scholarly journals The Impact of Capillary Trapping of Air on Satiated Hydraulic Conductivity of Sands Interpreted by X-ray Microtomography

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Princ ◽  
Helena Maria Reis Fideles ◽  
Johannes Koestel ◽  
Michal Snehota

The relationship between entrapped air content and the corresponding hydraulic conductivity was investigated experimentally for two coarse sands. Two packed samples of 5 cm height were prepared for each sand. Air entrapment was created by repeated infiltration and drainage cycles. The value of K was determined using repetitive falling-head infiltration experiments, which were evaluated using Darcy’s law. The entrapped air content was determined gravimetrically after each infiltration run. The amount and distribution of air bubbles were quantified by micro-computed X-ray tomography (CT) for selected runs. The obtained relationship between entrapped air content and satiated hydraulic conductivity agreed well with Faybishenko’s (1995) formula. CT imaging revealed that entrapped air contents and bubbles sizes were increasing with the height of the sample. It was found that the size of the air bubbles and clusters increased with each experimental cycle. The relationship between initial and residual gas saturation was successfully fitted with a linear model. The combination of X-ray computed tomography and infiltration experiments has a large potential to explore the effects of entrapped air on water flow.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Princ ◽  
Michal Snehota

<p>The research focused on the simulation of the previous experiment described by Princ et al. (2020). The relationship between entrapped air content (<em>ω</em>) and the corresponding satiated hydraulic conductivity (<em>K</em>) was investigated for two coarse sands, in the experiment. Additionally the amount and distribution of air bubbles were quantified by X-ray computed tomography.</p><p>The pore-network model based on OpenPNM platform (Gostick et al. 2016) was used to attempt simulation of a redistribution of the air bubbles after infiltration. Satiated hydraulic conductivity was determined to obtain the <em>K</em>(<em>ω</em>) relationship. The results from pore-network model were compared with the results from experiments.</p><p>Gostick et al. (2016). Computing in Science & Engineering. 18(4), p60-74.</p><p>Princ et al. (2020). Water. 12(2), p1-19.</p>


Soil Research ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Peck

Air bubbles in soil water affect both hydraulic conductivity and moisture content at a given capillary potential. Consequently changes in the volume of entrapped air, which are not included in the specification of relationships between hydraulic conductivity, moisture content, and capillary potential, will affect all soil-water interactions. Current understanding of the process of air bubble entrapment during infiltration suggests that, in nature, significant air entrapment will often occur. It is shown that infiltrating water can dissolve only a very small volume of air, much less than the amount usually entrapped. Air bubbles in saturated soils are unstable since their pressure must exceed atmospheric, resulting in a diffusive flux of dissolved air from bubbles to menisci contacting the external atmosphere. However, stable bubbles are possible in unsaturated soils. Bubbles which are constrained by pore architecture to non-spherical shapes are usually stable, and spherical bubbles can be stable when the magnitude of the capillary potential exceeds about 3 bars. An approximate analysis of the characteristic time of bubble equilibration indicates that, in an example, it is of order 104 sec, but it may be greater or less by at least a factor 10. Since the equilibration time will be often at least as large as the period of significant soil temperature changes, it cannot be assumed that the entrapped air in a field soil is in an equilibrium state. In such circumstances unstable bubbles may be quasi-permanent. It is suggested that the slow growth of entrapped bubbles may account for the anomalously slow release of water observed in some outflow experiments. Changes of entrapped air volume may also account for the reported dependence of soil-water characteristics on the magnitude of the steps of capillary potential.


Soil Research ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Marchuk ◽  
Pichu Rengasamy ◽  
Ann McNeill ◽  
Anupama Kumar

Non-destructive X-ray computed tomography (µCT) scanning was used to characterise changes in pore architecture as influenced by the proportion of cations (Na, K, Mg, or Ca) bonded to soil particles. These observed changes were correlated with measured saturated hydraulic conductivity, clay dispersion, and zeta potential, as well as cation ratio of structural stability (CROSS) and exchangeable cation ratio. Pore architectural parameters such as total porosity, closed porosity, and pore connectivity, as characterised from µCT scans, were influenced by the valence of the cation and the extent it dominated in the soil. Soils with a dominance of Ca or Mg exhibited a well-developed pore structure and pore interconnectedness, whereas in soil dominated by Na or K there were a large number of isolated pore clusters surrounded by solid matrix where the pores were filled with dispersed clay particles. Saturated hydraulic conductivities of cationic soils dominated by a single cation were dependent on the observed pore structural parameters, and were significantly correlated with active porosity (R2 = 0.76) and pore connectivity (R2 = 0.97). Hydraulic conductivity of cation-treated soils decreased in the order Ca > Mg > K > Na, while clay dispersion, as measured by turbidity and the negative charge of the dispersed clays from these soils, measured as zeta potential, decreased in the order Na > K > Mg > Ca. The results of the study confirm that structural changes during soil–water interaction depend on the ionicity of clay–cation bonding. All of the structural parameters studied were highly correlated with the ionicity indices of dominant cations. The degree of ionicity of an individual cation also explains the different effects caused by cations within a monovalent or divalent category. While sodium adsorption ratio as a measure of soil structural stability is only applicable to sodium-dominant soils, CROSS derived from the ionicity of clay–cation bonds is better suited to soils containing multiple cations in various proportions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S272) ◽  
pp. 208-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Petit ◽  
Gregg A. Wade ◽  
Evelyne Alecian ◽  
Laurent Drissen ◽  
Thierry Montmerle ◽  
...  

AbstractIn some massive stars, magnetic fields are thought to confine the outflowing radiatively-driven wind. Although theoretical models and MHD simulations are able to illustrate the dynamics of such a magnetized wind, the impact of this wind-field interaction on the observable properties of a magnetic star - X-ray emission, photometric and spectral variability - is still unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between magnetism, stellar winds and X-ray emission of OB stars, by providing empirical observations and confronting theory. In conjunction with the COUP survey of the Orion Nebula Cluster, we carried out spectropolarimatric ESPaDOnS observations to determine the magnetic properties of massive OB stars of this cluster.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ľubica Vetráková ◽  
Vilém Neděla ◽  
Jiří Runštuk ◽  
Dominik Heger

Abstract. The microstructure of polycrystalline ice with a threading solution of brine controls its numerous characteristics, including the ice mechanical properties, ice-atmosphere interactions, sea-ice albedo, and (photo)chemical behavior in/on the ice. Ice samples were previously prepared in laboratories to study various facets of ice-impurities interactions and (photo)reactions to model natural ice-impurities behavior. We examine the impact of the freezing conditions and solute (CsCl used as a proxy for naturally occurring salts) concentrations on the microscopic structure of ice samples via an environmental scanning electron microscope. The method allows us to observe in detail the ice surfaces, namely, the free ice, brine puddles, brine-containing grain boundary grooves, individual ice crystals, and imprints left by entrapped air bubbles at temperatures higher than −25 °C. The amount of brine on the external surface is found proportional to the solute concentration and is strongly dependent on the sample preparation method. Time-lapse images in the condition of slight sublimation reveal sub-surface association of air bubbles with brine. With rising temperature (up to −14 °C), the brine surface coverage increases to remain enhanced during the subsequent cooling and until the final crystallization below the eutectic temperature. The ice recrystallization dynamics identifies the role of surface spikes in retarding the ice boundaries propagation (Zeener pining). The findings thus quantify the amounts of brine exposed to incoming radiation, available for the gas exchange, and influencing other mechanical and optical properties of ice. The results have straightforward implications for artificially prepared and naturally occurring salty ices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 015401
Author(s):  
Jochen Hiller ◽  
Peter Landstorfer ◽  
Philipp Marx ◽  
Matthias Herbst

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest K. Yanful ◽  
Moir D. Haug ◽  
Lionel C. Wong

The impact of leachate on the hydraulic conductivity, k, of a glacial till used in the contraction of a liner for a landfill near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is evaluated. Low-gradient triaxial permeability testing of the water-moulded till over a 7-month period with six pore volumes of test leachate at a hydraulic gradient of approximately 100 gave a hydraulic conductivity of 3.0 × 10−9 cm/s, compared with 6.0 × 10−9 cm/s for the water-permeated sample at the same gradient. The k was also evaluated at gradients of 20 and 50 during water permeation and found to be 8.0 × 10−9 and 6.8 × 10−9 cm/s, respectively. The slight decrease in k with increase in gradient was attributed to a decrease in void ratio, resulting from a net increase in applied effective stress at the outflow end of the specimen. An assessment of the clay mineral composition of the till at the end of permeability testing did not show collapse of the smectite peak. Instead, the leachate appeared to have actually enhanced the smectite peak relative to the illite peak. It was concluded that the leachate did not have any detrimental impact on the till and that the hydraulic conductivity "of the 0.3-m-thick liner underlying the landfill may not be expected to increase as a result of interaction with leachate. Key words: leachate, soil liners, hydraulic conductivity, smectitic till, X-ray diffraction, triaxial permeability testing.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S244) ◽  
pp. 374-375
Author(s):  
Leila C. Powell ◽  
Scott T. Kay ◽  
Arif Babul ◽  
Andisheh Mahdavi

AbstractVarious differences in galaxy cluster properties derived from X-ray and weak lensing observations have been highlighted in the literature. One such difference is the observation of mass concentrations in lensing maps which have no X-ray counterparts (e.g. Jee, White, Ford et al. 2005). We investigate this issue by identifying substructures in maps of projected total mass (analogous to weak lensing mass reconstructions) and maps of projected X-ray surface brightness for three simulated clusters. We then compare the 2D mass substructures with both 3D subhalo data and the 2D X-ray substructures. Here we present preliminary results from the first comparison, where we have assessed the impact of projecting the data on subhalo identification.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Rodríguez-Gómez ◽  
Asier Mañas ◽  
José Losa-Reyna ◽  
Leocadio Rodríguez-Mañas ◽  
Sebastien Chastin ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between bone mass (BM) and physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) according to frailty status and sex using compositional data analysis. We analyzed 871 older people with an adequate nutritional status. Fried criteria were used to classify by frailty status. Time spent in SB, light intensity PA (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) was assessed from accelerometry for 7 days. BM was determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The combined effect of PA and SB was significantly associated with BM in robust men and women (p ≤ 0.05). In relation to the other behaviors, SB was negatively associated with BM in robust men while BM was positively associated with SB and negatively with LPA and MVPA in robust women. Moreover, LPA also was positively associated with arm BM (p ≤ 0.01). Finally, in pre-frail women, BM was positively associated with MVPA. In our sample, to decrease SB could be a good strategy to improve BM in robust men. In contrast, in pre-frail women, MVPA may be an important factor to consider regarding bone health.


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