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At least 631 records · Page 35

Assessment of a Hydroxyapatite Permeable Reactive Barrier to Remediate Uranium at the Old Rifle Site, Colorado - 16193

We have performed an initial evaluation and testing program to assess the effectiveness of a hydroxyapatite (Ca{sub 10}(PO{sub 4}){sub 6}(OH){sub 2}) permeable reactive barrier and source area treatment to decrease uranium mobility at the Department of Energy (DOE) former Old Rifle uranium mill processing site in Rifle, western Colorado. Uranium ore was processed at the site from the 1940's to the 1970's. The mill facilities at the site as well as the uranium mill tailings previously stored there have all been removed. Groundwater in the alluvial aquifer beneath the site still contains elevated concentrations of uranium and is currently used for field tests to study uranium behavior in groundwater and investigate potential uranium remediation technologies. The technology investigated in this work is based on in situ formation of apatite in sediment to create a subsurface apatite PRB and also for source area treatment. The process is based on injecting a solution containing calcium citrate and sodium into the subsurface for constructing the PRB within the uranium plume. As the indigenous sediment micro-organisms biodegrade the injected citrate, the calcium is released and reacts with the phosphate to form hydroxyapatite (precipitate). This paper reports on proof-of-principle column tests with Old Rifle sediment and synthetic groundwater. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Permeable Membrane Reactor for Ammonia Decomposition - RUPS

The generation of impurities in gas processing facilities must be counteracted to minimize downstream impacts to process components and piping. Reservoir Unloading Purification System (RUPS) is an umbrella term describing research and development activities to remove impurities from current and future facility gases. As the application of developed RUPS technologies matures, the technologies will be verified in the Hydrogen Processing Demonstration System (HPDS) to provide a holistic view of the process before future implementation. By adding catalyst, it is possible to decrease the activation energy typically required for decomposition of ammonia. This allows a drastic decrease in required temperatures necessary for the reaction to take place in a permeable membrane reactor (PMR) (from > 650 deg. C to < 425 deg. C). A PMR was fabricated for scoping studies. The primary objective of this research is to determine whether the use of a PMR containing ruthenium catalyst can provide a favorable environment for maximum ammonia decomposition at moderate temperatures. Scoping studies will be performed to determine the catalytic capability of Ru-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} or Ru-SiO{sub 2} to determine the effectiveness of ammonia decomposition with a PMR. Tests will evaluate effects of: gas composition/impurity concentration, catalyst loading, test cell space velocity, and various carrier gases of interest.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Gas permeable fluoropolymers and ionomers

Novel copolymers that are fluoropolymers including a first repeat unit that is fluorinated and cyclic and a second repeat unit from a trifluorovinyl methylene ether monomer having sulfur or sulfone functionality in the pendant group are disclosed. The copolymers have relatively high gas permeability as a result of a cyclic repeat unit in the copolymer backbone and ionomers from oxidation of the sulfur containing functionality are particularity useful in the cathode structure of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

Lousenberg, Robert Daniel↗

MPLBM-UT: Multiphase LBM library for permeable media analysis

MPLBM-UT is a specialized lattice-Boltzmann library that makes running single- and two-phase flow simulations in porous media accessible to everyone. We provide a suite of tools to pre-process computational domains for simulation, to set up custom boundary conditions, to run simulations, to post-process simulation outputs, and to visualize simulation results and data. All of these tools are easily accessible to users through the mplbm_utils Python package included in and automatically installed with MPLBM-UT. The high-performance, highly parallel library Palabos is used as the solver backend. MPLBM-UT is easily deployed in a variety of systems, from laptops to supercomputer clusters. MPLBM-UT also features multiple examples and benchmark templates that allow for fast prototyping of different porous media problems. We also provide an interface for reading in different file types and downloading domains from the Digital Rocks Portal to perform simulations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fractional laser microablation of skin aimed at enhancing its permeability for nanoparticles

A new method for delivering nanoparticles into the skin using the fractional laser microablation of its surface and the ultrasonic treatment is proposed. As a result of in vitro and in vivo studies, it is shown that the 290-nm laser pulses with the energy from 0.5 to 3.0 J provide the penetration of nanoparticles of titanium dioxide with the diameter {approx}100 nm from the skin surface to the depth, varying from 150 to 400 {mu}m. Histological testing of the skin areas, subjected to the treatment, shows that the particles stay in the dermis at the depth up to 400 {mu}m no less than for three weeks. (optical technologies in biophysics and medicine)

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Utah FORGE Friction-Permeability-Seismicity Laboratory Experiments with Non-Linear Acoustics

Laboratory experimental data on saw-cut interface of Westerly Granite and Utah Forge granitoid rocks. Experiments include velocity-stepping and fluid pressure stepping experiments. Mechanical data from 3 ISCO pumps connected to a Temco pressure vessel measure axial, confining and fault: fluid pressure (kPa), fluid flow rate (mL/min) and volume remaining in pump (mL). Non-linear acoustic data acquired via Verasonics systems connected to PZTs inside the pressure vessel give the timeshift, amplitude and RMS amplitude of the passing P-wave.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Soil Water Retention and Relative Permeability for Conditions from Oven-Dry to Full Saturation

Common conceptual models for unsaturated flow often rely on the oversimplified representation of medium pores as a bundle of cylindrical capillaries and assume that the matric potential is attributed to the capillary force only. The adsorptive surface forces are ignored. It is often assumed that aqueous flow is negligible when a soil is near or at the residual water content. These models are successful at high and medium water contents but often give poor results at low water contents. These models do not apply to conditions at which the water content is less than the residual water content. We extend the lower bound of existing water-retention functions and conductivity models from residual water content to the oven-dry condition (i.e., zero water content) by defining a state-dependent, residual-water content for a soil drier than a critical value. Furthermore, a hydraulic conductivity model for smooth uniform spheres was modified by introducing a correction factor to describe the film flow-induced hydraulic conductivity for natural porous media. The total unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is the sum of those due to capillary and film flow. The extended retention and conductivity models were verified measurements. Results show that, when the soil is at high and intermediate water content, there is no difference between the un-extended and the extended models; when the soil is at low water content, the un-extended models overestimate the water content but underestimate the conductivity. The extended models match the retention and conductivity measurements well.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Soil Water Retention and Relative Permeability for Full Range of Saturation

Common conceptual models for unsaturated flow often rely on the oversimplified representation of medium pores as a bundle of cylindrical capillaries and assume that the matric potential is attributed to capillary forces only. The adsorptive surface forces are ignored. It is often assumed that aqueous flow is negligible when a soil is near or at the residual water content. These models are successful at high and medium water contents but often give poor results at low water contents. These models do not apply to conditions at which water content is less than the residual water content. We extend the lower bound of existing water-retention functions and conductivity models from residual water content to the oven-dry condition (i.e., zero water content) by defining a state-dependent, residual-water content for a soil drier than a critical value. Furthermore, a hydraulic conductivity model for smooth uniform spheres was modified by introducing a correction factor to describe the film flow-induced hydraulic conductivity for natural porous media. The total unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is the sum of those due to capillary and film flow. The extended retention and conductivity models were verified with six datasets from the literature. Results show that, when the soil is at high and intermediate water content, there is no difference between the un-extended and the extended models; when the soil is at low water content, the un-extended models overestimate the water content but under-estimate the conductivity while the extended models match the retention and conductivity measurements well.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Effects of Irrigating with Treated Oil and Gas Product Water on Crop Biomass and Soil Permeability

Demonstrating effective treatment technologies and beneficial uses for oil and gas produced water is essential for producers who must meet environmental standards and deal with high costs associated with produced water management. Proven, effective produced-water treatment technologies coupled with comprehensive data regarding blending ratios for productive long-term irrigation will improve the state-of-knowledge surrounding produced-water management. Effective produced-water management scenarios such as cost-effective treatment and irrigation will discourage discharge practices that result in legal battles between stakeholder entities. The goal of this work is to determine the optimal blending ratio required for irrigating crops with CBNG and conventional oil and gas produced water treated by ion exchange (IX), reverse osmosis (RO), or electro-dialysis reversal (EDR) in order to maintain the long term physical integrity of soils and to achieve normal crop production. The soils treated with CBNG produced water were characterized with significantly lower SAR values compared to those impacted with conventional oil and gas produced water. The CBNG produced water treated with RO at the 100% treatment level was significantly different from the untreated produced water, while the 25%, 50% and 75% water treatment levels were not significantly different from the untreated water. Conventional oil and gas produced water treated with EDR and RO showed comparable SAR results for the water treatment technologies. There was no significant difference between the 100% treated produced water and the control (river water). The EDR water treatment resulted with differences at each level of treatment, which were similar to RO treated conventional oil and gas water. The 100% treated water had SAR values significantly lower than the 75% and 50% treatments, which were similar (not significantly different). The results of the greenhouse irrigation study found the differences in biomass production between each soil were significant for Western Wheatgrass and Alfafla. The Sheridan sandy loam soil resulted in the highest production for western wheatgrass and alfalfa while the X-ranch sandy loam had the lowest production rate for both plants. Plant production levels resulting from untreated CBNG produced water were significantly higher compared to untreated conventional oil and gas produced water. However, few differences were found between water treatments. The biomass produced from the greenhouse study was analyzed for elemental composition and for forage value. Elemental composition indentified several interesting findings. Some of the biomass was characterized with seemly high boron and sodium levels. High levels of boron found in some of the biomass was unexpected and may indicate that alfalfa and western wheatgrass plants may have been impacted by either soil or irrigation water containing high boron levels. Plants irrigated with water treated using EDR technology appeared to contain higher levels of boron with increased levels of treatment. Forage evaluations were conducted using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The data collected show small differences, generally less than 10%, between produced water treatments including the no treatment and 100% treatment conditions for each plant species studied. The forage value of alfalfa and western wheatgrass did not show significant tendencies dependent on soil, the amount of produced water treatment, or treatment technology.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗