5,668 research outputs found
Two-dimensional hydrodynamic lattice-gas simulations of binary immiscible and ternary amphiphilic fluid flow through porous media
The behaviour of two dimensional binary and ternary amphiphilic fluids under
flow conditions is investigated using a hydrodynamic lattice gas model. After
the validation of the model in simple cases (Poiseuille flow, Darcy's law for
single component fluids), attention is focussed on the properties of binary
immiscible fluids in porous media. An extension of Darcy's law which explicitly
admits a viscous coupling between the fluids is verified, and evidence of
capillary effects are described. The influence of a third component, namely
surfactant, is studied in the same context. Invasion simulations have also been
performed. The effect of the applied force on the invasion process is reported.
As the forcing level increases, the invasion process becomes faster and the
residual oil saturation decreases. The introduction of surfactant in the
invading phase during imbibition produces new phenomena, including
emulsification and micellisation. At very low fluid forcing levels, this leads
to the production of a low-resistance gel, which then slows down the progress
of the invading fluid. At long times (beyond the water percolation threshold),
the concentration of remaining oil within the porous medium is lowered by the
action of surfactant, thus enhancing oil recovery. On the other hand, the
introduction of surfactant in the invading phase during drainage simulations
slows down the invasion process -- the invading fluid takes a more tortuous
path to invade the porous medium -- and reduces the oil recovery (the residual
oil saturation increases).Comment: 48 pages, 26 figures. Phys. Rev. E (in press
Geometry of River Networks; 3, Characterization of Component Connectivity
River networks serve as a paradigmatic example of all branching networks. Essential to understanding the overall structure of river networks is a knowledge of their detailed architecture. Here we show that sub-branches are distributed exponentially in size and that they are randomly distributed in space, thereby completely characterizing the most basic level of river network description. Specifically, an averaged view of network architecture is first provided by a proposed self-similarity statement about the scaling of drainage density, a local measure of stream concentration. This scaling of drainage density is shown to imply Tokunaga's law, a description of the scaling of side branch abundance along a given stream, as well as a scaling law for stream lengths. This establishes the scaling of the length scale associated with drainage density as the basic signature of self-similarity in river networks. We then consider fluctuations in drainage density and consequently the numbers of side branches. Data is analyzed for the Mississippi River basin and a model of random directed networks. Numbers of side streams are found to follow exponential distributions as are stream lengths and inter-tributary distances along streams. Finally, we derive the joint variation of side stream abundance with stream length, affording a full description of fluctuations in network structure. Fluctuations in side stream numbers are shown to be a direct result of fluctuations in stream lengths. This is the last paper in a series of three on the geometry of river networks
Simulating Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamics on a Cellular-Automata Machine
We demonstrate how three-dimensional fluid flow simulations can be carried
out on the Cellular Automata Machine 8 (CAM-8), a special-purpose computer for
cellular-automata computations. The principal algorithmic innovation is the use
of a lattice-gas model with a 16-bit collision operator that is specially
adapted to the machine architecture. It is shown how the collision rules can be
optimized to obtain a low viscosity of the fluid. Predictions of the viscosity
based on a Boltzmann approximation agree well with measurements of the
viscosity made on CAM-8. Several test simulations of flows in simple geometries
-- channels, pipes, and a cubic array of spheres -- are carried out.
Measurements of average flux in these geometries compare well with theoretical
predictions.Comment: 19 pages, REVTeX and epsf macros require
Interface Roughening in a Hydrodynamic Lattice-Gas Model with Surfactant
Using a hydrodynamic lattice-gas model, we study interface growth in a binary
fluid with various concentrations of surfactant. We find that the interface is
smoothed by small concentrations of surfactant, while microemulsion droplets
form for large surfactant concentrations. To assist in determining the
stability limits of the interface, we calculate the change in the roughness and
growth exponents and as a function of surfactant concentration
along the interface.Comment: 4 pages with 4 embedded ps figures. Requires psfig.tex. Will appear
in PRL 14 Oct 199
Lattice-Boltzmann Method for Non-Newtonian Fluid Flows
We study an ad hoc extension of the Lattice-Boltzmann method that allows the
simulation of non-Newtonian fluids described by generalized Newtonian models.
We extensively test the accuracy of the method for the case of shear-thinning
and shear-thickening truncated power-law fluids in the parallel plate geometry,
and show that the relative error compared to analytical solutions decays
approximately linear with the lattice resolution. Finally, we also tested the
method in the reentrant-flow geometry, in which the shear-rate is no-longer a
scalar and the presence of two singular points requires high accuracy in order
to obtain satisfactory resolution in the local stress near these points. In
this geometry, we also found excellent agreement with the solutions obtained by
standard finite-element methods, and the agreement improves with higher lattice
resolution
Three dimensional hysdrodynamic lattice-gas simulations of binary immiscible and ternary amphiphilic flow through porous media
We report the results of a study of multiphase flow in porous media. A
Darcy's law for steady multiphase flow was investigated for both binary and
ternary amphiphilic flow. Linear flux-forcing relationships satisfying Onsager
reciprocity were shown to be a good approximation of the simulation data. The
dependence of the relative permeability coefficients on water saturation was
investigated and showed good qualitative agreement with experimental data.
Non-steady state invasion flows were investigated, with particular interest in
the asymptotic residual oil saturation. The addition of surfactant to the
invasive fluid was shown to significantly reduce the residual oil saturation.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
A Two-Threshold Model for Scaling Laws of Non-Interacting Snow Avalanches
The sizes of snow slab failure that trigger snow avalanches are power-law
distributed. Such a power-law probability distribution function has also been
proposed to characterize different landslide types. In order to understand this
scaling for gravity driven systems, we introduce a two-threshold 2-d cellular
automaton, in which failure occurs irreversibly. Taking snow slab avalanches as
a model system, we find that the sizes of the largest avalanches just
preceeding the lattice system breakdown are power law distributed. By tuning
the maximum value of the ratio of the two failure thresholds our model
reproduces the range of power law exponents observed for land-, rock- or snow
avalanches. We suggest this control parameter represents the material cohesion
anisotropy.Comment: accepted PR
Computer simulations of domain growth and phase separation in two-dimensional binary immiscible fluids using dissipative particle dynamics
We investigate the dynamical behavior of binary fluid systems in two
dimensions using dissipative particle dynamics. We find that following a
symmetric quench the domain size R(t) grows with time t according to two
distinct algebraic laws R(t) = t^n: at early times n = 1/2, while for later
times n = 2/3. Following an asymmetric quench we observe only n = 1/2, and if
momentum conservation is violated we see n = 1/3 at early times. Bubble
simulations confirm the existence of a finite surface tension and the validity
of Laplace's law. Our results are compared with similar simulations which have
been performed previously using molecular dynamics, lattice-gas and
lattice-Boltzmann automata, and Langevin dynamics. We conclude that dissipative
particle dynamics is a promising method for simulating fluid properties in such
systems.Comment: RevTeX; 22 pages, 5 low-resolution figures. For full-resolution
figures, connect to http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~ken21/tension/tension.htm
Technical note : an inverse method to relate organic carbon reactivity to isotope composition from serial oxidation
© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 14 (2017): 5099-5114, doi:10.5194/bg-14-5099-2017.Serial oxidation coupled with stable carbon and radiocarbon analysis of sequentially evolved CO2 is a promising method to characterize the relationship between organic carbon (OC) chemical composition, source, and residence time in the environment. However, observed decay profiles depend on experimental conditions and oxidation pathway. It is therefore necessary to properly assess serial oxidation kinetics before utilizing decay profiles as a measure of OC reactivity. We present a regularized inverse method to estimate the distribution of OC activation energy (E), a proxy for bond strength, using serial oxidation. Here, we apply this method to ramped temperature pyrolysis or oxidation (RPO) analysis but note that this approach is broadly applicable to any serial oxidation technique. RPO analysis directly compares thermal reactivity to isotope composition by determining the E range for OC decaying within each temperature interval over which CO2 is collected. By analyzing a decarbonated test sample at multiple masses and oven ramp rates, we show that OC decay during RPO analysis follows a superposition of parallel first-order kinetics and that resulting E distributions are independent of experimental conditions. We therefore propose the E distribution as a novel proxy to describe OC thermal reactivity and suggest that E vs. isotope relationships can provide new insight into the compositional controls on OC source and residence time.This research was supported by the NSF
Graduate Research Fellowship Program grant no. 2012126152 (Jordon
D. Hemingway), NASA Astrobiology grant no. NNA13AA90A
and NSF grant no. EAR-1338810 (Daniel H. Rothman), and the
WHOI Independent Study Award (Valier V. Galy)
Diet, nutrition, obesity and their role in arthritis
Obesity and poor nutrition, individually and together, have created costly musculoskeletal disease epidemic in the United States. Processed food, with abundant empty calories, has contributed greatly to our dietary woes. Much of the food consumed today is packed with calories but refined to the point that essential nutrients are lacking. Even worse, processed food may have ingredients added that are detrimental to good health. Abundant research has documented a close relationship between obesity, poor diet and orthopaedic problems. Dietary supplements have been proven to provide both disease prevention and therapeutic benefits. Unfortunately, many weight loss programs and methods are ineffective and possibly dangerous. Additionally, the FDA does not regulate the nutritional supplement industry and product quality is high variable. It is imperative that physicians treating patients with musculoskeletal complaints understand these disease producing relationships and have a network in place to refer patients to reputable weight loss entities and for high quality nutritional supplements
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