Influence of pumping operational schedule on solute concentrations at a well in randomly heterogeneous aquifers

We investigate the way diverse groundwater extraction strategies affect the history of solute concentration recovered at a pumping well while taking into account random spatial variability of the system hydraulic conductivity. Considering the joint effects of spatially heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity and temporally varying well pumping rates leads to a realistic evaluation of groundwater contamination risk at the pumping well location. We juxtapose the results obtained when the pumping well extracts a given amount of water operating (a) at a uniform pumping rate and (b) under a transient regime. The analysis is performed within a numerical Monte Carlo framework. Our results show that contaminant concentration breakthrough curves (BTCs) at the well are markedly affected by the transient pumping strategy according to which the well is operated. Our results document the occurrence in time of multiple peaks in the mean and variance of flux-averaged concentrations at the extraction well operating at a transient rate. Our findings suggest that lowest and largest values of mean and variance of flux-averaged concentration at the well tend to occur at the same time. We show that uncertainty associated with detected BTCs at the well increases for pumping regimes displaying a high degree of temporal variability. As such, the choice of the type of engineering control to the temporal sequence of pumping rates could represent a key factor to drive quantification of uncertainty of the contaminant concentration detected at the well. It is documented that pumping rate fluctuations induce a temporally oscillating risk pattern at the well, thus suggesting that the selection of a dynamic pumping regime has a clear influence on the temporal evolution of risk at the well

Solute concentration at a well in non-Gaussian aquifers under constant and time-varying pumping schedule

Our study is keyed to the analysis of the interplay between engineering factors (i.e., transient pumping rates versus less realistic but commonly analyzed uniform extraction rates) and the heterogeneous structure of the aquifer (as expressed by the probability distribution characterizing transmissivity) on contaminant transport. We explore the joint influence of diverse (a) groundwater pumping schedules (constant and variable in time) and (b) representations of the stochastic heterogeneous transmissivity (T) field on temporal histories of solute concentrations observed at an extraction well. The stochastic nature of T is rendered by modeling its natural logarithm, Y = ln T, through a typical Gaussian representation and the recently introduced Generalized sub-Gaussian (GSG) model. The latter has the unique property to embed scale-dependent non-Gaussian features of the main statistics of Y and its (spatial) increments, which have been documented in a variety of studies. We rely on numerical Monte Carlo simulations and compute the temporal evolution at the well of low order moments of the solute concentration (C), as well as statistics of the peak concentration (Cp), identified as the environmental performance metric of interest in this study. We show that the pumping schedule strongly affects the pattern of the temporal evolution of the first two statistical moments of C, regardless the nature (Gaussian or non-Gaussian) of the underlying Y field, whereas the latter quantitatively influences their magnitude. Our results show that uncertainty associated with C and Cpestimates is larger when operating under a transient extraction scheme than under the action of a uniform withdrawal schedule. The probability density function (PDF) of Cpdisplays a long positive tail in the presence of time-varying pumping schedule. All these aspects are magnified in the presence of non-Gaussian Y fields. Additionally, the PDF of Cpdisplays a bimodal shape for all types of pumping schemes analyzed, independent of the type of heterogeneity considered

Master-equation approach to the study of phase-change processes in data storage media

We study the dynamics of crystallization in phase-change materials using a master-equation approach in which the state of the crystallizing material is described by a cluster size distribution function. A model is developed using the thermodynamics of the processes involved and representing the clusters of size two and greater as a continuum but clusters of size one (monomers) as a separate equation. We present some partial analytical results for the isothermal case and for large cluster sizes, but principally we use numerical simulations to investigate the model. We obtain results that are in good agreement with experimental data and the model appears to be useful for the fast simulation of reading and writing processes in phase-change optical and electrical memories

Pancreatic Pseudocysts Transpapillary and Transmural Drainage

Background: Pancreatic pseudocyst endoscopic drainage has been described as a good treatment option, with morbidity and mortality rates that are lower than surgery. The aim of our study is to describe the efficacy of different forms of endoscopic drainage and estimate pseudocyst recurrence rate after short follow up period

Monetary reward increases attentional effort in the flanker task

An important question is whether monetary reward can increase attentional effort in order to improve performance. Up to now, evidence for a positive answer is weak. Therefore, in the present study, the flanker task was used to examine this question further. Participants had to respond sooner than a certain deadline in a flanker task. One group of participants received a performance-contingent monetary reward, whereas the other group earned a fixed amount of money. As a result, monetary reward significantly improved performance in comparison with the control group. The analysis of speed accuracy trade-off functions revealed that monetary reward increased attentional effort, leading to an enhanced quality of stimulus coding. Little evidence was found that reward also improved selective spatial attention

Learned Value Magnifies Salience-Based Attentional Capture

Visual attention is captured by physically salient stimuli (termed salience-based attentional capture), and by otherwise task-irrelevant stimuli that contain goal-related features (termed contingent attentional capture). Recently, we reported that physically nonsalient stimuli associated with value through reward learning also capture attention involuntarily (Anderson, Laurent, & Yantis, PNAS, 2011). Although it is known that physical salience and goal-relatedness both influence attentional priority, it is unknown whether or how attentional capture by a salient stimulus is modulated by its associated value. Here we show that a physically salient, task-irrelevant distractor previously associated with a large reward slows visual search more than an equally salient distractor previously associated with a smaller reward. This magnification of salience-based attentional capture by learned value extinguishes over several hundred trials. These findings reveal a broad influence of learned value on involuntary attentional capture

Application of reflectance parameters in the estimation of the structural order of coals and carbonaceous materials. Precision and bias of measurements derived from the ICCP structural working group

Optical reflectance of vitrinite is one of the fundamental physical properties that have been used for the study of coal and carbonaceous materials. Organic matter in coals and carbonaceous matter consists mainly of aromatic lamellae, whose dimensions and spatial orientation define its internal structure. Various reflectance parameters describe well the average degree of order of the molecular structure of organic matter. Moreover, reflectance parameters are numerical values which characterize the samples unambiguously, facilitating the comparison of the optical properties of different carbonaceous materials as well as comparison between optical parameters and other physical or chemical factors. The focus of this study is the evaluation of the precision and bias of reflectance measurements (R and R) performed by various analysts in different laboratories in order to check the applicability of reflectance parameters to the estimation of the structural order of coals and carbonaceous materials. Additionally, it was desirable to compare reflectance parameters with other parameters obtained by different analytical methods able to provide structural information. The consistency and repeatability of the reflectance measurements obtained by different participants turned out to enable the drawing of similar conclusions regarding the structural transformation of anthracite during heating. Good correlations were found between the reflectance parameters studied and structural factors obtained by comparative methods. The reflectance parameters examined proved to be very sensitive to any changes of the structural order of coals and carbonaceous materials and seem to be a perfect complement to structural studies made by X-ray diffraction or Raman spectroscopy

Accelerated deployment of nanostructured hydrotreating catalysts. Final CRADA Report.

Nanomanufacturing offers an opportunity to create domestic jobs and facilitate economic growth. In response to this need, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy issued a Research Call to develop nanomanufacturing capabilities at the National Laboratories. High performance catalysts represent a unique opportunity to deploy nanomanufacturing technologies. Re-refining of used lube oil offers an opportunity to create manufacturing jobs and decrease dependence on imported petroleum. Improved catalysts are required to produce a better quality product, decrease environmental impact, extend catalyst life, and improve overall economics of lube oil re-refining. Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) in cooperation with Universal Lubricants, Inc. (ULI) and Chemical Engineering Partners (CEP) have carried out a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to prepare nanostructured hydrotreating catalysts using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to exhibit superior performance for the re-refining of used lube oil. We investigated the upgrading of recycled lube oil by hydrogenation using commercial, synthetically-modified commercial catalysts, and synthesized catalysts. A down-flow (trickle bed) catalytic unit was used for the hydrogenation experiments. In addition to carrying out elemental analyses of the various feed and product fractions, characterization was undertaken using H{sup 1} and C{sup 13} NMR. Initially commercial were evaluated. Second these commercial catalysts were promoted with precious metals using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Performance improvements were observed that declined with catalyst aging. An alternate approach was undertaken to deeply upgrade ULI product oils. Using a synthesized catalyst, much lower hydrogenation temperatures were required than commercial catalysts. Other performance improvements were also observed. The resulting lube oil fractions were of high purity even at low reaction severity. The products recovered from both the ALD and other processes were water-white (even those from the low temperature, low residence time (high space velocity), low conversion runs). These results indicate that highly upgraded recycle lube oils can be produced using ALD-deposited active metal catalysts. The use of H{sup 1} and C{sup 13} NMR for the characterization of the treated lube oils has been shown to be effective