Imaging and modeling of pore scale processes in porous media using X-ray computed tomography and lattice Boltzmann solver

In der Erdöl– und Gasindustrie sind bildgebende Verfahren und Simulationen auf der Porenskala im Begriff Routineanwendungen zu werden. Ihr weiteres Potential lässt sich im Umweltbereich anwenden, wie z.B. für den Transport und Verbleib von Schadstoffen im Untergrund, die Speicherung von Kohlendioxid und dem natürlichen Abbau von Schadstoffen in Böden. Mit der Röntgen-Computertomografie (XCT) steht ein zerstörungsfreies 3D bildgebendes Verfahren zur Verfügung, das auch häufig für die Untersuchung der internen Struktur geologischer Proben herangezogen wird. Das erste Ziel dieser Dissertation war die Implementierung einer Bildverarbeitungstechnik, die die Strahlenaufhärtung der Röntgen-Computertomografie beseitigt und den Segmentierungsprozess dessen Daten vereinfacht. Das zweite Ziel dieser Arbeit untersuchte die kombinierten Effekte von Porenraumcharakteristika, Porentortuosität, sowie die Strömungssimulation und Transportmodellierung in Porenräumen mit der Gitter-Boltzmann-Methode. In einer zylindrischen geologischen Probe war die Position jeder Phase auf Grundlage der Beobachtung durch das Vorhandensein der Strahlenaufhärtung in den rekonstruierten Bildern, das eine radiale Funktion vom Probenrand zum Zentrum darstellt, extrahierbar und die unterschiedlichen Phasen ließen sich automatisch segmentieren. Weiterhin wurden Strahlungsaufhärtungeffekte von beliebig geformten Objekten durch einen Oberflächenanpassungsalgorithmus korrigiert. Die Methode der „least square support vector machine” (LSSVM) ist durch einen modularen Aufbau charakterisiert und ist sehr gut für die Erkennung und Klassifizierung von Mustern geeignet. Aus diesem Grund wurde die Methode der LSSVM als pixelbasierte Klassifikationsmethode implementiert. Dieser Algorithmus ist in der Lage komplexe geologische Proben korrekt zu klassifizieren, benötigt für den Fall aber längere Rechenzeiten, so dass mehrdimensionale Trainingsdatensätze verwendet werden müssen. Die Dynamik von den unmischbaren Phasen Luft und Wasser wird durch eine Kombination von Porenmorphologie und Gitter Boltzmann Methode für Drainage und Imbibition Prozessen in 3D Datensätzen von Böden, die durch synchrotron-basierte XCT gewonnen wurden, untersucht. Obwohl die Porenmorphologie eine einfache Methode ist Kugeln in den verfügbaren Porenraum einzupassen, kann sie dennoch die komplexe kapillare Hysterese als eine Funktion der Wassersättigung erklären. Eine Hysterese ist für den Kapillardruck und die hydraulische Leitfähigkeit beobachtet worden, welche durch die hauptsächlich verbundenen Porennetzwerke und der verfügbaren Porenraumgrößenverteilung verursacht sind. Die hydraulische Konduktivität ist eine Funktion des Wassersättigungslevels und wird mit einer makroskopischen Berechnung empirischer Modelle verglichen. Die Daten stimmen vor allem für hohe Wassersättigungen gut überein. Um die Gegenwart von Krankheitserregern im Grundwasser und Abwässern vorhersagen zu können, wurde in einem Bodenaggregat der Einfluss von Korngröße, Porengeometrie und Fluidflussgeschwindigkeit z.B. mit dem Mikroorganismus Escherichia coli studiert. Die asymmetrischen und langschweifigen Durchbruchskurven, besonders bei höheren Wassersättigungen, wurden durch dispersiven Transport aufgrund des verbundenen Porennetzwerks und durch die Heterogenität des Strömungsfeldes verursacht. Es wurde beobachtet, dass die biokolloidale Verweilzeit eine Funktion des Druckgradienten als auch der Kolloidgröße ist. Unsere Modellierungsergebnisse stimmen sehr gut mit den bereits veröffentlichten Daten überein.

Evaluating Bucknell's Waste Stream

This thesis examines three questions regarding the content of Bucknell University‟s waste stream and the contributors to campus recycling and solid waste disposal. The first asks, “What does Bucknell‟s waste stream consist of?” To answer this question, I designed a campus-wide waste audit procedure that sampled one dumpster from each of the eleven „activity‟ types on campus in order to better understand Bucknell‟s waste composition. The audit was implemented during the Fall semester of the 2011-2012 school year. The waste from each dumpster was sorted into several recyclable and non-recyclable categories and then weighed individually. Results showed the Bison and Carpenter Shop dumpsters to contain the highest percentage of divertible materials (through recycling and/or composting). When extrapolated, results also showed the Dining Services buildings and Facilities buildings to be the most waste dense in terms of pounds of waste generated per square foot. The Bison also generated the most overall waste by weight. The average composition of all dumpsters revealed that organic waste composed 24% of all waste, 23% was non-recyclable paper, and 20% was non-recyclable plastic. It will be important to move forward using these results to help create effective waste programs that target the appropriate areas of concern. My second question asks, “What influences waste behavior to contribute to this „picture‟ of the waste stream?” To answer this question, I created a survey that was sent out to randomly selected sub-group of the university‟s three constituencies: students, faculty, and staff. The survey sought responses regarding each constituency‟s solid waste disposal and recycling behavior, attitudes toward recycling, and motivating factors for solid waste disposal behaviors across different sectors of the university. Using regression analysis, I found three statistically significant motivating factors that influence solid waste disposal behavior: knowledge and awareness, moral value, and social norms. I further examined how a person‟s characteristics associate to these motivating factors and found that one‟s position on campus proved a significant association. Consistently, faculty and staff were strongly influenced by the aforementioned motivating factors, while students‟ behavior was less influenced by them. This suggests that new waste programs should target students to help increase the influence of these motivators to improve the recycling rate and lower overall solid waste disposal on campus. After making overall conclusions regarding the waste audit and survey, I ask my third question, which inquires, “What actions can Bucknell take to increase recycling rates and decrease solid waste generation?” Bucknell currently features several recycling and waste minimization programs on campus. However, using results from the waste audit and campus survey, we can better understand what are the issues of the waste stream, how do we go about addressing these issues, and who needs to be addressed. I propose several suggestions for projects that future students may take on for summer or thesis research. Suggestions include targeting the appropriate categories of waste that occur most frequently in the waste stream, as well as the building types that have the highest waste density and potential recovery rates. Additionally, certain groups on campus should be targeted more directly than others, namely the student body, which demonstrates the lowest influence by motivators of recycling and waste behavior. Several variables were identified as significant motivators of waste and recycling behavior, and could be used as program tactics to encourage more effective behavior.

Transport of Hydraulic Fracturing Water and Wastes in the Susquehanna River Basin, Pennsylvania

The development of the Marcellus Shale gas play in Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States has resulted in significant amounts of water and wastes transported by truck over roadways. This study used geographic information systems (GIS) to quantify truck travel distances via both the preferred routes (minimum distance while also favoring higher-order roads) as well as, where available, the likely actual distances for freshwater and waste transport between pertinent locations (e. g., gas wells, treatment facilities, freshwater sources). Results show that truck travel distances in the Susquehanna River Basin are greater than those used in prior life-cycle assessments of tight shale gas. When compared to likely actual transport distances, if policies were instituted to constrain truck travel to the closest destination and higher-order roads, transport mileage reductions of 40-80% could be realized. Using reasonable assumptions of current practices, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with water and waste hauling were calculated to be 70-157 MT CO2 eq per gas well. Furthermore, empty so-called backhaul trips, such as to freshwater withdrawal sites or returning from deep well injection sites, were found to increase emissions by an additional 30%, underscoring the importance of including return trips in the analysis. The results should inform future life-cycle assessments of tight shale gases in managed watersheds and help local and regional governments plan for impacts of transportation on local infrastructure. (C) 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Investigation of using waste engine oil blended with reclaimed asphalt materials to improve pavement recyclability

With the increasing importance of conserving natural resources and moving toward sustainable practices, the aging transportation infrastructure can benefit from these ideas by improving their existing recycling practices. When an asphalt pavement needs to be replaced, the existing pavement is removed and ground up. This ground material, known as reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), is then added into new asphalt roads. However, since RAP was exposed to years of ultraviolet degradation and environmental weathering, the material has aged and cannot be used as a direct substitute for aggregate and binder in new asphalt pavements. One material that holds potential for restoring the aged asphalt binder to a usable state is waste engine oil. This research aims to study the feasibility of using waste engine oil as a recycling agent to improve the recyclability of pavements containing RAP. Testing was conducted in three phases, asphalt binder testing, advanced asphalt binder testing, and laboratory mixture testing. Asphalt binder testing consisted of dynamic shear rheometer and rotational viscometer testing on both unaged and aged binders containing waste engine oil and reclaimed asphalt binder (RAB). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) testing was carried out to on the asphalt binders blended with RAB and waste engine oil compare the structural indices indicative of aging. Lastly, sample asphalt samples containing waste engine oil and RAP were subjected to rutting testing and tensile strength ratio testing. These tests lend evidence to support the claim that waste engine oil can be used as a rejuvenating agent to chemically restore asphalt pavements containing RAP. Waste engine oil can reduce the stiffness and improve the low temperature properties of asphalt binders blended with RAB. Waste engine oil can also soften asphalt pavements without having a detrimental effect on the moisture susceptibility.

Climate Change and Restoration of Degraded Land

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, Durban 2011, delivered a breakthrough on the international community's response to climate change. In the second largest meeting of its kind, the negotiations advanced, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Action Plan, and the Cancun Agreements. The outcomes included a decision by Parties to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, and no later than 2015. One of the decisions adopted by COP 17 and CMP 7 regard to the land use, land-use change and forestry, and invites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to review and, if necessary, update supplementary methodologies for estimating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks resulting from land use, land-use change and forestry activities under Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Kyoto Protocol. Land degradation is a human-induced or natural process which negatively affects the productivity of land within an ecosystem. The direct causes of land degradation are geographically specific. Climate change, including changes in short-term variation, as well as long-term gradual changes in temperature and precipitation, is expected to be an additional stress on rates of land degradation. Book Topics: • Introduction to Climate Change and Land Degradation • Change Mitigation • Climate Change and Waste Land Restoration • Water Management and Planning • Erosion and Hydrological Restoration • Forest Fire Land Restoration • Polluted Soils Restoration • Combating Climate Change by Restoration of Degraded Land • Research Matters – Climate Change Governance • Advanced Statistics Climate Change and Restoration of Degraded Land is of interests to academics, engineers, consultans, designers and professionals involved in restoration of degraded lands projects.

Gasification and Pyrolysis of Posidonia oceanica in the Presence of Dolomite

Resumen del póster presentado en Symposium on Renewable Energy and Products from Biomass and Waste, CIUDEN (Cubillos de Sil, León, Spain), 12-13 May 2015

Data and Documentation

The primary aims of this survey were to assess household waste management practices; participation in waste diversion practices; knowledge of local waste management politics; willingness to participate in local decision making regarding the development of a local waste processing facility; attitudes and perceptions of waste, waste management policies, and waste management technologies.

Chemical and isotopic compositions of pore fluids from ODP Sites 169-1034 and 169-1037

We have analysed the concentrations of Li, K, Rb, Cs, and B, and the isotopic ratios of Li and B of a suite of pore fluids recovered from ODP Sites 1037 (Leg 169; Escanaba Trough) and 1034 (Leg 169S; Saanich Inlet). In addition, we have analysed dissolved K, Rb, and Cs concentrations for estuarine mixing of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system. Together, these data sets have been used to assess the role of sediments in the marine geochemical cycles of the alkali elements and boron. Uptake onto clay minerals during estuarine mixing removes 20-30% of the riverine input of dissolved Cs and Rb to the oceans. Prior to this study, the only other recognised sink of Rb and Cs was uptake during low-temperature alteration of the oceanic crust. Even with this additional sink there is an excess of inputs over outputs in their modern oceanic mass balance. Pore fluid data show that Li and Rb are transferred into marine sediments during early diagenesis. However, modeling of the Li isotope systematics of the pore fluids from Site 1037 shows that seawater Li taken up during marine sedimentation can be readily returned to solution in the presence of less hydrated cations, such as NH4+. This process also appears to result in high concentrations of pore fluid Cs (relative to local seawater) due to expulsion of adsorbed Cs from cation exchange sites. Flux calculations based on pore fluid data for a series of ODP sites indicate that early diagenesis of clay sediments removes around 8% of the modern riverine input of dissolved Li. Although NH4+-rich fluids do result in a flux of Cs to the oceans, on the global scale this input only augments the modern riverine Cs flux by ~3%. Nevertheless, this may have implications for the fate of radioactive Cs in the natural environment and waste repositories.

Control of odors from anaerobic lagoons treating food processing waste-waters /

Issued July 1978.

Control of particulate matter from oil burners and boilers /

Mode of access: Internet.

Information documents on automobile emissions inspection and maintenance programs ; final report /

Bibliography: p. 77-92.

Grants and loans for municipal water supply and watewater [i.e. wastewater] treatment systems : water conservation provisions : final report of Task Force 11 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Resource recovery and source reduction : report to Congress.

Some reports published in more than 1 ed.; e.g. 3rd ed. of 1st report published in 1974.

Hydrologic simulation on solid waste disposal sites (HSSWDS) /

"SW-868"--Cover.

Hazardous waste land treatment /

"Contract no. 68-03-2940."