97 research outputs found
Detection of interstate liquids pipeline leaks: Feasibility evaluation
The approximately 200,000-mile fuel pipeline system in the US operates at flow rates up to 2.5 {times} 10{sup 6} gallons per hour (GPH). Most commercial technologies only provide on-line leak detection at about 0.3% of flow rate, i.e., about 7,500 GPH or larger. Detection of leaks at about 1 GPH or so is desirable both from a regulatory and leak-prevention standpoint. Brookhaven`s commercially-accepted perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) technology for underground leak detection of utility industry dielectric fluids at leak rates less than 0.1 GPH, with new enhancements, will be able to cost-effectively detect fuel pipeline system leaks to about 1 GPH--3 orders-of-magnitude better than any on-line system. The magnitude of detected leaks would be calculable as well. Proposed mobile surveys (such as those used periodically in the gas pipeline industry) at about 110 to 120 miles per day would allow such small leaks to be detected at 10-ppb tagging levels (less than $1,500 of PFT for a 48-hour tag at the maximum transport rate) under worst-case meteorological dispersion conditions. Smaller leaks could be detected by proportionately larger tagging concentrations. Leaks would be pinpointed by subsequent conventional barholing and vapor analyses. There are no health nor safety issues associated with the use of the proposed technological approach nor any consequential environmental impacts associated with the proposed magnitudes of PFT tagging
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Subsurface barrier integrity verification using perfluorocarbon tracers
Subsurface barriers are an extremely promising remediation option to many waste management problems. Gas phase tracers include perfluorocarbon tracers (PFT`s) and chlorofluorocarbon tracers (CFC`s). Both have been applied for leak detection in subsurface systems. The focus of this report is to describe the barrier verification tests conducted using PFT`s and analysis of the data from the tests. PFT verification tests have been performed on a simulated waste pit at the Hanford Geotechnical facility and on an actual waste pit at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The objective of these tests were to demonstrate the proof-of-concept that PFT technology can be used to determine if small breaches form in the barrier and for estimating the effectiveness of the barrier in preventing migration of the gas tracer to the monitoring wells. The subsurface barrier systems created at Hanford and BNL are described. The experimental results and the analysis of the data follow. Based on the findings of this study, conclusions are offered and suggestions for future work are presented
Aerosol concentration and size distribution measured below, in, and above cloud from the DOE G-1 during VOCALS-REx
During the VOCALS Regional Experiment, the DOE G-1 aircraft was used to sample a varying aerosol environment pertinent to properties of stratocumulus clouds over a longitude band extending 800 km west from the Chilean coast at Arica. Trace gas and aerosol measurements are presented as a function of longitude, altitude, and dew point in this study. Spatial distributions are consistent with an upper atmospheric source for O<sub>3</sub> and South American coastal sources for marine boundary layer (MBL) CO and aerosol, most of which is acidic sulfate. Pollutant layers in the free troposphere (FT) can be a result of emissions to the north in Peru or long range transport from the west. At a given altitude in the FT (up to 3 km), dew point varies by 40 °C with dry air descending from the upper atmospheric and moist air having a boundary layer (BL) contribution. Ascent of BL air to a cold high altitude results in the condensation and precipitation removal of all but a few percent of BL water along with aerosol that served as CCN. Thus, aerosol volume decreases with dew point in the FT. Aerosol size spectra have a bimodal structure in the MBL and an intermediate diameter unimodal distribution in the FT. Comparing cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) and pre-cloud aerosol (<i>D</i><sub><i>p</i></sub>>100 nm) gives a linear relation up to a number concentration of ~150 cm<sup>−3</sup>, followed by a less than proportional increase in CDNC at higher aerosol number concentration. A number balance between below cloud aerosol and cloud droplets indicates that ~25 % of aerosol with <i>D</i><sub><i>p</i></sub>>100 nm are interstitial (not activated). A direct comparison of pre-cloud and in-cloud aerosol yields a higher estimate. Artifacts in the measurement of interstitial aerosol due to droplet shatter and evaporation are discussed. Within each of 102 constant altitude cloud transects, CDNC and interstitial aerosol were anti-correlated. An examination of one cloud as a case study shows that the interstitial aerosol appears to have a background, upon which is superimposed a high frequency signal that contains the anti-correlation. The anti-correlation is a possible source of information on particle activation or evaporation
Aerosol concentration and size distribution measured below, in, and above cloud from the DOE G-1 during VOCALS-REx
During the VOCALS Regional Experiment, the DOE G-1 aircraft was used to sample a varying aerosol environment pertinent to properties of stratocumulus clouds over a longitude band extending 800 km west from the Chilean coast at Arica. Trace gas and aerosol measurements are presented as a function of longitude, altitude, and dew point in this study. Spatial distributions are consistent with an upper atmospheric source for O<sub>3</sub> and South American coastal sources for marine boundary layer (MBL) CO and aerosol, most of which is acidic sulfate. Pollutant layers in the free troposphere (FT) can be a result of emissions to the north in Peru or long range transport from the west. At a given altitude in the FT (up to 3 km), dew point varies by 40 °C with dry air descending from the upper atmospheric and moist air having a boundary layer (BL) contribution. Ascent of BL air to a cold high altitude results in the condensation and precipitation removal of all but a few percent of BL water along with aerosol that served as CCN. Thus, aerosol volume decreases with dew point in the FT. Aerosol size spectra have a bimodal structure in the MBL and an intermediate diameter unimodal distribution in the FT. Comparing cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) and pre-cloud aerosol (<i>D</i><sub><i>p</i></sub>>100 nm) gives a linear relation up to a number concentration of ~150 cm<sup>−3</sup>, followed by a less than proportional increase in CDNC at higher aerosol number concentration. A number balance between below cloud aerosol and cloud droplets indicates that ~25 % of aerosol with <i>D</i><sub><i>p</i></sub>>100 nm are interstitial (not activated). A direct comparison of pre-cloud and in-cloud aerosol yields a higher estimate. Artifacts in the measurement of interstitial aerosol due to droplet shatter and evaporation are discussed. Within each of 102 constant altitude cloud transects, CDNC and interstitial aerosol were anti-correlated. An examination of one cloud as a case study shows that the interstitial aerosol appears to have a background, upon which is superimposed a high frequency signal that contains the anti-correlation. The anti-correlation is a possible source of information on particle activation or evaporation
The time evolution of aerosol composition over the Mexico City plateau
International audienceThe time evolution of aerosol concentration and chemical composition in a megacity urban plume was determined based on 8 flights of the DOE G-1 aircraft in and downwind of Mexico City during the March 2006 MILAGRO field campaign. A series of selection criteria are imposed to eliminate data points with non-urban emission influences. Biomass burning has urban and non-urban sources that are distinguished on the basis of CH3CN and CO. In order to account for dilution in the urban plume, aerosol concentrations are normalized to CO which is taken as an inert tracer of urban emission, proportional to the emissions of aerosol precursors. Time evolution is determined with respect to photochemical age defined as ?Log10 (NOx/NOy). The geographic distribution of photochemical age and CO is examined, confirming the picture that Mexico City is a source region and that pollutants become more dilute and aged as they are advected towards T1 and T2, surface sites that are located at the fringe of the City and 35 km to the NE, respectively. Organic aerosol (OA) per ppm CO is found to increase 7 fold over the range of photochemical ages studied, corresponding to a change in NOx/NOy from nearly 100% to 10%. In the older samples the nitrate/CO ratio has leveled off suggesting that evaporation and formation of aerosol nitrate are in balance. In contrast, OA/CO increases with age in older samples, indicating that OA is still being formed. The amount of carbon equivalent to the deduced change in OA/CO with age is 56 ppbC per ppm CO. At an aerosol yield of 5% and 8% for low and high yield aromatic compounds, it is estimated from surface hydrocarbon observations that only ~9% of the OA formation can be accounted for. A comparison of OA/CO in Mexico City and the eastern U.S. gives no evidence that aerosol yields are higher in a more polluted environment
Overview of the 2010 Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES)
Substantial uncertainties still exist in the scientific understanding of the possible interactions between urban and natural (biogenic) emissions in the production and transformation of atmospheric aerosol and the resulting impact on climate change. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program's Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) carried out in June 2010 in Central Valley, California, was a comprehensive effort designed to improve this understanding. The primary objective of the field study was to investigate the evolution of secondary organic and black carbon aerosols and their climate-related properties in the Sacramento urban plume as it was routinely transported into the forested Sierra Nevada foothills area. Urban aerosols and trace gases experienced significant physical and chemical transformations as they mixed with the reactive biogenic hydrocarbons emitted from the forest. Two heavily-instrumented ground sites – one within the Sacramento urban area and another about 40 km to the northeast in the foothills area – were set up to characterize the evolution of meteorological variables, trace gases, aerosol precursors, aerosol size, composition, and climate-related properties in freshly polluted and "aged" urban air. On selected days, the DOE G-1 aircraft was deployed to make similar measurements upwind and across the evolving Sacramento plume in the morning and again in the afternoon. The NASA B-200 aircraft, carrying remote sensing instruments, was also deployed to characterize the vertical and horizontal distribution of aerosols and aerosol optical properties within and around the plume. This overview provides: (a) the scientific background and motivation for the study, (b) the operational and logistical information pertinent to the execution of the study, (c) an overview of key observations and initial findings from the aircraft and ground-based sampling platforms, and (d) a roadmap of planned data analyses and focused modeling efforts that will facilitate the integration of new knowledge into improved representations of key aerosol processes and properties in climate models.United States. Dept. of Energy. Atmospheric System Research Program (Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830)United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationUnited States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. HQ Science Mission Directorate Radiation Sciences ProgramUnited States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. CALIPSO ProgramUnited States. Dept. of Energy. Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (Interagency Agreement No. DE-AI02-05ER63985
LASER FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY AND LIFETIME OF THE () ELECTRONIC STATE OF
Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, State University of New YorkFluorescence of excited by He-Cd 442 nm laser radiation is found to exhibit a spectrum characteristic of perpendicular transitions from several levels belonging to the vibronic state with . The lifetimes of these levels are substantially greater than those given previously for = 0 levels of the state. The present results support the mechanism of lifetime lengthening by the Renner interaction of the and components of the linear
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USE OF PERFLUOROCARBON TRACER (PFT) TECHNOLOGY FOR SUBSURFACE BARRIER INTEGRITY VERIFICATION AT THE WALDO TEST SITE
Researchers from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) tested perfluorocarbon (PFT) gas tracers on a subsurface barrier with known flaws at the Waldo test facility [operated by Science and Engineering Associates, Inc (SEA)]. The tests involved the use of five unique PFT tracers with a different tracer injected along the interior of each wall of the barrier. A fifth tracer was injected exterior to the barrier to examine the validity of diffusion controlled transport of the PFTs. The PFTs were injected for three days at a nominal flow rate of 15 cm{sup 3}/min and a concentrations in the range of a few hundred ppm. Approximately 65 liters of air laced with tracer was injected for each tracer. The tracers were able to accurately detect the presence of the engineered flaws. Two flaws were detected on the north and east walls and lane flaw was detected on the south and west walls. In addition, one non-engineered flaw at the seam between the north and east walls was also detected. The use of multiple tracers provided independent confirmation of the flaws and permitted a distinction between tracers arriving at a monitoring port after being released from a nearby flaw and non-engineered flaws. The PFTs detected the smallest flaw, 0.5 inches in diameter. Visual inspection of the data showed excellent agreement with the known flaw locations and the relative size of the flaws was accurately estimated
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Verification of subsurface barrier integrity using perfluorocarbon gas tracers
Use of perfluorocarbon (PFT) gaseous tracers shows promise as an excellent means of demonstrating subsurface barrier integrity. The PFT technology has been applied at Brookhaven National Laboratory to evaluate the colloidal silica (CS) barrier installed during the summer of 1997. This program involved two separate experimental phases. In the first phase, PFTs were injected into the native soil for a period of one day in the region adjacent to the proposed location of the CS barrier. The information was used to confirm that diffusion is the rate controlling transport mechanism and measure in-situ diffusion coefficients for the tracers in the native soil. This information is useful in interpreting data from the second phase of this study. In addition, the monitoring data was used to estimate the leak (injection) location. In the second phase, PFTs were injected into the region contained by the CS barrier and data have been collected to evaluate the performance of the barrier. In the experiment three unique PFTs were injected with the aim of increasing the resolution of leak detection. Two regions which provided essentially no added resistance to flow as compared to the native soil were detected in the bulk of the CS barrier
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