Density-driven Transport of Volatile Organic Compounds and its Impact on Contaminated Groundwater Plume Evolution

Density-driven advection of gas phase due to vaporization of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has a significant effect on fate and transport of contaminants. In this study, we investigated the effects of density-driven advection, infiltration, and permeability on contaminant plume evolution and natural attenuation of VOCs in the subsurface system. To analyze these effects, multiphase flow and contaminant transport processes were simulated using a three-dimensional Galerkin-finite-element-based model. Trichloroethylene (TCE) is selected as a target contaminant. Density-driven advection of gas phase elevated the potential of groundwater pollution in the saturated zone by accelerating downward migration of vaporized contaminant in the unsaturated zone. The advection contributed to increased removal rates of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) TCE source and reduced dissolved TCE plume development in the downstream area. Infiltration reduced the velocity of the density-driven advection and its influence zone, but raised TCE transfer from the unsaturated to the saturated zone. The variation in soil permeability showed greater impact on contaminant migration within water phase in the saturated zone than within gas phase in the unsaturated zone. Temporal variations of TCE mass within two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) domains under several modeling conditions were compared. These results are important in evaluation of natural attenuation processes, and should be considered to effectively design monitored natural attenuation as a remedial option.     

A Numerical Model of Tracer Transport in a Non-isothermal Two-Phase Flow System for {\text{ CO}}_2 Geological Storage Characterization

For the purpose of characterizing geologically stored $\text{ CO}_{2}Air sparging is an in situ soil/groundwater remediation technology, which involves the injection of pressurized air through air sparging well below the zone of contamination. To investigate the rate-dependent flow properties during multistep air sparging, a rule-based dynamic two-phase flow model was developed and applied to a 3D pore network which is employed to characterize the void structure of porous media. The simulated dynamic two-phase flow at the pore scale or microscale was translated into functional relationships at the continuum-scale of capillary pressure?Csaturation (P ^c?CS) and relative permeability??saturation (K _r?CS) relationships. A significant contribution from the air injection pressure step and duration time of each air injection pressure on both of the above relationships was observed during the multistep air sparging tests. It is observed from the simulation that at a given matric potential, larger amount of water is retained during transient flow than that during steady flow. Shorter the duration of each air injection pressure step, there is higher fraction of retained water. The relative air/water permeability values are also greatly affected by the pressure step. With large air injection pressure step, the air/water relative permeability is much higher than that with a smaller air injection pressure step at the same water saturation level. However, the impact of pressure step on relative permeability is not consistent for flows with different capillary numbers (N _ca). When compared with relative air permeability, relative water permeability has a higher scatter. It was further observed that the dynamic effects on the relative permeability curve are more apparent for networks with larger pore sizes than that with smaller pore sizes. In addition, the effect of pore size on relative water permeability is higher than that on relative air permeability.     

Genetic Algorithms for Optimizing the Remediation of Contaminated Aquifer

Produced water constitutes a large amount of waste fluids during the production operation of an oil field. Underground injection for disposing the wastewater from hydrocarbon production is an engineering problem due to the possibility of leakage of injected pollutant material from receiving medium to a drinking water source. This paper describes a method for optimization of polluted aquifer remediation design using one of the artificial intelligence optimization methods, namely Genetic Algorithms (GAs). As a case study, the contaminated area was created by using a groundwater transport simulator, which is based on Method of Characteristics (MOC). Then, the developed computer program was run to find the optimum solution for remediation, and the solution yielded from the program was verified by using a groundwater simulator. The plume was captured and the concentration level of chloride ion within the aquifer was diminished by using extraction wells. The analytical model approach provided different alternatives for appropriate isolation of plume. GAs were used as an optimization technique for making a decision among the alternatives, by considering operation time, number of wells, pumping rate and drawdown as decision variables and constraints.     

The Local Geometry of Gas Injection into Saturated Homogeneous Porous Media

The injection of gases into liquid saturated porous media is of theoretical and practical interest (e.g., air sparging for the removal of volatile organic compounds from contaminated aquifer sediments). The influence of the rate of gas delivery and the vertical distance from the source are developed. The concept of a “near-injection region” is presented in which the pressure gradients exceed buoyant gradients and thus exhibits largely radial flow. The near-injection size is shown to have an area required to carry the injected gas flow under unit gradient. The parabolic movement of gas outside of this area which has often been observed is explained as reflecting the sum of many realizations of gas channels following random lateral movements as they precede upward independent of flux. These concepts are confirmed through comparison with published and experimental data of air injection into slabs consisting of saturated sands of a range of textures.     

封闭和半封闭通风空间的环境流体问题

半封闭与全封闭空间的环境流体力学包括系统内的空气流动、温度和湿度分布以及污染物的凝积等问题, 其中涉及控制空间的空气质量、通风设计以及预防水汽凝结等多个方面的研究. 本文着重介绍国内外近年来相关的工作,研究如何从理论分析、实验研究以及数值模拟等方面入手, 解决通风问题,以达到获得高通风效率、低能耗和提高空气舒适度的目的.研究的对象包括房间, 建筑物, 城市等半封闭空间, 以及汽车、 地铁、飞机、潜艇、载人航天飞行器等不同程度的全封闭空间.现有的理论研究已经从解释单点源纯浮力对流的基础模型发展到能够描述具有体积流量和动量流量的扩散流的湍流喷泉模型.然而, 理论研究上的进步还不足以使它能够处理实际问题中多样的通风情况和复杂的空间结构,工程应用中还需更多依靠实验研究和数值模拟的结论. 对载人航天飞行器中的环境流体问题的研究虽然刚刚起步,但其研究手段和经验可以从相对成熟的半封闭与全封闭空间的相关研究中获得借鉴.      

The effect of surfactants on air–water annular and churn flow in vertical pipes. Part 1: Morphology of the air–water interface

In this work, the influence of surfactants on air–water flow was studied by performing experiments in a 12 metre long, 50 mm inner diameter, vertical pipe at ambient conditions. High-speed visualisation of the flow shows that the morphology of the air–water interface determines the formation of foam. The foam subsequently alters the flow morphology significantly. In annular flow, the foam suppresses the roll waves, and a foamy crest is formed on the ripple waves. In the churn flow regime, the flooding waves and the downwards motion of the liquid film are suppressed by the foam. The foam is transported in foam waves moving upwards superposed on an almost stagnant foam substrate at the pipe wall. Foam thus effectively reduces the superficial gas velocity at which the transition from annular to churn flow occurs. These experiments make more clear how surfactants can postpone liquid loading in vertical pipes, such as in gas wells.     

Multiple pulsed hypersonic liquid diesel fuel jetsdriven by projectile impact

Further studies on high-speed liquid diesel fuel jets injected into ambient air conditions have been carried out. Projectile impact has been used as the driving mechanism. A vertical two-stage light gas gun was used as a launcher to provide the high-speed impact. This paper describes the experimental technique and visualization methods that provided a rapid series of jet images in the one shot. A high-speed video camera (10⁶ fps) and shadowgraph optical system were used to obtain visualization. Very interesting and unique phenomena have been discovered and confirmed in this study. These are that multiple high frequency jet pulses are generated within the duration of a single shot impact. The associated multiple jet shock waves have been clearly captured. This characteristic consistently occurs with the smaller conical angle, straight cone nozzles but not with those with a very wide cone angle or curved nozzle profile. An instantaneous jet tip velocity of 2680 m/s (Mach number of 7.86) was the maximum obtained with the 40 nozzle. However, this jet tip velocity can only be sustained for a few microseconds as attenuation is very rapid.Received: 13 December 2003, Accepted: 11 April 2004, Published online: 11 February 2005[/PUBLISHED]K. Pianthong: Correspondence to:      

Velocity field analysis of the high density,high pressure diesel spray

In this study, particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements have been performed extensively on a non-reactive dense diesel spray injected from a single orifice injector, under various injection pressure and steady ambient conditions, in a constant flow chamber. Details of PIV setup for diesel spray measurement without additional seeding are explained first. The measured velocity profiles are compared to those obtained from other similar measurements performed in a different institution, as well as those obtained from a 1D spray model simulation, presenting in both cases a good level of agreement. In addition, the velocity fields under various injection pressures and ambient densities show the dominant effects of these parameters on the behavior of diesel spray. The self-similarity of the transverse cut profiles of axial velocity is evaluated, showing that the measurements are in agreement with the hypothesis of self-similar velocity profiles. Finally, the effect of injection pressure and ambient density on the velocity fluctuations is presented and analyzed as well. While the experimental results presented here could help to understand the complex diesel fuel–air mixing process during injection, they also provide additional spray velocity data for future computational model validation, following the main idea of the Engine Combustion Network.     

瓦斯/空气预混气体爆燃流场测试系统多参数耦合同步控制实验方法

为了更精确地获得爆炸激波管内瓦斯/空气预混气体爆燃过程中，激波形成过程、压力和火焰传播速度以及火焰与惰性阻燃剂相互作用的流场演化图像。通过分析激波管测试系统中多个目标的时间响应特征及控制方式，利用超高速相机、光电倍增管、时间延时器、固态继电器、电荷放大器和数据采集系统等设备，设计实验方案，分别对激波管中瓦斯/空气预混气体爆燃高压点火系统的响应时间和惰性介质阻燃剂喷射系统的响应时间进行测试。实验结果表明电火花点火的响应时间为微秒量级，而阻燃剂喷射系统的响应时间为毫秒量级，以响应时间为依据，通过设置精确的延迟时间实现多目标同步控制，为完成激波管内瓦斯/空气预混气体爆燃过程的微观流场显示奠定基础。