-leaf pathway rather than being imposed a priori, as in the CLM Ball-Berry model. Similar functional dependence of gs on Ds emerged from the ΔAn/ΔEl optimization, but not the ΔAn /gs optimization. Two parameters (stomatal efficiency and root hydraulic

Soil Plasticity Model for Analysis of Collapse Load on Layers Soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md Nujid Masyitah

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Natural soil consist of soil deposits which is a soil layer overlying a thick stratum of another soil. The bearing capacity of layered soil studies have been conducted using different approach whether theoretical, experimental and combination of both. Numerical method in computer programme has become a powerful tool in solving complex geotechnical problems. Thus in numerical modelling, stress-strain soil behaviour is well predicted, design and interpreted using appropriate soil model. It is also important to identify parameters and soil model involve in prediction real soil problem. The sand layer overlaid clay layer soil is modelled with Mohr-Coulomb and Drucker-Prager criterion. The bearing capacity in loaddisplacement analysis from COMSOL Multiphysics is obtained and presented. In addition the stress distribution and evolution of plastic strain for each thickness ratio below centre of footing are investigated. The results indicate the linear relation on load-displacement which have similar trend for both soil models while stress and plastic strain increase as thickness ratio increase.

An interim reference model for the variability of the middle atmosphere water vapor distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Remsberg, E. E.; Russell, J. M., III; Wu, C.-Y.

1990-01-01

A reference model for the middle atmosphere water vapor distribution for some latitudes and seasons was developed using two data sets. One is the seven months of Nimbus LIMS data obtained during November 1978 to May 1979 over the range 64 deg S - 84 deg N latitude and from about 100-mb to 1-mb altitude, and the other is represented by water vapor profiles from 0.2 mb to 0.01 mb in the mid-mesosphere, measured on ground at several fixed mid-latitude sites in the Northern Hemisphere, using microwave-emission techniques. This model provides an interim water vapor profile for the entire vertical range of the middle atmosphere, with accuracies of better than 25 percent. The daily variability of stratospheric water vapor profiles about the monthly mean is demonstrated, and information is provided on the longitudinal variability of LIMS water vapor profiles about the daily, weekly, and monthly zonal means.

UNCERTAINTY AND THE JOHNSON-ETTINGER MODEL FOR VAPOR INTRUSION CALCULATIONS

Science.gov (United States)

The Johnson-Ettinger Model is widely used for assessing the impacts of contaminated vapors on residential air quality. Typical use of this model relies on a suite of estimated data, with few site-specific measurements. Software was developed to provide the public with automate...

Relationship between the evaporation rate and vapor pressure of moderately and highly volatile chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

van Wesenbeeck, Ian; Driver, Jeffrey; Ross, John

2008-04-01

Volatilization of chemicals can be an important form of dissipation in the environment. Rates of evaporative losses from plant and soil surfaces are useful for estimating the potential for food-related dietary residues and operator and bystander exposure, and can be used as source functions for screening models that predict off-site movement of volatile materials. A regression of evaporation on vapor pressure from three datasets containing 82 pesticidal active ingredients and co-formulants, ranging in vapor pressure from 0.0001 to >30,000 Pa was developed for this purpose with a regression correlation coefficient of 0.98.

Vapor Intrusion Estimation Tool for Unsaturated Zone Contaminant Sources. User’s Guide

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-30

estimation process when applying the tool. The tool described here is focused on vapor-phase diffusion from the current vadose zone source , and is not...from the current defined vadose zone source ). The estimated soil gas contaminant concentration obtained from the pre-modeled scenarios for a building...need a full site-specific numerical model to assess the impacts beyond the current vadose zone source . 35 5.0 References Brennan, R.A., N

Modeling of vapor-liquid-solid equilibrium in gas - aqueous electrolyte systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Kaj; Rasmussen, Peter

1999-01-01

A thermodynamic model for the description of vapor-liquid-solid equilibria is introduced. This model is a combination of the extended UNIQUAC model for electrolytes and the Soave-Redlich-Kwong cubic equation of state. The model has been applied to aqueous systems containing ammonia and/or carbon ...

Evaluating the skills of isotope-enabled general circulation models against in situ atmospheric water vapor isotope observations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steen-Larsen, Hans Christian; Risi, C.; Werner, M.

2017-01-01

The skills of isotope-enabled general circulation models are evaluated against atmospheric water vapor isotopes. We have combined in situ observations of surface water vapor isotopes spanning multiple field seasons (2010, 2011, and 2012) from the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet (NEEM site: 77.45°N......: 2014). This allows us to benchmark the ability to simulate the daily water vapor isotope variations from five different simulations using isotope-enabled general circulation models. Our model-data comparison documents clear isotope biases both on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet (1-11% for δ18O and 4...... boundary layer water vapor isotopes of the Baffin Bay region show strong influence on the water vapor isotopes at the NEEM deep ice core-drilling site in northwest Greenland. Our evaluation of the simulations using isotope-enabled general circulation models also documents wide intermodel spatial...

A microcantilever-based alcohol vapor sensor-application and response model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensenius, Henriette; Thaysen, Jacob; Rasmussen, Anette Alsted

2000-01-01

A recently developed microcantilever probe with integrated piezoresistive readout has been applied as a gas sensor. Resistors, sensitive to stress changes, are integrated on the flexible cantilevers. This makes it possible to monitor the cantilever deflection electrically and with an integrated...... is a direct measure of the molecular concentration of alcohol vapor. On the basis of the model the detection limit of this cantilever-based sensor is determined to be below 10 ppm for alcohol vapor measurements. Furthermore, the time response of the cantilever can be used to distinguish between different...

Generalized modeling of multi-component vaporization/condensation phenomena for multi-phase-flow analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morita, K.; Fukuda, K.; Tobita, Y.; Kondo, Sa.; Suzuki, T.; Maschek, W.

2003-01-01

A new multi-component vaporization/condensation (V/C) model was developed to provide a generalized model for safety analysis codes of liquid metal cooled reactors (LMRs). These codes simulate thermal-hydraulic phenomena of multi-phase, multi-component flows, which is essential to investigate core disruptive accidents of LMRs such as fast breeder reactors and accelerator driven systems. The developed model characterizes the V/C processes associated with phase transition by employing heat transfer and mass-diffusion limited models for analyses of relatively short-time-scale multi-phase, multi-component hydraulic problems, among which vaporization and condensation, or simultaneous heat and mass transfer, play an important role. The heat transfer limited model describes the non-equilibrium phase transition processes occurring at interfaces, while the mass-diffusion limited model is employed to represent effects of non-condensable gases and multi-component mixture on V/C processes. Verification of the model and method employed in the multi-component V/C model of a multi-phase flow code was performed successfully by analyzing a series of multi-bubble condensation experiments. The applicability of the model to the accident analysis of LMRs is also discussed by comparison between steam and metallic vapor systems. (orig.)

TRACER-II: a complete computational model for mixing and propagation of vapor explosions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bang, K.H. [School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Maritime Univ., Pusan (Korea, Republic of); Park, I.G.; Park, G.C.

1998-01-01

A vapor explosion is a physical process in which very rapid energy transfer occurs between a hot liquid and a volatile, colder liquid when the two liquids come into a sudden contact. For the analyses of potential impacts from such explosive events, a computer program, TRACER-II, has been developed, which contains a complete description of mixing and propagation phases of vapor explosions. The model consists of fuel, fragmented fuel (debris), coolant liquid, and coolant vapor in two-dimensional Eulerian coordinates. The set of governing equations are solved numerically using finite difference method. The results of this numerical simulation of vapor explosions are discussed in comparison with the recent experimental data of FARO and KROTOS tests. When compared to some selected FARO and KROTOS data, the fuel-coolant mixing and explosion propagation behavior agree reasonably with the data, although the results are yet sensitive primarily to the melt breakup and fragmentation modeling. (author)

The Changing Model of Soil

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, D. D.; Yaalon, D.

2012-12-01

The contemporary genetic model of soil is changing rapidly in response to advances in soil science and to human and environmental forcings in the 21st century (Richter and Yaalon, 2012). Three ongoing changes in the model of soil include that: (1) lower soil boundaries are much deeper than the solum, historically the O to B horizons, (2) most soils are polygenetic paleosols, products of soil-forming processes that have ranged widely over soils' lifetimes, and (3) soils are globally human-natural bodies, no longer natural bodies. Together, these changes in the model of soil mean that human forcings are a global wave of soil polygenesis altering fluxes of matter and energy and transforming soil thermodynamics as potentially very deep systems. Because soils are non-linear systems resulting from high-order interactions of physics, chemistry, and biology, trajectories of how human forcings alter soils over decades are not readily predictable and require long-term soil observations. There is much to learn about how soils are changing internally as central components of management systems and externally in relation to wider environments. To be critical, research has been remarkably superficial in studies of soil, reductionist in approach, and lacking in time-series observations of responses to soil management. While this criticism may sound negative, it creates significant opportunities for contemporary soil scientists.

In-situ active/passive bioreclamation of vadose zone soils contaminated with gasoline and waste oil using soil vapor extraction/bioventing: Laboratory pilot study to full scale site operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zachary, S.P.; Everett, L.G.

1993-01-01

The use of soil venting to supply oxygen and remove metabolites from the biodegradation of light hydrocarbons is a cost effective in-situ remediation approach. To date, little data exists on the effective in-situ bioreclamation of vadose zone soil contaminated with waste/hydraulic oil without excavation or the addition of water or nutrients to degrade the heavy petroleum contaminants. Gasoline and waste/hydraulic oil contaminated soils below an active commercial building required an in-situ non-disruptive remediation approach. Initial soil vapor samples collected from the vadose zone revealed CO 2 concentrations in excess of 16% and O 2 concentrations of less than 1% by volume. Soil samples were collected from below the building within the contaminated vadose zone for laboratory chemical and physical analysis as well as to conduct a laboratory biotreatability study. The laboratory biotreatability study was conducted for 30 days to simulate vadose zone bioventing conditions using soil taken from the contaminated vadose zone. Results of the biotreatability study revealed that the waste oil concentrations had been reduced from 960 mg/Kg to non-detectable concentrations within 30 days and the volatile hydrocarbon content had decreased exponentially to less than 0.1% of the original concentration. Post treatability study biological enumeration revealed an increase in the microbial population of two orders of magnitude

A simplified transient three-dimensional model for estimating the thermal performance of the vapor chambers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Y.-S.; Chien, K.-H.; Wang, C.-C.; Hung, T.-C.; Pei, B.-S.

2006-01-01

The vapor chambers (flat plate heat pipes) have been applied on the electronic cooling recently. To satisfy the quick-response requirement of the industries, a simplified transient three-dimensional linear model has been developed and tested in this study. In the proposed model, the vapor is assumed as a single interface between the evaporator and condenser wicks, and this assumption enables the vapor chamber to be analyzed by being split into small control volumes. Comparing with the previous available results, the calculated transient responses have shown good agreements with the existing results. For further validation of the proposed model, a water-cooling experiment was conducted. In addition to the vapor chamber, the heating block is also taken into account in the simulation. It is found that the inclusion of the capacitance of heating block shows a better agreement with the measurements

Six phase soil heating. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-04-01

Six Phase Soil Heating (SPSH) was developed to remediate soils contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds. SPSH is designed to enhance the removal of contaminates from the subsurface during soil vapor extraction. The innovation combines an emerging technology, six-phase electric heating, with a baseline technology, soil vapor extraction, to produce a more efficient in situ remediation systems for difficult soil and/or contaminate applications. This document describes the technology and reports on field demonstrations conducted at Savannah River and the Hanford Reservation

Evaluating Global Aerosol Models and Aerosol and Water Vapor Properties Near Clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, David, D.; Ferrare, Richard, A.

2011-07-06

The 'Evaluating Global Aerosol Models and Aerosol and Water Vapor Properties Near Clouds' project focused extensively on the analysis and utilization of water vapor and aerosol profiles derived from the ARM Raman lidar at the Southern Great Plains ARM site. A wide range of different tasks were performed during this project, all of which improved quality of the data products derived from the lidar or advanced the understanding of atmospheric processes over the site. These activities included: upgrading the Raman lidar to improve its sensitivity; participating in field experiments to validate the lidar aerosol and water vapor retrievals; using the lidar aerosol profiles to evaluate the accuracy of the vertical distribution of aerosols in global aerosol model simulations; examining the correlation between relative humidity and aerosol extinction, and how these change, due to horizontal distance away from cumulus clouds; inferring boundary layer turbulence structure in convective boundary layers from the high-time-resolution lidar water vapor measurements; retrieving cumulus entrainment rates in boundary layer cumulus clouds; and participating in a field experiment that provided data to help validate both the entrainment rate retrievals and the turbulent profiles derived from lidar observations.

Modeling the fine fragmentation following the triggering stage of a vapor explosion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darbord, I.

1997-01-01

In the frame of PWR severe accidents, where the core melt, this thesis studies one of the stages of an FCI (fuel coolant interaction) or vapor explosion. An FCI is a rapid evaporation of a coolant when it comes into contact with a hot liquid. More precisely, the subject of this study is the triggering stage of the FCI, when a fuel drop of diameter around one centimeter breaks up into many fragments, diameter of which is around a hundred micrometers. The model describes the cyclic collapse and growth of a vapor bubble around the fuel droplet and its fragmentation. The main features of the model are: - the destabilization of the film or the vapor bubble due to the growth of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities (those form coolant jets that contact the fuel surface); - The mechanisms of fragmentation, following the contacts (in the case of entrapment of a certain amount of coolant in the fuel, the entrapped coolant evaporates violently after it has been heated to the homogeneous nucleation temperature); - the transient heat transfer from the fragments to the coolant and the elevated vapor production, which leads to an important expansion of the bubble (about this point, the cooling of the fragments has been described by a transient heat transfer coefficient linked to nucleate boiling). The results of the model show good agreement with experimental data. (Author)

Soil Physical Constraints on Intrinsic Biodegradation of Petroleum Vapors in a Layered Subsurface

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Andreas Houlberg; Henriksen, Kaj; Mortensen, Lars

2010-01-01

Intrinsic biodegradation of organic contaminants in the soil vadose zone depends on site-specific soil properties controlling biophysical and geochemical interactions within the soil pore space. In this study we evaluated the effect of soil texture and moisture conditions on aerobic biodegradatio...... in the deep vadose zone. As a result, management of petroleum hydrocarbon spill sites will benefit from site-specific conceptual models in which the vadose zone is divided into geological compartments with different biophysical potential for biodegradation and bioremediation....

Application of soil venting at a large scale: A data and modeling analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walton, J.C.; Baca, R.G.; Sisson, J.B.; Wood, T.R.

1990-02-27

Soil venting will be applied at a demonstration scale to a site at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory which is contaminated with carbon tetrachloride and other organic vapors. The application of soil venting at the site is unique in several aspects including scale, geology, and data collection. The containmented portion of the site has a surface area of over 47,000 square meters (12 acres) and the depth to the water table is approximately 180 meters. Migration of contaminants through the entire depth of the vadose zone is evidenced by measured levels of chlorinated solvents in the underlying aquifer. The geology of the site consists of a series of layered basalt flows interspersed with sedimentary interbeds. The depth of the vadose zone, the nature of fractured basalt flows, and the degree of contamination all tend to make drilling difficult and expensive. Because of the scale of the site, extent of contamination, and expense of drilling, a computer model has been developed to simulate the migration of the chlorinated solvents during plume growth and cleanup. The demonstration soil venting operation has been designed to collect pressure drop and plume migration data to assist with calibration of the transport model. The model will then be used to help design a cost-effective system for site cleanup which will minimize the drilling required. This paper discusses mathematical models which have been developed to estimate the growth and eventful cleanup of the site. 12 refs., 4 figs.

Relationship between soil erodibility and modeled infiltration rate in different soils

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Guoqiang; Fang, Qingqing; Wu, Binbin; Yang, Huicai; Xu, Zongxue

2015-09-01

The relationship between soil erodibility, which is hard to measure, and modeled infiltration rate were rarely researched. Here, the soil erodibility factors (K and Ke in the USLE, Ki and K1 in the WEPP) were calculated and the infiltration rates were modeled based on the designed laboratory simulation experiments and proposed infiltration model, in order to build their relationship. The impacts of compost amendment on the soil erosion characteristics and relationship were also studied. Two contrasting agricultural soils (bare and cultivated fluvo-aquic soils) were used, and different poultry compost contents (control, low and high) were applied to both soils. The results indicated that the runoff rate, sediment yield rate and soil erodibility of the bare soil treatments were generally higher than those of the corresponding cultivated soil treatments. The application of composts generally decreased sediment yield and soil erodibility but did not always decrease runoff. The comparison of measured and modeled infiltration rates indicated that the model represented the infiltration processes well with an N-S coefficient of 0.84 for overall treatments. Significant negative logarithmic correlations have been found between final infiltration rate (FIR) and the four soil erodibility factors, and the relationship between USLE-K and FIR demonstrated the best correlation. The application of poultry composts would not influence the logarithmic relationship between FIR and soil erodibility. Our study provided a useful tool to estimate soil erodibility.

Effect of a cationic surfactant on the volatilization of PAHs from soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Li; Zhu, Lizhong

2012-06-01

Cationic surfactants are common in soils because of their use in daily cosmetic and cleaning products, and their use as a soil amendment for the mitigation and remediation of organic contaminated soils has been proposed. Such surfactant may affect the transfer and fate of organic contaminants in the environment. This study investigated the effect of a cationic surfactant, dodecylpyridinium bromide (DDPB), on the volatilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from a paddy soil. The volatilization of PAHs from moist soil amended with different concentrations of DDPB was tested in an open system. The specific effects of DDPB on the liquid-vapor and solid-vapor equilibriums of PAHs were separately investigated in closed systems by headspace analysis. DDPB affects both liquid-vapor and solid-vapor processes of PAHs in soil. At DDPB concentrations below the critical micelle concentration (CMC), movement of PAHs from the bulk solution to the gas-liquid interface appeared to be facilitated by interaction between PAHs and the surfactant monomers adsorbed at the gas-liquid interface, promoting the volatilization of PAHs from solution. However, when DDPB was greater than the CMC, volatilization was inhibited due to the solubilization of PAHs by micelles. On the other hand, the formation of sorbed surfactant significantly inhibited the solid-vapor volatilization of PAHs. The overall effect of the two simultaneous effects of DDPB on liquid-vapor and solid-vapor processes was a decreased volatilization loss of PAHs from soil. Inhibition of PAH volatilization was more significant for the soil with a lower moisture content.

Establishing an International Soil Modelling Consortium

Science.gov (United States)

Vereecken, Harry; Schnepf, Andrea; Vanderborght, Jan

2015-04-01

Soil is one of the most critical life-supporting compartments of the Biosphere. Soil provides numerous ecosystem services such as a habitat for biodiversity, water and nutrients, as well as producing food, feed, fiber and energy. To feed the rapidly growing world population in 2050, agricultural food production must be doubled using the same land resources footprint. At the same time, soil resources are threatened due to improper management and climate change. Soil is not only essential for establishing a sustainable bio-economy, but also plays a key role also in a broad range of societal challenges including 1) climate change mitigation and adaptation, 2) land use change 3) water resource protection, 4) biotechnology for human health, 5) biodiversity and ecological sustainability, and 6) combating desertification. Soils regulate and support water, mass and energy fluxes between the land surface, the vegetation, the atmosphere and the deep subsurface and control storage and release of organic matter affecting climate regulation and biogeochemical cycles. Despite the many important functions of soil, many fundamental knowledge gaps remain, regarding the role of soil biota and biodiversity on ecosystem services, the structure and dynamics of soil communities, the interplay between hydrologic and biotic processes, the quantification of soil biogeochemical processes and soil structural processes, the resilience and recovery of soils from stress, as well as the prediction of soil development and the evolution of soils in the landscape, to name a few. Soil models have long played an important role in quantifying and predicting soil processes and related ecosystem services. However, a new generation of soil models based on a whole systems approach comprising all physical, mechanical, chemical and biological processes is now required to address these critical knowledge gaps and thus contribute to the preservation of ecosystem services, improve our understanding of climate

A simple model for predicting soil temperature in snow-covered and seasonally frozen soil: model description and testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Rankinen

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Microbial processes in soil are moisture, nutrient and temperature dependent and, consequently, accurate calculation of soil temperature is important for modelling nitrogen processes. Microbial activity in soil occurs even at sub-zero temperatures so that, in northern latitudes, a method to calculate soil temperature under snow cover and in frozen soils is required. This paper describes a new and simple model to calculate daily values for soil temperature at various depths in both frozen and unfrozen soils. The model requires four parameters: average soil thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity of soil, specific heat capacity due to freezing and thawing and an empirical snow parameter. Precipitation, air temperature and snow depth (measured or calculated are needed as input variables. The proposed model was applied to five sites in different parts of Finland representing different climates and soil types. Observed soil temperatures at depths of 20 and 50 cm (September 1981–August 1990 were used for model calibration. The calibrated model was then tested using observed soil temperatures from September 1990 to August 2001. R2-values of the calibration period varied between 0.87 and 0.96 at a depth of 20 cm and between 0.78 and 0.97 at 50 cm. R2-values of the testing period were between 0.87 and 0.94 at a depth of 20cm, and between 0.80 and 0.98 at 50cm. Thus, despite the simplifications made, the model was able to simulate soil temperature at these study sites. This simple model simulates soil temperature well in the uppermost soil layers where most of the nitrogen processes occur. The small number of parameters required means that the model is suitable for addition to catchment scale models. Keywords: soil temperature, snow model

Modeling studies of gas movement and moisture migration at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsang, Y.W.; Pruess, K. [Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)

1991-06-01

Modeling studies on moisture redistribution processes that are mediated by gas phase flow and diffusion have been carried out. The problem addressed is the effect of a lowered humidity of the soil gas at the land surface on moisture removal from Yucca Mountain, the potential site for a high-level nuclear waste repository. At the land surface, humid formation gas contacts much drier atmospheric air. Near this contact, the humidity of the soil gas may be considerably lower than at greater depth, where the authors expect equilibrium with the liquid phase and close to 100% humidity. The lower relative humidity of the soil gas may be modeled by imposing, at the land surface, an additional negative capillary suction corresponding to vapor pressure lowering according to Kelvin`s Equation, thus providing a driving force for the upward movement of moisture in both the vapor and liquid phases. Sensitivity studies show that moisture removal from Yucca Mountain arising from the lowered-relative-humidity boundary condition is controlled by vapor diffusion. There is much experimental evidence in the soil literature that diffusion of vapor is enhanced due to pore-level phase change effects by a few orders of magnitude. Modeling results presented here will account for this enhancement in vapor diffusion.

Water vapor changes under global warming and the linkage to present-day interannual variabilities in CMIP5 models

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Hanii; Su, Hui; Jiang, Jonathan H.

2016-12-01

The fractional water vapor changes under global warming across 14 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 simulations are analyzed. We show that the mean fractional water vapor changes under global warming in the tropical upper troposphere between 300 and 100 hPa range from 12.4 to 28.0 %/K across all models while the fractional water vapor changes are about 5-8 %/K in other regions and at lower altitudes. The "upper-tropospheric amplification" of the water vapor change is primarily driven by a larger temperature increase in the upper troposphere than in the lower troposphere per degree of surface warming. The relative contributions of atmospheric temperature and relative humidity changes to the water vapor change in each model vary between 71.5 to 131.8 % and 24.8 to -20.1 %, respectively. The inter-model differences in the water vapor change is primarily caused by differences in temperature change, except over the inter-tropical convergence zone within 10°S-10°N where the model differences due to the relative humidity change are significant. Furthermore, we find that there is generally a positive correlation between the rates of water vapor change for long-tem surface warming and those on the interannual time scales. However, the rates of water vapor change under long-term warming have a systematic offset from those on the inter-annual time scales and the dominant contributor to the differences also differs for the two time scales, suggesting caution needs to be taken when inferring long-term water vapor changes from the observed interannual variations.

In situ enhanced soil mixing. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-02-01

In Situ Enhanced Soil Mixing (ISESM) is a treatment technology that has been demonstrated and deployed to remediate soils contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The technology has been developed by industry and has been demonstrated with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and Technology and the Office of Environmental Restoration. The technology is particularly suited to shallow applications, above the water table, but can be used at greater depths. ISESM technologies demonstrated for this project include: (1) Soil mixing with vapor extraction combined with ambient air injection. [Contaminated soil is mixed with ambient air to vaporize volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The mixing auger is moved up and down to assist in removal of contaminated vapors. The vapors are collected in a shroud covering the treatment area and run through a treatment unit containing a carbon filter or a catalytic oxidation unit with a wet scrubber system and a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter.] (2) soil mixing with vapor extraction combined with hot air injection [This process is the same as the ambient air injection except that hot air or steam is injected.] (3) soil mixing with hydrogen peroxide injection [Contaminated soil is mixed with ambient air that contains a mist of diluted hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) solution. The H 2 O 2 solution chemically oxidizes the VOCs to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and water.] (4) soil mixing with grout injection for solidification/stabilization [Contaminated soil is mixed as a cement grout is injected under pressure to solidify and immobilize the contaminated soil in a concrete-like form.] The soils are mixed with a single-blade auger or with a combination of augers ranging in diameter from 3 to 12 feet

Soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ikonen, J P; Sucksdorff, Y [Finnish Environment Agency, Helsinki (Finland)

1997-12-31

In this study the soil/vegetation/atmosphere-model based on the formulation of Deardorff was refined to hour basis and applied to a field in Vihti. The effect of model parameters on model results (energy fluxes, temperatures) was also studied as well as the effect of atmospheric conditions. The estimation of atmospheric conditions on the soil-vegetation system as well as an estimation of the effect of vegetation parameters on the atmospheric climate was estimated. Areal surface fluxes, temperatures and moistures were also modelled for some river basins in southern Finland. Land-use and soil parameterisation was developed to include properties and yearly variation of all vegetation and soil types. One classification was selected to describe the hydrothermal properties of the soils. Evapotranspiration was verified against the water balance method

Soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ikonen, J.P.; Sucksdorff, Y. [Finnish Environment Agency, Helsinki (Finland)

1996-12-31

In this study the soil/vegetation/atmosphere-model based on the formulation of Deardorff was refined to hour basis and applied to a field in Vihti. The effect of model parameters on model results (energy fluxes, temperatures) was also studied as well as the effect of atmospheric conditions. The estimation of atmospheric conditions on the soil-vegetation system as well as an estimation of the effect of vegetation parameters on the atmospheric climate was estimated. Areal surface fluxes, temperatures and moistures were also modelled for some river basins in southern Finland. Land-use and soil parameterisation was developed to include properties and yearly variation of all vegetation and soil types. One classification was selected to describe the hydrothermal properties of the soils. Evapotranspiration was verified against the water balance method

Phase-field model of vapor-liquid-solid nanowire growth

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Nan; Upmanyu, Moneesh; Karma, Alain

2018-03-01

We present a multiphase-field model to describe quantitatively nanowire growth by the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process. The free-energy functional of this model depends on three nonconserved order parameters that distinguish the vapor, liquid, and solid phases and describe the energetic properties of various interfaces, including arbitrary forms of anisotropic γ plots for the solid-vapor and solid-liquid interfaces. The evolution equations for those order parameters describe basic kinetic processes including the rapid (quasi-instantaneous) equilibration of the liquid catalyst to a droplet shape with constant mean curvature, the slow incorporation of growth atoms at the droplet surface, and crystallization within the droplet. The standard constraint that the sum of the phase fields equals unity and the conservation of the number of catalyst atoms, which relates the catalyst volume to the concentration of growth atoms inside the droplet, are handled via separate Lagrange multipliers. An analysis of the model is presented that rigorously maps the phase-field equations to a desired set of sharp-interface equations for the evolution of the phase boundaries under the constraint of force balance at three-phase junctions (triple points) given by the Young-Herring relation that includes torque term related to the anisotropy of the solid-liquid and solid-vapor interface excess free energies. Numerical examples of growth in two dimensions are presented for the simplest case of vanishing crystalline anisotropy and the more realistic case of a solid-liquid γ plot with cusped minima corresponding to two sets of (10 ) and (11 ) facets. The simulations reproduce many of the salient features of nanowire growth observed experimentally, including growth normal to the substrate with tapering of the side walls, transitions between different growth orientations, and crawling growth along the substrate. They also reproduce different observed relationships between the nanowire growth

LNG vapor dispersion prediction with the DEGADIS dense-gas dispersion model. Topical report, April 1988-July 1990. Documentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Havens, J.; Spicer, T.

1990-09-01

The topical report is one of a series on the development of methods for LNG vapor dispersion prediction for regulatory application. The results indicate that the DEGADIS model is superior both phenomenologically and in performance to the Gaussian line source model promulgated in 49 CFR 193 for LNG vapor dispersion simulation. Availability of the DEGADIS model for VAX and IBM-PC formats provides for wider use of the model and greater potential for industry and regulatory acceptance. The acceptance is seen as an important interim objective while research continues on vapor dispersion estimation methods which provide for effects of vapor detention systems, turbulence induced by plant structure, and plant/area topographical features

Demonstration testing and evaluation of in situ soil heating. Revision 1, Demonstration system design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dev, H.

1994-01-01

Over the last nine years IIT Research Institute (IITRI) has been developing and testing the in situ heating and soil decontamination process for the remediation of soils containing hazardous organic contaminants. In this process the soil is heated in situ using electrical energy. The contaminants are removed from the soil due to enhanced vaporization, steam distillation and stripping. The vaporized contaminants, water vapor and air are recovered from the heated zone by means of a vacuum manifold system which collects gases from below surface as well as from the soil surface. A vapor barrier is used to prevent fugitive emissions of the contaminants and to control air infiltration to minimize dilution of the contaminant gases and vapors. The recovered gases and vapors are conveyed to an on site vapor treatment system for the clean up of the vent gases. Electrical energy is applied to the soil by forming an array of electrodes in the soil which are electrically interconnected and supplied with power. The electrodes are placed in drilled bore holes which are made through the contaminated zone. There are two versions of the in situ heating and soil treatment process: the f irst version is called the In Situ Radio Frequency (RF) Soil Decontamination Process and the second version is called the In Situ Electromagnetic (EM) Soil Decontamination Process. The first version, the RF Process is capable of heating the soil in a temperature range of 100 degrees to 400 degrees C. The soil temperature in the second version, the EM Process, is limited to the boiling point of water under native conditions. Thus the soil will be heated to a temperature of about 85 degrees to 95 degrees C. In this project IITRI will demonstrate the EM Process for in situ soil decontamination at K-25 Site due to the fact that most of the contaminants of concern are volatile organics which can be removed by heating the soil to a temperature range of 85 degrees to 95 degrees C

Demonstration testing and evaluation of in situ soil heating. Revision 1, Demonstration system design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dev, H.

1994-08-16

Over the last nine years IIT Research Institute (IITRI) has been developing and testing the in situ heating and soil decontamination process for the remediation of soils containing hazardous organic contaminants. In this process the soil is heated in situ using electrical energy. The contaminants are removed from the soil due to enhanced vaporization, steam distillation and stripping. The vaporized contaminants, water vapor and air are recovered from the heated zone by means of a vacuum manifold system which collects gases from below surface as well as from the soil surface. A vapor barrier is used to prevent fugitive emissions of the contaminants and to control air infiltration to minimize dilution of the contaminant gases and vapors. The recovered gases and vapors are conveyed to an on site vapor treatment system for the clean up of the vent gases. Electrical energy is applied to the soil by forming an array of electrodes in the soil which are electrically interconnected and supplied with power. The electrodes are placed in drilled bore holes which are made through the contaminated zone. There are two versions of the in situ heating and soil treatment process: the f irst version is called the In Situ Radio Frequency (RF) Soil Decontamination Process and the second version is called the In Situ Electromagnetic (EM) Soil Decontamination Process. The first version, the RF Process is capable of heating the soil in a temperature range of 100{degrees} to 400{degrees}C. The soil temperature in the second version, the EM Process, is limited to the boiling point of water under native conditions. Thus the soil will be heated to a temperature of about 85{degrees} to 95{degrees}C. In this project IITRI will demonstrate the EM Process for in situ soil decontamination at K-25 Site due to the fact that most of the contaminants of concern are volatile organics which can be removed by heating the soil to a temperature range of 85{degrees} to 95{degrees}C.

Modeling of the vapor cycle of Laguna Verde with the PEPSE code to conditions of thermal power licensed at present (2027 MWt)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castaneda G, M. A.; Maya G, F.; Medel C, J. E.; Cardenas J, J. B.; Cruz B, H. J.; Mercado V, J. J.

2011-11-01

By means of the use of the performance evaluation of power system efficiencies (PEPSE) code was modeled the vapor cycle of the nuclear power station of Laguna Verde to reproduce the nuclear plant behavior to conditions of thermal power, licensed at present (2027 MWt); with the purpose of having a base line before the implementation of the project of extended power increase. The model of the gauged vapor cycle to reproduce the nuclear plant conditions makes use of the PEPSE model, design case of the vapor cycle of nuclear power station of Laguna Verde, which has as main components of the model the great equipment of the vapor cycle of Laguna Verde. The design case model makes use of information about the design requirements of each equipment for theoretically calculating the electric power of exit, besides thermodynamic conditions of the vapor cycle in different points. Starting from the design model and making use of data of the vapor cycle measured in the nuclear plant; the adjustment factors were calculated for the different equipment s of the vapor cycle, to reproduce with the PEPSE model the real vapor cycle of Laguna Verde. Once characterized the model of the vapor cycle of Laguna Verde, we can realize different sensibility studies to determine the effects macros to the vapor cycle by the variation of certain key parameters. (Author)

Underestimation of boreal soil carbon stocks by mathematical soil carbon models linked to soil nutrient status

Science.gov (United States)

Ťupek, Boris; Ortiz, Carina A.; Hashimoto, Shoji; Stendahl, Johan; Dahlgren, Jonas; Karltun, Erik; Lehtonen, Aleksi

2016-08-01

Inaccurate estimate of the largest terrestrial carbon pool, soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, is the major source of uncertainty in simulating feedback of climate warming on ecosystem-atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange by process-based ecosystem and soil carbon models. Although the models need to simplify complex environmental processes of soil carbon sequestration, in a large mosaic of environments a missing key driver could lead to a modeling bias in predictions of SOC stock change.We aimed to evaluate SOC stock estimates of process-based models (Yasso07, Q, and CENTURY soil sub-model v4) against a massive Swedish forest soil inventory data set (3230 samples) organized by a recursive partitioning method into distinct soil groups with underlying SOC stock development linked to physicochemical conditions.For two-thirds of measurements all models predicted accurate SOC stock levels regardless of the detail of input data, e.g., whether they ignored or included soil properties. However, in fertile sites with high N deposition, high cation exchange capacity, or moderately increased soil water content, Yasso07 and Q models underestimated SOC stocks. In comparison to Yasso07 and Q, accounting for the site-specific soil characteristics (e. g. clay content and topsoil mineral N) by CENTURY improved SOC stock estimates for sites with high clay content, but not for sites with high N deposition.Our analysis suggested that the soils with poorly predicted SOC stocks, as characterized by the high nutrient status and well-sorted parent material, indeed have had other predominant drivers of SOC stabilization lacking in the models, presumably the mycorrhizal organic uptake and organo-mineral stabilization processes. Our results imply that the role of soil nutrient status as regulator of organic matter mineralization has to be re-evaluated, since correct SOC stocks are decisive for predicting future SOC change and soil CO2 efflux.

Modelling soil anaerobiosis from water retention characteristics and soil respiration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schurgers, G.; Dörsch, P.; Bakken, L.; Leffelaar, P.A.; Egil Haugen, L.

2006-01-01

Oxygen is a prerequisite for some and an inhibitor to other microbial functions in soils, hence the temporal and spatial distribution of oxygen within the soil matrix is crucial in soil biogeochemistry and soil biology. Various attempts have been made to model the anaerobic fraction of the soil

Direct determination of arsenic in soil samples by fast pyrolysis–chemical vapor generation using sodium formate as a reductant followed by nondispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duan, Xuchuan; Zhang, Jingya; Bu, Fanlong

2015-09-01

This new study shows for the first time that sodium formate can react with trace arsenic to form volatile species via fast pyrolysis – chemical vapor generation. We found that the presence of thiourea greatly enhanced the generation efficiency and eliminated the interference of copper. We studied the reaction temperature, the volume of sodium formate, the reaction acidity, and the carried argon rate using nondispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Under optimal conditions of T = 500 °C, the volumes of 30% sodium formate and 10% thiourea were 0.2 ml and 0.05 ml, respectively. The carrier argon rate was 300 ml min{sup −1} and the detection limit and precision of arsenic were 0.39 ng and 3.25%, respectively. The amount of arsenic in soil can be directly determined by adding trace amount of hydrochloric acid as a decomposition reagent without any sample pretreatment. The method was successfully applied to determine trace amount of arsenic in two soil-certified reference materials (GBW07453 and GBW07450), and the results were found to be in agreement with certified reference values. - Highlights: • Sodium formate can react with trace arsenic to form volatile species via pyrolysis–chemical vapor generation. • Thiourea can enhance the generation efficiency and eliminate the interference of copper. • Arsenic in soil Sample can be directly determined without sample pretreatment.

Cavitating flow during water hammer using a generalized interface vaporous cavitation model

Science.gov (United States)

Sadafi, Mohamadhosein; Riasi, Alireza; Nourbakhsh, Seyed Ahmad

2012-10-01

In a transient flow simulation, column separation may occur when the calculated pressure head decreases to the saturated vapor pressure head in a computational grid. Abrupt valve closure or pump failure can result in a fast transient flow with column separation, potentially causing problems such as pipe failure, hydraulic equipment damage, cavitation or corrosion. This paper reports a numerical study of water hammer with column separation in a simple reservoir-pipeline-valve system and pumping station. The governing equations for two-phase transient flow in pipes are solved based on the method of characteristics (MOC) using a generalized interface vaporous cavitating model (GIVCM). The numerical results were compared with the experimental data for validation purposes, and the comparison indicated that the GIVCM describes the experimental results more accurately than the discrete vapor cavity model (DVCM). In particular, the GIVCM correlated better with the experimental data than the DVCM in terms of timing and pressure magnitude. The effects of geometric and hydraulic parameters on flow behavior in a pumping station with column separation were also investigated in this study.

Modelling soil-water dynamics in the rootzone of structured and water-repellent soils

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Hamish; Carrick, Sam; Müller, Karin; Thomas, Steve; Sharp, Joanna; Cichota, Rogerio; Holzworth, Dean; Clothier, Brent

2018-04-01

In modelling the hydrology of Earth's critical zone, there are two major challenges. The first is to understand and model the processes of infiltration, runoff, redistribution and root-water uptake in structured soils that exhibit preferential flows through macropore networks. The other challenge is to parametrise and model the impact of ephemeral hydrophobicity of water-repellent soils. Here we have developed a soil-water model, which is based on physical principles, yet possesses simple functionality to enable easier parameterisation, so as to predict soil-water dynamics in structured soils displaying time-varying degrees of hydrophobicity. Our model, WEIRDO (Water Evapotranspiration Infiltration Redistribution Drainage runOff), has been developed in the APSIM Next Generation platform (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulation). The model operates on an hourly time-step. The repository for this open-source code is https://github.com/APSIMInitiative/ApsimX. We have carried out sensitivity tests to show how WEIRDO predicts infiltration, drainage, redistribution, transpiration and soil-water evaporation for three distinctly different soil textures displaying differing hydraulic properties. These three soils were drawn from the UNSODA (Unsaturated SOil hydraulic Database) soils database of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). We show how preferential flow process and hydrophobicity determine the spatio-temporal pattern of soil-water dynamics. Finally, we have validated WEIRDO by comparing its predictions against three years of soil-water content measurements made under an irrigated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) trial. The results provide validation of the model's ability to simulate soil-water dynamics in structured soils.

Vapor-liquid equilibrium thermodynamics of N2 + CH4 - Model and Titan applications

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, W. R.; Zollweg, John A.; Gabis, David H.

1992-01-01

A thermodynamic model is presented for vapor-liquid equilibrium in the N2 + CH4 system, which is implicated in calculations of the Titan tropospheric clouds' vapor-liquid equilibrium thermodynamics. This model imposes constraints on the consistency of experimental equilibrium data, and embodies temperature effects by encompassing enthalpy data; it readily calculates the saturation criteria, condensate composition, and latent heat for a given pressure-temperature profile of the Titan atmosphere. The N2 content of condensate is about half of that computed from Raoult's law, and about 30 percent greater than that computed from Henry's law.

Parameterization of water vapor using high-resolution GPS data and empirical models

Science.gov (United States)

Ningombam, Shantikumar S.; Jade, Sridevi; Shrungeshwara, T. S.

2018-03-01

The present work evaluates eleven existing empirical models to estimate Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) over a high-altitude (4500 m amsl), cold-desert environment. These models are tested extensively and used globally to estimate PWV for low altitude sites (below 1000 m amsl). The moist parameters used in the model are: water vapor scale height (Hc), dew point temperature (Td) and water vapor pressure (Es 0). These moist parameters are derived from surface air temperature and relative humidity measured at high temporal resolution from automated weather station. The performance of these models are examined statistically with observed high-resolution GPS (GPSPWV) data over the region (2005-2012). The correlation coefficient (R) between the observed GPSPWV and Model PWV is 0.98 at daily data and varies diurnally from 0.93 to 0.97. Parameterization of moisture parameters were studied in-depth (i.e., 2 h to monthly time scales) using GPSPWV , Td , and Es 0 . The slope of the linear relationships between GPSPWV and Td varies from 0.073°C-1 to 0.106°C-1 (R: 0.83 to 0.97) while GPSPWV and Es 0 varied from 1.688 to 2.209 (R: 0.95 to 0.99) at daily, monthly and diurnal time scales. In addition, the moist parameters for the cold desert, high-altitude environment are examined in-depth at various time scales during 2005-2012.

Influence of environmental pollution with creosote oil or its vapors on biomass and selected physiological groups of microorganisms

Science.gov (United States)

Krzyśko-Łupicka, Teresa; Cybulska, Krystyna; Kołosowski, Paweł; Telesiński, Arkadiusz; Sudoł, Adam

2017-11-01

Survival of microorganisms in soils from treatment facility and landfill of wooden railway sleepers contaminated with creosote oil as well as in two types of soils with different content of organic carbon, treated with creosote oil vapors, was assessed. Microbiological assays including determination of: the biomass of living microorganisms method and the number of proteolytic, lipolytic and amylolytic microorganisms were carried out under laboratory conditions. Chromatography analysis of the soil extract from railway sleepers treatment facility was performed using GC/MS. The highest biomass and the number of tested microorganisms were determined in soils from wooden railway sleepers landfill, while the lowest in soil from the railway sleepers treatment facility. Vapors of creosote oil, regardless of the soil type, significantly increased only the number of lipolytic bacteria.

The use of high vacuum soil vapor extraction to improve contaminant recovery from ground water zones of low transmissivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, A.; Farrow, J.R.C.; Burgess, W.

1996-01-01

This study examines the potential for enhancing hydrocarbon contaminant mass recovery from ground water using high vacuum soil vapor extraction (SVE). The effectiveness of this form of remediation is compared with the effectiveness of conventional pump-and-treat. This study focuses on the performance of a high vacuum SVE system at two ground water monitoring wells (MW-17 and MW-65b) at a site in Santa Barbara, California, US. The site is a highly characterized site with vadose zone and ground water petroleum hydrocarbon contamination (gasoline). The ground water wells are located beyond a defined area of vadose zone soil contamination. Ground water hydrocarbon contamination [light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) and dissolved phase] is present at each of the wells. the ground water wells have been part of a low-flow, pump-and-treat, ground water treatment system (GWTS) since August, 1986. The low transmissivity of the aquifer sediments prevent flow rates above approximately 0.02 gpm (0.01 l/min) per well

On-line stable isotope measurements during plant and soil gas exchange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yakir, D.

2001-01-01

Recent techniques for on-line stable isotope measurements during plant and soil exchange of CO 2 and/or water vapor are briefly reviewed. For CO 2 , these techniques provide means for on-line measurements of isotopic discrimination during CO 2 exchange by leaves in the laboratory and in the field, of isotopic discrimination during soil respiration and during soil-atmosphere CO 2 exchange, and of isotopic discrimination in O 2 during plant respiration. For water vapor, these techniques provide means to measure oxygen isotopic composition of water vapor during leaf transpiration and for the analysis of sub microliter condensed water vapor samples. Most of these techniques involve on-line sampling of CO 2 and water vapor from a dynamic, intact soil or plant system. In the laboratory, these systems also allow on-line isotopic analysis by continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The information obtained with these on-line techniques is becoming increasingly valuable, and often critical, for ecophysiologial research and in the study of biosphere-atmosphere interactions. (author)

Soil treatment technologies combined

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, K.J.; Russell, D.J.

1993-01-01

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) presents a legislative mandate to select effective and long-term remediation options. SARA has spurred the development of innovative technologies and other remedial alternatives that can be applied to the diverse contaminated media at hazardous waste sites. Even though many treatment technologies have been investigated for use at hazardous waste sites, only a few have been used successfully. Soil vapor extraction and soil composting have achieved cleanup goals at sites with soils contaminated with solvents, aromatic hydrocarbons and petroleum derivatives. With the increased use of innovative on-site technologies, the integration of multiple technologies to remediate sites with complex contaminants becomes a viable and cost-effective remedial alternative. Soil vapor extraction and composting have been applied successfully as individual technologies at hazardous waste sites. An integration of these two technologies also has been used to remediate a complex contaminated site

Modeling soil erosion in a watershed

OpenAIRE

Lanuza, R.

1999-01-01

Most erosion models have been developed based on a plot scale and have limited application to a watershed due to the differences in aerial scale. In order to address this limitation, a GIS-assisted methodology for modeling soil erosion was developed using PCRaster to predict the rate of soil erosion at watershed level; identify the location of erosion prone areas; and analyze the impact of landuse changes on soil erosion. The general methodology of desktop modeling or soil erosion at watershe...

Fuel vapor pressure (FVAPRS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mason, R.E.

1979-04-01

A subcode (FVAPRS) is described which calculates fuel vapor pressure. This subcode was developed as part of the fuel rod behavior modeling task performed at EG and G Idaho, Inc. The fuel vapor pressure subcode (FVAPRS), is presented and a discussion of literature data, steady state and transient fuel vapor pressure equations and estimates of the standard error of estimate to be expected with the FVAPRS subcode are included

The effect of vadose zone heterogeneities on vapor phase migration and aquifer contamination by volatile organics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seneviratne, A.; Findikakis, A.N. [Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA (United States)

1995-03-01

Organic vapors migrating through the vadose zone and inter-phase transfer can contribute to the contamination of larger portions of aquifers than estimated by accounting only for dissolved phase transport through the saturated zone. Proper understanding of vapor phase migration pathways is important for the characterization of the extent of both vadose zone and the saturated zone contamination. The multiphase simulation code T2VOC is used to numerically investigate the effect of heterogeneties on the vapor phase migration of chlorobenzene at a hypothetical site where a vapor extraction system is used to remove contaminants. Different stratigraphies consisting of alternate layers of high and low permeability materials with soil properties representative of gravel, sandy silt and clays are evaluated. The effect of the extent and continuity of low permeability zones on vapor migration is evaluated. Numerical simulations are carried out for different soil properties and different boundary conditions. T2VOC simulations with zones of higher permeability were made to assess the role of how such zones in providing enhanced migration pathways for organic vapors. Similarly, the effect of the degree of saturation of the porous medium on vapor migration was for a range of saturation values. Increased saturation reduces the pore volume of the medium available for vapor diffusion. Stratigraphic units with higher aqueous saturation can retard the vapor phase migration significantly.

Estimating steady-state evaporation rates from bare soils under conditions of high water table

Science.gov (United States)

Ripple, C.D.; Rubin, J.; Van Hylckama, T. E. A.

1970-01-01

A procedure that combines meteorological and soil equations of water transfer makes it possible to estimate approximately the steady-state evaporation from bare soils under conditions of high water table. Field data required include soil-water retention curves, water table depth and a record of air temperature, air humidity and wind velocity at one elevation. The procedure takes into account the relevant atmospheric factors and the soil's capability to conduct 'water in liquid and vapor forms. It neglects the effects of thermal transfer (except in the vapor case) and of salt accumulation. Homogeneous as well as layered soils can be treated. Results obtained with the method demonstrate how the soil evaporation rates·depend on potential evaporation, water table depth, vapor transfer and certain soil parameters.

Modeling soil moisture memory in savanna ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Gou, S.; Miller, G. R.

2011-12-01

Antecedent soil conditions create an ecosystem's "memory" of past rainfall events. Such soil moisture memory effects may be observed over a range of timescales, from daily to yearly, and lead to feedbacks between hydrological and ecosystem processes. In this study, we modeled the soil moisture memory effect on savanna ecosystems in California, Arizona, and Africa, using a system dynamics model created to simulate the ecohydrological processes at the plot-scale. The model was carefully calibrated using soil moisture and evapotranspiration data collected at three study sites. The model was then used to simulate scenarios with various initial soil moisture conditions and antecedent precipitation regimes, in order to study the soil moisture memory effects on the evapotranspiration of understory and overstory species. Based on the model results, soil texture and antecedent precipitation regime impact the redistribution of water within soil layers, potentially causing deeper soil layers to influence the ecosystem for a longer time. Of all the study areas modeled, soil moisture memory of California savanna ecosystem site is replenished and dries out most rapidly. Thus soil moisture memory could not maintain the high rate evapotranspiration for more than a few days without incoming rainfall event. On the contrary, soil moisture memory of Arizona savanna ecosystem site lasts the longest time. The plants with different root depths respond to different memory effects; shallow-rooted species mainly respond to the soil moisture memory in the shallow soil. The growing season of grass is largely depended on the soil moisture memory of the top 25cm soil layer. Grass transpiration is sensitive to the antecedent precipitation events within daily to weekly timescale. Deep-rooted plants have different responses since these species can access to the deeper soil moisture memory with longer time duration Soil moisture memory does not have obvious impacts on the phenology of woody plants

Pore-scale modeling of vapor transport in partially saturated capillary tube with variable area using chemical potential

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Addassi, Mouadh; Schreyer, Lynn; Johannesson, Björn

2016-01-01

Here we illustrate the usefulness of using the chemical potential as the primary unknown by modeling isothermal vapor transport through a partially saturated cylindrically symmetric capillary tube of variable cross-sectional area using a single equation. There are no fitting parameters and the nu......Here we illustrate the usefulness of using the chemical potential as the primary unknown by modeling isothermal vapor transport through a partially saturated cylindrically symmetric capillary tube of variable cross-sectional area using a single equation. There are no fitting parameters...... and the numerical solutions to the equation are compared with experimental results with excellent agreement. We demonstrate that isothermal vapor transport can be accurately modeled without modeling the details of the contact angle, microscale temperature fluctuations, or pressure fluctuations using a modification...

Mobile vapor recovery and vapor scavenging unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stokes, C.A.; Steppe, D.E.

1991-01-01

This patent describes a mobile anti- pollution apparatus, for the recovery of hydrocarbon emissions. It comprises a mobile platform upon which is mounted a vapor recovery unit for recovering vapors including light hydrocarbons, the vapor recovery unit having an inlet and an outlet end, the inlet end adapted for coupling to an external source of hydrocarbon vapor emissions to recover a portion of the vapors including light hydrocarbons emitted therefrom, and the outlet end adapted for connection to a means for conveying unrecovered vapors to a vapor scavenging unit, the vapor scavenging unit comprising an internal combustion engine adapted for utilizing light hydrocarbon in the unrecovered vapors exiting from the vapor recovery unit as supplemental fuel

Modified swelling pressure apparatus using vapor pressure technique for compacted bentonite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishimura, Tomoyoshi

2012-01-01

Document available in extended abstract form only. bentonite. The compacted bentonite is found in unsaturated conditions before applying of swelling due to absorption. The behaviour of compacted bentonite is not consistent with the principle and concepts of classical, saturated soil mechanics. An unsaturated soil theoretical framework using soil water characteristic curve has been fairly established over the past several decades. The soil-water characteristic curve is a relationship between soil moisture and soil suction obtained by the axis translation technique, vapor pressure technique or osmotic suction control which is a key feature in unsaturated soil mechanics. The soil-water characteristic curve can be used for prediction of the shear strength, volume change and hydraulic conductivity. Cui et al. 2002 indicated soil-water characteristic curve of expansive clay soil in high soil suction ranges using osmotic suction technique. Tripathy et al. 2010 described the soil-water characteristic curve both using the axis translation technique and vapor pressure technique in the entire soil suction ranges. Nishimura and Koseki 2011 measured suction of bentonite applied high soil suction due vapor pressure using a chilled mirror dew point potentiometer (WP4-T of DECAGON Device). The bentonite with gravimetric water content of 18 % indicated soil suction of 2.8 MPa at least. It is predicted that suction efforts to swelling pressure and shear strength of unsaturated compacted bentonite. This study focuses on the influence of suction on both swelling pressure and shear strength of compacted bentonite. The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) tests were conducted for compacted bentonite using both axis-translation technique and vapor pressure technique. The SWCC had a range from 0 kPa to 296 MPa in suction. The compacted bentonite having two different soil suctions were prepared for swelling pressure tests. Newly swelling pressure testing apparatus was developed in order

Water vapor measurements at ALOMAR over a solar cycle compared with model calculations by LIMA

Science.gov (United States)

Hartogh, P.; Sonnemann, G. R.; Grygalashvyly, M.; Song, Li; Berger, U.; Lübken, F.-J.

2010-01-01

Microwave water vapor measurements between 40 and 80 km altitude over a solar cycle (1996-2006) were carried out in high latitudes at Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research (ALOMAR) (69.29°N, 16.03°E), Norway. Some smaller gaps and three interruptions of monitoring in the winters 1996/1997 and 2005/2006 and from spring 2001 to spring 2002 occurred during this period. The observations show a distinct year-to-year variability not directly related to solar Lyman-α radiation. In winter the water vapor mixing ratios in the upper domain were anticorrelated to the solar activity, whereas in summer, minima occurred in the years after the solar maximum in 2000/2001. In winter, sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) modulated the water vapor mixing ratios. Within the stratopause region a middle atmospheric water vapor maximum was observed, which results from the methane oxidation and is a regular feature there. The altitude of the maximum increased by approximately 5 km as summer approached. The largest mixing ratios were monitored in autumn. During the summer season a secondary water vapor maximum also occurred above 65 km most pronounced in late summer. The solar Lyman-α radiation impacts the water vapor mixing ratio particularly in winter above 65 km. In summer the correlation is positive below 70 km. The correlation is also positive in the lower mesosphere/stratopause region in winter due to the action of sudden stratospheric warmings, which occur more frequently under the condition of high solar activity and the enhancing the humidity. A strong day-to-day variability connected with planetary wave activity was found throughout the entire year. Model calculations by means of Leibniz-Institute Middle Atmosphere model (LIMA) reflect the essential patterns of the water vapor variation, but the results also show differences from the observations, indicating that exchange processes between the troposphere and stratosphere not modeled by LIMA could have

Evaluation of water vapor distribution in general circulation models using satellite observations

Science.gov (United States)

Soden, Brian J.; Bretherton, Francis P.

1994-01-01

This paper presents a comparison of the water vapor distribution obtained from two general circulation models, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model (CCM), with satellite observations of total precipitable water (TPW) from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and upper tropospheric relative humidity (UTH) from GOES. Overall, both models are successful in capturing the primary features of the observed water vapor distribution and its seasonal variation. For the ECMWF model, however, a systematic moist bias in TPW is noted over well-known stratocumulus regions in the eastern subtropical oceans. Comparison with radiosonde profiles suggests that this problem is attributable to difficulties in modeling the shallowness of the boundary layer and large vertical water vapor gradients which characterize these regions. In comparison, the CCM is more successful in capturing the low values of TPW in the stratocumulus regions, although it tends to exhibit a dry bias over the eastern half of the subtropical oceans and a corresponding moist bias in the western half. The CCM also significantly overestimates the daily variability of the moisture fields in convective regions, suggesting a problem in simulating the temporal nature of moisture transport by deep convection. Comparison of the monthly mean UTH distribution indicates generally larger discrepancies than were noted for TPW owing to the greater influence of large-scale dynamical processes in determining the distribution of UTH. In particular, the ECMWF model exhibits a distinct dry bias along the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and a moist bias over the subtropical descending branches of the Hadley cell, suggesting an underprediction in the strength of the Hadley circulation. The CCM, on the other hand, demonstrates greater discrepancies in UTH than are observed for the ECMWF model, but none that are as

Non-isothermal processes during the drying of bare soil: Model Development and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Sleep, B.; Talebi, A.; O'Carrol, D. M.

2017-12-01

Several coupled liquid water, water vapor, and heat transfer models have been developed either to study non-isothermal processes in the subsurface immediately below the ground surface, or to predict the evaporative flux from the ground surface. Equilibrium phase change between water and gas phases is typically assumed in these models. Recently, a few studies have questioned this assumption and proposed a coupled model considering kinetic phase change. However, none of these models were validated against real field data. In this study, a non-isothermal coupled model incorporating kinetic phase change was developed and examined against the measured data from a green roof test module. The model also incorporated a new surface boundary condition for water vapor transport at the ground surface. The measured field data included soil moisture content and temperature at different depths up to the depth of 15 cm below the ground surface. Lysimeter data were collected to determine the evaporation rates. Short and long wave radiation, wind velocity, air ambient temperature and relative humidity were measured and used as model input. Field data were collected for a period of three months during the warm seasons in south eastern Canada. The model was calibrated using one drying period and then several other drying periods were simulated. In general, the model underestimated the evaporation rates in the early stage of the drying period, however, the cumulative evaporation was in good agreement with the field data. The model predicted the trends in temperature and moisture content at the different depths in the green roof module. The simulated temperature was lower than the measured temperature for most of the simulation time with the maximum difference of 5 ° C. The simulated moisture content changes had the same temporal trend as the lysimeter data for the events simulated.

Statistical Modelling of the Soil Dielectric Constant

Science.gov (United States)

Usowicz, Boguslaw; Marczewski, Wojciech; Bogdan Usowicz, Jerzy; Lipiec, Jerzy

2010-05-01

The dielectric constant of soil is the physical property being very sensitive on water content. It funds several electrical measurement techniques for determining the water content by means of direct (TDR, FDR, and others related to effects of electrical conductance and/or capacitance) and indirect RS (Remote Sensing) methods. The work is devoted to a particular statistical manner of modelling the dielectric constant as the property accounting a wide range of specific soil composition, porosity, and mass density, within the unsaturated water content. Usually, similar models are determined for few particular soil types, and changing the soil type one needs switching the model on another type or to adjust it by parametrization of soil compounds. Therefore, it is difficult comparing and referring results between models. The presented model was developed for a generic representation of soil being a hypothetical mixture of spheres, each representing a soil fraction, in its proper phase state. The model generates a serial-parallel mesh of conductive and capacitive paths, which is analysed for a total conductive or capacitive property. The model was firstly developed to determine the thermal conductivity property, and now it is extended on the dielectric constant by analysing the capacitive mesh. The analysis is provided by statistical means obeying physical laws related to the serial-parallel branching of the representative electrical mesh. Physical relevance of the analysis is established electrically, but the definition of the electrical mesh is controlled statistically by parametrization of compound fractions, by determining the number of representative spheres per unitary volume per fraction, and by determining the number of fractions. That way the model is capable covering properties of nearly all possible soil types, all phase states within recognition of the Lorenz and Knudsen conditions. In effect the model allows on generating a hypothetical representative of

Modeling of the vapor cycle of Laguna Verde with the PEPSE code to conditions of thermal power licensed at present (2027 MWt); Modelado del ciclo de vapor de Laguna Verde con el codigo PEPSE a condiciones de potencia termica actualmente licenciada (2027 MWt)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castaneda G, M. A.; Maya G, F.; Medel C, J. E.; Cardenas J, J. B.; Cruz B, H. J.; Mercado V, J. J., E-mail: miguel.castaneda01@cfe.gob.mx [Comision Federal de Electricidad, Central Nucleoelectrica Laguna Verde, Carretera Cardel-Nautla Km 42.5, Veracruz (Mexico)

2011-11-15

By means of the use of the performance evaluation of power system efficiencies (PEPSE) code was modeled the vapor cycle of the nuclear power station of Laguna Verde to reproduce the nuclear plant behavior to conditions of thermal power, licensed at present (2027 MWt); with the purpose of having a base line before the implementation of the project of extended power increase. The model of the gauged vapor cycle to reproduce the nuclear plant conditions makes use of the PEPSE model, design case of the vapor cycle of nuclear power station of Laguna Verde, which has as main components of the model the great equipment of the vapor cycle of Laguna Verde. The design case model makes use of information about the design requirements of each equipment for theoretically calculating the electric power of exit, besides thermodynamic conditions of the vapor cycle in different points. Starting from the design model and making use of data of the vapor cycle measured in the nuclear plant; the adjustment factors were calculated for the different equipment s of the vapor cycle, to reproduce with the PEPSE model the real vapor cycle of Laguna Verde. Once characterized the model of the vapor cycle of Laguna Verde, we can realize different sensibility studies to determine the effects macros to the vapor cycle by the variation of certain key parameters. (Author)

Thermogravimetric measurements of liquid vapor pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rong Yunhong; Gregson, Christopher M.; Parker, Alan

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Rapid determination of vapor pressure by TGA. ► Demonstration of limitations of currently available approaches in literature. ► New model for vapor pressure assessment of small size samples in TGA. ► New model accounts for vapor diffusion and sample geometry and measures vapor pressure normally within 10%. - Abstract: A method was developed using thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) to determine the vapor pressure of volatile liquids. This is achieved by measuring the rate of evaporation (mass loss) of a pure liquid contained within a cylindrical pan. The influence of factors like sample geometry and vapor diffusion on evaporation rate are discussed. The measurement can be performed across a wide range of temperature yielding reasonable results up to 10 kPa. This approach may be useful as a rapid and automatable method for measuring the volatility of flavor and fragrance raw materials.

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Science.gov (United States)

Filser, Juliane; Faber, Jack H.; Tiunov, Alexei V.; Brussaard, Lijbert; Frouz, Jan; De Deyn, Gerlinde; Uvarov, Alexei V.; Berg, Matty P.; Lavelle, Patrick; Loreau, Michel; Wall, Diana H.; Querner, Pascal; Eijsackers, Herman; José Jiménez, Juan

2016-11-01

Soil organic matter (SOM) is key to maintaining soil fertility, mitigating climate change, combatting land degradation, and conserving above- and below-ground biodiversity and associated soil processes and ecosystem services. In order to derive management options for maintaining these essential services provided by soils, policy makers depend on robust, predictive models identifying key drivers of SOM dynamics. Existing SOM models and suggested guidelines for future SOM modelling are defined mostly in terms of plant residue quality and input and microbial decomposition, overlooking the significant regulation provided by soil fauna. The fauna controls almost any aspect of organic matter turnover, foremost by regulating the activity and functional composition of soil microorganisms and their physical-chemical connectivity with soil organic matter. We demonstrate a very strong impact of soil animals on carbon turnover, increasing or decreasing it by several dozen percent, sometimes even turning C sinks into C sources or vice versa. This is demonstrated not only for earthworms and other larger invertebrates but also for smaller fauna such as Collembola. We suggest that inclusion of soil animal activities (plant residue consumption and bioturbation altering the formation, depth, hydraulic properties and physical heterogeneity of soils) can fundamentally affect the predictive outcome of SOM models. Understanding direct and indirect impacts of soil fauna on nutrient availability, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and plant growth is key to the understanding of SOM dynamics in the context of global carbon cycling models. We argue that explicit consideration of soil fauna is essential to make realistic modelling predictions on SOM dynamics and to detect expected non-linear responses of SOM dynamics to global change. We present a decision framework, to be further developed through the activities of KEYSOM, a European COST Action, for when mechanistic SOM models

Case studies illustrating in-situ remediation methods for soil and groundwater contaminated with petrochemicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dixon, Robert A; Lance, P E; Downs, A; Kier, Brian P [EMCON Northwest Inc., Portland, OR (United States)

1994-12-31

Four case studies of successful in-situ remediation are summarized illustrating cost-effective methods to remediate soil and groundwater contaminated with volatile and non-volatile petrochemicals. Each site is in a different geologic environment with varying soil types and with and without groundwater impact. The methods described include vadose zone vapor extraction, high-vacuum vapor extraction combined with groundwater tab.le depression, air sparging with groundwater recovery and vapor extraction, and bio remediation of saturated zone soils using inorganic nutrient and oxygen addition

Case studies illustrating in-situ remediation methods for soil and groundwater contaminated with petrochemicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dixon, Robert A.; Lance, P.E.; Downs, A.; Kier, Brian P. [EMCON Northwest Inc., Portland, OR (United States)

1993-12-31

Four case studies of successful in-situ remediation are summarized illustrating cost-effective methods to remediate soil and groundwater contaminated with volatile and non-volatile petrochemicals. Each site is in a different geologic environment with varying soil types and with and without groundwater impact. The methods described include vadose zone vapor extraction, high-vacuum vapor extraction combined with groundwater tab.le depression, air sparging with groundwater recovery and vapor extraction, and bio remediation of saturated zone soils using inorganic nutrient and oxygen addition

Enthalpy model for heating, melting, and vaporization in laser ablation

OpenAIRE

Vasilios Alexiades; David Autrique

2010-01-01

Laser ablation is used in a growing number of applications in various areas including medicine, archaeology, chemistry, environmental and materials sciences. In this work the heat transfer and phase change phenomena during nanosecond laser ablation of a copper (Cu) target in a helium (He) background gas at atmospheric pressure are presented. An enthalpy model is outlined, which accounts for heating, melting, and vaporization of the target. As far as we know, this is the first model th...

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

OpenAIRE

Filser, Juliane; Faber, Jack H.; Tiunov, Alexei V.; Brussaard, Lijbert; Frouz, Jan; Deyn, Gerlinde; Uvarov, Alexei V.; Berg, Matty P.; Lavelle, Patrick; Loreau, Michel; Wall, Diana H.; Querner, Pascal; Eijsackers, Herman; Jiménez, Juan José

2016-01-01

Soil organic matter (SOM) is key to maintaining soil fertility, mitigating climate change, combatting land degradation, and conserving above- and below-ground biodiversity and associated soil processes and ecosystem services. In order to derive management options for maintaining these essential services provided by soils, policy makers depend on robust, predictive models identifying key drivers of SOM dynamics. Existing SOM models and suggested guidelines for future SOM modelling are defined ...

Thermosyphon analysis of a repository: A simplified model for vapor flow and heat transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manteufel, R.D.; Powell, M.W.

1994-01-01

A simplified model is developed for thermally-driven buoyant gas flow in an unsaturated repository such as that anticipated at Yucca Mountain. Based on a simplified thermosyphon model, the strength of buoyant gas flow is related to key thermal-hydraulic parameters (e.g., bulk permeability and maximum repository temperature). The effects of buoyant gas flow on vapor flow and heat transport near the repository horizon are assessed, namely: (i) the strength of buoyant flow through the repository, (ii) the effect of buoyant flow on vapor transfer, and (iii) the effect of buoyant flow on heat transfer

Modeling of fuel vapor jet eruption induced by local droplet heating

KAUST Repository

Sim, Jaeheon

2014-01-10

The evaporation of a droplet by non-uniform heating is numerically investigated in order to understand the mechanism of the fuel-vapor jet eruption observed in the flame spread of a droplet array under microgravity condition. The phenomenon was believed to be mainly responsible for the enhanced flame spread rate through a droplet cloud at microgravity conditions. A modified Eulerian-Lagrangian method with a local phase change model is utilized to describe the interfacial dynamics between liquid droplet and surrounding air. It is found that the localized heating creates a temperature gradient along the droplet surface, induces the corresponding surface tension gradient, and thus develops an inner flow circulation commonly referred to as the Marangoni convection. Furthermore, the effect also produces a strong shear flow around the droplet surface, thereby pushing the fuel vapor toward the wake region of the droplet to form a vapor jet eruption. A parametric study clearly demonstrated that at realistic droplet combustion conditions the Marangoni effect is indeed responsible for the observed phenomena, in contrast to the results based on constant surface tension approximation

Modeling multidomain hydraulic properties of shrink-swell soils

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Ryan D.; Abou Najm, Majdi R.; Rupp, David E.; Selker, John S.

2016-10-01

Shrink-swell soils crack and become compacted as they dry, changing properties such as bulk density and hydraulic conductivity. Multidomain models divide soil into independent realms that allow soil cracks to be incorporated into classical flow and transport models. Incongruously, most applications of multidomain models assume that the porosity distributions, bulk density, and effective saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil are constant. This study builds on a recently derived soil shrinkage model to develop a new multidomain, dual-permeability model that can accurately predict variations in soil hydraulic properties due to dynamic changes in crack size and connectivity. The model only requires estimates of soil gravimetric water content and a minimal set of parameters, all of which can be determined using laboratory and/or field measurements. We apply the model to eight clayey soils, and demonstrate its ability to quantify variations in volumetric water content (as can be determined during measurement of a soil water characteristic curve) and transient saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks (as can be measured using infiltration tests). The proposed model is able to capture observed variations in Ks of one to more than two orders of magnitude. In contrast, other dual-permeability models assume that Ks is constant, resulting in the potential for large error when predicting water movement through shrink-swell soils. Overall, the multidomain model presented here successfully quantifies fluctuations in the hydraulic properties of shrink-swell soil matrices, and are suitable for use in physical flow and transport models based on Darcy's Law, the Richards Equation, and the advection-dispersion equation.

The simulation of stratospheric water vapor in the NH summer monsoon regions in a suite of WACCM models

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X.; Wu, Y.; Huang, Y.; Tilmes, S.

2016-12-01

Water vapor maxima are found in the upper troposphere lower stratosphere (UTLS) over Asian and North America monsoon regions during Northern Hemisphere (NH) summer months. High concentrations of stratospheric water vapor are associated with the upper-level anticyclonic circulation and they play an important role in the radiative forcing for the climate system. However, discrepancies in the simulation of stratospheric water vapor are found among different models. In this study, we use both observational data: Aura Microwave Limb Sounder satellite observations (MLS), the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) and chemistry climate model outputs: different configurations of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), including standard configuration of WACCM, WACCM L110, specified chemistry (SC) WACCM and specified dynamics (SD) WACCM. We find that WACCM L110 with finer vertical resolution better simulates the stratospheric water vapor maxima over the summer monsoon regions. To better understand the mechanism, we examine the simulated temperature at around 100 hPa since 100 hPa is known to act as a dehydration mechanism, i.e. the warmer the temperature, the wetter the stratospheric water vapor. We find that both WACCM L110 and SD-WACCM better simulate the temperature at 100 hPa as compared to that of MERRA2. This suggests that improving model vertical resolution and dynamical processes in the UTLS is crucial in simulating the stratospheric water vapor concentrations.

The photosynthetic response of tobacco plants overexpressing ice plant aquaporin McMIPB to a soil water deficit and high vapor pressure deficit.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawase, Miki; Hanba, Yuko T; Katsuhara, Maki

2013-07-01

We investigated the photosynthetic capacity and plant growth of tobacco plants overexpressing ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.) aquaporin McMIPB under (1) a well-watered growth condition, (2) a well-watered and temporal higher vapor pressure deficit (VPD) condition, and (3) a soil water deficit growth condition to investigate the effect of McMIPB on photosynthetic responses under moderate soil and atmospheric humidity and water deficit conditions. Transgenic plants showed a significantly higher photosynthesis rate (by 48 %), higher mesophyll conductance (by 52 %), and enhanced growth under the well-watered growth condition than those of control plants. Decreases in the photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance from ambient to higher VPD were slightly higher in transgenic plants than those in control plants. When plants were grown under the soil water deficit condition, decreases in the photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance were less significant in transgenic plants than those in control plants. McMIPB is likely to work as a CO2 transporter, as well as control the regulation of stomata to water deficits.

Conical evaporator and liquid-return wick model for vapor anode, multi-tube AMTEC cells

Science.gov (United States)

Tournier, Jean-Michel; El-Genk, Mohamed S.

2000-01-01

A detailed, 2-D thermal-hydraulic model for conical and flat evaporators and the liquid sodium return artery in PX-type AMTEC cells was developed, which predicts incipient dryout at the evaporator wick surface. Results obtained at fixed hot and cold side temperatures showed that the flat evaporator provided a slightly lower vapor pressure, but reached the capillary limit at higher temperature. The loss of performance due to partial recondensation over up to 20% of the wick surface of the deep conical evaporators was offset by the larger surface area available for evaporation, providing a slightly higher vapor pressure. Model results matched the PX-3A cell's experimental data of electrical power output, but the predicted temperature of the cell's conical evaporator was consistently ~50 K above measurements. A preliminary analysis indicated that sodium vapor leakage in the cell (through microcracks in the BASE tubes' walls or brazes) may explain the difference between predicted and measured evaporator temperatures in PX-3A. .

Modelling and numerical simulation of liquid-vapor phase transitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caro, F.

2004-11-01

This work deals with the modelling and numerical simulation of liquid-vapor phase transition phenomena. The study is divided into two part: first we investigate phase transition phenomena with a Van Der Waals equation of state (non monotonic equation of state), then we adopt an alternative approach with two equations of state. In the first part, we study the classical viscous criteria for selecting weak solutions of the system used when the equation of state is non monotonic. Those criteria do not select physical solutions and therefore we focus a more recent criterion: the visco-capillary criterion. We use this criterion to exactly solve the Riemann problem (which imposes solving an algebraic scalar non linear equation). Unfortunately, this step is quite costly in term of CPU which prevent from using this method as a ground for building Godunov solvers. That is why we propose an alternative approach two equations of state. Using the least action principle, we propose a phase changing two-phase flow model which is based on the second thermodynamic principle. We shall then describe two equilibrium submodels issued from the relaxations processes when instantaneous equilibrium is assumed. Despite the weak hyperbolicity of the last sub-model, we propose stable numerical schemes based on a two-step strategy involving a convective step followed by a relaxation step. We show the ability of the system to simulate vapor bubbles nucleation. (author)

Using modeling to develop and evaluate a corrective action system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodgers, L.

1995-01-01

At a former trucking facility in EPA Region 4, a corrective action system was installed to remediate groundwater and soil contaminated with gasoline and fuel oil products released from several underground storage tanks (USTs). Groundwater modeling was used to develop the corrective action plan and later used with soil vapor modeling to evaluate the systems effectiveness. Groundwater modeling was used to determine the effects of a groundwater recovery system on the water table at the site. Information gathered during the assessment phase was used to develop a three dimensional depiction of the subsurface at the site. Different groundwater recovery schemes were then modeled to determine the most effective method for recovering contaminated groundwater. Based on the modeling and calculations, a corrective action system combining soil vapor extraction (SVE) and groundwater recovery was designed. The system included seven recovery wells, to extract both soil vapor and groundwater, and a groundwater treatment system. Operation and maintenance of the system included monthly system sampling and inspections and quarterly groundwater sampling. After one year of operation the effectiveness of the system was evaluated. A subsurface soil gas model was used to evaluate the effects of the SVE system on the site contamination as well as its effects on the water table and groundwater recovery operations. Groundwater modeling was used in evaluating the effectiveness of the groundwater recovery system. Plume migration and capture were modeled to insure that the groundwater recovery system at the site was effectively capturing the contaminant plume. The two models were then combined to determine the effects of the two systems, acting together, on the remediation process

Application of the biological forced air soil treatment (BIOFAST trademark) technology to diesel contaminated soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyons, K.A.; Leavitt, M.E.; Graves, D.A.; Stanish, S.M.

1993-01-01

A subsurface Biological Forced Air Soil Treatment (BIOFAST trademark) system was constructed at the Yellow Freight System, Inc. (Yellow Freight) New Haven facility in Connecticut as a means of expediting the remediation of soils impacted by a diesel fuel release. Prior to beginning construction activities the soils were evaluated for the feasibility of bioremediation based on soil characteristics including contaminant degrading bacteria, moisture content, and pH. Based on results of stimulant tests with oxygen and nutrients, the addition of fertilizer during the construction of the cell was recommended. Following the removal of underground storage tanks, the bioremediation cell was constructed by lining the enlarged excavation with high density polyethylene (HDPE) and backfilling alternating layers of nutrient-laden soil and pea gravel. Passive and active soil vapor extraction (SVE) piping was included in the gravel layers and connected to a blower and vapor treatment unit, operated intermittently to supply oxygen to the subsurface cell. Operating data have indicated that the bacteria are generating elevated levels of CO 2 , and the SVE unit is evacuating the accumulated CO 2 from the soils and replacing it with fresh air. These data suggest that the bioremediation process is active in the soils. Soil samples collected from within the soil pit subsequent to installation and again after 10 months of operation indicate that TPH concentrations have decreased by as much as 50%

Modeling of soil-water-structure interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tang, Tian

as the developed nonlinear soil displacements and stresses under monotonic and cyclic loading. With the FVM nonlinear coupled soil models as a basis, multiphysics modeling of wave-seabed-structure interaction is carried out. The computations are done in an open source code environment, OpenFOAM, where FVM models...

Modelling root reinforcement in shallow forest soils

Science.gov (United States)

Skaugset, Arne E.

1997-01-01

A hypothesis used to explain the relationship between timber harvesting and landslides is that tree roots add mechanical support to soil, thus increasing soil strength. Upon harvest, the tree roots decay which reduces soil strength and increases the risk of management -induced landslides. The technical literature does not adequately support this hypothesis. Soil strength values attributed to root reinforcement that are in the technical literature are such that forested sites can't fail and all high risk, harvested sites must fail. Both unstable forested sites and stable harvested sites exist, in abundance, in the real world thus, the literature does not adequately describe the real world. An analytical model was developed to calculate soil strength increase due to root reinforcement. Conceptually, the model is composed of a reinforcing element with high tensile strength, i.e. a conifer root, embedded in a material with little tensile strength, i.e. a soil. As the soil fails and deforms, the reinforcing element also deforms and stretches. The lateral deformation of the reinforcing element is treated analytically as a laterally loaded pile in a flexible foundation and the axial deformation is treated as an axially loaded pile. The governing differential equations are solved using finite-difference approximation techniques. The root reinforcement model was tested by comparing the final shape of steel and aluminum rods, parachute cord, wooden dowels, and pine roots in direct shear with predicted shapes from the output of the root reinforcement model. The comparisons were generally satisfactory, were best for parachute cord and wooden dowels, and were poorest for steel and aluminum rods. A parameter study was performed on the root reinforcement model which showed reinforced soil strength increased with increasing root diameter and soil depth. Output from the root reinforcement model showed a strain incompatibility between large and small diameter roots. The peak

Incorporating soil variability in continental soil water modelling: a trade-off between data availability and model complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Peeters, L.; Crosbie, R. S.; Doble, R.; van Dijk, A. I. J. M.

2012-04-01

Developing a continental land surface model implies finding a balance between the complexity in representing the system processes and the availability of reliable data to drive, parameterise and calibrate the model. While a high level of process understanding at plot or catchment scales may warrant a complex model, such data is not available at the continental scale. This data sparsity is especially an issue for the Australian Water Resources Assessment system, AWRA-L, a land-surface model designed to estimate the components of the water balance for the Australian continent. This study focuses on the conceptualization and parametrization of the soil drainage process in AWRA-L. Traditionally soil drainage is simulated with Richards' equation, which is highly non-linear. As general analytic solutions are not available, this equation is usually solved numerically. In AWRA-L however, we introduce a simpler function based on simulation experiments that solve Richards' equation. In the simplified function soil drainage rate, the ratio of drainage (D) over storage (S), decreases exponentially with relative water content. This function is controlled by three parameters, the soil water storage at field capacity (SFC), the drainage fraction at field capacity (KFC) and a drainage function exponent (β). [ ] D- -S- S = KF C exp - β (1 - SFC ) To obtain spatially variable estimates of these three parameters, the Atlas of Australian Soils is used, which lists soil hydraulic properties for each soil profile type. For each soil profile type in the Atlas, 10 days of draining an initially fully saturated, freely draining soil is simulated using HYDRUS-1D. With field capacity defined as the volume of water in the soil after 1 day, the remaining parameters can be obtained by fitting the AWRA-L soil drainage function to the HYDRUS-1D results. This model conceptualisation fully exploits the data available in the Atlas of Australian Soils, without the need to solve the non

Modeling of an improved chemical vapor infiltration process for ceramic composites fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tai, N.H.; Chou, T.W.

1990-01-01

A quasi-steady-state approach is applied to model the pressure-driven, temperature-gradient chemical vapor infiltration (improved CVI process) for ceramic matrix composites fabrication. The deposited matrix in this study is SiC which is converted from the thermal decomposition of methyltrichlorosilane gas under excess hydrogen. A three-dimensional unit cell is adopted to simulate the spatial arrangements of reinforcements in discontinuous fiber mats and three-dimensionally woven fabrics. The objectives of this paper are to predict the temperature and density distributions in a fibrous preform during processing, the advancement of the solidified front, the total fabrication period, and the vapor inlet pressure variation for maintaining a constant flow rate

FLUXNET: A new tool to study the temporal and spatial variability of ecosystem-scale carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy flux densities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baldocchi, D.; Falge, E.; Gu, L.

2001-01-01

FLUXNET is a global network of micrometeorological flux measurement site's that measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere. At present over 140 sites are operating on a long-term and continuous basis. Vegetation under study includes...... of annual ecosystem carbon and water balances, to quantify the response of stand-scale carbon dioxide and water vapor flux densities to controlling biotic and abiotic factors, and to validate a hierarchy of soil-plant-atmosphere trace gas exchange models. Findings so far include 1) net CO2 exchange......, it provides infrastructure for compiling, archiving, and distributing carbon, water, and energy flux measurement, and meteorological, plant, and soil data to the science community. (Data and site information are available online at the FLUXNET Web site, http://www-eosdis.oml.gov/FLUXNTET/.) Second...

Soils apart from equilibrium – consequences for soil carbon balance modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Wutzler

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Many projections of the soil carbon sink or source are based on kinetically defined carbon pool models. Para-meters of these models are often determined in a way that the steady state of the model matches observed carbon stocks. The underlying simplifying assumption is that observed carbon stocks are near equilibrium. This assumption is challenged by observations of very old soils that do still accumulate carbon. In this modelling study we explored the consequences of the case where soils are apart from equilibrium. Calculation of equilibrium states of soils that are currently accumulating small amounts of carbon were performed using the Yasso model. It was found that already very small current accumulation rates cause big changes in theoretical equilibrium stocks, which can virtually approach infinity. We conclude that soils that have been disturbed several centuries ago are not in equilibrium but in a transient state because of the slowly ongoing accumulation of the slowest pool. A first consequence is that model calibrations to current carbon stocks that assume equilibrium state, overestimate the decay rate of the slowest pool. A second consequence is that spin-up runs (simulations until equilibrium overestimate stocks of recently disturbed sites. In order to account for these consequences, we propose a transient correction. This correction prescribes a lower decay rate of the slowest pool and accounts for disturbances in the past by decreasing the spin-up-run predicted stocks to match an independent estimate of current soil carbon stocks. Application of this transient correction at a Central European beech forest site with a typical disturbance history resulted in an additional carbon fixation of 5.7±1.5 tC/ha within 100 years. Carbon storage capacity of disturbed forest soils is potentially much higher than currently assumed. Simulations that do not adequately account for the transient state of soil carbon stocks neglect a considerable

VOC composition of current motor vehicle fuels and vapors, and collinearity analyses for receptor modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Jo-Yu; Batterman, Stuart A

2012-03-01

The formulation of motor vehicle fuels can alter the magnitude and composition of evaporative and exhaust emissions occurring throughout the fuel cycle. Information regarding the volatile organic compound (VOC) composition of motor fuels other than gasoline is scarce, especially for bioethanol and biodiesel blends. This study examines the liquid and vapor (headspace) composition of four contemporary and commercially available fuels: gasoline (gasoline), ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), and B20 (20% soy-biodiesel and 80% ULSD). The composition of gasoline and E85 in both neat fuel and headspace vapor was dominated by aromatics and n-heptane. Despite its low gasoline content, E85 vapor contained higher concentrations of several VOCs than those in gasoline vapor, likely due to adjustments in its formulation. Temperature changes produced greater changes in the partial pressures of 17 VOCs in E85 than in gasoline, and large shifts in the VOC composition. B20 and ULSD were dominated by C(9) to C(16)n-alkanes and low levels of the aromatics, and the two fuels had similar headspace vapor composition and concentrations. While the headspace composition predicted using vapor-liquid equilibrium theory was closely correlated to measurements, E85 vapor concentrations were underpredicted. Based on variance decomposition analyses, gasoline and diesel fuels and their vapors VOC were distinct, but B20 and ULSD fuels and vapors were highly collinear. These results can be used to estimate fuel related emissions and exposures, particularly in receptor models that apportion emission sources, and the collinearity analysis suggests that gasoline- and diesel-related emissions can be distinguished. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Final Site-Specific Technical Report for the Evaluation of Thermatrix GS Series Flameless Thermal Oxidzer for Off-Gas Treatment of Trichloroethene Vapors at Building 181 Air Force Plant 4, Texas

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Archabal, Steven

1998-01-01

The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) has sponsored an ongoing program to promote the use of cost-effective soil vapor treatment technologies in conjunction with soil vapor extraction (SVE...

Soil process modelling in CZO research: gains in data harmonisation and model validation

Science.gov (United States)

van Gaans, Pauline; Andrianaki, Maria; Kobierska, Florian; Kram, Pavel; Lamacova, Anna; Lair, Georg; Nikolaidis, Nikos; Duffy, Chris; Regelink, Inge; van Leeuwen, Jeroen P.; de Ruiter, Peter

2014-05-01

Various soil process models were applied to four European Critical Zone observatories (CZOs), the core research sites of the FP7 project SoilTrEC: the Damma glacier forefield (CH), a set of three forested catchments on geochemically contrasing bedrocks in the Slavkov Forest (CZ), a chronosequence of soils in the former floodplain of the Danube of Fuchsenbigl/Marchfeld (AT), and the Koiliaris catchments in the north-western part of Crete, (GR). The aim of the modelling exercises was to apply and test soil process models with data from the CZOs for calibration/validation, identify potential limits to the application scope of the models, interpret soil state and soil functions at key stages of the soil life cycle, represented by the four SoilTrEC CZOs, contribute towards harmonisation of data and data acquisition. The models identified as specifically relevant were: The Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM), a fully coupled, multiprocess, multi-scale hydrologic model, to get a better understanding of water flow and pathways, The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a deterministic, continuous time (daily time step) basin scale model, to evaluate the impact of soil management practices, The Rothamsted Carbon model (Roth-C) to simulate organic carbon turnover and the Carbon, Aggregation, and Structure Turnover (CAST) model to include the role of soil aggregates in carbon dynamics, The Ligand Charge Distribution (LCD) model, to understand the interaction between organic matter and oxide surfaces in soil aggregate formation, and The Terrestrial Ecology Model (TEM) to obtain insight into the link between foodweb structure and carbon and nutrient turnover. With some exceptions all models were applied to all four CZOs. The need for specific model input contributed largely to data harmonisation. The comparisons between the CZOs turned out to be of great value for understanding the strength and limitations of the models, as well as the differences in soil conditions

The contributions of Lewis Fry Richardson to drainage theory, soil physics, and the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, John; Raats, Peter

2016-04-01

The EGU Division on Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics awards the Lewis Fry Richardson Medal. Richardson's significance is highlighted in http://www.egu.eu/awards-medals/portrait-lewis-fry-richardson/, but his contributions to soil physics and to numerical solutions of heat and diffusion equations are not mentioned. We would like to draw attention to those little known contributions. Lewis Fry Richardson (1881-1953) made important contributions to many fields including numerical weather prediction, finite difference solutions of partial differential equations, turbulent flow and diffusion, fractals, quantitative psychology and studies of conflict. He invented numerical weather prediction during World War I, although his methods were not successfully applied until 1950, after the invention of fast digital computers. In 1922 he published the book `Numerical weather prediction', of which few copies were sold and even fewer were read until the 1950s. To model heat and mass transfer in the atmosphere, he did much original work on turbulent flow and defined what is now known as the Richardson number. His technique for improving the convergence of a finite difference calculation is known as Richardson extrapolation, and was used by John Philip in his 1957 semi-analytical solution of the Richards equation for water movement in unsaturated soil. Richardson's first papers in 1908 concerned the numerical solution of the free surface problem of unconfined flow of water in saturated soil, arising in the design of drain spacing in peat. Later, for the lower boundary of his atmospheric model he needed to understand the movement of heat, liquid water and water vapor in what is now called the vadose zone and the soil plant atmosphere system, and to model coupled transfer of heat and flow of water in unsaturated soil. Finding little previous work, he formulated partial differential equations for transient, vertical flow of liquid water and for transfer of heat and water vapor. He

Three-dimensional vapor intrusion modeling approach that combines wind and stack effects on indoor, atmospheric, and subsurface domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirazi, Elham; Pennell, Kelly G

2017-12-13

Vapor intrusion (IV) exposure risks are difficult to characterize due to the role of atmospheric, building and subsurface processes. This study presents a three-dimensional VI model that extends the common subsurface fate and transport equations to incorporate wind and stack effects on indoor air pressure, building air exchange rate (AER) and indoor contaminant concentration to improve VI exposure risk estimates. The model incorporates three modeling programs: (1) COMSOL Multiphysics to model subsurface fate and transport processes, (2) CFD0 to model atmospheric air flow around the building, and (3) CONTAM to model indoor air quality. The combined VI model predicts AER values, zonal indoor air pressures and zonal indoor air contaminant concentrations as a function of wind speed, wind direction and outdoor and indoor temperature. Steady state modeling results for a single-story building with a basement demonstrate that wind speed, wind direction and opening locations in a building play important roles in changing the AER, indoor air pressure, and indoor air contaminant concentration. Calculated indoor air pressures ranged from approximately -10 Pa to +4 Pa depending on weather conditions and building characteristics. AER values, mass entry rates and indoor air concentrations vary depending on weather conditions and building characteristics. The presented modeling approach can be used to investigate the relationship between building features, AER, building pressures, soil gas concentrations, indoor air concentrations and VI exposure risks.

Interpreting, measuring, and modeling soil respiration

Science.gov (United States)

Michael G. Ryan; Beverly E. Law

2005-01-01

This paper reviews the role of soil respiration in determining ecosystem carbon balance, and the conceptual basis for measuring and modeling soil respiration. We developed it to provide background and context for this special issue on soil respiration and to synthesize the presentations and discussions at the workshop. Soil respiration is the largest component of...

Vapor-phase biofiltration: Laboratory and field experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, P.J.; Bourbonais, K.A.; Peterson, L.E.; Lee, J.H.; Laakso, G.L.

1995-01-01

Application of vapor-phase bioreactors (VPBs) to petroleum hydrocarbons is complicated by the different mass transfer characteristics of aliphatics and aromatics. Laboratory- and pilot-scale VPB studies were conducted to evaluate treatment of soil vapor extraction (SVE) off-gas. A mixture of compost, perlite, and activated carbon was the selected medium based on pressure drop, microbial colonization, and adsorption properties. Two different pilot-scale reactors were built with a difference of 70:1 in scale. The smaller VPB's maximum effective elimination capacity (EC) was determined to be 7.2 g m -3 h -1 ; the larger unit's EC was 70% to 80% of this value. Low EC values may be attributable to a combination of mass-transfer and kinetic limitations

Advances in modeling of chemical vapor infiltration for tube fabrication

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Starr, T.L. [Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Materials Science and Technology

1998-04-01

The forced flow/thermal gradient chemical vapor infiltration process (FCVI) can be used for fabrication of tube-shaped components of ceramic matrix composites. Recent experimental work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) includes process and materials development studies using a small tube reactor. Use of FCVI for this geometry involves significant changes in fixturing as compared to disk-shaped preforms previously fabricated. The authors have used their computer model of the CVI process to simulate tube densification and to identify process modifications that will decrease processing time. This report presents recent model developments and applications.

Analysis of the transient compressible vapor flow in heat pipes

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, J. H.; Faghri, A.; Chang, W. S.

1989-01-01

The transient compressible one-dimensional vapor flow dynamics in a heat pipe is modeled. The numerical results are obtained by using the implicit non-iterative Beam-Warming finite difference method. The model is tested for simulated heat pipe vapor flow and actual vapor flow in cylindrical heat pipes. A good comparison of the present transient results for the simulated heat pipe vapor flow with the previous results of a two-dimensional numerical model is achieved and the steady state results are in agreement with the existing experimental data. The transient behavior of the vapor flow under subsonic, sonic, and supersonic speeds and high mass flow rates are successfully predicted. The one-dimensional model also describes the vapor flow dynamics in cylindrical heat pipes at high temperatures.

Analysis of the transient compressible vapor flow in heat pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, J.H.; Faghri, A.; Chang, W.S.

1989-07-01

The transient compressible one-dimensional vapor flow dynamics in a heat pipe is modeled. The numerical results are obtained by using the implicit non-iterative Beam-Warming finite difference method. The model is tested for simulated heat pipe vapor flow and actual vapor flow in cylindrical heat pipes. A good comparison of the present transient results for the simulated heat pipe vapor flow with the previous results of a two-dimensional numerical model is achieved and the steady state results are in agreement with the existing experimental data. The transient behavior of the vapor flow under subsonic, sonic, and supersonic speeds and high mass flow rates are successfully predicted. The one-dimensional model also describes the vapor flow dynamics in cylindrical heat pipes at high temperatures

Space-time modeling of soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zijuan; Mohanty, Binayak P.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio

2017-11-01

A physically derived space-time mathematical representation of the soil moisture field is carried out via the soil moisture balance equation driven by stochastic rainfall forcing. The model incorporates spatial diffusion and in its original version, it is shown to be unable to reproduce the relative fast decay in the spatial correlation functions observed in empirical data. This decay resulting from variations in local topography as well as in local soil and vegetation conditions is well reproduced via a jitter process acting multiplicatively over the space-time soil moisture field. The jitter is a multiplicative noise acting on the soil moisture dynamics with the objective to deflate its correlation structure at small spatial scales which are not embedded in the probabilistic structure of the rainfall process that drives the dynamics. These scales of order of several meters to several hundred meters are of great importance in ecohydrologic dynamics. Properties of space-time correlation functions and spectral densities of the model with jitter are explored analytically, and the influence of the jitter parameters, reflecting variabilities of soil moisture at different spatial and temporal scales, is investigated. A case study fitting the derived model to a soil moisture dataset is presented in detail.

Evaluating the performance of coupled snow-soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site

Science.gov (United States)

Barrere, Mathieu; Domine, Florent; Decharme, Bertrand; Morin, Samuel; Vionnet, Vincent; Lafaysse, Matthieu

2017-09-01

Climate change projections still suffer from a limited representation of the permafrost-carbon feedback. Predicting the response of permafrost temperature to climate change requires accurate simulations of Arctic snow and soil properties. This study assesses the capacity of the coupled land surface and snow models ISBA-Crocus and ISBA-ES to simulate snow and soil properties at Bylot Island, a high Arctic site. Field measurements complemented with ERA-Interim reanalyses were used to drive the models and to evaluate simulation outputs. Snow height, density, temperature, thermal conductivity and thermal insulance are examined to determine the critical variables involved in the soil and snow thermal regime. Simulated soil properties are compared to measurements of thermal conductivity, temperature and water content. The simulated snow density profiles are unrealistic, which is most likely caused by the lack of representation in snow models of the upward water vapor fluxes generated by the strong temperature gradients within the snowpack. The resulting vertical profiles of thermal conductivity are inverted compared to observations, with high simulated values at the bottom of the snowpack. Still, ISBA-Crocus manages to successfully simulate the soil temperature in winter. Results are satisfactory in summer, but the temperature of the top soil could be better reproduced by adequately representing surface organic layers, i.e., mosses and litter, and in particular their water retention capacity. Transition periods (soil freezing and thawing) are the least well reproduced because the high basal snow thermal conductivity induces an excessively rapid heat transfer between the soil and the snow in simulations. Hence, global climate models should carefully consider Arctic snow thermal properties, and especially the thermal conductivity of the basal snow layer, to perform accurate predictions of the permafrost evolution under climate change.

Modelling soil organic carbon concentration of mineral soils in arable lands using legacy soil data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Suuster, E; Ritz, Christian; Roostalu, H

2012-01-01

is appropriate if the study design has a hierarchical structure as in our scenario. We used the Estonian National Soil Monitoring data on arable lands to predict SOC concentrations of mineral soils. Subsequently, the model with the best prediction accuracy was applied to the Estonian digital soil map...

Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycle Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, D.; Chaoka, S.; Kumar, P.; Quijano, J. C.

2012-12-01

Second generation bioenergy crops, such as miscanthus (Miscantus × giganteus) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), are regarded as clean energy sources, and are an attractive option to mitigate the human-induced climate change. However, the global climate change and the expansion of perennial grass bioenergy crops have the power to alter the biogeochemical cycles in soil, especially, soil carbon storages, over long time scales. In order to develop a predictive understanding, this study develops a coupled hydrological-soil nutrient model to simulate soil carbon responses under different climate scenarios such as: (i) current weather condition, (ii) decreased precipitation by -15%, and (iii) increased temperature up to +3C for four different crops, namely miscanthus, switchgrass, maize, and natural prairie. We use Precision Agricultural Landscape Modeling System (PALMS), version 5.4.0, to capture biophysical and hydrological components coupled with a multilayer carbon and ¬nitrogen cycle model. We apply the model at daily time scale to the Energy Biosciences Institute study site, located in the University of Illinois Research Farms, in Urbana, Illinois. The atmospheric forcing used to run the model was generated stochastically from parameters obtained using available data recorded in Bondville Ameriflux Site. The model simulations are validated with observations of drainage and nitrate and ammonium concentrations recorded in drain tiles during 2011. The results of this study show (1) total soil carbon storage of miscanthus accumulates most noticeably due to the significant amount of aboveground plant carbon, and a relatively high carbon to nitrogen ratio and lignin content, which reduce the litter decomposition rate. Also, (2) the decreased precipitation contributes to the enhancement of total soil carbon storage and soil nitrogen concentration because of the reduced microbial biomass pool. However, (3) an opposite effect on the cycle is introduced by the increased

A multiphase constitutive model of reinforced soils accounting for soil-inclusion interaction behaviour

OpenAIRE

BENNIS, M; DE BUHAN, P

2003-01-01

A two-phase continuum description of reinforced soil structures is proposed in which the soil mass and the reinforcement network are treated as mutually interacting superposed media. The equations governing such a model are developed in the context of elastoplasticity, with special emphasis put on the soil/reinforcement interaction constitutive law. As shown in an illustrative example, such a model paves the way for numerically efficient design methods of reinforced soil structures.

R-22 vapor explosions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, R.P.; Armstrong, D.R.

1977-01-01

Previous experimental and theoretical studies of R-22 vapor explosions are reviewed. Results from two experimental investigations of vapor explosions in a medium scale R-22/water system are reported. Measurements following the drop of an unrestrained mass of R-22 into a water tank demonstrated the existence of two types of interaction behavior. Release of a constrained mass of R-22 beneath the surface of a water tank improved the visual resolution of the system thus allowing identification of two interaction mechansims: at low water temperatures, R-22/water contact would produce immediate violent boiling; at high water temperatures a vapor film formed around its R-22 as it was released, explosions were generated by a surface wave which initiated at a single location and propagated along the vapor film as a shock wave. A new vapor explosion model is proposed, it suggests explosions are the result of a sequence of three independent steps: an initial mixing phase, a trigger and growth phase, and a mature phase where a propagating shock wave accelerates the two liquids into a collapsing vapor layer causing a high velocity impact which finely fragments and intermixes the two liquids

An Overview of Soil Models for Earthquake Response Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halida Yunita

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Earthquakes can damage thousands of buildings and infrastructure as well as cause the loss of thousands of lives. During an earthquake, the damage to buildings is mostly caused by the effect of local soil conditions. Depending on the soil type, the earthquake waves propagating from the epicenter to the ground surface will result in various behaviors of the soil. Several studies have been conducted to accurately obtain the soil response during an earthquake. The soil model used must be able to characterize the stress-strain behavior of the soil during the earthquake. This paper compares equivalent linear and nonlinear soil model responses. Analysis was performed on two soil types, Site Class D and Site Class E. An equivalent linear soil model leads to a constant value of shear modulus, while in a nonlinear soil model, the shear modulus changes constantly,depending on the stress level, and shows inelastic behavior. The results from a comparison of both soil models are displayed in the form of maximum acceleration profiles and stress-strain curves.

Vapor pressures and vapor compositions in equilibrium with hypostoichiometric plutonium dioxide at high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, D.W.; Fink, J.K.; Leibowitz, L.

1982-01-01

Vapor pressures and vapor compositions have been calculated for 1500 less than or equal to T less than or equal to 4000 0 K. Thermodynamic functions for the condensed phase and for each of the gaseous species were combined with an oxygen-potential model extended into the liquid region to obtain the partial pressures of O 2 , O, Pu, PuO and PuO 2 . The calculated oxygen pressures increase very rapidly as stoichiometry is approached. At least part of this increase is a consequence of the exclusion of Pu 6 + from the oxygen-potential model. No reliable method was found to estimate the importance of this ion. As a result of large oxygen potentials at high temperatures, extremely high total pressures that produced unreasonably high vapor densities were calculated. The highest temperature was therefore limited to 400 K, and the range of oxygen-to-metal ratios was limited to 1.994 to 1.70. These calculations show that vapor in equilibrium with hypostoichiometric plutonium dioxide is poorly approximated as PuO 2 for most of the temperture and composition range of interest. The vapor is much more oxygen-rich than the condensed phase. Implications for the (U,Pu)O/sub 2-x/ system are discussed

Water and vapor transfer in vadose zone of Gobi desert and riparian in the hyper arid environment of Ejina, China

Science.gov (United States)

Du, C.; Yu, J.; Sun, F.; Liu, X.

2015-12-01

To reveal how water and vapor transfer in vadose zone affect evapotranspiration in Gobi desert and riparian in hyper arid region is important for understanding eco-hydrological process. Field studies and numerical simulations were imported to evaluate the water and vapor movement processes under non isothermal and lower water content conditions. The soil profiles (12 layers) in Gobi desert and riparian sites of Ejina were installed with sensors to monitor soil moisture and temperature for 1 year. The meteorological conditions and water table were measured by micro weather stations and mini-Divers respectively in the two sites. Soil properties, including particles composition, moisture, bulk density, water retention curve, and saturated hydraulic conductivity of two site soil profiles, was measured. The observations showed that soil temperatures for the two sites displayed large diurnal and seasonal fluctuations. Temperature gradients with depth resulted in a downward in summer and upward in winter and became driving force for thermal vapor movement. Soil moistures in Gobi desert site were very low and varied slowly with time. While the soil moistures in riparian site were complicated due to root distribution but water potentials remained uniform with time. The hydrus-1D was employed to simulate evapotranspiration processes. The simulation results showed the significant difference of evaporation rate in the Gobi desert and riparian sites.

Bioventing feasibility study of low permeability soils for remediation of petroleum contamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brackney, K.M.

1994-01-01

A site characterization of leaking underground gasoline and diesel storage tanks at the University of Idaho, West Farm Operations Center, identified approximately 800 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil exceedingly regulatory action limits of 100 ppm TPH. Bioventing, a combination of in situ soil vapor extraction and microbial degradation, was selected as a remedial alternative on the basis of the presumably unsaturated paleo-soil with a 45-foot depth to groundwater, and a microbial study which concluded that indigenous petroleum-degrading microorganisms existed throughout the contamination. Soil vapor extraction tests were conducted by applying a 60-inch water column vacuum to a soil vapor extraction well and monitoring pneumatic pressure drawdown in 12 adjacent pneumatic piezometers and vertically distributed piezometer clusters. Pressure drawdown vs time data plots indicated that air permeability is inadequate everywhere at the site except at 20 feet below ground surface. Low soil permeability creates conditions for a perched water table that was documented during the investigation, resulting in unsatisfactory conditions for in situ bioventing. 8 refs., 14 figs

A discrete element model for soil-sweep interaction in three different soils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Y; Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Nyord, Tavs

2013-01-01

. To serve the model development, the sweep was tested in three different soils (coarse sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam). In the tests, soil cutting forces (draught and vertical forces) and soil disturbance characteristics (soil cross-section disturbance and surface deformation) resulting from the sweep...... were measured. The measured draught and vertical forces were used in calibrations of the most sensitive model parameter, particle stiffness. The calibrated particle stiffness was 0.75 × 103 N m−1 for the coarse sand, 2.75 × 103 N m−1 for the loamy sand, and 6 × 103 N m−1 for the sandy loam...

Simulation and modeling of turbulent non isothermal vapor-droplet dispersed flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baalbaki, Daoud

2011-01-01

One of the reference accident that may occur in PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) is LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident). The LOCA is studied to design some emergency systems implemented in the basic nuclear installations. The LOCA corresponds to the break of a pipe in the primary loop. This accident is associated with a loss of pressure which leads to the vaporization of the water in the reactor core and then to the rise of the temperature of the assemblies. In this study, we focus on the area of vapor-droplet flow, where the cooling effectiveness of such a mixture is a major concern. The droplets act as heat sinks for the vapor and control the vapor temperature profile which, in turn, determines the wall heat transfer rate. Our general objective is to ameliorate the modeling of the vapor-droplet flow (i.e. at CFD scale). Particularly the estimation of the radial distribution of the droplets. The volume fraction distribution of the two phases depends on the size and dispersion of the droplets in the flow. The size of the droplets is controlled by the rupture and coalescence mechanisms and the interfacial mass transfer (evaporation/condensation). The distribution of the droplets is controlled by the transfer of momentum between the two phases. Our study focuses particularly on the latter point. We are restricted to flows where the liquid water flows under the form of non-deformable spherical droplets that do not interact with each other. Both phases are treated by a two-fluid approach Euler-Euler. In chapter 2, a description of two-phase flow model is presented, using separate mass, momentum, and energy equations for the two phases. These separate balance equations are obtained in an averaging process starting from the local instantaneous conservation equations of the individual phases. During the averaging process, important information on local flow processes are lost and, consequently, additional correlations are needed in order to close the system of equations. The

Evaluation of soil flushing of complex contaminated soil: An experimental and modeling simulation study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yun, Sung Mi; Kang, Christina S. [Department of Environmental Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-701 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jonghwa [Department of Industrial Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-701 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Han S., E-mail: hankim@konkuk.ac.kr [Department of Environmental Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-701 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-04-28

Highlights: • Remediation of complex contaminated soil achieved by sequential soil flushing. • Removal of Zn, Pb, and heavy petroleum oils using 0.05 M citric acid and 2% SDS. • Unified desorption distribution coefficients modeled and experimentally determined. • Nonequilibrium models for the transport behavior of complex contaminants in soils. - Abstract: The removal of heavy metals (Zn and Pb) and heavy petroleum oils (HPOs) from a soil with complex contamination was examined by soil flushing. Desorption and transport behaviors of the complex contaminants were assessed by batch and continuous flow reactor experiments and through modeling simulations. Flushing a one-dimensional flow column packed with complex contaminated soil sequentially with citric acid then a surfactant resulted in the removal of 85.6% of Zn, 62% of Pb, and 31.6% of HPO. The desorption distribution coefficients, K{sub Ubatch} and K{sub Lbatch}, converged to constant values as C{sub e} increased. An equilibrium model (ADR) and nonequilibrium models (TSNE and TRNE) were used to predict the desorption and transport of complex contaminants. The nonequilibrium models demonstrated better fits with the experimental values obtained from the column test than the equilibrium model. The ranges of K{sub Ubatch} and K{sub Lbatch} were very close to those of K{sub Ufit} and K{sub Lfit} determined from model simulations. The parameters (R, β, ω, α, and f) determined from model simulations were useful for characterizing the transport of contaminants within the soil matrix. The results of this study provide useful information for the operational parameters of the flushing process for soils with complex contamination.

Vapor pressures and enthalpies of vaporization of azides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verevkin, Sergey P.; Emel'yanenko, Vladimir N.; Algarra, Manuel; Manuel Lopez-Romero, J.; Aguiar, Fabio; Enrique Rodriguez-Borges, J.; Esteves da Silva, Joaquim C.G.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We prepared and measured vapor pressures and vaporization enthalpies of 7 azides. → We examined consistency of new and available in the literature data. → Data for geminal azides and azido-alkanes selected for thermochemical calculations. - Abstract: Vapor pressures of some azides have been determined by the transpiration method. The molar enthalpies of vaporization Δ l g H m of these compounds were derived from the temperature dependencies of vapor pressures. The measured data sets were successfully checked for internal consistency by comparison with vaporization enthalpies of similarly structured compounds.

Wind-induced contaminant transport in near-surface soils with application to radon entry into buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riley, W.J.

1996-05-01

Indoor air exposures to gaseous contaminants originating in soil can cause large human health risks. To predict and control these exposures, the mechanisms that affect vapor transport in near-surface soils need to be understood. In particular, radon exposure is a concern since average indoor radon concentrations lead to much higher risks than are generally accepted for exposure to other environmental contaminants. This dissertation examines an important component of the indoor radon problem: the impacts of wind on soil-gas and radon transport and entry into buildings. The research includes experimental and modeling studies of wind's interactions with a building's superstructure and the resulting soil-gas and radon flows in the surrounding soil. In addition to exploring the effects of steady winds, a novel modeling technique is developed to examine the impacts of fluctuating winds on soil-gas and radon transport

Wind-induced contaminant transport in near-surface soils with application to radon entry into buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Riley, William Jowett [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

1996-05-01

Indoor air exposures to gaseous contaminants originating in soil can cause large human health risks. To predict and control these exposures, the mechanisms that affect vapor transport in near-surface soils need to be understood. In particular, radon exposure is a concern since average indoor radon concentrations lead to much higher risks than are generally accepted for exposure to other environmental contaminants. This dissertation examines an important component of the indoor radon problem: the impacts of wind on soil-gas and radon transport and entry into buildings. The research includes experimental and modeling studies of wind`s interactions with a building`s superstructure and the resulting soil-gas and radon flows in the surrounding soil. In addition to exploring the effects of steady winds, a novel modeling technique is developed to examine the impacts of fluctuating winds on soil-gas and radon transport.

Waste Tank Vapor Project: Tank vapor database development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seesing, P.R.; Birn, M.B.; Manke, K.L.

1994-09-01

The objective of the Tank Vapor Database (TVD) Development task in FY 1994 was to create a database to store, retrieve, and analyze data collected from the vapor phase of Hanford waste tanks. The data needed to be accessible over the Hanford Local Area Network to users at both Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) and Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). The data were restricted to results published in cleared reports from the laboratories analyzing vapor samples. Emphasis was placed on ease of access and flexibility of data formatting and reporting mechanisms. Because of time and budget constraints, a Rapid Application Development strategy was adopted by the database development team. An extensive data modeling exercise was conducted to determine the scope of information contained in the database. a A SUN Sparcstation 1000 was procured as the database file server. A multi-user relational database management system, Sybase reg-sign, was chosen to provide the basic data storage and retrieval capabilities. Two packages were chosen for the user interface to the database: DataPrism reg-sign and Business Objects trademark. A prototype database was constructed to provide the Waste Tank Vapor Project's Toxicology task with summarized and detailed information presented at Vapor Conference 4 by WHC, PNL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Oregon Graduate Institute. The prototype was used to develop a list of reported compounds, and the range of values for compounds reported by the analytical laboratories using different sample containers and analysis methodologies. The prototype allowed a panel of toxicology experts to identify carcinogens and compounds whose concentrations were within the reach of regulatory limits. The database and user documentation was made available for general access in September 1994

Vapor-transport of tungsten and its geologic application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shibue, Y [Hyogo Univ. of Teacher Education, Hyogo (Japan)

1988-11-10

The volatility of tungsten in a hydrous system at elevated temperatures and pressures was examined, and a tentative model for the enrichment of tungsten in hydrothermal solutions for the deposits related to granitic activities was proposed. To produce vapor-saturated solution, 17 or 15ml of 20wt% NaCl solution was introduced into an autoclave. Ca(OH){sub 2} for tungsten and H{sub 2}WO{sub 4} for base metals were used as vapor-captures, and run products were identified by X-ray powder diffractometry. The results suggested that the ratio of tungsten to base metals was higher in a vapor phase than in a liquid phase, and more enrichment of tungsten in the vapor phase occurred at higher temperature and pressure under the coexistence of the vapor and liquid phase. The tentative model emphasizing the vapor-transport of tungsten could explain the presence of tungsten deposits without large mineralization of base metals. Geological schematic model for the generation of the hydrothermal solution enriched in tungsten compared with base metals was illustrated based on above mentioned results. 21 refs., 3 figs.

Modeling Two-Phase Flow and Vapor Cycles Using the Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Amanda D.; Majumdar, Alok K.

2017-01-01

This work presents three new applications for the general purpose fluid network solver code GFSSP developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center: (1) cooling tower, (2) vapor-compression refrigeration system, and (3) vapor-expansion power generation system. These systems are widely used across engineering disciplines in a variety of energy systems, and these models expand the capabilities and the use of GFSSP to include fluids and features that are not part of its present set of provided examples. GFSSP provides pressure, temperature, and species concentrations at designated locations, or nodes, within a fluid network based on a finite volume formulation of thermodynamics and conservation laws. This paper describes the theoretical basis for the construction of the models, their implementation in the current GFSSP modeling system, and a brief evaluation of the usefulness of the model results, as well as their applicability toward a broader spectrum of analytical problems in both university teaching and engineering research.

Implementing a physical soil water flow model with minimal soil characteristics and added value offered by surface soil moisture measurements assimilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chanzy, André

2010-05-01

Soil moisture is a key variable for many soil physical and biogeochemical processes. Its dynamic results from water fluxes in soil and at its boundaries, as well as soil water storage properties. If the water flows are dominated by diffusive processes, modelling approaches based on the Richard's equation or the Philip and de Vries coupled heat and water flow equations lead to a satisfactory representation of the soil moisture dynamic. However, It requires the characterization of soil hydraulic functions, the initialisation and the boundary conditions, which are expensive to obtain. The major problem to assess soil moisture for decision making or for representing its spatiotemporal evolution over complex landscape is therefore the lack of information to run the models. The aim of the presentation is to analyse how a soil moisture model can be implemented when only climatic data and basic soil information are available (soil texture, organic matter) and what would be the added of making a few soil moisture measurements. We considered the field scale, which is the key scale for decision making application (the field being the management unit for farming system) and landscape modelling (field size being comparable to the computation unit of distributed hydrological models). The presentation is limited to the bare soil case in order to limit the complexity of the system and the TEC model based on Philip and De Vries equations is used in this study. The following points are addressed: o the within field spatial variability. This spatial variability can be induced by the soil hydraulic properties and/or by the amount of infiltrated water induced by water rooting towards infiltration areas. We analyse how an effective parameterization of soil properties and boundary conditions can be used to simulate the field average moisture. o The model implementation with limited information. We propose strategies that can be implemented when information are limited to soil texture and

Enthalpy model for heating, melting, and vaporization in laser ablation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasilios Alexiades

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Laser ablation is used in a growing number of applications in various areas including medicine, archaeology, chemistry, environmental and materials sciences. In this work the heat transfer and phase change phenomena during nanosecond laser ablation of a copper (Cu target in a helium (He background gas at atmospheric pressure are presented. An enthalpy model is outlined, which accounts for heating, melting, and vaporization of the target. As far as we know, this is the first model that connects the thermodynamics and underlying kinetics of this challenging phase change problem in a self-consistent way.

Informing soil models using pedotransfer functions: challenges and perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Pachepsky, Yakov; Romano, Nunzio

2015-04-01

Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are empirical relationships between parameters of soil models and more easily obtainable data on soil properties. PTFs have become an indispensable tool in modeling soil processes. As alternative methods to direct measurements, they bridge the data we have and data we need by using soil survey and monitoring data to enable modeling for real-world applications. Pedotransfer is extensively used in soil models addressing the most pressing environmental issues. The following is an attempt to provoke a discussion by listing current issues that are faced by PTF development. 1. As more intricate biogeochemical processes are being modeled, development of PTFs for parameters of those processes becomes essential. 2. Since the equations to express PTF relationships are essentially unknown, there has been a trend to employ highly nonlinear equations, e.g. neural networks, which in theory are flexible enough to simulate any dependence. This, however, comes with the penalty of large number of coefficients that are difficult to estimate reliably. A preliminary classification applied to PTF inputs and PTF development for each of the resulting groups may provide simple, transparent, and more reliable pedotransfer equations. 3. The multiplicity of models, i.e. presence of several models producing the same output variables, is commonly found in soil modeling, and is a typical feature in the PTF research field. However, PTF intercomparisons are lagging behind PTF development. This is aggravated by the fact that coefficients of PTF based on machine-learning methods are usually not reported. 4. The existence of PTFs is the result of some soil processes. Using models of those processes to generate PTFs, and more general, developing physics-based PTFs remains to be explored. 5. Estimating the variability of soil model parameters becomes increasingly important, as the newer modeling technologies such as data assimilation, ensemble modeling, and model

Distribution of tropical tropospheric water vapor

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, De-Zheng; Lindzen, Richard S.

1993-01-01

Utilizing a conceptual model for tropical convection and observational data for water vapor, the maintenance of the vertical distribution of the tropical tropospheric water vapor is discussed. While deep convection induces large-scale subsidence that constrains the turbulent downgradient mixing to within the convective boundary layer and effectively dries the troposphere through downward advection, it also pumps hydrometeors into the upper troposphere, whose subsequent evaporation appears to be the major source of moisture for the large-scale subsiding motion. The development of upper-level clouds and precipitation from these clouds may also act to dry the outflow, thus explaining the low relative humidity near the tropopause. A one-dimensional model is developed to simulate the mean vertical structure of water vapor in the tropical troposphere. It is also shown that the horizontal variation of water vapor in the tropical troposphere above the trade-wind boundary layer can be explained by the variation of a moisture source that is proportional to the amount of upper-level clouds. Implications for the nature of water vapor feedback in global warming are discussed.

Coupling scales for modelling heavy metal vaporization from municipal solid waste incineration in a fluid bed by CFD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soria, José, E-mail: jose.soria@probien.gob.ar [Institute for Research and Development in Process Engineering, Biotechnology and Alternative Energies (PROBIEN, CONICET – UNCo), 1400 Buenos Aires St., 8300 Neuquén (Argentina); Gauthier, Daniel; Flamant, Gilles [Processes, Materials and Solar Energy Laboratory (PROMES-CNRS, UPR 8521), 7 Four Solaire Street, Odeillo, 66120 Font-Romeu (France); Rodriguez, Rosa [Chemical Engineering Institute, National University of San Juan, 1109 Libertador (O) Avenue, 5400 San Juan (Argentina); Mazza, Germán [Institute for Research and Development in Process Engineering, Biotechnology and Alternative Energies (PROBIEN, CONICET – UNCo), 1400 Buenos Aires St., 8300 Neuquén (Argentina)

2015-09-15

Highlights: • A CFD two-scale model is formulated to simulate heavy metal vaporization from waste incineration in fluidized beds. • MSW particle is modelled with the macroscopic particle model. • Influence of bed dynamics on HM vaporization is included. • CFD predicted results agree well with experimental data reported in literature. • This approach may be helpful for fluidized bed reactor modelling purposes. - Abstract: Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) in fluidized bed is a very interesting technology mainly due to high combustion efficiency, great flexibility for treating several types of waste fuels and reduction in pollutants emitted with the flue gas. However, there is a great concern with respect to the fate of heavy metals (HM) contained in MSW and their environmental impact. In this study, a coupled two-scale CFD model was developed for MSWI in a bubbling fluidized bed. It presents an original scheme that combines a single particle model and a global fluidized bed model in order to represent the HM vaporization during MSW combustion. Two of the most representative HM (Cd and Pb) with bed temperatures ranging between 923 and 1073 K have been considered. This new approach uses ANSYS FLUENT 14.0 as the modelling platform for the simulations along with a complete set of self-developed user-defined functions (UDFs). The simulation results are compared to the experimental data obtained previously by the research group in a lab-scale fluid bed incinerator. The comparison indicates that the proposed CFD model predicts well the evolution of the HM release for the bed temperatures analyzed. It shows that both bed temperature and bed dynamics have influence on the HM vaporization rate. It can be concluded that CFD is a rigorous tool that provides valuable information about HM vaporization and that the original two-scale simulation scheme adopted allows to better represent the actual particle behavior in a fluid bed incinerator.

Coupling scales for modelling heavy metal vaporization from municipal solid waste incineration in a fluid bed by CFD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soria, José; Gauthier, Daniel; Flamant, Gilles; Rodriguez, Rosa; Mazza, Germán

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A CFD two-scale model is formulated to simulate heavy metal vaporization from waste incineration in fluidized beds. • MSW particle is modelled with the macroscopic particle model. • Influence of bed dynamics on HM vaporization is included. • CFD predicted results agree well with experimental data reported in literature. • This approach may be helpful for fluidized bed reactor modelling purposes. - Abstract: Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) in fluidized bed is a very interesting technology mainly due to high combustion efficiency, great flexibility for treating several types of waste fuels and reduction in pollutants emitted with the flue gas. However, there is a great concern with respect to the fate of heavy metals (HM) contained in MSW and their environmental impact. In this study, a coupled two-scale CFD model was developed for MSWI in a bubbling fluidized bed. It presents an original scheme that combines a single particle model and a global fluidized bed model in order to represent the HM vaporization during MSW combustion. Two of the most representative HM (Cd and Pb) with bed temperatures ranging between 923 and 1073 K have been considered. This new approach uses ANSYS FLUENT 14.0 as the modelling platform for the simulations along with a complete set of self-developed user-defined functions (UDFs). The simulation results are compared to the experimental data obtained previously by the research group in a lab-scale fluid bed incinerator. The comparison indicates that the proposed CFD model predicts well the evolution of the HM release for the bed temperatures analyzed. It shows that both bed temperature and bed dynamics have influence on the HM vaporization rate. It can be concluded that CFD is a rigorous tool that provides valuable information about HM vaporization and that the original two-scale simulation scheme adopted allows to better represent the actual particle behavior in a fluid bed incinerator

Modeling CO2 laser ablation impulse of polymers in vapor and plasma regimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinko, John E.; Phipps, Claude R.

2009-01-01

An improved model for CO 2 laser ablation impulse in polyoxymethylene and similar polymers is presented that describes the transition effects from the onset of vaporization to the plasma regime in a continuous fashion. Several predictions are made for ablation behavior.

Numerical modelling of multiphase liquid-vapor-gas flows with interfaces and cavitation

Science.gov (United States)

Pelanti, Marica

2017-11-01

We are interested in the simulation of multiphase flows where the dynamical appearance of vapor cavities and evaporation fronts in a liquid is coupled to the dynamics of a third non-condensable gaseous phase. We describe these flows by a single-velocity three-phase compressible flow model composed of the phasic mass and total energy equations, the volume fraction equations, and the mixture momentum equation. The model includes stiff mechanical and thermal relaxation source terms for all the phases, and chemical relaxation terms to describe mass transfer between the liquid and vapor phases of the species that may undergo transition. The flow equations are solved by a mixture-energy-consistent finite volume wave propagation scheme, combined with simple and robust procedures for the treatment of the stiff relaxation terms. An analytical study of the characteristic wave speeds of the hierarchy of relaxed models associated to the parent model system is also presented. We show several numerical experiments, including two-dimensional simulations of underwater explosive phenomena where highly pressurized gases trigger cavitation processes close to a rigid surface or to a free surface. This work was supported by the French Government Grant DGA N. 2012.60.0011.00.470.75.01, and partially by the Norwegian Grant RCN N. 234126/E30.

Analysis of the transient compressible vapor flow in heat pipe

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Jong Hoon; Faghri, Amir; Chang, Won Soon

1989-01-01

The transient compressible one-dimensional vapor flow dynamics in a heat pipe is modeled. The numerical results are obtained by using the implicit non-iterative Beam-Warming finite difference method. The model is tested for simulated heat pipe vapor flow and actual flow in cylindrical heat pipes. A good comparison of the present transient results for the simulated heat pipe vapor flow with the previous results of a two-dimensional numerical model is achieved and the steady state results are in agreement with the existing experimental data. The transient behavior of the vapor flow under subsonic, sonic, and supersonic speeds and high mass flow rates are successfully predicted. The one-dimensional model also describes the vapor flow dynamics in cylindrical heat pipes at high temperatures.

Use of satellite and modeled soil moisture data for predicting event soil loss at plot scale

Science.gov (United States)

Todisco, F.; Brocca, L.; Termite, L. F.; Wagner, W.

2015-09-01

The potential of coupling soil moisture and a Universal Soil Loss Equation-based (USLE-based) model for event soil loss estimation at plot scale is carefully investigated at the Masse area, in central Italy. The derived model, named Soil Moisture for Erosion (SM4E), is applied by considering the unavailability of in situ soil moisture measurements, by using the data predicted by a soil water balance model (SWBM) and derived from satellite sensors, i.e., the Advanced SCATterometer (ASCAT). The soil loss estimation accuracy is validated using in situ measurements in which event observations at plot scale are available for the period 2008-2013. The results showed that including soil moisture observations in the event rainfall-runoff erosivity factor of the USLE enhances the capability of the model to account for variations in event soil losses, the soil moisture being an effective alternative to the estimated runoff, in the prediction of the event soil loss at Masse. The agreement between observed and estimated soil losses (through SM4E) is fairly satisfactory with a determination coefficient (log-scale) equal to ~ 0.35 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of ~ 2.8 Mg ha-1. These results are particularly significant for the operational estimation of soil losses. Indeed, currently, soil moisture is a relatively simple measurement at the field scale and remote sensing data are also widely available on a global scale. Through satellite data, there is the potential of applying the SM4E model for large-scale monitoring and quantification of the soil erosion process.

Characterization of a Carbon Nanotube Field Emission Electron Gun for the VAPoR Miniaturized Pyrolysis-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Getty, Stephanie; Li, Mary; Costen, Nicholas; Hess, Larry; Feng, Steve; King, Todd; Brinckerhoff, William; Mahaffy, Paul; Glavin, Daniel

2009-01-01

We are developing the VAPoR (Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith) instrument towards studying soil composition, volatiles, and trapped noble gases in the polar regions of the Moon. VAPOR will ingest a soil sample and conduct analysis by pyrolysis and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ToF-MS). Here, we describe miniaturization efforts within this development, including a carbon nanotube (CNT) field emission electron gun that is under consideration for use as the electron impact ionization source for the ToF-MS.

Electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the determination of trace amount of lanthanides and yttrium in soil with polytetrafluroethylene emulsion as a chemical modifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Man; Hu, Bin; Jiang Zucheng

2005-01-01

A method of electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) for the determination of trace lanthanides and yttrium in soil samples with a polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) emulsion as chemical modifier to promote the vaporization of the analytes from the graphite furnace was developed in this paper. The analytical characteristics, spectral interference and matrix effect of the analytical method were evaluated and critically compared with those of pneumatic nebulization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (PN-ICP-MS). Under the optimized operation conditions, the relative detection limits of lanthanides (La-Lu) and yttrium for ETV-ICP-MS and PN-ICP-MS were 0.4-20 ng l -1 and 1.0-21 ng l -1 , respectively, the absolute detection limits for ETV-ICP-MS were 4-200 fg, which were improved by 1-2 orders of magnitude compared with PN-ICP-MS. While the analytical precision of ETV-ICP-MS is worse than that of PN-ICP-MS, with the R.S.D.s (%) of 4.1-10% for the former and 2.9-7.8% for the latter. Regarding to the matrix effect, both conventional method and stepwise dilution method were employed to observe the effect of matrix and the very similar results were obtained. It was found that the highest tolerance concentration of the matrix is 1000 mg l -1 and 800 mg l -1 for ETV-ICP-MS and PN-ICP-MS, respectively. To assess the accuracy, the proposed method was applied to the determination of trace lanthanides and yttrium in three different soil standard reference materials and one soil sample, and the determined values are in good agreement with the certified values or reference values

Use of satellite and modelled soil moisture data for predicting event soil loss at plot scale

Science.gov (United States)

Todisco, F.; Brocca, L.; Termite, L. F.; Wagner, W.

2015-03-01

The potential of coupling soil moisture and a~USLE-based model for event soil loss estimation at plot scale is carefully investigated at the Masse area, in Central Italy. The derived model, named Soil Moisture for Erosion (SM4E), is applied by considering the unavailability of in situ soil moisture measurements, by using the data predicted by a soil water balance model (SWBM) and derived from satellite sensors, i.e. the Advanced SCATterometer (ASCAT). The soil loss estimation accuracy is validated using in situ measurements in which event observations at plot scale are available for the period 2008-2013. The results showed that including soil moisture observations in the event rainfall-runoff erosivity factor of the RUSLE/USLE, enhances the capability of the model to account for variations in event soil losses, being the soil moisture an effective alternative to the estimated runoff, in the prediction of the event soil loss at Masse. The agreement between observed and estimated soil losses (through SM4E) is fairly satisfactory with a determination coefficient (log-scale) equal to of ~ 0.35 and a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of ~ 2.8 Mg ha-1. These results are particularly significant for the operational estimation of soil losses. Indeed, currently, soil moisture is a relatively simple measurement at the field scale and remote sensing data are also widely available on a global scale. Through satellite data, there is the potential of applying the SM4E model for large-scale monitoring and quantification of the soil erosion process.

A case study on the application of air sparging with vapor extraction at a gasoline spill site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marley, M.C.; Walsh, M.T.; Nangeroni, T.E.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that in 1985, remedial activities were implemented at a gasoline spill site in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The engineering company that contracted to perform the remedial activities designed, installed, and operated a free gasoline product recovery system and a groundwater pump and treat system. An air striping tower was utilized to remove volatile organic hydrocarbons (VOCs) dissolved in the groundwater. Gasoline hydrocarbon vapor migration into nearby basements was controlled through the operation of a soil gas venting system (SGVS), also installed in 1985. The groundwater treatment and free product recovery systems were shut off in may 1987; however, the soil venting system remained in operation and additional vacuum wells were installed to remediate gasoline contaminated vadose zone soils and to recover hydrocarbon vapors in the vicinity of the spill location

Estimates of soil erosion using cesium-137 tracer models.

Science.gov (United States)

Saç, M M; Uğur, A; Yener, G; Ozden, B

2008-01-01

The soil erosion was studied by 137Cs technique in Yatagan basin in Western Turkey, where there exist intensive agricultural activities. This region is subject to serious soil loss problems and yet there is not any erosion data towards soil management and control guidelines. During the soil survey studies, the soil profiles were examined carefully to select the reference points. The soil samples were collected from the slope facets in three different study areas (Kirtas, Peynirli and Kayisalan Hills). Three different models were applied for erosion rate calculations in undisturbed and cultivated sites. The profile distribution model (PDM) was used for undisturbed soils, while proportional model (PM) and simplified mass balance model (SMBM) were used for cultivated soils. The mean annual erosion rates found using PDM in undisturbed soils were 15 t ha(-1) year(-1) at the Peynirli Hill and 27 t ha(-1) year(-1) at the Kirtas Hill. With the PM and SMBM in cultivated soils at Kayişalan, the mean annual erosion rates were obtained to be 65 and 116 t ha(-1) year(-1), respectively. The results of 137Cs technique were compared with the results of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE).

Benchmark Data Set for Wheat Growth Models: Field Experiments and AgMIP Multi-Model Simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Asseng, S.; Ewert, F.; Martre, P.; Rosenzweig, C.; Jones, J. W.; Hatfield, J. L.; Ruane, A. C.; Boote, K. J.; Thorburn, P.J.; Rotter, R. P.

2015-01-01

The data set includes a current representative management treatment from detailed, quality-tested sentinel field experiments with wheat from four contrasting environments including Australia, The Netherlands, India and Argentina. Measurements include local daily climate data (solar radiation, maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation, surface wind, dew point temperature, relative humidity, and vapor pressure), soil characteristics, frequent growth, nitrogen in crop and soil, crop and soil water and yield components. Simulations include results from 27 wheat models and a sensitivity analysis with 26 models and 30 years (1981-2010) for each location, for elevated atmospheric CO2 and temperature changes, a heat stress sensitivity analysis at anthesis, and a sensitivity analysis with soil and crop management variations and a Global Climate Model end-century scenario.

Modeling coupled interactions of carbon, water, and ozone exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. I: Model description

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikolov, Ned; Zeller, Karl F.

2003-01-01

A new biophysical model (FORFLUX) is presented to link ozone deposition with carbon and water cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. - A new biophysical model (FORFLUX) is presented to study the simultaneous exchange of ozone, carbon dioxide, and water vapor between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. The model mechanistically couples all major processes controlling ecosystem flows trace gases and water implementing recent concepts in plant eco-physiology, micrometeorology, and soil hydrology. FORFLUX consists of four interconnected modules-a leaf photosynthesis model, a canopy flux model, a soil heat-, water- and CO 2 - transport model, and a snow pack model. Photosynthesis, water-vapor flux and ozone uptake at the leaf level are computed by the LEAFC3 sub-model. The canopy module scales leaf responses to a stand level by numerical integration of the LEAFC3 model over canopy leaf area index (LAI). The integration takes into account (1) radiative transfer inside the canopy, (2) variation of foliage photosynthetic capacity with canopy depth, (3) wind speed attenuation throughout the canopy, and (4) rainfall interception by foliage elements. The soil module uses principles of the diffusion theory to predict temperature and moisture dynamics within the soil column, evaporation, and CO 2 efflux from soil. The effect of soil heterogeneity on field-scale fluxes is simulated employing the Bresler-Dagan stochastic concept. The accumulation and melt of snow on the ground is predicted using an explicit energy balance approach. Ozone deposition is modeled as a sum of three fluxes- ozone uptake via plant stomata, deposition to non-transpiring plant surfaces, and ozone flux into the ground. All biophysical interactions are computed hourly while model projections are made at either hourly or daily time step. FORFLUX represents a comprehensive approach to studying ozone deposition and its link to carbon and water cycles in terrestrial ecosystems

Modelling soil water content variations under drought stress on soil column cropped with winter wheat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Csorba Szilveszter

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Mathematical models are effective tools for evaluating the impact of predicted climate change on agricultural production, but it is difficult to test their applicability to future weather conditions. We applied the SWAP model to assess its applicability to climate conditions, differing from those, for which the model was developed. We used a database obtained from a winter wheat drought stress experiment. Winter wheat was grown in six soil columns, three having optimal water supply (NS, while three were kept under drought-stressed conditions (S. The SWAP model was successfully calibrated against measured values of potential evapotranspiration (PET, potential evaporation (PE and total amount of water (TSW in the soil columns. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (N-S for TWS for the stressed columns was 0.92. For the NS treatment, we applied temporally variable soil hydraulic properties because of soil consolidation caused by regular irrigation. This approach improved the N-S values for the wetting-drying cycle from -1.77 to 0.54. We concluded that the model could be used for assessing the effects of climate change on soil water regime. Our results indicate that soil water balance studies should put more focus on the time variability of structuredependent soil properties.

A predictive model for the chemical vapor deposition of polysilicon in a cold wall, rapid thermal system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toprac, A.J.; Trachtenberg, I.; Edgar, T.F. (Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering)

1994-06-01

The chemical vapor deposition of polysilicon from thermally activated silane in a cold wall, single-wafer rapid thermal system was studied by experimentation at a variety of low pressure conditions, including very high temperatures. The effect of diluent gas on polysilicon deposition rates was examined using hydrogen, helium, and krypton. A mass-transfer model for the chemical vapor deposition of polysilicon in a cold wall, rapid thermal system was developed. This model was used to produce an empirical rate expression for silicon deposition from silane by regressing kinetic parameters to fit experimental data. The resulting model provided accurate predictions over widely varying conditions in the experimental data.

The liquid to vapor phase transition in excited nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, J.B.; Moretto, L.G.; Phair, L.; Wozniak, G.J.; Beaulieu, L.; Breuer, H.; Korteling, R.G.; Kwiatkowski, K.; Lefort, T.; Pienkowski, L.; Ruangma, A.; Viola, V.E.; Yennello, S.J.

2001-05-08

For many years it has been speculated that excited nuclei would undergo a liquid to vapor phase transition. For even longer, it has been known that clusterization in a vapor carries direct information on the liquid-vapor equilibrium according to Fisher's droplet model. Now the thermal component of the 8 GeV/c pion + 197 Au multifragmentation data of the ISiS Collaboration is shown to follow the scaling predicted by Fisher's model, thus providing the strongest evidence yet of the liquid to vapor phase transition.

Updated global soil map for the Weather Research and Forecasting model and soil moisture initialization for the Noah land surface model

Science.gov (United States)

DY, C. Y.; Fung, J. C. H.

2016-08-01

A meteorological model requires accurate initial conditions and boundary conditions to obtain realistic numerical weather predictions. The land surface controls the surface heat and moisture exchanges, which can be determined by the physical properties of the soil and soil state variables, subsequently exerting an effect on the boundary layer meteorology. The initial and boundary conditions of soil moisture are currently obtained via National Centers for Environmental Prediction FNL (Final) Operational Global Analysis data, which are collected operationally in 1° by 1° resolutions every 6 h. Another input to the model is the soil map generated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (FAO-UNESCO) soil database, which combines several soil surveys from around the world. Both soil moisture from the FNL analysis data and the default soil map lack accuracy and feature coarse resolutions, particularly for certain areas of China. In this study, we update the global soil map with data from Beijing Normal University in 1 km by 1 km grids and propose an alternative method of soil moisture initialization. Simulations of the Weather Research and Forecasting model show that spinning-up the soil moisture improves near-surface temperature and relative humidity prediction using different types of soil moisture initialization. Explanations of that improvement and improvement of the planetary boundary layer height in performing process analysis are provided.

Proximal Soil Sensing - A Contribution for Species Habitat Distribution Modelling of Earthworms in Agricultural Soils?

Science.gov (United States)

Schirrmann, Michael; Joschko, Monika; Gebbers, Robin; Kramer, Eckart; Zörner, Mirjam; Barkusky, Dietmar; Timmer, Jens

2016-01-01

Earthworms are important for maintaining soil ecosystem functioning and serve as indicators of soil fertility. However, detection of earthworms is time-consuming, which hinders the assessment of earthworm abundances with high sampling density over entire fields. Recent developments of mobile terrestrial sensor platforms for proximal soil sensing (PSS) provided new tools for collecting dense spatial information of soils using various sensing principles. Yet, the potential of PSS for assessing earthworm habitats is largely unexplored. This study investigates whether PSS data contribute to the spatial prediction of earthworm abundances in species distribution models of agricultural soils. Proximal soil sensing data, e.g., soil electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and near infrared absorbance (NIR), were collected in real-time in a field with two management strategies (reduced tillage / conventional tillage) and sandy to loam soils. PSS was related to observations from a long-term (11 years) earthworm observation study conducted at 42 plots. Earthworms were sampled from 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.2 m³ soil blocks and identified to species level. Sensor data were highly correlated with earthworm abundances observed in reduced tillage but less correlated with earthworm abundances observed in conventional tillage. This may indicate that management influences the sensor-earthworm relationship. Generalized additive models and state-space models showed that modelling based on data fusion from EC, pH, and NIR sensors produced better results than modelling without sensor data or data from just a single sensor. Regarding the individual earthworm species, particular sensor combinations were more appropriate than others due to the different habitat requirements of the earthworms. Earthworm species with soil-specific habitat preferences were spatially predicted with higher accuracy by PSS than more ubiquitous species. Our findings suggest that PSS contributes to the spatial modelling of

Proximal Soil Sensing - A Contribution for Species Habitat Distribution Modelling of Earthworms in Agricultural Soils?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Schirrmann

Full Text Available Earthworms are important for maintaining soil ecosystem functioning and serve as indicators of soil fertility. However, detection of earthworms is time-consuming, which hinders the assessment of earthworm abundances with high sampling density over entire fields. Recent developments of mobile terrestrial sensor platforms for proximal soil sensing (PSS provided new tools for collecting dense spatial information of soils using various sensing principles. Yet, the potential of PSS for assessing earthworm habitats is largely unexplored. This study investigates whether PSS data contribute to the spatial prediction of earthworm abundances in species distribution models of agricultural soils.Proximal soil sensing data, e.g., soil electrical conductivity (EC, pH, and near infrared absorbance (NIR, were collected in real-time in a field with two management strategies (reduced tillage / conventional tillage and sandy to loam soils. PSS was related to observations from a long-term (11 years earthworm observation study conducted at 42 plots. Earthworms were sampled from 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.2 m³ soil blocks and identified to species level. Sensor data were highly correlated with earthworm abundances observed in reduced tillage but less correlated with earthworm abundances observed in conventional tillage. This may indicate that management influences the sensor-earthworm relationship. Generalized additive models and state-space models showed that modelling based on data fusion from EC, pH, and NIR sensors produced better results than modelling without sensor data or data from just a single sensor. Regarding the individual earthworm species, particular sensor combinations were more appropriate than others due to the different habitat requirements of the earthworms. Earthworm species with soil-specific habitat preferences were spatially predicted with higher accuracy by PSS than more ubiquitous species.Our findings suggest that PSS contributes to the spatial

Study of the effect of wind speed on evaporation from soil through integrated modeling of the atmospheric boundary layer and shallow subsurface.

Science.gov (United States)

Davarzani, Hossein; Smits, Kathleen; Tolene, Ryan M; Illangasekare, Tissa

2014-01-01

In an effort to develop methods based on integrating the subsurface to the atmospheric boundary layer to estimate evaporation, we developed a model based on the coupling of Navier-Stokes free flow and Darcy flow in porous medium. The model was tested using experimental data to study the effect of wind speed on evaporation. The model consists of the coupled equations of mass conservation for two-phase flow in porous medium with single-phase flow in the free-flow domain under nonisothermal, nonequilibrium phase change conditions. In this model, the evaporation rate and soil surface temperature and relative humidity at the interface come directly from the integrated model output. To experimentally validate numerical results, we developed a unique test system consisting of a wind tunnel interfaced with a soil tank instrumented with a network of sensors to measure soil-water variables. Results demonstrated that, by using this coupling approach, it is possible to predict the different stages of the drying process with good accuracy. Increasing the wind speed increases the first stage evaporation rate and decreases the transition time between two evaporative stages (soil water flow to vapor diffusion controlled) at low velocity values; then, at high wind speeds the evaporation rate becomes less dependent on the wind speed. On the contrary, the impact of wind speed on second stage evaporation (diffusion-dominant stage) is not significant. We found that the thermal and solute dispersion in free-flow systems has a significant influence on drying processes from porous media and should be taken into account.

Model for tritiated water transport in soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galeriu, D.; Paunescu, N.

1999-01-01

Chemical forms of tritium released from nuclear facilities are mostly water (HTO) and hydrogen (HT, TT). Elemental tritium is inert in vegetation and superior animals, but the microorganisms from soil oxidize HT to HTO. After an atmospheric HT emission, in short time an equivalent quantity of HTO is re-emitted from soil. In the vicinity of a tritium source the spatial and temporary distribution of HTO is dependent on the chemical form of tritium releases. During routine tritium releases (continuously and constant releases), the local distribution of tritium reaches equilibrium, and specific activities of tritium in environmental compartments are almost equal. The situation is very different after an accidental emission. Having in view, harmful effects of tritium when it is incorporated into the body several models were developed for environmental tritium transport and dose assessment. The tritium transport into the soil is an important part of the environmental tritium behavior, but, unfortunately, in spite of the importance of this problem the corresponding modeling is unsatisfactory. The aim of this paper was the improvement of the TRICAIAP model, and the application of the model to BIOMOVS scenario. The BIOMOVS scenario predicts HTO concentrations in soil during 30 days, after one hour atmospheric HTO emission. The most important conclusions of the paper are: the principal carrier of tritium into the soil is water; the transfer processes are the reactions of water in soil and the diffusion due to concentration gradient; atmosphere-soil transport is dependent of surface characteristics (granulation, humidity, roughness, etc.); the conversion rate of HT to HTO is not well known and is dependent on active microorganism concentration in soil and on soil humidity. More experimental data are needed to decrease the uncertainty of transfer parameter, for the definition of the influence of vegetation, etc. (authors)

Use of modeled and satelite soil moisture to estimate soil erosion in central and southern Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Termite, Loris Francesco; Massari, Christian; Todisco, Francesca; Brocca, Luca; Ferro, Vito; Bagarello, Vincenzo; Pampalone, Vincenzo; Wagner, Wolfgang

2016-04-01

This study presents an accurate comparison between two different approaches aimed to enhance accuracy of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) in estimating the soil loss at the single event time scale. Indeed it is well known that including the observed event runoff in the USLE improves its soil loss estimation ability at the event scale. In particular, the USLE-M and USLE-MM models use the observed runoff coefficient to correct the rainfall erosivity factor. In the first case, the soil loss is linearly dependent on rainfall erosivity, in the second case soil loss and erosivity are related by a power law. However, the measurement of the event runoff is not straightforward or, in some cases, possible. For this reason, the first approach used in this study is the use of Soil Moisture For Erosion (SM4E), a recent USLE-derived model in which the event runoff is replaced by the antecedent soil moisture. Three kinds of soil moisture datasets have been separately used: the ERA-Interim/Land reanalysis data of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF); satellite retrievals from the European Space Agency - Climate Change Initiative (ESA-CCI); modeled data using a Soil Water Balance Model (SWBM). The second approach is the use of an estimated runoff rather than the observed. Specifically, the Simplified Continuous Rainfall-Runoff Model (SCRRM) is used to derive the runoff estimates. SCRMM requires soil moisture data as input and at this aim the same three soil moisture datasets used for the SM4E have been separately used. All the examined models have been calibrated and tested at the plot scale, using data from the experimental stations for the monitoring of the erosive processes "Masse" (Central Italy) and "Sparacia" (Southern Italy). Climatic data and runoff and soil loss measures at the event time scale are available for the period 2008-2013 at Masse and for the period 2002-2013 at Sparacia. The results show that both the approaches can provide

A new model for the structure function of integrated water vapor in turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bobak, Justin P.; Ruf, Christopher S.

1999-01-01

Turbulent fluctuation of integrated water vapor in the troposphere is one of the major noise sources in radio interferometry. Processed integrated water vapor estimates from microwave radiometers colocated with interferometers have been used to set bounds on this uncertainty. The bound has been in the form of a calculated structure function, which is a measure of temporal or spatial decorrelation of fluctuations. In this paper a new model is presented for the estimation of the structure function in the absence of radiometer measurements. Using this model, the structure function can be estimated using measurements or estimates of a limited number of meteorological parameters. These parameters include boundary layer depth, surface heat and humidity fluxes, entrainment humidity flux, average virtual potential temperature in the boundary layer, and geostrophic wind speed. These parameters can be found or estimated from radiosonde and surface eddy correlation system data. The model is based on a framework of turbulence meteorology and provides excellent agreement when compared with state-of-the-art atmospheric turbulence simulations. Results of preliminary comparisons with ground truth show some excellent agreement, as well as some problems. The performance of the new model exceeds that of one current model. (c) 1999 American Geophysical Union

Comparing soil moisture memory in satellite observations and models

Science.gov (United States)

Stacke, Tobias; Hagemann, Stefan; Loew, Alexander

2013-04-01

A major obstacle to a correct parametrization of soil processes in large scale global land surface models is the lack of long term soil moisture observations for large parts of the globe. Currently, a compilation of soil moisture data derived from a range of satellites is released by the ESA Climate Change Initiative (ECV_SM). Comprising the period from 1978 until 2010, it provides the opportunity to compute climatological relevant statistics on a quasi-global scale and to compare these to the output of climate models. Our study is focused on the investigation of soil moisture memory in satellite observations and models. As a proxy for memory we compute the autocorrelation length (ACL) of the available satellite data and the uppermost soil layer of the models. Additional to the ECV_SM data, AMSR-E soil moisture is used as observational estimate. Simulated soil moisture fields are taken from ERA-Interim reanalysis and generated with the land surface model JSBACH, which was driven with quasi-observational meteorological forcing data. The satellite data show ACLs between one week and one month for the greater part of the land surface while the models simulate a longer memory of up to two months. Some pattern are similar in models and observations, e.g. a longer memory in the Sahel Zone and the Arabian Peninsula, but the models are not able to reproduce regions with a very short ACL of just a few days. If the long term seasonality is subtracted from the data the memory is strongly shortened, indicating the importance of seasonal variations for the memory in most regions. Furthermore, we analyze the change of soil moisture memory in the different soil layers of the models to investigate to which extent the surface soil moisture includes information about the whole soil column. A first analysis reveals that the ACL is increasing for deeper layers. However, its increase is stronger in the soil moisture anomaly than in its absolute values and the first even exceeds the

Challenges in the development of analytical soil compaction models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Keller, Thomas; Lamandé, Mathieu

2010-01-01

and recommendations for the prevention of soil compaction often rely on simulation models. This paper highlights some issues that need further consideration in order to improve soil compaction modelling, with the focus on analytical models. We discuss the different issues based on comparisons between experimental......Soil compaction can cause a number of environmental and agronomic problems (e.g. flooding, erosion, leaching of agrochemicals to recipient waters, emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, crop yield losses), resulting in significant economic damage to society and agriculture. Strategies...... data and model simulations. The upper model boundary condition (i.e. contact area and stresses at the tyre-soil interface) is highly influential in stress propagation, but knowledge on the effects of loading and soil conditions on the upper model boundary condition is inadequate. The accuracy of stress...

UNSAT-H Version 3.0: Unsaturated Soil Water and Heat Flow Model Theory, User Manual, and Examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fayer, M.J.

2000-01-01

The UNSAT-H model was developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to assess the water dynamics of arid sites and, in particular, estimate recharge fluxes for scenarios pertinent to waste disposal facilities. During the last 4 years, the UNSAT-H model received support from the Immobilized Waste Program (IWP) of the Hanford Site's River Protection Project. This program is designing and assessing the performance of on-site disposal facilities to receive radioactive wastes that are currently stored in single- and double-shell tanks at the Hanford Site (LMHC 1999). The IWP is interested in estimates of recharge rates for current conditions and long-term scenarios involving the vadose zone disposal of tank wastes. Simulation modeling with UNSAT-H is one of the methods being used to provide those estimates (e.g., Rockhold et al. 1995; Fayer et al. 1999). To achieve the above goals for assessing water dynamics and estimating recharge rates, the UNSAT-H model addresses soil water infiltration, redistribution, evaporation, plant transpiration, deep drainage, and soil heat flow as one-dimensional processes. The UNSAT-H model simulates liquid water flow using Richards' equation (Richards 1931), water vapor diffusion using Fick's law, and sensible heat flow using the Fourier equation. This report documents UNSAT-H .Version 3.0. The report includes the bases for the conceptual model and its numerical implementation, benchmark test cases, example simulations involving layered soils and plants, and the code manual. Version 3.0 is an, enhanced-capability update of UNSAT-H Version 2.0 (Fayer and Jones 1990). New features include hysteresis, an iterative solution of head and temperature, an energy balance check, the modified Picard solution technique, additional hydraulic functions, multiple-year simulation capability, and general enhancements

The desorptivity model of bulk soil-water evaporation

Science.gov (United States)

Clapp, R. B.

1983-01-01

Available models of bulk evaporation from a bare-surfaced soil are difficult to apply to field conditions where evaporation is complicated by two main factors: rate-limiting climatic conditions and redistribution of soil moisture following infiltration. Both factors are included in the "desorptivity model', wherein the evaporation rate during the second stage (the soil-limiting stage) of evaporation is related to the desorptivity parameter, A. Analytical approximations for A are presented. The approximations are independent of the surface soil moisture. However, calculations using the approximations indicate that both soil texture and soil moisture content at depth significantly affect A. Because the moisture content at depth decreases in time during redistribution, it follows that the A parameter also changes with time. Consequently, a method to calculate a representative value of A was developed. When applied to field data, the desorptivity model estimated cumulative evaporation well. The model is easy to calculate, but its usefulness is limited because it requires an independent estimate of the time of transition between the first and second stages of evaporation. The model shows that bulk evaporation after the transition to the second stage is largely independent of climatic conditions.

Evaluation of Water Vapor Sorption Hysteresis in Soils: The Role of Organic Matter and Clay

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arthur, Emmanuel; Tuller, Markus; Moldrup, Per

2015-01-01

an important role. It is clear that modeling physical and biological soil processes is more accurate when SWC hysteresis is considered, particularly at low potentials where small differences in water content are associated with large changes in potential energy. The objectives of the presented study were to......: (i) evaluate and compare recently developed methods (MBET-n, Dh and SPN) for quantifying hysteresis in soils and pure clays, and (ii) investigate the role of organic matter (OM) and clay content and type on hysteresis. Five pure clays and two sets of soils with gradients in organic matter and clay....... For the SPN method, large contents of organic matter and clay in soils are associated with increased hysteresis. For both MBET-n and Dh methods, no clear trends of clay or OM contents effects on hysteresis was observed....

Simulating secondary organic aerosol in a regional air quality model using the statistical oxidation model – Part 2: Assessing the influence of vapor wall losses

OpenAIRE

Cappa, Christopher D.; Jathar, Shantanu H.; Kleeman, Michael J.; Docherty, Kenneth S.; Jimenez, Jose L.; Seinfeld, John H.; Wexler, Anthony S.

2016-01-01

The influence of losses of organic vapors to chamber walls during secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation experiments has recently been established. Here, the influence of such losses on simulated ambient SOA concentrations and properties is assessed in the UCD/CIT regional air quality model using the statistical oxidation model (SOM) for SOA. The SOM was fit to laboratory chamber data both with and without accounting for vapor wall losses following the approa...

Radon transport in fractured soil. Laboratory experiments and modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoff, A.

1997-10-01

Radon (Rn-222) transport in fractured soil has been investigated by laboratory experiments and by modelling. Radon transport experiments have been performed with two sand columns (homogeneous and inhomogeneous) and one undisturbed clayey till column containing a net of preferential flow paths (root holes). A numerical model (the finite-element model FRACTRAN) and an analytic model (a pinhole model) have been applied in simulations if soil gas and radon transport in fractured soil. Experiments and model calculations are included in a discussion of radon entry rates into houses placed on fractured soil. The main conclusion is, that fractures does not in general alter transport of internally generated radon out of soil, when the pressure and flow conditions in the soil is comparable to the conditions prevailing under a house. This indicates the important result, that fractures in soil have no impact on radon entry into a house beyond that of an increased gas permeability, but a more thorough investigation of this subject is needed. Only in the case where the soil is exposed to large pressure gradients, relative to gradients induced by a house, may it be possible to observe effects of radon exchange between fractures and matrix. (au) 52 tabs., 60 ill., 5 refs

Radon transport in fractured soil. Laboratory experiments and modelling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoff, A

1997-10-01

Radon (Rn-222) transport in fractured soil has been investigated by laboratory experiments and by modelling. Radon transport experiments have been performed with two sand columns (homogeneous and inhomogeneous) and one undisturbed clayey till column containing a net of preferential flow paths (root holes). A numerical model (the finite-element model FRACTRAN) and an analytic model (a pinhole model) have been applied in simulations if soil gas and radon transport in fractured soil. Experiments and model calculations are included in a discussion of radon entry rates into houses placed on fractured soil. The main conclusion is, that fractures does not in general alter transport of internally generated radon out of soil, when the pressure and flow conditions in the soil is comparable to the conditions prevailing under a house. This indicates the important result, that fractures in soil have no impact on radon entry into a house beyond that of an increased gas permeability, but a more thorough investigation of this subject is needed. Only in the case where the soil is exposed to large pressure gradients, relative to gradients induced by a house, may it be possible to observe effects of radon exchange between fractures and matrix. (au) 52 tabs., 60 ill., 5 refs.

Finite Element Analysis Modeling of Chemical Vapor Deposition of Silicon Carbide

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-19

concentrations. This is the method by which species adsorb to the surface of the substrate. The movement resulting from diffusion is governed by...itself. This can be treacherous, however. The mesh is what the entire finite element method is built upon. If the movement of the backbone has... Brownian Motion Algorithm for Tow Scale Modeling of Chemical Vapor Infiltration. Computational Materials Science, 1871-1878. !178 23. Wang, C. & D

Soil Compressibility Models for a Wide Stress Range

KAUST Repository

Chong, Song-Hun

2016-03-03

Soil compressibility models with physically correct asymptotic void ratios are required to analyze situations that involve a wide stress range. Previously suggested models and other functions are adapted to satisfy asymptotic void ratios at low and high stress levels; all updated models involve four parameters. Compiled consolidation data for remolded and natural clays are used to test the models and to develop correlations between model parameters and index properties. Models can adequately fit soil compression data for a wide range of stresses and soil types; in particular, models that involve the power of the stress σ\\'β display higher flexibility to capture the brittle response of some natural soils. The use of a single continuous function avoids numerical discontinuities or the need for ad hoc procedures to determine the yield stress. The tangent stiffness-readily computed for all models-should not be mistaken for the small-strain constant-fabric stiffness. © 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Soil Structure - A Neglected Component of Land-Surface Models

Science.gov (United States)

Fatichi, S.; Or, D.; Walko, R. L.; Vereecken, H.; Kollet, S. J.; Young, M.; Ghezzehei, T. A.; Hengl, T.; Agam, N.; Avissar, R.

2017-12-01

Soil structure is largely absent in most standard sampling and measurements and in the subsequent parameterization of soil hydraulic properties deduced from soil maps and used in Earth System Models. The apparent omission propagates into the pedotransfer functions that deduce parameters of soil hydraulic properties primarily from soil textural information. Such simple parameterization is an essential ingredient in the practical application of any land surface model. Despite the critical role of soil structure (biopores formed by decaying roots, aggregates, etc.) in defining soil hydraulic functions, only a few studies have attempted to incorporate soil structure into models. They mostly looked at the effects on preferential flow and solute transport pathways at the soil profile scale; yet, the role of soil structure in mediating large-scale fluxes remains understudied. Here, we focus on rectifying this gap and demonstrating potential impacts on surface and subsurface fluxes and system wide eco-hydrologic responses. The study proposes a systematic way for correcting the soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions—accounting for soil-structure—with major implications for near saturated hydraulic conductivity. Modification to the basic soil hydraulic parameterization is assumed as a function of biological activity summarized by Gross Primary Production. A land-surface model with dynamic vegetation is used to carry out numerical simulations with and without the role of soil-structure for 20 locations characterized by different climates and biomes across the globe. Including soil structure affects considerably the partition between infiltration and runoff and consequently leakage at the base of the soil profile (recharge). In several locations characterized by wet climates, a few hundreds of mm per year of surface runoff become deep-recharge accounting for soil-structure. Changes in energy fluxes, total evapotranspiration and vegetation productivity

Two-phase flow modelling of a solar concentrator applied as ammonia vapor generator in an absorption refrigerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ortega, N. [Posgrado en Ingenieria (Energia), Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Privada Xochicalco s/n, Temixco, Morelos 62580 (Mexico); Garcia-Valladares, O.; Best, R.; Gomez, V.H. [Centro de Investigacion en Energia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Privada Xochicalco s/n, Temixco, Morelos 62580 (Mexico)

2008-09-15

A detailed one-dimensional numerical model describing the heat and fluid-dynamic behavior inside a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) used as an ammonia vapor generator has been developed. The governing equations (continuity, momentum, and energy) inside the CPC absorber tube, together with the energy equation in the tube wall and the thermal analysis in the solar concentrator were solved. The computational method developed is useful for the solar vapor generator design applied to absorption cooling systems. The effect on the outlet temperature and vapor quality of a range of CPC design parameters was analyzed. These parameters were the acceptance half-angle and CPC length, the diameter and coating of the absorber tube, and the manufacture materials of the cover, the reflector, and the absorber tube. It was found that the most important design parameters in order to obtain a higher ammonia-water vapor production are, in order of priority: the reflector material, the absorber tube diameter, the selective surface, and the acceptance half-angle. The direct ammonia-water vapor generation resulting from a 35 m long CPC was coupled to an absorption refrigeration system model in order to determine the solar fraction, cooling capacity, coefficient of performance, and overall efficiency during a typical day of operation. The results show that approximately 3.8 kW of cooling at -10{sup o}C could be produced with solar and overall efficiencies up to 46.3% and 21.2%, respectively. (author)

Using advanced surface complexation models for modelling soil chemistry under forests: Solling forest, Germany

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonten, Luc T.C., E-mail: luc.bonten@wur.nl [Alterra-Wageningen UR, Soil Science Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen (Netherlands); Groenenberg, Jan E. [Alterra-Wageningen UR, Soil Science Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen (Netherlands); Meesenburg, Henning [Northwest German Forest Research Station, Abt. Umweltkontrolle, Sachgebiet Intensives Umweltmonitoring, Goettingen (Germany); Vries, Wim de [Alterra-Wageningen UR, Soil Science Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen (Netherlands)

2011-10-15

Various dynamic soil chemistry models have been developed to gain insight into impacts of atmospheric deposition of sulphur, nitrogen and other elements on soil and soil solution chemistry. Sorption parameters for anions and cations are generally calibrated for each site, which hampers extrapolation in space and time. On the other hand, recently developed surface complexation models (SCMs) have been successful in predicting ion sorption for static systems using generic parameter sets. This study reports the inclusion of an assemblage of these SCMs in the dynamic soil chemistry model SMARTml and applies this model to a spruce forest site in Solling Germany. Parameters for SCMs were taken from generic datasets and not calibrated. Nevertheless, modelling results for major elements matched observations well. Further, trace metals were included in the model, also using the existing framework of SCMs. The model predicted sorption for most trace elements well. - Highlights: > Surface complexation models can be well applied in field studies. > Soil chemistry under a forest site is adequately modelled using generic parameters. > The model is easily extended with extra elements within the existing framework. > Surface complexation models can show the linkages between major soil chemistry and trace element behaviour. - Surface complexation models with generic parameters make calibration of sorption superfluous in dynamic modelling of deposition impacts on soil chemistry under nature areas.

Using advanced surface complexation models for modelling soil chemistry under forests: Solling forest, Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonten, Luc T.C.; Groenenberg, Jan E.; Meesenburg, Henning; Vries, Wim de

2011-01-01

Various dynamic soil chemistry models have been developed to gain insight into impacts of atmospheric deposition of sulphur, nitrogen and other elements on soil and soil solution chemistry. Sorption parameters for anions and cations are generally calibrated for each site, which hampers extrapolation in space and time. On the other hand, recently developed surface complexation models (SCMs) have been successful in predicting ion sorption for static systems using generic parameter sets. This study reports the inclusion of an assemblage of these SCMs in the dynamic soil chemistry model SMARTml and applies this model to a spruce forest site in Solling Germany. Parameters for SCMs were taken from generic datasets and not calibrated. Nevertheless, modelling results for major elements matched observations well. Further, trace metals were included in the model, also using the existing framework of SCMs. The model predicted sorption for most trace elements well. - Highlights: → Surface complexation models can be well applied in field studies. → Soil chemistry under a forest site is adequately modelled using generic parameters. → The model is easily extended with extra elements within the existing framework. → Surface complexation models can show the linkages between major soil chemistry and trace element behaviour. - Surface complexation models with generic parameters make calibration of sorption superfluous in dynamic modelling of deposition impacts on soil chemistry under nature areas.

Sensitivity properties of a biosphere model based on BATS and a statistical-dynamical climate model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, T. (Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States))

1994-06-01

A biosphere model based on the Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS) and the Saltzman-Vernekar (SV) statistical-dynamical climate model is developed. Some equations of BATS are adopted either intact or with modifications, some are conceptually modified, and still others are replaced with equations of the SV model. The model is designed so that it can be run independently as long as the parameters related to the physiology and physiognomy of the vegetation, the atmospheric conditions, solar radiation, and soil conditions are given. With this stand-alone biosphere model, a series of sensitivity investigations, particularly the model sensitivity to fractional area of vegetation cover, soil surface water availability, and solar radiation for different types of vegetation, were conducted as a first step. These numerical experiments indicate that the presence of a vegetation cover greatly enhances the exchanges of momentum, water vapor, and energy between the atmosphere and the surface of the earth. An interesting result is that a dense and thick vegetation cover tends to serve as an environment conditioner or, more specifically, a thermostat and a humidistat, since the soil surface temperature, foliage temperature, and temperature and vapor pressure of air within the foliage are practically insensitive to variation of soil surface water availability and even solar radiation within a wide range. An attempt is also made to simulate the gradual deterioration of environment accompanying gradual degradation of a tropical forest to grasslands. Comparison with field data shows that this model can realistically simulate the land surface processes involving biospheric variations. 46 refs., 10 figs., 6 tabs.

Analysis and Modeling of Vapor Recompressive Distillation Using ASPEN-HYSYS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cinthujaa C. Sivanantha

2011-10-01

Full Text Available HYSYS process modeling software was used to analyze the effect of reflux ratio and number of trays on the purity of ethylene in a vapor recompression distillation column and also in an ordinary distillation column. Analysis of data showed that with increased pressure a higher reflux ratio is needed to obtain a purity of 99.9{\\%} for both towers. In addition number of trays was varied to see its effect on purity. Analysis proved that purity increases with number of trays.

3D-Digital soil property mapping by geoadditive models

Science.gov (United States)

Papritz, Andreas

2016-04-01

In many digital soil mapping (DSM) applications, soil properties must be predicted not only for a single but for multiple soil depth intervals. In the GlobalSoilMap project, as an example, predictions are computed for the 0-5 cm, 5-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60 cm, 60-100 cm, 100-200 cm depth intervals (Arrouays et al., 2014). Legacy soil data are often used for DSM. It is common for such datasets that soil properties were measured for soil horizons or for layers at varying soil depth and with non-constant thickness (support). This poses problems for DSM: One strategy is to harmonize the soil data to common depth prior to the analyses (e.g. Bishop et al., 1999) and conduct the statistical analyses for each depth interval independently. The disadvantage of this approach is that the predictions for different depths are computed independently from each other so that the predicted depth profiles may be unrealistic. Furthermore, the error induced by the harmonization to common depth is ignored in this approach (Orton et al. 2016). A better strategy is therefore to process all soil data jointly without prior harmonization by a 3D-analysis that takes soil depth and geographical position explicitly into account. Usually, the non-constant support of the data is then ignored, but Orton et al. (2016) presented recently a geostatistical approach that accounts for non-constant support of soil data and relies on restricted maximum likelihood estimation (REML) of a linear geostatistical model with a separable, heteroscedastic, zonal anisotropic auto-covariance function and area-to-point kriging (Kyriakidis, 2004.) Although this model is theoretically coherent and elegant, estimating its many parameters by REML and selecting covariates for the spatial mean function is a formidable task. A simpler approach might be to use geoadditive models (Kammann and Wand, 2003; Wand, 2003) for 3D-analyses of soil data. geoAM extend the scope of the linear model with spatially correlated errors to

Phytoforensics: Trees as bioindicators of potential indoor exposure via vapor intrusion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jordan L Wilson

Full Text Available Human exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs via vapor intrusion (VI is an emerging public health concern with notable detrimental impacts on public health. Phytoforensics, plant sampling to semi-quantitatively delineate subsurface contamination, provides a potential non-invasive screening approach to detect VI potential, and plant sampling is effective and also time- and cost-efficient. Existing VI assessment methods are time- and resource-intensive, invasive, and require access into residential and commercial buildings to drill holes through basement slabs to install sampling ports or require substantial equipment to install groundwater or soil vapor sampling outside the home. Tree-core samples collected in 2 days at the PCE Southeast Contamination Site in York, Nebraska were analyzed for tetrachloroethene (PCE and results demonstrated positive correlations with groundwater, soil, soil-gas, sub-slab, and indoor-air samples collected over a 2-year period. Because tree-core samples were not collocated with other samples, interpolated surfaces of PCE concentrations were estimated so that comparisons could be made between pairs of data. Results indicate moderate to high correlation with average indoor-air and sub-slab PCE concentrations over long periods of time (months to years to an interpolated tree-core PCE concentration surface, with Spearman's correlation coefficients (ρ ranging from 0.31 to 0.53 that are comparable to the pairwise correlation between sub-slab and indoor-air PCE concentrations (ρ = 0.55, n = 89. Strong correlations between soil-gas, sub-slab, and indoor-air PCE concentrations and an interpolated tree-core PCE concentration surface indicate that trees are valid indicators of potential VI and human exposure to subsurface environment pollutants. The rapid and non-invasive nature of tree sampling are notable advantages: even with less than 60 trees in the vicinity of the source area, roughly 12 hours of tree

Phytoforensics: Trees as bioindicators of potential indoor exposure via vapor intrusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jordan L; Samaranayake, V A; Limmer, Matt A; Burken, Joel G

2018-01-01

Human exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) via vapor intrusion (VI) is an emerging public health concern with notable detrimental impacts on public health. Phytoforensics, plant sampling to semi-quantitatively delineate subsurface contamination, provides a potential non-invasive screening approach to detect VI potential, and plant sampling is effective and also time- and cost-efficient. Existing VI assessment methods are time- and resource-intensive, invasive, and require access into residential and commercial buildings to drill holes through basement slabs to install sampling ports or require substantial equipment to install groundwater or soil vapor sampling outside the home. Tree-core samples collected in 2 days at the PCE Southeast Contamination Site in York, Nebraska were analyzed for tetrachloroethene (PCE) and results demonstrated positive correlations with groundwater, soil, soil-gas, sub-slab, and indoor-air samples collected over a 2-year period. Because tree-core samples were not collocated with other samples, interpolated surfaces of PCE concentrations were estimated so that comparisons could be made between pairs of data. Results indicate moderate to high correlation with average indoor-air and sub-slab PCE concentrations over long periods of time (months to years) to an interpolated tree-core PCE concentration surface, with Spearman's correlation coefficients (ρ) ranging from 0.31 to 0.53 that are comparable to the pairwise correlation between sub-slab and indoor-air PCE concentrations (ρ = 0.55, n = 89). Strong correlations between soil-gas, sub-slab, and indoor-air PCE concentrations and an interpolated tree-core PCE concentration surface indicate that trees are valid indicators of potential VI and human exposure to subsurface environment pollutants. The rapid and non-invasive nature of tree sampling are notable advantages: even with less than 60 trees in the vicinity of the source area, roughly 12 hours of tree-core sampling with minimal

Phytoforensics: Trees as bioindicators of potential indoor exposure via vapor intrusion

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jordan L.; Samaranayake, V.A.; Limmer, Matthew A.; Burken, Joel G.

2018-01-01

Human exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) via vapor intrusion (VI) is an emerging public health concern with notable detrimental impacts on public health. Phytoforensics, plant sampling to semi-quantitatively delineate subsurface contamination, provides a potential non-invasive screening approach to detect VI potential, and plant sampling is effective and also time- and cost-efficient. Existing VI assessment methods are time- and resource-intensive, invasive, and require access into residential and commercial buildings to drill holes through basement slabs to install sampling ports or require substantial equipment to install groundwater or soil vapor sampling outside the home. Tree-core samples collected in 2 days at the PCE Southeast Contamination Site in York, Nebraska were analyzed for tetrachloroethene (PCE) and results demonstrated positive correlations with groundwater, soil, soil-gas, sub-slab, and indoor-air samples collected over a 2-year period. Because tree-core samples were not collocated with other samples, interpolated surfaces of PCE concentrations were estimated so that comparisons could be made between pairs of data. Results indicate moderate to high correlation with average indoor-air and sub-slab PCE concentrations over long periods of time (months to years) to an interpolated tree-core PCE concentration surface, with Spearman’s correlation coefficients (ρ) ranging from 0.31 to 0.53 that are comparable to the pairwise correlation between sub-slab and indoor-air PCE concentrations (ρ = 0.55, n = 89). Strong correlations between soil-gas, sub-slab, and indoor-air PCE concentrations and an interpolated tree-core PCE concentration surface indicate that trees are valid indicators of potential VI and human exposure to subsurface environment pollutants. The rapid and non-invasive nature of tree sampling are notable advantages: even with less than 60 trees in the vicinity of the source area, roughly 12 hours of tree-core sampling with

Modelling soil erosion at European scale: towards harmonization and reproducibility

Science.gov (United States)

Bosco, C.; de Rigo, D.; Dewitte, O.; Poesen, J.; Panagos, P.

2015-02-01

Soil erosion by water is one of the most widespread forms of soil degradation. The loss of soil as a result of erosion can lead to decline in organic matter and nutrient contents, breakdown of soil structure and reduction of the water-holding capacity. Measuring soil loss across the whole landscape is impractical and thus research is needed to improve methods of estimating soil erosion with computational modelling, upon which integrated assessment and mitigation strategies may be based. Despite the efforts, the prediction value of existing models is still limited, especially at regional and continental scale, because a systematic knowledge of local climatological and soil parameters is often unavailable. A new approach for modelling soil erosion at regional scale is here proposed. It is based on the joint use of low-data-demanding models and innovative techniques for better estimating model inputs. The proposed modelling architecture has at its basis the semantic array programming paradigm and a strong effort towards computational reproducibility. An extended version of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) has been implemented merging different empirical rainfall-erosivity equations within a climatic ensemble model and adding a new factor for a better consideration of soil stoniness within the model. Pan-European soil erosion rates by water have been estimated through the use of publicly available data sets and locally reliable empirical relationships. The accuracy of the results is corroborated by a visual plausibility check (63% of a random sample of grid cells are accurate, 83% at least moderately accurate, bootstrap p ≤ 0.05). A comparison with country-level statistics of pre-existing European soil erosion maps is also provided.

Meshfree Modeling of Munitions Penetration in Soils

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-01

triaxial extension (Alejano, 2012) and being unable to model soil compaction at high mean stresses. The original and modified Cam- Clay models (Roscoe...g∇ , (23) where is the intrinsic permeability, is the fluid dynamic viscosity , is the fluid density, and g is the gravity...incorporate nonlinear elasticity into the constitutive model. Especially clay soils exhibit a nonlinear elastic response. While the effects of nonlinear

Indirect heating of natural gas using vapor chambers; Aquecimento indireto de gas natural com uso de camaras de vapor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milanez, Fernando H; Mantellil, Marcia H.B.; Borges, Thomaz P.F. [Santa Catarina Univ., Florianopolis, SC (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica; Landa, Henrique G. de [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas

2005-07-01

Operation safety and reliability are major guidelines in the design of city-gate units. Conventional natural gas heaters operate by a indirect mechanism, where liquid water is used to transfer heat by natural convection between the combustion chamber and the natural gas coil. In this work, the concept of vapor chamber is evaluated as an indirect gas heater. In a vapor chamber, liquid water is in contact with the heat source, and vaporizes. The vapor condenses in contact with the heat sink. A reduced scale model was built and tested in order to compare these two heating concepts where the combustion chamber was replaced by electrical cartridge heaters. This engineering model can operate either as a conventional heater or as a vapor chamber. The comparison between the concepts was done by inducing a controlled power to the cartridges and by measuring the resulting temperature distributions. In the novel design, the heat exchanger efficiency increases, and the thermal inertia decreases, compared to the conventional system. The new sealed concept of the chamber prevents water evaporation losses. (author)

Simulating secondary organic aerosol in a regional air quality model using the statistical oxidation model – Part 2: Assessing the influence of vapor wall losses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. D. Cappa

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The influence of losses of organic vapors to chamber walls during secondary organic aerosol (SOA formation experiments has recently been established. Here, the influence of such losses on simulated ambient SOA concentrations and properties is assessed in the University of California at Davis / California Institute of Technology (UCD/CIT regional air quality model using the statistical oxidation model (SOM for SOA. The SOM was fit to laboratory chamber data both with and without accounting for vapor wall losses following the approach of Zhang et al. (2014. Two vapor wall-loss scenarios are considered when fitting of SOM to chamber data to determine best-fit SOM parameters, one with “low” and one with “high” vapor wall-loss rates to approximately account for the current range of uncertainty in this process. Simulations were run using these different parameterizations (scenarios for both the southern California/South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB and the eastern United States (US. Accounting for vapor wall losses leads to substantial increases in the simulated SOA concentrations from volatile organic compounds (VOCs in both domains, by factors of  ∼  2–5 for the low and  ∼  5–10 for the high scenarios. The magnitude of the increase scales approximately inversely with the absolute SOA concentration of the no loss scenario. In SoCAB, the predicted SOA fraction of total organic aerosol (OA increases from  ∼  0.2 (no to  ∼  0.5 (low and to  ∼  0.7 (high, with the high vapor wall-loss simulations providing best general agreement with observations. In the eastern US, the SOA fraction is large in all cases but increases further when vapor wall losses are accounted for. The total OA ∕ ΔCO ratio captures the influence of dilution on SOA concentrations. The simulated OA ∕ ΔCO in SoCAB (specifically, at Riverside, CA is found to increase substantially during the day only for the high vapor wall

Advanced deposition model for thermal activated chemical vapor deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Dang

Thermal Activated Chemical Vapor Deposition (TACVD) is defined as the formation of a stable solid product on a heated substrate surface from chemical reactions and/or dissociation of gaseous reactants in an activated environment. It has become an essential process for producing solid film, bulk material, coating, fibers, powders and monolithic components. Global market of CVD products has reached multi billions dollars for each year. In the recent years CVD process has been extensively used to manufacture semiconductors and other electronic components such as polysilicon, AlN and GaN. Extensive research effort has been directed to improve deposition quality and throughput. To obtain fast and high quality deposition, operational conditions such as temperature, pressure, fluid velocity and species concentration and geometry conditions such as source-substrate distance need to be well controlled in a CVD system. This thesis will focus on design of CVD processes through understanding the transport and reaction phenomena in the growth reactor. Since the in situ monitor is almost impossible for CVD reactor, many industrial resources have been expended to determine the optimum design by semi-empirical methods and trial-and-error procedures. This approach has allowed the achievement of improvements in the deposition sequence, but begins to show its limitations, as this method cannot always fulfill the more and more stringent specifications of the industry. To resolve this problem, numerical simulation is widely used in studying the growth techniques. The difficulty of numerical simulation of TACVD crystal growth process lies in the simulation of gas phase and surface reactions, especially the latter one, due to the fact that very limited kinetic information is available in the open literature. In this thesis, an advanced deposition model was developed to study the multi-component fluid flow, homogeneous gas phase reactions inside the reactor chamber, heterogeneous surface

Soil Quality Index Determination Models for Restinga Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Bonilha, R. M.; Casagrande, J. C.; Soares, R. M.

2012-04-01

The Restinga Forest is a set of plant communities in mosaic, determined by the characteristics of their substrates as a result of depositional processes and ages. In this complex mosaic are the physiognomies of restinga forests of high-stage regeneration (high restinga) and middle stage of regeneration (low restinga), each with its plant characteristics that differentiate them. Located on the coastal plains of the Brazilian coast, suffering internal influences both the continental slopes, as well as from the sea. Its soils come from the Quaternary and are subject to constant deposition of sediments. The climate in the coastal type is tropical (Köppen). This work was conducted in four locations: (1) Anchieta Island, Ubatuba, (2) Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station, Iguape, (3) Vila das Pedrinhas, Comprida Island; and (4) Cardoso Island, Cananeia. The soil samples were collect at a depths of 0 to 5, 0-10, 0-20, 20-40 and 40 to 60cm for the chemical and physical analysis. Were studied the additive and pondering additive models to evaluate soil quality. It was concluded: a) the comparative additive model produces quantitative results and the pondering additive model quantitative results; b) as the pondering additive model, the values of Soil Quality Index (SQI) for soils under forest of restinga are low and realistic, demonstrating the small plant biomass production potential of these soils, as well as their low resilience; c) the values of SQI similar to areas with and without restinga forest give quantitative demonstration of the restinga be considered as soil phase; d) restinga forest, probably, is maintained solely by the cycling of nutrients in a closed nutrient cycling; e) for the determination of IQS for soils under restinga vegetation the use of routine chemical analysis is adequate. Keywords: Model, restinga forest, Soil Quality Index (SQI).

Integrating microbial diversity in soil carbon dynamic models parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Louis, Benjamin; Menasseri-Aubry, Safya; Leterme, Philippe; Maron, Pierre-Alain; Viaud, Valérie

2015-04-01

Faced with the numerous concerns about soil carbon dynamic, a large quantity of carbon dynamic models has been developed during the last century. These models are mainly in the form of deterministic compartment models with carbon fluxes between compartments represented by ordinary differential equations. Nowadays, lots of them consider the microbial biomass as a compartment of the soil organic matter (carbon quantity). But the amount of microbial carbon is rarely used in the differential equations of the models as a limiting factor. Additionally, microbial diversity and community composition are mostly missing, although last advances in soil microbial analytical methods during the two past decades have shown that these characteristics play also a significant role in soil carbon dynamic. As soil microorganisms are essential drivers of soil carbon dynamic, the question about explicitly integrating their role have become a key issue in soil carbon dynamic models development. Some interesting attempts can be found and are dominated by the incorporation of several compartments of different groups of microbial biomass in terms of functional traits and/or biogeochemical compositions to integrate microbial diversity. However, these models are basically heuristic models in the sense that they are used to test hypotheses through simulations. They have rarely been confronted to real data and thus cannot be used to predict realistic situations. The objective of this work was to empirically integrate microbial diversity in a simple model of carbon dynamic through statistical modelling of the model parameters. This work is based on available experimental results coming from a French National Research Agency program called DIMIMOS. Briefly, 13C-labelled wheat residue has been incorporated into soils with different pedological characteristics and land use history. Then, the soils have been incubated during 104 days and labelled and non-labelled CO2 fluxes have been measured at ten

Estimating enthalpy of vaporization from vapor pressure using Trouton's rule.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLeod, Matthew; Scheringer, Martin; Hungerbühler, Konrad

2007-04-15

The enthalpy of vaporization of liquids and subcooled liquids at 298 K (delta H(VAP)) is an important parameter in environmental fate assessments that consider spatial and temporal variability in environmental conditions. It has been shown that delta H(VAP)P for non-hydrogen-bonding substances can be estimated from vapor pressure at 298 K (P(L)) using an empirically derived linear relationship. Here, we demonstrate that the relationship between delta H(VAP)and PL is consistent with Trouton's rule and the ClausiusClapeyron equation under the assumption that delta H(VAP) is linearly dependent on temperature between 298 K and the boiling point temperature. Our interpretation based on Trouton's rule substantiates the empirical relationship between delta H(VAP) degree and P(L) degrees for non-hydrogen-bonding chemicals with subcooled liquid vapor pressures ranging over 15 orders of magnitude. We apply the relationship between delta H(VAP) degrees and P(L) degrees to evaluate data reported in literature reviews for several important classes of semivolatile environmental contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorobenzenes, polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins and -furans and illustrate the temperature dependence of results from a multimedia model presented as a partitioning map. The uncertainty associated with estimating delta H(VAP)degrees from P(L) degrees using this relationship is acceptable for most environmental fate modeling of non-hydrogen-bonding semivolatile organic chemicals.

Local CFD kinetic model of cadmium vaporization during fluid bed incineration of municipal solid waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soria, J. [Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Patagonia Norte (IDEPA, CONICET-UNCo) y Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Buenos Aires 1400, 8300 Neuquén (Argentina); Laboratoire Procédés, Matériaux et Energie Solaire (CNRS-PROMES), 7 Rue du Four Solaire, Odeillo, 66120 Font-Romeu (France); Gauthier, D., E-mail: Daniel.Gauthier@promes.cnrs.fr [Laboratoire Procédés, Matériaux et Energie Solaire (CNRS-PROMES), 7 Rue du Four Solaire, Odeillo, 66120 Font-Romeu (France); Falcoz, Q.; Flamant, G. [Laboratoire Procédés, Matériaux et Energie Solaire (CNRS-PROMES), 7 Rue du Four Solaire, Odeillo, 66120 Font-Romeu (France); Mazza, G. [Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Patagonia Norte (IDEPA, CONICET-UNCo) y Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Buenos Aires 1400, 8300 Neuquén (Argentina)

2013-03-15

Highlights: ► A 2-D local CFD model for simulating the Cd vaporization process is presented. ► It includes a kinetic expression of Cd vaporization into the incineration process. ► Pyrolysis, volatiles’ combustion and residual carbon combustion are also taken into account. ► It fits very well the experimental results obtained on a lab-scale fluidized bed reported in literature. ► It also compares favorably with a model developed previously by the group. -- Abstract: The emissions of heavy metals during incineration of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) are a major issue to health and the environment. It is then necessary to well quantify these emissions in order to accomplish an adequate control and prevent the heavy metals from leaving the stacks. In this study the kinetic behavior of Cadmium during Fluidized Bed Incineration (FBI) of artificial MSW pellets, for bed temperatures ranging from 923 to 1073 K, was modeled. FLUENT 12.1.4 was used as the modeling framework for the simulations and implemented together with a complete set of user-defined functions (UDFs). The CFD model combines the combustion of a single solid waste particle with heavy metal (HM) vaporization from the burning particle, and it takes also into account both pyrolysis and volatiles’ combustion. A kinetic rate law for the Cd release, derived from the CFD thermal analysis of the combusting particle, is proposed. The simulation results are compared with experimental data obtained in a lab-scale fluidized bed incinerator reported in literature, and with the predicted values from a particulate non-isothermal model, formerly developed by the authors. The comparison shows that the proposed CFD model represents very well the evolution of the HM release for the considered range of bed temperature.

Hybrid modelling of soil-structure interaction for embedded structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, S.; Penzien, J.

1981-01-01

The basic methods currently being used for the analysis of soil-structure interaction fail to properly model three-dimensional embedded structures with flexible foundations. A hybrid model for the analysis of soil-structure interaction is developed in this investigation which takes advantage of the desirable features of both the finite element and substructure methods and which minimizes their undesirable features. The hybrid model is obtained by partitioning the total soil-structure system into a nearfield and a far-field with a smooth hemispherical interface. The near-field consists of the structure and a finite region of soil immediately surrounding its base. The entire near-field may be modelled in three-dimensional form using the finite element method; thus, taking advantage of its ability to model irregular geometries, and the non-linear soil behavior in the immediate vicinity of the structure. (orig./WL)

A kinetic model for stress generation in thin films grown from energetic vapor fluxes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chason, E.; Karlson, M. [School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912 (United States); Colin, J. J.; Abadias, G. [Institut P' , Département Physique et Mécanique des Matériaux, Université de Poitiers-CNRS-ENSMA, SP2MI, Téléport 2, Bd M. et P. Curie, F-86962 Chasseneuil-Futuroscope (France); Magnfält, D.; Sarakinos, K. [Nanoscale Engineering Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping (Sweden)

2016-04-14

We have developed a kinetic model for residual stress generation in thin films grown from energetic vapor fluxes, encountered, e.g., during sputter deposition. The new analytical model considers sub-surface point defects created by atomic peening, along with processes treated in already existing stress models for non-energetic deposition, i.e., thermally activated diffusion processes at the surface and the grain boundary. According to the new model, ballistically induced sub-surface defects can get incorporated as excess atoms at the grain boundary, remain trapped in the bulk, or annihilate at the free surface, resulting in a complex dependence of the steady-state stress on the grain size, the growth rate, as well as the energetics of the incoming particle flux. We compare calculations from the model with in situ stress measurements performed on a series of Mo films sputter-deposited at different conditions and having different grain sizes. The model is able to reproduce the observed increase of compressive stress with increasing growth rate, behavior that is the opposite of what is typically seen under non-energetic growth conditions. On a grander scale, this study is a step towards obtaining a comprehensive understanding of stress generation and evolution in vapor deposited polycrystalline thin films.

Review of literature on the asymmetric collapse of vapor bubbles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fremd, R.; Froehlich, G.

1977-06-01

This report contains a review of literature on the asymmetric collape of vapor bubbles by cavitation with special consideration to vapor explosions. Two numerical models, which describe the collapse of cavities in the neighbourhood of a solid surface, are presented. Moreover experimental results for this case are provided. Propositions to apply the numerical models to vapor explosions are made. (orig.) [de

Comparisons between a gas-phase model of silane chemical vapor deposition and laser-diagnostic measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breiland, W.G.; Coltrin, M.E.; Ho, P.

1986-01-01

Theoretical modeling and experimental measurements have been used to study gas-phase chemistry in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of silicon from silane. Pulsed laser Raman spectroscopy was used to obtain temperature profiles and to obtain absolute density profiles of silane during deposition at atmospheric and 6-Torr total pressures for temperatures ranging from 500 to 800 0 C. Laser-excited fluorescence was used to obtain relative density profiles of Si 2 during deposition at 740 0 C in helium with 0-12 Torr added hydrogen. These measurements are compared to predictions from the theoretical model of Coltrin, Kee, and Miller. The predictions agree qualitatively with experiment. These studies indicate that fluid mechanics and gas-phase chemical kinetics are important considerations in understanding the chemical vapor deposition process

SOMPROF: A vertically explicit soil organic matter model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Braakhekke, M.C.; Beer, M.; Hoosbeek, M.R.; Kruijt, B.; Kabat, P.

2011-01-01

Most current soil organic matter (SOM) models represent the soil as a bulk without specification of the vertical distribution of SOM in the soil profile. However, the vertical SOM profile may be of great importance for soil carbon cycling, both on short (hours to years) time scale, due to

Generalized correlation of latent heats of vaporization of coal liquid model compounds between their freezing points and critical points

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sivaraman, A.; Kobuyashi, R.; Mayee, J.W.

1984-02-01

Based on Pitzer's three-parameter corresponding states principle, the authors have developed a correlation of the latent heat of vaporization of aromatic coal liquid model compounds for a temperature range from the freezing point to the critical point. An expansion of the form L = L/sub 0/ + ..omega..L /sub 1/ is used for the dimensionless latent heat of vaporization. This model utilizes a nonanalytic functional form based on results derived from renormalization group theory of fluids in the vicinity of the critical point. A simple expression for the latent heat of vaporization L = D/sub 1/epsilon /SUP 0.3333/ + D/sub 2/epsilon /SUP 0.8333/ + D/sub 4/epsilon /SUP 1.2083/ + E/sub 1/epsilon + E/sub 2/epsilon/sup 2/ + E/sub 3/epsilon/sup 3/ is cast in a corresponding states principle correlation for coal liquid compounds. Benzene, the basic constituent of the functional groups of the multi-ring coal liquid compounds, is used as the reference compound in the present correlation. This model works very well at both low and high reduced temperatures approaching the critical point (0.02 < epsilon = (T /SUB c/ - T)/(T /SUB c/- 0.69)). About 16 compounds, including single, two, and three-ring compounds, have been tested and the percent root-mean-square deviations in latent heat of vaporization reported and estimated through the model are 0.42 to 5.27%. Tables of the coefficients of L/sub 0/ and L/sub 1/ are presented. The contributing terms of the latent heat of vaporization function are also presented in a table for small increments of epsilon.

Vapor pressure and enthalpy of vaporization of aliphatic propanediamines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verevkin, Sergey P.; Chernyak, Yury

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We measured vapor pressure of four aliphatic 1,3-diamines. ► Vaporization enthalpies at 298 K were derived. ► We examined consistency of new and available data in the literature. ► A group-contribution method for prediction was developed. - Abstract: Vapor pressures of four aliphatic propanediamines including N-methyl-1,3-propanediamine (MPDA), N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine (DMPDA), N,N-diethyl-1,3-propanediamine (DEPDA) and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-1,3-propanediamine (4MPDA) were measured using the transpiration method. The vapor pressures developed in this work and reported in the literature were used to derive molar enthalpy of vaporization values at the reference temperature 298.15 K. An internal consistency check of the enthalpy of vaporization was performed for the aliphatic propanediamines studied in this work. A group-contribution method was developed for the validation and prediction vaporization enthalpies of amines and diamines.

Modelling Analysis of Sewage Sludge Amended Soil

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, P. B.; Carlsen, L.; Vikelsøe, J.

the plant effluent. The focus in this work is the top soil as this layer is important for the fate of a xenobiotic substance due to the high biological activity. A simple model for the top soil is used where the substance is assumed homogeneously distributed as suggested in the European Union System......The topic is risk assessment of sludge supply to agricultural soil in relation to xenobiotics. A large variety of xenobiotics arrive to the wastewater treatment plant in the wastewater. Many of these components are hydrophobic and thus will accumulate in the sludge solids and are removed from...... for the Evaluation of Substances (EUSES). It is shown how the fraction of substance mass, which is leached, from the top soil is a simple function of the ratio between the degradation half lifetime and the adsorption coefficient. This model can be used in probabilistic risk assessment of agricultural soils...

Mass transport measurements and modeling for chemical vapor infiltration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Starr, T.L.; Chiang, D.Y.; Fiadzo, O.G.; Hablutzel, N. [Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Materials Science and Engineering

1997-12-01

This project involves experimental and modeling investigation of densification behavior and mass transport in fiber preforms and partially densified composites, and application of these results to chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process modeling. This supports work on-going at ORNL in process development for fabrication of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) tubes. Tube-shaped composite preforms are fabricated at ORNL with Nextel{trademark} 312 fiber (3M Corporation, St. Paul, MN) by placing and compressing several layers of braided sleeve on a tubular mandrel. In terms of fiber architecture these preforms are significantly different than those made previously with Nicalon{trademark} fiber (Nippon Carbon Corp., Tokyo, Japan) square weave cloth. The authors have made microstructure and permeability measurements on several of these preforms and a few partially densified composites so as to better understand their densification behavior during CVI.

Sensitivity analysis and calibration of a soil carbon model (SoilGen2 in two contrasting loess forest soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Y. Yu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available To accurately estimate past terrestrial carbon pools is the key to understanding the global carbon cycle and its relationship with the climate system. SoilGen2 is a useful tool to obtain aspects of soil properties (including carbon content by simulating soil formation processes; thus it offers an opportunity for both past soil carbon pool reconstruction and future carbon pool prediction. In order to apply it to various environmental conditions, parameters related to carbon cycle process in SoilGen2 are calibrated based on six soil pedons from two typical loess deposition regions (Belgium and China. Sensitivity analysis using the Morris method shows that decomposition rate of humus (k_HUM, fraction of incoming plant material as leaf litter (fr_ecto and decomposition rate of resistant plant material (k_RPM are the three most sensitive parameters that would cause the greatest uncertainty in simulated change of soil organic carbon in both regions. According to the principle of minimizing the difference between simulated and measured organic carbon by comparing quality indices, the suited values of k_HUM, (fr_ecto and k_RPM in the model are deduced step by step and validated for independent soil pedons. The difference of calibrated parameters between Belgium and China may be attributed to their different vegetation types and climate conditions. This calibrated model allows more accurate simulation of carbon change in the whole pedon and has potential for future modeling of carbon cycle over long timescales.

Evaluation of a simulation model for predicting soil-water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The soils particle size distribution (specifically, percent clay and sand) and organic matter contents were inputted into the model to simulate soil moisture status at saturation, field capacity and wilting point, soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The model outputs were statistically compared with observed ...

Developing Soil Models for Dynamic Impact Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Fasanella, Edwin L.; Lyle, Karen H.; Jackson, Karen E.

2009-01-01

This paper describes fundamental soils characterization work performed at NASA Langley Research Center in support of the Subsonic Rotary Wing (SRW) Aeronautics Program and the Orion Landing System (LS) Advanced Development Program (ADP). LS-DYNA(Registered TradeMark)1 soil impact model development and test-analysis correlation results are presented for: (1) a 38-ft/s vertical drop test of a composite fuselage section, outfitted with four blocks of deployable energy absorbers (DEA), onto sand, and (2) a series of impact tests of a 1/2-scale geometric boilerplate Orion capsule onto soil. In addition, the paper will discuss LS-DYNA contact analysis at the soil/structure interface, methods used to estimate frictional forces, and the sensitivity of the model to density, moisture, and compaction.

Modelling 137Cs uptake in plants from undisturbed soil monoliths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waegeneers, Nadia; Smolders, Erik; Merckx, Roel

2005-01-01

A model predicting 137 Cs uptake in plants was applied on data from artificially contaminated lysimeters. The lysimeter data involve three different crops (beans, ryegrass and lettuce) grown on five different soils between 3 and 5 years after contamination and where soil solution composition was monitored. The mechanistic model predicts plant uptake of 137 Cs from soil solution composition. Predicted K concentrations in the rhizosphere were up to 50-fold below that in the bulk soil solution whereas corresponding 137 Cs concentration gradients were always less pronounced. Predictions of crop 137 Cs content based on rhizosphere soil solution compositions were generally closer to observations than those based on bulk soil solution composition. The model explained 17% (beans) to 91% (lettuce) of the variation in 137 Cs activity concentrations in the plants. The model failed to predict the 137 Cs activity concentration in ryegrass where uptake of the 5-year-old 137 Cs from 3 soils was about 40-fold larger than predicted. The model generally underpredicted crop 137 Cs concentrations at soil solution K concentration below about 1.0 mM. It is concluded that 137 Cs uptake can be predicted from the soil solution composition at adequate K nutrition but that significant uncertainties remain when soil solution K is below 1 mM

Use of midlatitude soil moisture and meteorological observations to validate soil moisture simulations with biosphere and bucket models

Science.gov (United States)

Robock, Alan; Vinnikov, Konstantin YA.; Schlosser, C. Adam; Speranskaya, Nina A.; Xue, Yongkang

1995-01-01

Soil moisture observations in sites with natural vegetation were made for several decades in the former Soviet Union at hundreds of stations. In this paper, the authors use data from six of these stations from different climatic regimes, along with ancillary meteorological and actinometric data, to demonstrate a method to validate soil moisture simulations with biosphere and bucket models. Some early and current general circulation models (GCMs) use bucket models for soil hydrology calculations. More recently, the Simple Biosphere Model (SiB) was developed to incorporate the effects of vegetation on fluxes of moisture, momentum, and energy at the earth's surface into soil hydrology models. Until now, the bucket and SiB have been verified by comparison with actual soil moisture data only on a limited basis. In this study, a Simplified SiB (SSiB) soil hydrology model and a 15-cm bucket model are forced by observed meteorological and actinometric data every 3 h for 6-yr simulations at the six stations. The model calculations of soil moisture are compared to observations of soil moisture, literally 'ground truth,' snow cover, surface albedo, and net radiation, and with each other. For three of the stations, the SSiB and 15-cm bucket models produce good simulations of seasonal cycles and interannual variations of soil moisture. For the other three stations, there are large errors in the simulations by both models. Inconsistencies in specification of field capacity may be partly responsible. There is no evidence that the SSiB simulations are superior in simulating soil moisture variations. In fact, the models are quite similar since SSiB implicitly has a bucket embedded in it. One of the main differences between the models is in the treatment of runoff due to melting snow in the spring -- SSiB incorrectly puts all the snowmelt into runoff. While producing similar soil moisture simulations, the models produce very different surface latent and sensible heat fluxes, which

Multifractal Model of Soil Water Erosion

Science.gov (United States)

Oleshko, Klaudia

2017-04-01

Breaking of solid surface symmetry during the interaction between the rainfall of high erosivity index and internally unstable volcanic soil/vegetation systems, results in roughness increasing as well as fertile horizon loosing. In these areas, the sustainability of management practices depends on the ability to select and implement the precise indicators of soil erodibility and vegetation capacity to protect the system against the extreme damaging precipitation events. Notwithstanding, the complex, non-linear and scaling nature of the phenomena involved in the interaction among the soil, vegetation and precipitation is still not taken into account by the numerous commonly used empirical, mathematical and computer simulation models: for instance, by the universal soil loss equation (USLE). The soil erodibility factor (K-factor) is still measuring by a set of empirical, dimensionless parameters and indexes, without taking into account the scaling (frequently multifractal) origin of a broad range of heterogeneous, anisotropic and dynamical phenomena involved in hydric erosion. Their mapping is not representative of this complex system spatial variability. In our research, we propose to use the toolbox of fractals and multifractals techniques in vista of its ability to measure the scale invariance and type/degree of soil, vegetation and precipitation symmetry breaking. The hydraulic units are chosen as the precise measure of soil/vegetation stability. These units are measured and modeled for soils with contrasting architecture, based on their porosity/permeability (Poroperm) as well as retention capacity relations. The simple Catalog of the most common Poroperm relations is proposed and the main power law relations among the elements of studied system are established and compared for some representative agricultural and natural Biogeosystems of Mexico. All resulted are related with the Mandelbrot' Baby Theorem in order to construct the universal Phase Diagram which

Modelling trends in soil solution concentrations under five forest-soil combinations in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salm, van der C.; Vries, de W.; Kros, J.

1996-01-01

The influence of forest and soil properties on changes in soil solution concentration upon a reduction deposition was examined for five forest-soil combinations with the dynamic RESAM model. Predicted concentrations decreased in the direction Douglas fir - Scotch pine - oak, due to decreased

Modeling soil processes - are we lost in diversity?

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Hans-Joerg; Schlüter, Steffen

2015-04-01

Soils are among the most complex environmental systems. Soil functions - e.g. production of biomass, habitat for organisms, reactor for and storage of organic matter, filter for ground water - emerge from a multitude of processes interacting at different scales. It still remains a challenge to model and predict these functions including their stability and resilience towards external perturbations. As an inherent property of complex systems it is prohibitive to unravel all the relevant process in all detail to derive soil functions and their dynamics from first principles. Hence, when modeling soil processes and their interactions one is close to be lost in the overwhelming diversity and spatial heterogeneity of soil properties. In this contribution we suggest to look for characteristic similarities within the hyperdimensional state space of soil properties. The underlying hypothesis is that this state space is not evenly and/or randomly populated but that processes of self organization produce attractors of physical, chemical and biological properties which can be identified. (The formation of characteristic soil horizons is an obvious example). To render such a concept operational a suitable and limited set of indicators is required. Ideally, such indicators are i) related to soil functions, ii) are measurable and iii) are integral measures of the relevant physical, chemical and biological soil properties. This would allow for identifying suitable attractors. We will discuss possible indicators and will focus on soil structure as an especially promising candidate. It governs the availability of water and gas, it effects the spatial distribution of organic matter and, moreover, it forms the habitat of soil organisms and it is formed by soil biota. Quantification of soil structural properties became possible only recently with the development of more powerful tools for non-invasive imaging. Future research need to demonstrate in how far these tools can be used to

Evapotranspiration Estimates for a Stochastic Soil-Moisture Model

Science.gov (United States)

Chaleeraktrakoon, Chavalit; Somsakun, Somrit

2009-03-01

Potential evapotranspiration is information that is necessary for applying a widely used stochastic model of soil moisture (I. Rodriguez Iturbe, A. Porporato, L. Ridolfi, V. Isham and D. R. Cox, Probabilistic modelling of water balance at a point: The role of climate, soil and vegetation, Proc. Roy. Soc. London A455 (1999) 3789-3805). An objective of the present paper is thus to find a proper estimate of the evapotranspiration for the stochastic model. This estimate is obtained by comparing the calculated soil-moisture distribution resulting from various techniques, such as Thornthwaite, Makkink, Jensen-Haise, FAO Modified Penman, and Blaney-Criddle, with an observed one. The comparison results using five sequences of daily soil-moisture for a dry season from November 2003 to April 2004 (Udornthani Province, Thailand) have indicated that all methods can be used if the weather information required is available. This is because their soil-moisture distributions are alike. In addition, the model is shown to have its ability in approximately describing the phenomenon at a weekly or biweekly time scale which is desirable for agricultural engineering applications.

Modeling temporal and large-scale spatial variability of soil respiration from soil water availability, temperature and vegetation productivity indices

Science.gov (United States)

Reichstein, Markus; Rey, Ana; Freibauer, Annette; Tenhunen, John; Valentini, Riccardo; Banza, Joao; Casals, Pere; Cheng, Yufu; Grünzweig, Jose M.; Irvine, James; Joffre, Richard; Law, Beverly E.; Loustau, Denis; Miglietta, Franco; Oechel, Walter; Ourcival, Jean-Marc; Pereira, Joao S.; Peressotti, Alessandro; Ponti, Francesca; Qi, Ye; Rambal, Serge; Rayment, Mark; Romanya, Joan; Rossi, Federica; Tedeschi, Vanessa; Tirone, Giampiero; Xu, Ming; Yakir, Dan

2003-12-01

Field-chamber measurements of soil respiration from 17 different forest and shrubland sites in Europe and North America were summarized and analyzed with the goal to develop a model describing seasonal, interannual and spatial variability of soil respiration as affected by water availability, temperature, and site properties. The analysis was performed at a daily and at a monthly time step. With the daily time step, the relative soil water content in the upper soil layer expressed as a fraction of field capacity was a good predictor of soil respiration at all sites. Among the site variables tested, those related to site productivity (e.g., leaf area index) correlated significantly with soil respiration, while carbon pool variables like standing biomass or the litter and soil carbon stocks did not show a clear relationship with soil respiration. Furthermore, it was evidenced that the effect of precipitation on soil respiration stretched beyond its direct effect via soil moisture. A general statistical nonlinear regression model was developed to describe soil respiration as dependent on soil temperature, soil water content, and site-specific maximum leaf area index. The model explained nearly two thirds of the temporal and intersite variability of soil respiration with a mean absolute error of 0.82 μmol m-2 s-1. The parameterized model exhibits the following principal properties: (1) At a relative amount of upper-layer soil water of 16% of field capacity, half-maximal soil respiration rates are reached. (2) The apparent temperature sensitivity of soil respiration measured as Q10 varies between 1 and 5 depending on soil temperature and water content. (3) Soil respiration under reference moisture and temperature conditions is linearly related to maximum site leaf area index. At a monthly timescale, we employed the approach by [2002] that used monthly precipitation and air temperature to globally predict soil respiration (T&P model). While this model was able to

Modelling temporal and large-scale spatial variability of soil respiration from soil water availability, temperature and vegetation productivity indices

Science.gov (United States)

Reichstein, M.; Rey, A.; Freibauer, A.; Tenhunen, J.; Valentini, R.; Soil Respiration Synthesis Team

2003-04-01

Field-chamber measurements of soil respiration from 17 different forest and shrubland sites in Europe and North America were summarized and analyzed with the goal to develop a model describing seasonal, inter-annual and spatial variability of soil respiration as affected by water availability, temperature and site properties. The analysis was performed at a daily and at a monthly time step. With the daily time step, the relative soil water content in the upper soil layer expressed as a fraction of field capacity was a good predictor of soil respiration at all sites. Among the site variables tested, those related to site productivity (e.g. leaf area index) correlated significantly with soil respiration, while carbon pool variables like standing biomass or the litter and soil carbon stocks did not show a clear relationship with soil respiration. Furthermore, it was evidenced that the effect of precipitation on soil respiration stretched beyond its direct effect via soil moisture. A general statistical non-linear regression model was developed to describe soil respiration as dependent on soil temperature, soil water content and site-specific maximum leaf area index. The model explained nearly two thirds of the temporal and inter-site variability of soil respiration with a mean absolute error of 0.82 µmol m-2 s-1. The parameterised model exhibits the following principal properties: 1) At a relative amount of upper-layer soil water of 16% of field capacity half-maximal soil respiration rates are reached. 2) The apparent temperature sensitivity of soil respiration measured as Q10 varies between 1 and 5 depending on soil temperature and water content. 3) Soil respiration under reference moisture and temperature conditions is linearly related to maximum site leaf area index. At a monthly time-scale we employed the approach by Raich et al. (2002, Global Change Biol. 8, 800-812) that used monthly precipitation and air temperature to globally predict soil respiration (T&P-model

Vapor pressure and enthalpy of vaporization of linear aliphatic alkanediamines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pozdeev, Vasiliy A.; Verevkin, Sergey P.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We measured vapor pressure of diamines H 2 N-(CH 2 ) n -NH 2 with n = 3 to 12. → Vaporization enthalpies at 298 K were derived. → We examined consistency of new and available in the literature data. → Enthalpies of vaporization show linear dependence on numbers n. → Enthalpies of vaporization correlate linearly with Kovat's indices. - Abstract: Vapor pressures and the molar enthalpies of vaporization of the linear aliphatic alkanediamines H 2 N-(CH 2 ) n -NH 2 with n = (3 to 12) have been determined using the transpiration method. A linear correlation of enthalpies of vaporization (at T = 298.15 K) of the alkanediamines with the number n and with the Kovat's indices has been found, proving the internal consistency of the measured data.

An Idealized Model of Plant and Soil Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Burg, David; Malkinson, Dan; Wittenberg, Lea

2014-05-01

Following wildfire events the landscape commonly becomes denuded of vegetation cover, resulting in systems prone to soil loss and degradation. In this context soil dynamics are an intricate process balanced between pedogenesis, which is a relatively slow process and erosion which depends on many inert (e.g. soil texture, slope, precipitation and wind) and biological factors such as vegetation properties, grazing intensity, and human disturbance. We develop a simple homogenous, spatially implicit, theoretical model of the global dynamics of the interactions between vegetation and soil using a system of two nonlinear differential equations describing this interdependence, assuming a double feedback between them - plants control erosion and soil availability facilitates plants growth: ( ) dV- -K-- dt = rV K - 1+ aS - V (1) dS-= σ - ɛSe-cT dt (2) where V and S represent vegetation cover and soil availability, respectively. Vegetation growth is similar to the classical logistic model with a growth rate of r(yr1), however, the "carrying capacity" (K) is dependent on soil availability (a1 is the amount of soil where V is reduced by half). Soil influxes at a constant rate σ(mm×yr1) and is eroded at a constant rategɛ (yr-1), while vegetation abates this process modeled as a decreasing exponent as the effectiveness of vegetation in reducing soil erosion (c). Parameter values were chosen from a variable range found in the literature: r=0.01 yr1, K=75%, a1=1, σ=1 mm×yr1, ɛ=0.1 yr1, c=0.08. Complex properties emerge from this model. At certain parameter values (cK≤4) the model predicts one of two steady states - full recovery of vegetation cover or a degraded barren system. However, at certain boundary conditions (cK>4 and Λ1 ≤ σ/ɛ ≤ Λ2, see Article for terms of Λ1 and Λ2) bistability may be observed. We also show that erosion seems to be the determining factor in this system, and we identify the threshold values from which beyond the systems become unstable

Spatial Variation of Soil Type and Soil Moisture in the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buckley, R.

2001-06-27

Soil characteristics (texture and moisture) are typically assumed to be initially constant when performing simulations with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). Soil texture is spatially homogeneous and time-independent, while soil moisture is often spatially homogeneous initially, but time-dependent. This report discusses the conversion of a global data set of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) soil types to RAMS soil texture and the subsequent modifications required in RAMS to ingest this information. Spatial variations in initial soil moisture obtained from the National Center for Environmental Predictions (NCEP) large-scale models are also introduced. Comparisons involving simulations over the southeastern United States for two different time periods, one during warmer, more humid summer conditions, and one during cooler, dryer winter conditions, reveals differences in surface conditions related to increases or decreases in near-surface atmospheric moisture con tent as a result of different soil properties. Three separate simulation types were considered. The base case assumed spatially homogeneous soil texture and initial soil moisture. The second case assumed variable soil texture and constant initial soil moisture, while the third case allowed for both variable soil texture and initial soil moisture. The simulation domain was further divided into four geographically distinct regions. It is concluded there is a more dramatic impact on thermodynamic variables (surface temperature and dewpoint) than on surface winds, and a more pronounced variability in results during the summer period. While no obvious trends in surface winds or dewpoint temperature were found relative to observations covering all regions and times, improvement in surface temperatures in most regions and time periods was generally seen with the incorporation of variable soil texture and initial soil moisture.

Analysis of the one-dimensional transient compressible vapor flow in heat pipes

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Jong H.; Faghri, Amir; Chang, Won S.

1991-01-01

The transient compressible one-dimensional vapor flow dynamics in a heat pipe is modeled. The numerical results are obtained by using the implicit non-iterative Beam-Warming finite difference method. The model is tested for simulated heat pipe vapor flow and actual vapor flow in cylindrical heat pipes. A good comparison of the present transient results for the simulated heat pipe vapor flow with the previous results of a two-dimensional numerical model is achieved and the steady state results are in agreement with the existing experimental data. The transient behavior of the vapor flow under subsonic, sonic, and supersonic speeds as well as high mass flow rates are successfully predicted.

Relationship between root water uptake and soil respiration: A modeling perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Teodosio, Bertrand; Pauwels, Valentijn R. N.; Loheide, Steven P.; Daly, Edoardo

2017-08-01

Soil moisture affects and is affected by root water uptake and at the same time drives soil CO2 dynamics. Selecting root water uptake formulations in models is important since this affects the estimation of actual transpiration and soil CO2 efflux. This study aims to compare different models combining the Richards equation for soil water flow to equations describing heat transfer and air-phase CO2 production and flow. A root water uptake model (RWC), accounting only for root water compensation by rescaling water uptake rates across the vertical profile, was compared to a model (XWP) estimating water uptake as a function of the difference between soil and root xylem water potential; the latter model can account for both compensation (XWPRWC) and hydraulic redistribution (XWPHR). Models were compared in a scenario with a shallow water table, where the formulation of root water uptake plays an important role in modeling daily patterns and magnitudes of transpiration rates and CO2 efflux. Model simulations for this scenario indicated up to 20% difference in the estimated water that transpired over 50 days and up to 14% difference in carbon emitted from the soil. The models showed reduction of transpiration rates associated with water stress affecting soil CO2 efflux, with magnitudes of soil CO2 efflux being larger for the XWPHR model in wet conditions and for the RWC model as the soil dried down. The study shows the importance of choosing root water uptake models not only for estimating transpiration but also for other processes controlled by soil water content.

Optimization of mathematical models for soil structure interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vallenas, J.M.; Wong, C.K.; Wong, D.L.

1993-01-01

Accounting for soil-structure interaction in the design and analysis of major structures for DOE facilities can involve significant costs in terms of modeling and computer time. Using computer programs like SASSI for modeling major structures, especially buried structures, requires the use of models with a large number of soil-structure interaction nodes. The computer time requirements (and costs) increase as a function of the number of interaction nodes to the third power. The added computer and labor cost for data manipulation and post-processing can further increase the total cost. This paper provides a methodology to significantly reduce the number of interaction nodes. This is achieved by selectively increasing the thickness of soil layers modeled based on the need for the mathematical model to capture as input only those frequencies that can actually be transmitted by the soil media. The authors have rarely found that a model needs to capture frequencies as high as 33 Hz. Typically coarser meshes (and a lesser number of interaction nodes) are adequate

Tritium sorption behavior on the percolation of tritiated water into a soil packed bed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Furuichi, Kazuya, E-mail: kfuruichi@aees.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Advanced Energy Engineering, Kyushu University, 6-1, Kasuga-koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan); Katayama, Kazunari; Date, Hiroyuki [Department of Advanced Energy Engineering, Kyushu University, 6-1, Kasuga-koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan); Takeishi, Toshiharu [Factory of Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Fukada, Satoshi [Department of Advanced Energy Engineering, Kyushu University, 6-1, Kasuga-koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • We establish the permeation model of tritiated water in the soil layer. • Saturated hydraulic conductivity of water in soil was gained by using the model. • The isotope exchange reaction coefficient was good agreement with experimental data. - Abstract: Development of tritium transport model in natural soil is an important issue from a viewpoint of safety of fusion reactors. The spill of a large amount of tritiated water to the environment is a concern accident because huge tritiated water is handled in a fusion plant. In this work, a simple tritium transport model was proposed based on the tritium transport model in porous materials. The overall mass transfer coefficient representing isotope exchange reaction between tritiated water and structural water in soil particles was obtained by numerically analyzing the result of the percolation experiment of tritiated water into the soil packed bed. Saturated hydraulic conductivity in the natural soil packed bed was obtained to be 0.033 mm/s. By using this value, the overall mass transfer capacity coefficients representing the isotope exchange reaction between tritiated water percolating through the packed bed and overall structural water on soil particles was determined to be 6.0 × 10{sup −4} 1/s. This value is much smaller than the mass transfer capacity coefficient between tritiated water vapor and water on concrete material and metals.

Modeling and control of diffusion and low-pressure chemical vapor deposition furnaces

Science.gov (United States)

De Waard, H.; De Koning, W. L.

1990-03-01

In this paper a study is made of the heat transfer inside cylindrical resistance diffusion and low-pressure chemical vapor deposition furnaces, aimed at developing an improved temperature controller. A model of the thermal behavior is derived which also covers the important class of furnaces equipped with semitransparent quartz process tubes. The model takes into account the thermal behavior of the thermocouples. It is shown that currently used temperature controllers are highly inefficient for very large scale integration applications. Based on the model an alternative temperature controller of the linear-quadratic-Gaussian type is proposed which features direct wafer temperature control. Some simulation results are given.

Experimental simulation and numerical modeling of vapor shield formation and divertor material erosion for ITER typical plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wuerz, H.; Arkhipov, N.I.; Bakhtin, V.P.; Konkashbaev, I.; Landman, I.; Safronov, V.M.; Toporkov, D.A.; Zhitlukhin, A.M.

1995-01-01

The high divertor heat load during a tokamak plasma disruption results in sudden evaporation of a thin layer of divertor plate material, which acts as vapor shield and protects the target from further excessive evaporation. Formation and effectiveness of the vapor shield are theoretically modeled and are experimentally analyzed at the 2MK-200 facility under conditions simulating the thermal quench phase of ITER tokamak plasma disruptions. ((orig.))

Modeling Bacteria-Water Interactions in Soil: EPS Dynamics Under Evaporative Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Furrer, J.; Hinestroza, H. F.; Guo, Y. S.; Gage, D. J.; Cho, Y. K.; Shor, L. M.

2017-12-01

The soil habitat represents a major linkage between the water and carbon cycles: the ability of soils to sequester or release carbon is determined primarily by soil moisture. Water retention and distribution in soils controls the abundance and activity of soil microbes. Microbes in turn impact water retention by creating biofilms, composed of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). We model the effects of bacterial EPS on water retention at the pore scale. We use the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), a well-established fluid dynamics modeling platform, and modify it to include the effects of water uptake and release by the swelling/shrinking EPS phase. The LB model is implemented in 2-D, with a non-ideal gas equation of state that allows condensation and evaporation of fluid in pore spaces. Soil particles are modeled according to experimentally determined particle size distributions and include realistic pore geometries, in contrast to many soil models which use spherical soil particles for simplicity. Model results are compared with evaporation experiments in soil micromodels and other simpler experimental systems, and model parameters are tuned to match experimental results. Drying behavior and solid-gel contact angle of EPS produced by the soil bacteria Sinorhizobium meliloti has been characterized and compared to the behavior of deionized water under the same conditions. The difference in behavior between the fluids is used to parameterize the model. The model shows excellent qualitative agreement for soil micromodels with both aggregated and non-aggregated particle arrangements under no-EPS conditions, and reproduces realistic drying behavior for EPS. This work represents a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding microbe-soil interactions at the pore scale.

Towards a paradigm shift in the modeling of soil organic carbon decomposition for earth system models

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yujie

Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon pools and contain approximately 2200 Pg of carbon. Thus, the dynamics of soil carbon plays an important role in the global carbon cycle and climate system. Earth System Models are used to project future interactions between terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics and climate. However, these models often predict a wide range of soil carbon responses and their formulations have lagged behind recent soil science advances, omitting key biogeochemical mechanisms. In contrast, recent mechanistically-based biogeochemical models that explicitly account for microbial biomass pools and enzyme kinetics that catalyze soil carbon decomposition produce notably different results and provide a closer match to recent observations. However, a systematic evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of the microbial models and how they differ from empirical, first-order formulations in soil decomposition models for soil organic carbon is still needed. This dissertation consists of a series of model sensitivity and uncertainty analyses and identifies dominant decomposition processes in determining soil organic carbon dynamics. Poorly constrained processes or parameters that require more experimental data integration are also identified. This dissertation also demonstrates the critical role of microbial life-history traits (e.g. microbial dormancy) in the modeling of microbial activity in soil organic matter decomposition models. Finally, this study surveys and synthesizes a number of recently published microbial models and provides suggestions for future microbial model developments.

Stochastic modeling of soil salinity

Science.gov (United States)

Suweis, S.; Porporato, A. M.; Daly, E.; van der Zee, S.; Maritan, A.; Rinaldo, A.

2010-12-01

A minimalist stochastic model of primary soil salinity is proposed, in which the rate of soil salinization is determined by the balance between dry and wet salt deposition and the intermittent leaching events caused by rainfall events. The equations for the probability density functions of salt mass and concentration are found by reducing the coupled soil moisture and salt mass balance equations to a single stochastic differential equation (generalized Langevin equation) driven by multiplicative Poisson noise. Generalized Langevin equations with multiplicative white Poisson noise pose the usual Ito (I) or Stratonovich (S) prescription dilemma. Different interpretations lead to different results and then choosing between the I and S prescriptions is crucial to describe correctly the dynamics of the model systems. We show how this choice can be determined by physical information about the timescales involved in the process. We also show that when the multiplicative noise is at most linear in the random variable one prescription can be made equivalent to the other by a suitable transformation in the jump probability distribution. We then apply these results to the generalized Langevin equation that drives the salt mass dynamics. The stationary analytical solutions for the probability density functions of salt mass and concentration provide insight on the interplay of the main soil, plant and climate parameters responsible for long term soil salinization. In particular, they show the existence of two distinct regimes, one where the mean salt mass remains nearly constant (or decreases) with increasing rainfall frequency, and another where mean salt content increases markedly with increasing rainfall frequency. As a result, relatively small reductions of rainfall in drier climates may entail dramatic shifts in longterm soil salinization trends, with significant consequences, e.g. for climate change impacts on rain fed agriculture.

Soil hydraulic properties near saturation, an improved conductivity model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Børgesen, Christen Duus; Jacobsen, Ole Hørbye; Hansen, Søren

2006-01-01

of commonly used hydraulic conductivity models and give suggestions for improved models. Water retention and near saturated and saturated hydraulic conductivity were measured for a variety of 81 top and subsoils. The hydraulic conductivity models by van Genuchten [van Genuchten, 1980. A closed-form equation...... for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 892–898.] (vGM) and Brooks and Corey, modified by Jarvis [Jarvis, 1991. MACRO—A Model of Water Movement and Solute Transport in Macroporous Soils. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Department of Soil Sciences....... Optimising a matching factor (k0) improved the fit considerably whereas optimising the l-parameter in the vGM model improved the fit only slightly. The vGM was improved with an empirical scaling function to account for the rapid increase in conductivity near saturation. Using the improved models...

Observing and modeling links between soil moisture, microbes and CH4 fluxes from forest soils

Science.gov (United States)

Christiansen, Jesper; Levy-Booth, David; Barker, Jason; Prescott, Cindy; Grayston, Sue

2017-04-01

Soil moisture is a key driver of methane (CH4) fluxes in forest soils, both of the net uptake of atmospheric CH4 and emission from the soil. Climate and land use change will alter spatial patterns of soil moisture as well as temporal variability impacting the net CH4 exchange. The impact on the resultant net CH4 exchange however is linked to the underlying spatial and temporal distribution of the soil microbial communities involved in CH4 cycling as well as the response of the soil microbial community to environmental changes. Significant progress has been made to target specific CH4 consuming and producing soil organisms, which is invaluable in order to understand the microbial regulation of the CH4 cycle in forest soils. However, it is not clear as to which extent soil moisture shapes the structure, function and abundance of CH4 specific microorganisms and how this is linked to observed net CH4 exchange under contrasting soil moisture regimes. Here we report on the results from a research project aiming to understand how the CH4 net exchange is shaped by the interactive effects soil moisture and the spatial distribution CH4 consuming (methanotrophs) and producing (methanogens). We studied the growing season variations of in situ CH4 fluxes, microbial gene abundances of methanotrophs and methanogens, soil hydrology, and nutrient availability in three typical forest types across a soil moisture gradient in a temperate rainforest on the Canadian Pacific coast. Furthermore, we conducted laboratory experiments to determine whether the net CH4 exchange from hydrologically contrasting forest soils responded differently to changes in soil moisture. Lastly, we modelled the microbial mediation of net CH4 exchange along the soil moisture gradient using structural equation modeling. Our study shows that it is possible to link spatial patterns of in situ net exchange of CH4 to microbial abundance of CH4 consuming and producing organisms. We also show that the microbial

The role of fragmentation mechanism in large-scale vapor explosions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Jie

2003-01-01

A non-equilibrium, multi-phase, multi-component code PROVER-I is developed for propagation phase of vapor explosion. Two fragmentation models are used. The hydrodynamic fragmentation model is the same as Fletcher's one. A new thermal fragmentation model is proposed with three kinds of time scale for modeling instant fragmentation, spontaneous nucleation fragmentation and normal boiling fragmentation. The role of fragmentation mechanisms is investigated by the simulations of the pressure wave propagation and energy conversion ratio of ex-vessel vapor explosion. The spontaneous nucleation fragmentation results in a much higher pressure peak and a larger energy conversion ratio than hydrodynamic fragmentation. The instant fragmentation gives a slightly larger energy conversion ratio than spontaneous nucleation fragmentation, and the normal boiling fragmentation results in a smaller energy conversion ratio. The detailed analysis of the structure of pressure wave makes it clear that thermal detonation exists only under the thermal fragmentation circumstance. The high energy conversion ratio is obtained in a small vapor volume fraction. However, in larger vapor volume fraction conditions, the vapor explosion is weak. In a large-scale vapor explosion, the hydrodynamic fragmentation is essential when the pressure wave becomes strong, so a small energy conversion ratio is expected. (author)

Numerical modeling and experimental simulation of vapor shield formation and divertor material erosion for ITER typical plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wuerz, H.; Arkhipov, N.I.; Bakhin, V.P.; Goel, B.; Hoebel, W.; Konkashbaev, I.; Landman, I.; Piazza, G.; Safronov, V.M.; Sherbakov, A.R.; Toporkov, D.A.; Zhitlukhin, A.M.

1994-01-01

The high divertor heat load during a tokamak plasma disruption results in sudden evaporation of a thin layer of divertor plate material, which acts as vapor shield and protects the target from further excessive evaporation. Formation and effectiveness of the vapor shield are theoretically modeled and experimentally investigated at the 2MK-200 facility under conditions simulating the thermal quench phase of ITER tokamak plasma disruptions. In the optical wavelength range C II, C III, C IV emission lines for graphite, Cu I, Cu II lines for copper and continuum radiation for tungsten samples are observed in the target plasma. The plasma expands along the magnetic field lines with velocities of (4±1)x10 6 cm/s for graphite and 10 5 cm/s for copper. Modeling was done with a radiation hydrodynamics code in one-dimensional planar geometry. The multifrequency radiation transport is treated in flux limited diffusion and in forward reverse transport approximation. In these first modeling studies the overall shielding efficiency for carbon and tungsten defined as ratio of the incident energy and the vaporization energy for power densities of 10 MW/cm 2 exceeds a factor of 30. The vapor shield is established within 2 μs, the power fraction to the target after 10 μs is below 3% and reaches in the stationary state after about 20 μs a value of around 1.5%. ((orig.))

Constraining the 0-20 km Vertical Profile of Water Vapor in the Martian Atmosphere with MGS-TES Limb Sounding

Science.gov (United States)

McConnochie, T. H.; Smith, M. D.; McDonald, G. D.

2016-12-01

The vertical profile of water vapor in the lower atmosphere of Mars is a crucial but poorly-measured detail of the water cycle. Most of our existing water vapor data sets (e.g. Smith, 2002, JGR 107; Smith et al., 2009, JGR 114; Maltagliati et al., 2011, Icarus 213) rely on the traditional assumption of uniform mass mixing from the surface up to a saturation level, but GCM models (Richardson et al., 2002, JGR 107; Navarro et al., 2014, JGR 119) imply that this is not the case in at least some important seasons and locations. For example at the equator during northern summer the water vapor mixing ratio in aforementioned GCMs increases upwards by a factor of two to three in the bottom scale height. This might influence the accuracy of existing precipitable water column (PWC) data sets. Even if not, the correct vertical distribution is critical for determining the extent to which high-altitude cold trapping interferes with inter-hemispheric transport, and its details in the lowest scale heights will be a critical test of the accuracy of modeled water vapor transport. Meanwhile attempts to understand apparent interactions of water vapor with surface soils (e.g. Ojha et al. 2015, Nature Geoscience 8; Savijärvi et al., 2016, Icarus 265) need an estimate for the amount of water vapor in the boundary layer, and existing PWC data sets can't provide this unless the lower atmospheric vertical distribution is known or constrained. Maltagliati et al. (2013, Icarus 223) have obtained vertical profiles of water vapor at higher altitudes with SPICAM on Mars Express, but these are commonly limited to altitudes greater 20 km and they never extend below 10 km. We have previously used Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) limb-sounding to measure the vertical profile of water vapor (e.g. McConnochie and Smith, 2009, Fall AGU #P54B-06), but these preliminary results were clearly not quantitatively accurate in the lower atmosphere. We will present improved TES

Incorporating microbial dormancy dynamics into soil decomposition models to improve quantification of soil carbon dynamics of northern temperate forests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Yujie [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; Yang, Jinyan [Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources; Northeast Forestry Univ., Harbin (China). Center for Ecological Research; Zhuang, Qianlai [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Dept. of Agronomy; Harden, Jennifer W. [U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (United States); McGuire, Anthony D. [Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, U.S. Geological Survey, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States). U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Liu, Yaling [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; Wang, Gangsheng [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Climate Change Science Inst. and Environmental Sciences Division; Gu, Lianhong [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division

2015-11-20

Soil carbon dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. Microbial-based decomposition models have seen much growth recently for quantifying this role, yet dormancy as a common strategy used by microorganisms has not usually been represented and tested in these models against field observations. Here in this study we developed an explicit microbial-enzyme decomposition model and examined model performance with and without representation of microbial dormancy at six temperate forest sites of different forest types. We then extrapolated the model to global temperate forest ecosystems to investigate biogeochemical controls on soil heterotrophic respiration and microbial dormancy dynamics at different temporal-spatial scales. The dormancy model consistently produced better match with field-observed heterotrophic soil CO₂ efflux (R_H) than the no dormancy model. Our regional modeling results further indicated that models with dormancy were able to produce more realistic magnitude of microbial biomass (<2% of soil organic carbon) and soil R_H (7.5 ± 2.4 PgCyr^-1). Spatial correlation analysis showed that soil organic carbon content was the dominating factor (correlation coefficient = 0.4-0.6) in the simulated spatial pattern of soil R_H with both models. In contrast to strong temporal and local controls of soil temperature and moisture on microbial dormancy, our modeling results showed that soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C:N) was a major regulating factor at regional scales (correlation coefficient = -0.43 to -0.58), indicating scale-dependent biogeochemical controls on microbial dynamics. Our findings suggest that incorporating microbial dormancy could improve the realism of microbial-based decomposition models and enhance the integration of soil experiments and mechanistically based modeling.

Numerical evaluation of ABS parts fabricated by fused deposition modeling and vapor smoothing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung-Uk Zhang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The automotive industry has focused to use polymer materials in order to increase energy efficiency. So, the industry pays attention to use 3D printing technologies using several polymers. Among several 3D printer technologies, fused deposition modeling (FDM is one of the popular 3D printing technologies due to an inexpensive extrusion machine and multi-material printing. FDM could use thermoplastics such as ABS, PLA, ULTEM so on. However, it has a problem related to the post-processing because FDM has relatively poor layer resolution. In this study, the mechanical properties of ABS parts fabricated by FDM were measured. The ABS parts were divided into one with vapor smoothing process and the other without the vapor smoothing process which is one of the post-processing methods. Using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA and dilatometer, temperature-dependent storage modulus and CTE for ABS specimens were measured. Based on the measured thermo-mechanical properties of ABS parts, finite element analysis was performed for an automotive bumper made of ABS. Moreover, response surface methodology was applied to study relationships among design parameters of thickness of the bumper, ambient temperature, and application of the vapor smoothing process. In result, a design guideline for a ABS product could be provided without time-consuming experiments

Modelling phosphate adsorption to the soil: Application of the non-ideal competitive adsorption model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abou Nohra, Joumana S.; Madramootoo, Chandra A.; Hendershot, William H.

2007-01-01

Phosphorus (P) transport in subsurface runoff has increased despite the limited mobility of P in soils. This study investigated the ability of the non-ideal competitive adsorption (NICA) model to describe phosphate (PO 4 ) adsorption for soils in southern Quebec (Canada). We measured the surface charge and PO 4 adsorption capacity for 11 agricultural soils. Using the experimental data and a nonlinear fitting function, we derived the NICA model parameters. We found that the NICA model described accurately the surface charge of these soils with a mean R 2 > 0.99, and described the adsorption data with a mean R 2 = 0.96. We also found that the variable surface charge was distributed over the two binding sites with the low pH sites demonstrating a stronger binding energy for hydroxyl and PO 4 ions. We established that the NICA model is able to describe P adsorption for the soils considered in this study. - The NICA model accurately described the adsorption of phosphate to some southern Quebec soils

Modeling the influence of organic acids on soil weathering

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Corey R.; Harden, Jennifer W.; Maher, Kate

2014-01-01

Biological inputs and organic matter cycling have long been regarded as important factors in the physical and chemical development of soils. In particular, the extent to which low molecular weight organic acids, such as oxalate, influence geochemical reactions has been widely studied. Although the effects of organic acids are diverse, there is strong evidence that organic acids accelerate the dissolution of some minerals. However, the influence of organic acids at the field-scale and over the timescales of soil development has not been evaluated in detail. In this study, a reactive-transport model of soil chemical weathering and pedogenic development was used to quantify the extent to which organic acid cycling controls mineral dissolution rates and long-term patterns of chemical weathering. Specifically, oxalic acid was added to simulations of soil development to investigate a well-studied chronosequence of soils near Santa Cruz, CA. The model formulation includes organic acid input, transport, decomposition, organic-metal aqueous complexation and mineral surface complexation in various combinations. Results suggest that although organic acid reactions accelerate mineral dissolution rates near the soil surface, the net response is an overall decrease in chemical weathering. Model results demonstrate the importance of organic acid input concentrations, fluid flow, decomposition and secondary mineral precipitation rates on the evolution of mineral weathering fronts. In particular, model soil profile evolution is sensitive to kaolinite precipitation and oxalate decomposition rates. The soil profile-scale modeling presented here provides insights into the influence of organic carbon cycling on soil weathering and pedogenesis and supports the need for further field-scale measurements of the flux and speciation of reactive organic compounds.

Water vapor absorption in the atmospheric window at 239 GHz

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, A.; Godon, M.; Carlier, J.; Ma, Q.

1995-01-01

Absolute absorption rates of pure water vapor and mixtures of water vapor and nitrogen have been measured in the atmospheric window at 239 GHz. The dependence on pressure as well as temperature has been obtained. The experimental data are compared with several theoretical or empirical models, and satisfactory agreement is obtained with the models involving a continuum; in the case of pure water vapor, the continuum contribution based upon recent theoretical developments gives good results. The temperature dependence is stronger than that proposed in a commonly used atmospheric transmission model.

Bayesian Evaluation of Dynamical Soil Carbon Models Using Soil Carbon Flux Data

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, H. W.; Romero-Olivares, A.; Guindani, M.; Allison, S. D.

2017-12-01

2016 was Earth's hottest year in the modern temperature record and the third consecutive record-breaking year. As the planet continues to warm, temperature-induced changes in respiration rates of soil microbes could reduce the amount of carbon sequestered in the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool, one of the largest terrestrial stores of carbon. This would accelerate temperature increases. In order to predict the future size of the SOC pool, mathematical soil carbon models (SCMs) describing interactions between the biosphere and atmosphere are needed. SCMs must be validated before they can be chosen for predictive use. In this study, we check two SCMs called CON and AWB for consistency with observed data using Bayesian goodness of fit testing that can be used in the future to compare other models. We compare the fit of the models to longitudinal soil respiration data from a meta-analysis of soil heating experiments using a family of Bayesian goodness of fit metrics called information criteria (IC), including the Widely Applicable Information Criterion (WAIC), the Leave-One-Out Information Criterion (LOOIC), and the Log Pseudo Marginal Likelihood (LPML). These IC's take the entire posterior distribution into account, rather than just one outputted model fit line. A lower WAIC and LOOIC and larger LPML indicate a better fit. We compare AWB and CON with fixed steady state model pool sizes. At equivalent SOC, dissolved organic carbon, and microbial pool sizes, CON always outperforms AWB quantitatively by all three IC's used. AWB monotonically improves in fit as we reduce the SOC steady state pool size while fixing all other pool sizes, and the same is almost true for CON. The AWB model with the lowest SOC is the best performing AWB model, while the CON model with the second lowest SOC is the best performing model. We observe that AWB displays more changes in slope sign and qualitatively displays more adaptive dynamics, which prevents AWB from being fully ruled out for

Soil Loss Prediction on Mobile Platform Using Universal Soil-Loss Equation (USLE Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Effendi Rahim Supli

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Indirect method for soil loss predictions are plentiful, one of which is Universal soil-loss equation (USLE model. Available technology in mobile applications prompted the authors to develop a tool for calculating soil loss for many land types by transforming the USLE model into smart mobile application. The application is designed by using simple language for calculating each and every factor and lastly summing up the results. Factors that are involved in the calculation of soil loss are namely erosivity, erodibility, slope steepness, length of slope, land cover and conservation measures. The program will also be able to give its judgment for each of the prediction of soil loss rates for each and every possible land uses ranging from very light to very heavy. The application is believed to be useful for land users, students, farmers, planners, companies and government officers. It is shown by conducting usability testing using usability model, which is designed for mobile application. The results showed from 120 respondents that the usability of the system in this study was in “very good” classification, for three characteristics (ease of use, user satisfaction, and learnability. Only attractiveness characteristic that falls into “good” classification.

Modeling of the Enceladus water vapor jets for interpreting UVIS star and solar occultation observations

Science.gov (United States)

Portyankina, Ganna; Esposito, Larry W.; Aye, Klaus-Michael; Hansen, Candice J.

2015-11-01

One of the most spectacular discoveries of the Cassini mission is jets emitting from the southern pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The composition of the jets is water vapor and salty ice grains with traces of organic compounds. Jets, merging into a wide plume at a distance, are observed by multiple instruments on Cassini. Recent observations of the visible dust plume by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) identified as many as 98 jet sources located along “tiger stripes” [Porco et al. 2014]. There is a recent controversy on the question if some of these jets are “optical illusion” caused by geometrical overlap of continuous source eruptions along the “tiger stripes” in the field of view of ISS [Spitale et al. 2015]. The Cassini’s Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) observed occultations of several stars and the Sun by the water vapor plume of Enceladus. During the solar occultation separate collimated gas jets were detected inside the background plume [Hansen et al., 2006 and 2011]. These observations directly provide data about water vapor column densities along the line of sight of the UVIS instrument and could help distinguish between the presence of only localized or also continuous sources. We use Monte Carlo simulations and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) to model the plume of Enceladus with multiple (or continuous) jet sources. The models account for molecular collisions, gravitational and Coriolis forces. The models result in the 3-D distribution of water vapor density and surface deposition patterns. Comparison between the simulation results and column densities derived from UVIS observations provide constraints on the physical characteristics of the plume and jets. The specific geometry of the UVIS observations helps to estimate the production rates and velocity distribution of the water molecules emitted by the individual jets.Hansen, C. J. et al., Science 311:1422-1425 (2006); Hansen, C. J. et al, GRL 38:L11202 (2011

A Simple Model of the Variability of Soil Depths

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fang Yu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Soil depth tends to vary from a few centimeters to several meters, depending on many natural and environmental factors. We hypothesize that the cumulative effect of these factors on soil depth, which is chiefly dependent on the process of biogeochemical weathering, is particularly affected by soil porewater (i.e., solute transport and infiltration from the land surface. Taking into account evidence for a non-Gaussian distribution of rock weathering rates, we propose a simple mathematical model to describe the relationship between soil depth and infiltration flux. The model was tested using several areas in mostly semi-arid climate zones. The application of this model demonstrates the use of fundamental principles of physics to quantify the coupled effects of the five principal soil-forming factors of Dokuchaev.

Separation of aromatics by vapor permeation through solvent swollen membrane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ito, A.; Adachi, K.; Feng, Y. [Niigata University, Niigata (Japan)

1995-12-20

A vapor permeation process for aromatics separation from a hydrocarbon mixture was studied by means of the simultaneous permeation of dimethylsulfoxide vapor as an agent for membrane swelling and preferential permeation of aromatics. The separation performance of the process was demonstrated by a polyvinylalcohol membrane for mixed vapors of benzene/cyclohexane, xylene/octane and a model gasoline. The aromatic vapors preferentially permeated from these mixed vapor feeds. The separation factor was over 10. The separation mechanism of the process mainly depends on the relative salability of the vapors between aromatics and other hydrocarbons in dimethylsulfoxide. 14 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.

Modeling soil evaporation efficiency in a range of soil and atmospheric conditions using a meta-analysis approach

OpenAIRE

Merlin , O; Stefan , V ,; Amazirh , A; Chanzy , A; Ceschia , E; Er-Raki , S; Gentine , P; Tallec , T; Ezzahar , J; Bircher , S; Beringer , J; Khabba , S

2016-01-01

International audience; A meta-analysis data-driven approach is developed to represent the soil evaporative efficiency (SEE) defined as the ratio of actual to potential soil evaporation. The new model is tested across a bare soil database composed of more than 30 sites around the world, a clay fraction range of 0.02-0.56, a sand fraction range of 0.05-0.92, and about 30,000 acquisition times. SEE is modeled using a soil resistance ($r_{ss}$) formulation based on surface soil moisture ($\\theta...

Global spatiotemporal distribution of soil respiration modeled using a global database

Science.gov (United States)

Hashimoto, S.; Carvalhais, N.; Ito, A.; Migliavacca, M.; Nishina, K.; Reichstein, M.

2015-07-01

The flux of carbon dioxide from the soil to the atmosphere (soil respiration) is one of the major fluxes in the global carbon cycle. At present, the accumulated field observation data cover a wide range of geographical locations and climate conditions. However, there are still large uncertainties in the magnitude and spatiotemporal variation of global soil respiration. Using a global soil respiration data set, we developed a climate-driven model of soil respiration by modifying and updating Raich's model, and the global spatiotemporal distribution of soil respiration was examined using this model. The model was applied at a spatial resolution of 0.5°and a monthly time step. Soil respiration was divided into the heterotrophic and autotrophic components of respiration using an empirical model. The estimated mean annual global soil respiration was 91 Pg C yr-1 (between 1965 and 2012; Monte Carlo 95 % confidence interval: 87-95 Pg C yr-1) and increased at the rate of 0.09 Pg C yr-2. The contribution of soil respiration from boreal regions to the total increase in global soil respiration was on the same order of magnitude as that of tropical and temperate regions, despite a lower absolute magnitude of soil respiration in boreal regions. The estimated annual global heterotrophic respiration and global autotrophic respiration were 51 and 40 Pg C yr-1, respectively. The global soil respiration responded to the increase in air temperature at the rate of 3.3 Pg C yr-1 °C-1, and Q10 = 1.4. Our study scaled up observed soil respiration values from field measurements to estimate global soil respiration and provide a data-oriented estimate of global soil respiration. The estimates are based on a semi-empirical model parameterized with over one thousand data points. Our analysis indicates that the climate controls on soil respiration may translate into an increasing trend in global soil respiration and our analysis emphasizes the relevance of the soil carbon flux from soil to

A model for acoustic vaporization dynamics of a bubble/droplet system encapsulated within a hyperelastic shell.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacour, Thomas; Guédra, Matthieu; Valier-Brasier, Tony; Coulouvrat, François

2018-01-01

Nanodroplets have great, promising medical applications such as contrast imaging, embolotherapy, or targeted drug delivery. Their functions can be mechanically activated by means of focused ultrasound inducing a phase change of the inner liquid known as the acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) process. In this context, a four-phases (vapor + liquid + shell + surrounding environment) model of ADV is proposed. Attention is especially devoted to the mechanical properties of the encapsulating shell, incorporating the well-known strain-softening behavior of Mooney-Rivlin material adapted to very large deformations of soft, nearly incompressible materials. Various responses to ultrasound excitation are illustrated, depending on linear and nonlinear mechanical shell properties and acoustical excitation parameters. Different classes of ADV outcomes are exhibited, and a relevant threshold ensuring complete vaporization of the inner liquid layer is defined. The dependence of this threshold with acoustical, geometrical, and mechanical parameters is also provided.

Soil process-oriented modelling of within-field variability based on high-resolution 3D soil type distribution maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Bönecke, Eric; Lück, Erika; Gründling, Ralf; Rühlmann, Jörg; Franko, Uwe

2016-04-01

Today, the knowledge of within-field variability is essential for numerous purposes, including practical issues, such as precision and sustainable soil management. Therefore, process-oriented soil models have been applied for a considerable time to answer question of spatial soil nutrient and water dynamics, although, they can only be as consistent as their variation and resolution of soil input data. Traditional approaches, describe distribution of soil types, soil texture or other soil properties for greater soil units through generalised point information, e.g. from classical soil survey maps. Those simplifications are known to be afflicted with large uncertainties. Varying soil, crop or yield conditions are detected even within such homogenised soil units. However, recent advances of non-invasive soil survey and on-the-go monitoring techniques, made it possible to obtain vertical and horizontal dense information (3D) about various soil properties, particularly soil texture distribution which serves as an essential soil key variable affecting various other soil properties. Thus, in this study we based our simulations on detailed 3D soil type distribution (STD) maps (4x4 m) to adjacently built-up sufficient informative soil profiles including various soil physical and chemical properties. Our estimates of spatial STD are based on high-resolution lateral and vertical changes of electrical resistivity (ER), detected by a relatively new multi-sensor on-the-go ER monitoring device. We performed an algorithm including fuzzy-c-mean (FCM) logic and traditional soil classification to estimate STD from those inverted and layer-wise available ER data. STD is then used as key input parameter for our carbon, nitrogen and water transport model. We identified Pedological horizon depths and inferred hydrological soil variables (field capacity, permanent wilting point) from pedotransferfunctions (PTF) for each horizon. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon