Colloid and Radionuclide Transport in Granite Under Low Water Flow Rates Expected in a Geological Repository

2009 ◽  
Vol 1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nairoby Albarran ◽  
Tiziana Missana ◽  
Ursula Alonso ◽  
Miguel Garcia-Gutierrez ◽  
Manuel Mingarro ◽  
...  

AbstractColloids generated from the engineered barriers of a high level radioactive waste repository (HLWR) emplaced in crystalline rock could play a significant role in radionuclide transport and they are of concern for the safety assessment of these repositories.The main objectives of this study are: a) to analyze the transport properties of colloids in a crystalline fractured rock under hydrodynamic conditions as similar as possible to those expected in a repository (i.e. low flow rates) and b) to discuss the effects of their presence on the transport of radionuclides.Transport experiments with bentonite and latex colloids in a fractured granite column from the Grimsel Test Site (Switzerland) were carried out, under geochemical conditions ensuring colloid stability (alkaline and low ionic strength water). Transport experiments were also carried out with 85Sr and 233U and the results with and without the presence of bentonite colloids were compared.Colloid filtration in the fracture was always observed, even when colloids presented high stability and the conditions were unfavorable to colloid attachment to rock surfaces, being both the colloids and the rock negatively charged and the fracture surface smooth. The retention in the fracture depended on the water flow rate, increasing the retention as the water flow decreased.This work illustrates as both the mobile and retained fraction of colloids, which strongly depend on the hydrodynamic conditions, are of importance in the overall radionuclide mobility.

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 68-69
Author(s):  
Hannah E Miller ◽  
Jorge Y Perez-Palencia ◽  
Crystal L Levesque ◽  
Robert C Thaler

Abstract A survey of South Dakota pork producers in 2019 demonstrated that water flow rate for nipple drinkers was highly variable among barns. Sixty-eight percent had water flow rates above the recommended rate of 500–1,000 mL/min (NSNG, 2010). The objective of this study was to determine the impact of water flow rate on finishing pig performance during the summer months. A total of 396 mixed-sex pigs, in two groups, were utilized in a 77-day trial (34.55 to103.8 kg BW) with 6 pigs/pen. Pens were assigned to one of three water flow rates (high, medium, low) based on the 3-hole diameters of the commercial water nipples used in the facility (2.0, 1.0, 0.80 mm; n = 22 pens/treatment). Daily water usage was recorded for each treatment along with room temperature, outside temperature, and relative humidity. Individual pen water flow rate was recorded every two weeks. At every diet phase change (26± 2.6 days), feed disappearance and individual pig body weight were recorded. Water flow rates averaged 1846±188, 906±214, 508±100 mL/min for high, medium, and low flow rates, respectively. Daily water disappearance for high, medium, and low treatments were 6.8, 2.3, 1.7±3.2 liters/pig, respectively. Final body weight (BW; 103.8±7.4 kg) did not differ. Daily gain (ADG) from 34.5±4.5 to 55.5±4.6 kg BW was greatest (P < 0.05) for high treatment. Daily intake (ADFI) and gain:feed (G:F) from 55.5±4.6 to 79.1±5.3 kg BW were greatest (P < 0.05) for high treatment. Cumulative ADFI was 2.27, 2.18, 2.16±0.16 kg (P < 0.05) in high, medium, and low flow ranges, respectively. There was no differences in cumulative ADG or G:F. Water flow rate had a significant impact on ADFI although there was minimal impact on gain and G:F. Water nipples should be regularly checked as part of normal barn maintenance to ensure adequate, but not excessive, water is available.


Weed Science ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Davidson ◽  
P. W. Santelmann

Solutions containing 3-(m-trifluromethylphenyl)-l,l-di-methylurea (fluometuron) or 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (diuron) were displaced through saturated 250-μ glass beads or through Norge loam soil at two water flow rates. The procedure used allowed uniform application of herbicide solutions to the soil surface and subsequent displacement of the herbicide through soil or glass bead columns at a constant water flow rate. Fluometuron was as mobile as the chloride ion at both high and low flow rates. The shape of the fluometuron distribution curves obtained at the two flow rates were distinctly different. The volume of water required to displace fluometuron through a material that adsorbed the herbicide was greater than that necessary to displace the fluometuron through materials giving a smaller amount of adsorption. More diuron was adsorbed by the glass bead system than fluometuron.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Madrzykowski ◽  
◽  
Nick Down

This study was designed to be an initial step to investigate the potential of low flow nozzles as part of a retrofit flashover prevention system in residential homes with limited water supplies. Not all homes have water supplies that can meet the needs of a residential sprinkler system. Current alter- natives, such as including a supplemental tank and pump, increase the cost of the system. These homes could benefit from an effective fire safety system with lower water supply requirements. The experiments in this study were conducted in a steel test structure which consisted of a fire room attached to a hallway in an L-shaped configuration. Three types of experiments were conducted to evaluate nozzles at different flow rates and under different fire conditions. The performance of the nozzles was compared to the performance of a commercially available residential sprinkler. The first set of experiments measured the distribution of the water spray from each of the nozzles and the sprinkler. The water spray measurements were made without the presence of a fire. The other two sets of experiments were fire experiments. The first set of fire experiments were designed to measure the ability of a water spray to cool a hot gas layer generated by a gas burner fire. The fire source was a propane burner which provided a steady and repeatable flow of heat into the test structure. Two water spray locations were examined, in the fire room and in the middle of the hallway. In each position, the burner was shielded from the water spray. The results showed that for equivalent conditions, the nozzle provided greater gas cooling than the sprinkler. The tests were conducted with a fire size of approximately 110 kW, and water flow rates in the range of 11 lpm (3 gpm) and 19 lpm (5 gpm). The second set of fire experiments used an upholstered sofa as the initial source of the fire with the water spray located in the same room. As a result of the compartment size and water spray distribution, the nozzle flowing water at 23 lpm (6 gpm) provided more effective suppression of the fire than the sprinkler flowing 34 lpm (9 gpm) did. The nozzle was similarly effective with the ignition location moved 1.0 m (3.2 ft) further away. However, the nozzle failed to suppress the fire with a reduced water flow rate of 11 lpm (3 gpm). The results of this limited study demonstrate the potential of low flow nozzles, directly flowing water on to the fuel surface, with the goal of preventing flashover. Additional research is needed to examine larger room sizes, fully furnished rooms, and shielded fires to determine the feasibility of a reduced water flow flashover prevention system.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiko Hirano ◽  
Michiyoshi Yamamoto ◽  
Katsumi Sakaguchi ◽  
Tetsuo Shoji ◽  
Kunihiro Iida

The flow rate of water flowing on a steel surface is considered to be one of the important factors strongly influencing the fatigue life of the steel, because the water flow produces difference in the local environmental conditions. The effect of the water flow rate on the fatigue life of a carbon steel was thus investigated experimentally. Fatigue testing of the carbon steel was performed at 289°C for various dissolved oxygen contents (DO) of less than 0.01 and 0.05, 0.2, and 1 ppm, and at various water flow rates. Three different strain rates of 0.4, 0.01, and 0.001 %/s were used in the fatigue tests. At the strain rate of 0.4 %/s, no significant difference in fatigue life was observed under the various flow rate conditions. On the other hand, at 0.01 %/s, the fatigue life increased with increasing water flow rate under all DO conditions, such that the fatigue life at a 7 m/s flow rate was about three times longer than that at a 0.3 m/s flow rate. This increase in fatigue life is attributed to increases in the crack initiation life and small-crack propagation life. The major mechanism producing these increases is considered to be the flushing effect on locally corrosive environments at the surface of the metal and in the cracks. At the strain rate of 0.001 %/s, the environmental effect seems to be diminished at flow rates higher than 0.1 m/s. This behavior does not seem to be explained by the flushing effect alone. Based on this experimental evidence, it was concluded that the existing fatigue data obtained for carbon steel under stagnant or relatively low flow rate conditions may provide a conservative basis for fatigue life evaluation. This approach seems useful for characterizing fatigue life evaluation by expressing increasing fatigue life in terms of increasing water flow rate.


2000 ◽  
Vol 663 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ota ◽  
W.R. Alexander ◽  
P.A. Smith ◽  
A. Möri ◽  
B. Frieg ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe joint Nagra/JNC Radionuclide Retardation Programme has now been ongoing for 15 years with the main aim of direct testing of radionuclide transport models in as realistic a manner as possible. A large programme of field, laboratory and natural analogue studies has been carried out at the Grimsel Test Site in the central Swiss Alps and the Kamaishi In Situ Test Site in north-east Japan. The understanding and modelling of both the processes and the structures influencing radionuclide transport/retardation in fractured host rocks have matured as has the experimental technology, which has contributed to develop confidence in the applicability of the underlying research models in a repository performance assessment. In this paper, the successes and set-backs of this programme are discussed as is the general approach to the thorough testing of the process models and of model assumptions. In addition, a set of key findings is presented, involving discussions on the enhancement of confidence through the program.


MAPAN ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-209
Author(s):  
Christopher David ◽  
Pierre Claudel

Author(s):  
Nagam Obaid Kariem ◽  
◽  
Mohammed A. Rasheed ◽  
Zainab T. Al-Sharify ◽  
◽  
...  

This research work deals with the performance of high-density polyethylene sheets arranged in splash used as a fill for a cooling tower. “A forced-draught counter flow cooling tower” of 400 mm × 400 mm cross-sectional area and 1.7m in height was built. The fill has been studied theoretically and experimentally. Air rates of 0.6, 1.2, and 1.8 kg/s.m2 were utilized with water flow rates within the range of 1 to 1.6 kg/s.m2. The overall volumetric heat transfer coefficient, volumetric mass transfer coefficient (Mt), and the tower characteristics (Mt/L) are shown to be functions of the air and water flow rates concurrently. Four available input parameters were inlet water temperature, airflow rate, water flow rate, and full height. A computer program was prepared to perform numerical analysis for reducing data sets obtained from the plant. In addition, analysis was carried out for evaluating the volumetric heat and mass transfer coefficients along with the performance coefficient.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 696
Author(s):  
Christoph Immerz ◽  
Boris Bensmann ◽  
Richard Hanke-Rauschenbach

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells are typically operated with high water flow rates in order to guarantee the feed supply for the reaction, the hydration of the ionomer phase and to homogenize the temperature distribution. However, the influence of low flow rates on the cell behavior and the cell performance cannot be fully explained. In this work, we developed a simple 1+1-dimensional mathematical model to analyze the cell polarization, current density distribution and the water flow paths inside a cell under low stoichiometry condition. The model analysis is in strong context to previous experimental findings on low water stoichiometry operations. The presented analysis shows that the low water stoichiometry can lead to dry-out at the outlet region of the anode channel, while a water splitting reaction is also present there. The simulation results show that the supply with water in this region is achieved by a net water transport from the cathode to the anode catalyst layer resulting in higher local proton resistances in the membrane and the anode catalyst layer.


2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (9-11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pirkko Hölttä ◽  
A. Poteri ◽  
M. Hakanen ◽  
A. Hautojärvi

SummaryBlock-scale migration experiments were introduced to evaluate the simplified radionuclide transport concept used in assessing the safety of underground spent nuclear fuel repositories. The experiments were aimed to demonstrate visually the fracture flow, and to determine the hydraulic characteristics of a natural planar fracture and the transport behaviour of non-sorbing and sorbing radionuclides. For drill holes orthogonal to the fracture and equipped with injection or sealing packers flow rates in this study were measured as a function of hydraulic head. The outflow positions of water at each four side of the block were determined using uranine dye tracer. Tracer tests were performed using uranine,Transport of a non-sorbing tracer through one of the flow channels was interpreted using an advection-dispersion model that on the generalised Taylor dispersion.Characterisation of the hydraulic properties of the fracture indicated that some drill holes were located in the region where the fracture was open and water conductive. No water conductivity was observed in two drill holes indicating closure of the fracture. Reasonably low flow rates obtained from three drill holes indicated their suitability for further radionuclide transport experiments. Elution times of technetium and uranine were fairly similar. Sodium was slightly retarded and was spread over a wider area than uranine and technetium. High water flow rates suggest that advective flow field dominated tracer transport. Experimental and calculated elution curves substantiate the suitability of our experimental set-up for further radionuclide transport experiments.


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