Penetrating power of resonant electromagnetic induction imaging

The possibility of revealing the presence and identifying the nature of conductive targets is of central interest in many fields, including security, medicine, industry, archaeology and geophysics. In many applications, these targets are shielded by external materials and thus cannot be directly accessed. Hence, interrogation techniques are required that allow penetration through the shielding materials, in order for the target to be identified. Electromagnetic interrogation techniques represent a powerful solution to this challenge, as they enable penetration through conductive shields. In this work, we demonstrate the power of resonant electromagnetic induction imaging to penetrate through metallic shields (1.5-mm-thick) and image targets (having conductivities σσ ranging from 0.54 to 59.77 MSm−1m−1) concealed behind them

Numerical simulation of oil-water two-phase flow in a horizontal duct with a Venturi flow meter

The progressive depletion of on-shore and light-oil reserves is forcing an increased use of transitional and heavy oils, which implies new challenges both during the extraction and the transportation. Focusing on the latter, a technique to reduce the pressure drop is water injection in the oil stream to create the so-called core annular flow (CAF), a flow regime with an oil core enveloped in a water annulus wetting the pipe wall, so that the apparent viscosity of the mixture is considerably reduced. Behaviour of CAF in ducts with non-uniform sections is still under research. This work is devoted to a CFD investigation about the pressure drop, pressure gradients, velocity profiles and in situ volume fractions in a duct including a Venturi flow meter. Unsteady RANS simulations were carried out using the Volume-Of-Fluid interFoam solver of OpenFOAM. Numerical results were experimentally validated for oil superficial velocities in the range 0.25-0.75 m/s and water superficial velocities in the range 0.44-1.10 m/s and comparisons between different approaches and sensitivity analyses were performed. Satisfactory agreement was found for the pressure drop and pressure gradients, and also for the in situ volume fraction with respect to the predictions of the Arney correlation

Characterization of plug and slug multiphase flows by means of image analysis

Multiphase flow is involved in a wide range of applications, and among the flow patterns that a multiphase mixture may develop in its flow, the intermittent one is particularly complex both in behaviour and for analysis. Experimental analysis about the characteristics of the flow structures (plugs and slugs) is therefore still mandatory for a detailed description of the phenomenon. In this work an image-based technique for the determination of the plug/slug characteristics was applied to air-water, oil-air and three-phase oil-water-air flows in horizontal ducts with different diameters, with superficial velocities of the phases in the range 0.2-2.1 m/s. The technique is based on the acquisition of a video of the flow and the conversion of each frame (or part of it) into a Boolean signal, in which the non-zero part represents the structure of interest. Concatenation of such signals along the singleton dimension creates a space-time representation of the flow, from which information about the flow velocities, the structure lengths and frequencies and the void fraction can be extracted. Focus here is particularly on the performances of the technique when using high-speed videos. The results were also compared with the predictions of the drift-flux model

Experimental Characterization of the Wettability of Coated and Uncoated Plates for Indirect Evaporative Cooling Systems

Indirect Evaporative Cooling (IEC) is a very promising technology to substitute and/or integrate traditional air conditioning systems, due to its ability to provide cooling capacity with limited power consumption. Literature studies proved that a higher wettability of the IEC plates corresponds to better performance of the system. In this work, wettability of three different surfaces used for IEC systems plates—uncoated aluminum alloy (AL), standard epoxy coating (STD), and a hydrophilic lacquer (HPHI)—is studied and characterized in terms of static and dynamic contact angles. The static contact angle resulted to be the lowest for the HPHI surface (average 69°), intermediate for the STD surface (average 75°), and the highest for the AL surface (average 89°). The analysis of the dynamic contact angles showed that their transient behavior is similar for all the surfaces, and the advancing and receding contact angles obtained are consistent with the results of the static analysis. These results will be useful as input parameters in models aimed at predicting the IEC system performance, also using computational fluid dynamics

Imaging by electromagnetic induction with resonant circuits

A new electromagnetic induction imaging system is presented which is capable of imaging metallic samples of different conductivities. The system is based on a parallel LCR circuit made up of a cylindrical ferrite-cored coil and a capacitor bank. An AC current is applied to the coil, thus generating an AC magnetic field. This field is modified when a conductive sample is placed within the magnetic field, as a consequence of eddy current induction inside the sample. The electrical properties of the LCR circuit, including the coil inductance, are modified due to the presence of this metallic sample. Position-resolved measurements of these modifications should then allow imaging of conductive objects as well as enable their characterization. A proof-of-principle system is presented in this paper. Two imaging techniques based on Q-factor and resonant frequency measurements are presented. Both techniques produced conductivity maps of 14 metallic objects with different geometries and values of conductivity ranging from 0.54х106 to 59.77х106 S/m. Experimental results highlighted a higher sensitivity for the Q-factor technique compared to the resonant frequency one; the respective measurements were found to vary within the following ranges: ∆Q=[-11,-2]%, ∆f=[-0.3,0.7]%. The analysis of the images, conducted using a Canny edge detection algorithm, demonstrated the suitability of the Q-factor technique for accurate edge detection of both magnetic and non-magnetic metallic samples

Water holdup estimation from pressure drop measurements in oil-water two-phase flows by means of the two-fluid model

The Two-Fluid Model (TFM) has been applied to determine water holdup from pressure drop measurements for core-annular flows in horizontal pipes. The fluids are Milpar 220 oil (Ïo=890 kg/m3, μo=0.832 Paâ¢s at 20 °C) and tap water (μw=1.026Ã10-3 Paâ¢s at 20°C). The investigated volume flow rates range from 2 to 6 m3/h, for water, and from 1 to 3.5 m3/h, for oil, respectively. The results are in very good agreement with available experimental data from the literature and a simple correlation between water holdup and water input fraction has been benchmarked to the overall data set. Eventually, the TFM endowed with the holdup correlation has been adopted to predict the pressure drop with quite satisfactory results: 98% of data fall within a percentage error of ±10%, 99% of the data fall within ±15%, and all the data are predicted within ±20%. On the other hand, the mean absolute relative error for the pressure drop reduction factor is 5.5%

Ecosistemi di acque interne e di transizione

In questo contributo la vulnerabilità degli ecosistemi acquatici ai cambiamenti climatici è analizzata in relazione ai meccanismi di organizzazione e mantenimento della biodiversità e dei processi ecosistemici. Dai processi degli ecosistemi derivano funzioni che forniscono una serie di benefici o servizi per il genere umano (Daily et al., 2009). Tali servizi sono in larga misura dipendenti dalle componenti biologiche degli ecosistemi86. Negli ecosistemi acquatici i processi biogeochimici (ad es. denitrificazione batterica e assimilazione da parte della vegetazione acquatica), garantiscono l’abbattimento dei nutrienti, una funzione ecosistemica che produce il servizio di depurazione dell’acqua. Altri servizi sono la laminazione delle piene, la ricarica degli acquiferi, la regolazione del microclima locale, la produzione di risorse alimentari quali pesci, crostacei, ecc. (Jones, 2013). Le alterazioni degli ecosistemi, in particolare la perdita di specie e la diminuzione della biodiversità danneggiano questi servizi, con ricadute anche di tipo economico(si pensi, ad esempio, ai costi della depurazione dell’acqua destinata al consumo umano)

Descriptors of Posidonia oceanica meadows: Use and application

The conservation of the coastal marine environment requires the possession of information that enables the global quality of the environment to be evaluated reliably and relatively quickly. The use of biological indicators is often an appropriate method. Seagrasses in general, and Posidonia oceanica meadows in particular, are considered to be appropriate for biomonitoring because of their wide distribution, reasonable size, sedentary habit, easy collection and abundance and sensitivity to modifications of littoral zone. Reasoned management, on the scale of the whole Mediterranean basin, requires standardized methods of study, to be applied by both researchers and administrators, enabling comparable results to be obtained. This paper synthesises the existing methods applied to monitor P. oceanica meadows, identifies the most suitable techniques and suggests future research directions. From the results of a questionnaire, distributed to all the identified laboratories working on this topic, a list of the most commonly used descriptors was drawn up, together with the related research techniques (e.g. standardization, interest and limits, valuation of the results). It seems that the techniques used to study meadows are rather similar, but rarely identical, even though the various teams often refer to previously published works. This paper shows the interest of a practical guide that describes, in a standardized way, the most useful techniques enabling P. oceanica meadows to be used as an environmental descriptor. Indeed, it constitutes the first stage in the process. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe