scholarly journals Experimental Study on Bioclogging in Porous Media during the Radioactive Effluent Percolation

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Rong Gui ◽  
Yu-xiang Pan ◽  
De-xin Ding ◽  
Yong Liu ◽  
Zhi-jun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Aspergillus Niger ◽  
Volumetric Flow Rate ◽  
Uranyl Ions ◽  
Radioactive Effluent ◽  
Indigenous Microorganism ◽  
Tailings Reservoir ◽  
Sand Particles ◽  
Uranium Tailings

The sand columns inoculated with the indigenous microorganism (Aspergillus niger) were used to investigate the effect of bioclogging during the radioactive effluent percolation. The hydraulic gradient, volumetric flow rate, and uranyl ions concentration were monitored over time. The sand columns were operated with continuous radioactive effluent of uranium tailings reservoir. After 68 days, the hydraulic conductivity of the sand columns decreased more than 72%, and the adsorption rate of uranyl ions by Aspergillus niger reached more than 90%. Environmental scanning electron microscope imaging confirmed the biofilm covering the surface of sand particles and connecting sand particles together, which resulted in a reduction of hydraulic conductivity. The results indicated that the propagation of Aspergillus niger can clog the seepage channel and effectively adsorb the uranyl ions of radioactive effluent in the porous media, which provides a suitable measure for controlling the migration of radioactive effluent of uranium tailings reservoir into the subsurface environment.

Historical development of soil-water physics and solute transport in porous media

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.E. Rolston
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Solute Transport ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Transport In Porous Media ◽  
Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity

The science of soil-water physics and contaminant transport in porous media began a little more than a century ago. The first equation to quantify the flow of water is attributed to Darcy. The next major development for unsaturated media was made by Buckingham in 1907. Buckingham quantified the energy state of soil water based on the thermodynamic potential energy. Buckingham then introduced the concept of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, a function of water content. The water flux as the product of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and the total potential gradient has become the accepted Buckingham-Darcy law. Two decades later, Richards applied the continuity equation to Buckingham's equation and obtained a general partial differential equation describing water flow in unsaturated soils. For combined water and solute transport, it had been recognized since the latter half of the 19th century that salts and water do not move uniformly. It wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that scientists began to understand the complex processes of diffusion, dispersion, and convection and to develop mathematical formulations for solute transport. Knowledge on water flow and solute transport processes has expanded greatly since the early part of the 20th century to the present.

Incorporation of Interfacial Areas in Models of Two-Phase Flow

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Gray ◽  
Michael A. Celia
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Single Phase ◽  
Darcy’S Law ◽  
Darcy's Law ◽  
Hydraulic Gradient ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Single Phase Flow ◽  
Α Phase ◽  
Flow Through

The mathematical study of flow in porous media is typically based on the 1856 empirical result of Henri Darcy. This result, known as Darcy’s law, states that the velocity of a single-phase flow through a porous medium is proportional to the hydraulic gradient. The publication of Darcy’s work has been referred to as “the birth of groundwater hydrology as a quantitative science” (Freeze and Cherry, 1979). Although Darcy’s original equation was found to be valid for slow, steady, one-dimensional, single-phase flow through a homogeneous and isotropic sand, it has been applied in the succeeding 140 years to complex transient flows that involve multiple phases in heterogeneous media. To attain this generality, a modification has been made to the original formula, such that the constant of proportionality between flow and hydraulic gradient is allowed to be a spatially varying function of the system properties. The extended version of Darcy’s law is expressed in the following form: qα=-Kα . Jα (2.1) where qα is the volumetric flow rate per unit area vector of the α-phase fluid, Kα is the hydraulic conductivity tensor of the α-phase and is a function of the viscosity and saturation of the α-phase and of the solid matrix, and Jα is the vector hydraulic gradient that drives the flow. The quantities Jα and Kα account for pressure and gravitational effects as well as the interactions that occur between adjacent phases. Although this generalization is occasionally criticized for its shortcomings, equation (2.1) is considered today to be a fundamental principle in analysis of porous media flows (e.g., McWhorter and Sunada, 1977). If, indeed, Darcy’s experimental result is the birth of quantitative hydrology, a need still remains to build quantitative analysis of porous media flow on a strong theoretical foundation. The problem of unsaturated flow of water has been attacked using experimental and theoretical tools since the early part of this century. Sposito (1986) attributes the beginnings of the study of soil water flow as a subdiscipline of physics to the fundamental work of Buckingham (1907), which uses a saturation-dependent hydraulic conductivity and a capillary potential for the hydraulic gradient.

scholarly journals A Novel Numerical Model for Fluid Flow in 3D Fractured Porous Media Based on an Equivalent Matrix-Fracture Network

Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi Yao ◽  
Chen He ◽  
Jianhua Yang ◽  
Qinghui Jiang ◽  
Jinsong Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Fractured Rock ◽  
Fracture Network ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Porous Matrix ◽  
Fractured Porous Media ◽  
Hydraulic Aperture ◽  
Matrix Fracture

An original 3D numerical approach for fluid flow in fractured porous media is proposed. The whole research domain is discretized by the Delaunay tetrahedron based on the concept of node saturation. Tetrahedral blocks are impermeable, and fluid only flows through the interconnected interfaces between blocks. Fractures and the porous matrix are replaced by the triangular interface network, which is the so-called equivalent matrix-fracture network (EMFN). In this way, the three-dimensional seepage problem becomes a two-dimensional problem. The finite element method is used to solve the steady-state flow problem. The big finding is that the ratio of the macroconductivity of the whole interface network to the local conductivity of an interface is linearly related to the cubic root of the number of nodes used for mesh generation. A formula is presented to describe this relationship. With this formula, we can make sure that the EMFN produces the same macroscopic hydraulic conductivity as the intact rock. The approach is applied in a series of numerical tests to demonstrate its efficiency. Effects of the hydraulic aperture of fracture and connectivity of the fracture network on the effective hydraulic conductivity of fractured rock masses are systematically investigated.

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