Laboratory Experiments and Estimation of Cumulative Infiltration and Sorptivity

Soil water cumulative infiltration affects the environment by controlling the irrigation rate and consequently the water and pollutants movement through the ground. In order to study the cumulative infiltration in a sandy soil sample, experiments were performed in the laboratory. The sample was placed uniformly in a transparent column with an inner diameter of 6 cm. A constant head boundary condition of a 2 mm height was applied on the surface of the sample and the cumulative volume of the incoming water was measured. Soil moisture at four locations of the column was measured, by using the TDR method in order to obtain the moisture profiles. By comparing the values of the infiltrated water volumes with those calculated by the integration of the moisture profiles, a good agreement was found out. Also the Parlange theoretical model fitted very well with the infiltration experimental points.     

Development and validation of a thermally regulated atmospheric simulation chamber (THALAMOS): A versatile tool to simulate atmospheric processes

Atmospheric simulation chambers, are unique tools for investigating atmospheric processes in the gas and heterogeneous phases. They can provide a controlled yet realistic environment that simulates atmospheric conditions. In the current study, a Teflon atmospheric simulation chamber of 600 L, named THALAMOS (thermally regulated atmospheric simulation chamber) has been developed and cross-validated. THALAMOS can be operated over the temperature range 233 to 373 K under both static and flow conditions. It is equipped with state of the art instrumentation (selective ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS), long path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), various analyzers) for the in-line monitoring of both reactants and products. THALAMOS was validated by measuring the rate coefficients of well documented reactions, i.e. the reaction of ethanol with OH radicals and the reaction of dichloromethane with Cl atoms, in a wide temperature range. Two different detection techniques were used in parallel, FTIR and SIFT-MS, to internally cross-validate the obtained results. The measured rate coefficients are in excellent agreement, both between each other and with the literature recommended values. Furthermore, the gas phase oxidation of toluene by Cl atoms (kinetics and product yields) was studied in the temperature range of 253 to 333 K. To the best of our knowledge, THALAMOS is a unique facility on national level and among a few smog chambers internationally that can be operated in such a wide temperature range providing the scientific community with a versatile tool to simulate both outdoor and indoor physicochemical processes.