Spatiotemporal variation of radon and carbon dioxide concentrations in an underground quarry: coupled processes of natural ventilation, barometric pumping and internal mixing

Radon-222 and carbon dioxide concentrations have been measured during several years at several points in the atmosphere of an underground limestone quarry located at a depth of 18 m in Vincennes, near Paris, France. Both concentrations showed a seasonal cycle. Radon concentration varied from 1200 to 2000 Bq m⁻³ in summer to about 800-1400 Bq m⁻³ in winter, indicating winter ventilation rates varying from 0.6 to 2.5 × 10⁻⁶ s⁻¹. Carbon dioxide concentration varied from 0.9 to 1.0% in summer, to about 0.1-0.3% in winter. Radon concentration can be corrected for natural ventilation using temperature measurements. The obtained model also accounts for the measured seasonal variation of carbon dioxide. After correction, radon concentrations still exhibit significant temporal variation, mostly associated with the variation of atmospheric pressure, with coupling coefficients varying from −7 to −26 Bq m⁻³ hPa⁻¹. This variation can be accounted for using a barometric pumping model, coupled with natural ventilation in winter, and including internal mixing as well. After correction, radon concentrations exhibit residual temporal variation, poorly correlated between different points, with standard deviations varying from 3 to 6%. This study shows that temporal variation of radon concentrations in underground cavities can be understood to a satisfactory level of detail using non-linear and time-dependent modelling. It is important to understand the temporal variation of radon concentrations and the limitations in their modelling to monitor the properties of natural or artificial underground settings, and to be able to assess the existence of new processes, for example associated with the preparatory phases of volcanic eruptions or earthquakes.     

A beetle antennae search improved BP neural network model for predicting multi-factor-based gas explosion pressures

A gas explosion in an underground structure may cause serious damage to the human body and ground buildings and may result in huge economic losses. The pressure of the gas explosion is an important parameter in determining its severity and designating an emergency plan. However, existing empirical and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods for pressure prediction are either inaccurate or inefficient when considering multiple influencing factors and their interrelationships. Therefore, for a more efficient and reliable prediction, the present study developed a multifactorial prediction model based on a beetle antennae search (BAS) algorithm improved back propagation (BP) neural network. A total of 317 sets of data which considered factors of geometry, gas, obstacle, vent, and ignition were collected from previous studies. The results showed that the established model can predict pressures accurately by low RMSE (43.4542 and 50.7176) and MAPE (3.9666% and 4.9605%) values and high R² (0.7696 and 0.7388) values for training and testing datasets, respectively. Meanwhile, the BAS algorithm was applied to improve both the calculation efficiency and the accuracy of the proposed model by enabling a more intelligent hyperparameter tuning method. Furthermore, the permutation importance of input variables was investigated, and the length (L) and the ratio of length and diameter (L/D) of geometry were found to be the most critical factors that affect the explosion pressure level.     

Energy and exergy analysis of a combined Brayton/Brayton power cycle with humidification

ABSTRACT

First and second law approaches have been used to analyze the performance of a humidified Brayton/Brayton power cycle. The energy efficiency and exergy destruction rates consistently improved when the combustion temperature was increased. Both performance indicators improved, reached an optimum, and then deteriorated when the topping cycle pressure ratio increased, while their sensitivity to the bottoming cycle pressure ratio depended on the humidification rate used at the bottoming cycle. Upon increasing the mass flowrate of air through the bottoming cycle, the energy efficiency of the power cycle increased linearly, while the irreversibility generation had a non-monotonic variation. In all cases, a higher degree of humidification always resulted in greater first and second law performances.     

Electricity nanogenerator from egg shell membrane: A natural waste bioproduct

ABSTRACT

In the era of developing technologies, there is always been a crisis of rising demands of energy. There is no skepticism that a lot of energy is being produced every hour for almost each and every field, but still an exploration is needed to come up with new and viable options for energy creation. The same is the objective of this paper which proposes the use of waste biomaterials in association with organic and inorganic materials as a source of energy to power up small electronic devices. In this research egg shell membrane (ESM)-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is proposed in combination with calotropis (Calo), cellulose from fruit of Bombax Ceiba (BOM), cellulose in form of tissue paper (TISU), dog hair (DH), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), aluminum (Al), and copper (Cu). ESM is eco-friendly waste food by-product and available in abundance. Characterization of ESM is done by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR). The proposed ESM-PTFE-based TENG power up 462 green LEDs (462 × 2 V = 924 V ~ 1 kV) without rectifier and produced up to 7.61 µJ energy with 4.7 µF capacitor at 200 tapings. All the proposed ESM-based TENG combinations generate sufficient voltage to turn ON the wrist watch. This green-energy-based TENG has potential application in various fields especially related to medical devices.     

西藏高原地区浮力羽流温升特性研究

通过在拉萨对不同尺寸的三种油池火试样分别进行试验,获取了柴油在相当于平原地区64%大气压力和氧浓度条件下不同工况下不同位置处羽流中心线温度的实时变化情况等原始数据,计算了不同尺寸油池火的热释放速率,分析了低氧低压环境下的羽流中心温升特点及原因,并将实验值与经典羽流模型Heskestad模型的计算值进行了比较,分析了传统羽流模型在高原地区的适用性.     

Comparison of PCE and TCE disappearance in heated volatile organic analysis vials and flame-sealed ampules

The rates of hydrolysis reported for tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) at elevated temperatures range over two orders-of-magnitude, where some of the variability may be due to the presence of a gas phase. Recent studies suggest that volatile organic analysis (VOA) vials provide a low-cost and readily available zero headspace system for measuring aqueous-phase hydrolysis rates. This work involved measuring rates of PCE and TCE disappearance and the corresponding appearance of dechlorination products in water-filled VOA vials and flame-sealed ampules incubated at 21 and 55 °C for up to 95.5 days. While PCE and TCE concentrations readily decreased in the VOA vials to yield first-order half lives of 11.2 days for PCE and 21.1 days for TCE at 55 °C, concentrations of anticipated dechlorination products, including chloride, remained constant or were not detected. The rate of PCE disappearance was 34 times faster in VOA vials at 55 °C compared to values obtained with flame-sealed ampules containing PCE-contaminated water. In addition, the concentration of TCE increased slightly in flame-sealed ampules incubated at 55 °C, while a decrease in TCE levels was observed in the VOA vials. The observed losses of PCE and TCE in the VOA vials were attributed to diffusion and sorption in the septa, rather than to dechlorination. These findings demonstrate that VOA vials are not suitable for measuring rates of volatile organic compound hydrolysis at elevated temperatures.     

城市热岛效应的研究模型

城市热岛不但影响城市气候，而且严重影响城市的大气环境，城市发展的多样性决定了城市热岛的复杂性、研究模型的多样性。本文通过对城市热岛常用的研究模型进行了分析、比较，为城市热岛研究模型的选择和进一步研究城市热岛的机理以及城市热岛对城市环境的影响提供了参考依据。     

调整能源结构是控制重庆城区大气污染的根本途径

重庆城区大气污染严重的原因是燃用本地的高硫煤和不利于污染物扩散的自然环境。在分析了多种方案的基础上 ,提出调整能源结构是控制重庆城区大气污染的根本途径。并提出一套以煤改气为重点的优化方案 ,模拟了其环境效果。     

Carbon flows and carbon use in the German anthroposphere: An inventory

Today, global climate change is one of the most urgent environmental problems. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) has to be stabilised by significant reductions of CO₂ emissions in the next decades to keep the expected temperature rise within tolerable borders. Efforts exceeding the implemented measures to reduce CO₂ emissions in Germany are desirable. An important pre-condition for such measures is a scientific-based inventory of the sources, sinks, and use of carbon.In this paper, we present CarboMoG, i.e. Carbon Flow Model of Germany. CarboMoG is a carbon flow model covering carbon flows, carbon sources and sinks in Germany and the German anthroposphere, showing concurrent energy and non-energy use of carbon sources.The model consists of seven modules in German anthroposphere following the German classification of economic sectors. Carbon flows to and from atmosphere and lithosphere as well as imports and exports were included into the model. The model comprises roughly 220 material flows determined based on material flow procedures for the base year 2000.Main sources of carbon are fossil energy carriers from lithosphere and uptake of CO₂ by crops (52% resp. 48% of all carbon sources). The model calculations show that import of energy carriers dominates total carbon import to Germany (82%). Total non-energy use of carbon in Germany is significantly higher than energy use (386 Mt C and 230 Mt C, resp.). Carbon throughput of Industry is greatest (about 224 Mt C input), followed by Energy (about 129 Mt C input). Agriculture and Forestry & Industry show the highest figure for non-energy use of carbon, energy use of carbon is largest in the Energy sector. Emissions of CO₂ to atmosphere account for 94% of all carbon flows to sinks in Germany. Carbon accumulates in German anthroposphere 5 Mt C in 2000.     

基于遥感技术的北京市热岛研究

利用TM数据制作了城市热岛分布图,绘制了热岛剖面曲线,探讨了亮度温度与NDVI和湿度的关系,同时对不同土地利用类型和热岛的关系也进行了初步研究。