Detergency and its implications for oil emulsion sieving and separation

Separating petroleum hydrocarbons from water is an important problem to address in order to mitigate the disastrous effects of hydrocarbons on aquatic ecosystems. A rational approach to address the problem of marine oil water separation is to disperse the oil with the aid of surfactants in order to minimize the formation of large slicks at the water surface and to maximize the oil-water interfacial area. Here we investigate the fundamental wetting and transport behavior of such surfactant-stabilized droplets and the flow conditions necessary to perform sieving and separation of these stabilized emulsions. We show that, for water soluble surfactants, such droplets are completely repelled by a range of materials (intrinsically underwater superoleophobic) due to the detergency effect; therefore, there is no need for surface micro/nanotexturing or chemical treatment to repel the oil and prevent fouling of the filter. We then simulate and experimentally investigate the effect of emulsion flow rate on the transport and impact behavior of such droplets on rigid meshes to identify the minimum pore opening (w) necessary to filter a droplet with a given diameter (d) in order to minimize the pressure drop across the mesh and therefore maximize the filtering efficiency, which is strongly dependent on w. We define a range of flow conditions and droplet sizes where minimum droplet deformation is to be expected and therefore find that the condition of is sufficient for efficient separation. With this new understanding, we demonstrate the use of a commercially available filter--without any additional surface engineering or functionalization--to separate oil droplets from a surfactant stabilized emulsion with a flux of 11,000 L m$^{-2}$ hr$^{-1}$ bar$^{-1}$. We believe these findings can inform the design of future oil separation materials

X-ray tomographic microscopy analysis of the dendrite orientation transition in Al-Zn

Recently, Gonzales and Rappaz [Met. Mat. Trans. A37:2797, 2006] showed the influence of an increasing zinc content on the growth directions of aluminum dendrites. and dendrites were observed below 25wt.% and above 55wt.% zinc, respectively, whereas textured seaweeds and dendrites were observed at intermediate compositions. Considering the complexity of these structures, it is necessary to first characterize them in further details and second, to model them using the phase field method. The so-called Dendrite Orientation Transition (DOT) was thus reinvestigated in quenched Bridgman solidification samples. The combination of X-ray tomographic microscopy and electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis on a whole range of compositions, from 5 to 90wt.% Zn, allowed insights with unprecedented details about texture, growth directions and mechanisms of the aforementioned structures. We show that seaweeds rather than dendrites are found at all intermediate compositions. Their growth was confirmed to be constrained within a (100) symmetry plane. However, new findings indicate that the observed macroscopic texture does not necessarily correspond to the actual growth directions of the microstructure. Further, it seems to operate by an alternating growth direction mechanism and could be linked to the competition between the and characters of regular dendrites observed at the limits of the DOT. These characters, as well as 3D seaweeds, are observed in phase-field simulations of equiaxed growth and directional solidification, respectively. This study emphasizes the importance of accurate experimental data to validate numerical models and details the progress that such combinations provide for the understanding of growth mechanisms

The importance of pore throats in controlling the permeability of magmatic foams

Vesiculation of hydrous melts at 1 atm was studied in situ by synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy at the TOMCAT beamline of the Swiss Light Source (Villigen, Switzerland). Water-undersaturated basaltic, andesitic, trachyandesitic, and dacitic glasses were synthesized at high pressures and then laser heated at 1 atm. on the beamline, causing vesiculation. The porosity, bubble number density, size distributions of bubbles, and pore throats, as well as their tortuosity and connectivity, were measured in three-dimensional tomographic reconstructions of sample volumes, which were also used for lattice Boltzmann simulations of viscous permeabilities. Connectivity of bubbles by pore throats varied from ~\u2009100 to 105 mm 123, and for each sample correlated with porosity and permeability. Consideration of the results of this and previous studies of the viscous permeabilities of aphyric and crystal-poor magmatic samples demonstrated that at similar porosities permeability can vary by orders of magnitude, even for similar compositions. Comparison of the permeability relationships from this study with previous models (Degruyter et al., Bull Vulcanol 72:63\u201374, 2010; Burgisser et al., Earth Planet Sci Lett 470:37\u201347, 2017) relating porosity, characteristic pore-throat diameters, and tortuosity demonstrated good agreement. Modifying the Burgisser et al. model by using the maximum pore-throat diameter, instead of the average diameter, as the characteristic diameter reproduced the lattice Boltzmann permeabilities to within 1 order of magnitude. Correlations between average bubble diameters and maximum pore-throat diameters, and between porosity and tortuosity, in our experiments produced relationships that allow application of the modified Burgisser et al. model to predict permeability based only upon the average bubble diameter and porosity. These experimental results are consistent with previous studies suggesting that increasing bubble growth rates result in decreasing permeability of equivalent porosity foams. This effect of growth rate substantially contributes to the multiple orders of magnitude variations in the permeabilities of vesicular magmas at similar porosities

A four-dimensional X-ray tomographic microscopy study of bubble growth in basaltic foam

Understanding the influence of bubble foams on magma permeability and strength is critical to investigations of volcanic eruption mechanisms. Increasing foam porosity decreases strength, enhancing the probability of an eruption. However, higher porosities lead to larger permeabilities, which can lessen the eruption hazard. Here we measure bubble size and wall thickness distributions, as well as connectivity, and calculate permeabilities and tensile strengths of basaltic foams imaged by synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy during bubble growth in hydrated basaltic melts. Rapid vesiculation produces porous foams whose fragmentation thresholds are only 5-6 MPa and whose permeabilities increase from approximately 1x10(-10) to 1x10(-9) m(2) between 10 and 14 s despite decreasing connectivity between bubbles. These results indicate that basaltic magmas are most susceptible to failure immediately upon vesiculation and at later times, perhaps only 10's of seconds later, permeability increases may lessen the hazard of explosive, basaltic, Plinian eruptions

Adjunctive rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (ARREST): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common cause of severe community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rifampicin would reduce bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death, by enhancing early S aureus killing, sterilising infected foci and blood faster, and reducing risks of dissemination and metastatic infection. METHODS: In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (≥18 years) with S aureus bacteraemia who had received ≤96 h of active antibiotic therapy were recruited from 29 UK hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequential randomisation list to receive 2 weeks of adjunctive rifampicin (600 mg or 900 mg per day according to weight, oral or intravenous) versus identical placebo, together with standard antibiotic therapy. Randomisation was stratified by centre. Patients, investigators, and those caring for the patients were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was time to bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death (all-cause), from randomisation to 12 weeks, adjudicated by an independent review committee masked to the treatment. Analysis was intention to treat. This trial was registered, number ISRCTN37666216, and is closed to new participants. FINDINGS: Between Dec 10, 2012, and Oct 25, 2016, 758 eligible participants were randomly assigned: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. 485 (64%) participants had community-acquired S aureus infections, and 132 (17%) had nosocomial S aureus infections. 47 (6%) had meticillin-resistant infections. 301 (40%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for 29 (IQR 18-45) days; 619 (82%) participants received flucloxacillin. By week 12, 62 (17%) of participants who received rifampicin versus 71 (18%) who received placebo experienced treatment failure or disease recurrence, or died (absolute risk difference -1·4%, 95% CI -7·0 to 4·3; hazard ratio 0·96, 0·68-1·35, p=0·81). From randomisation to 12 weeks, no evidence of differences in serious (p=0·17) or grade 3-4 (p=0·36) adverse events were observed; however, 63 (17%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10%) in the placebo group had antibiotic or trial drug-modifying adverse events (p=0·004), and 24 (6%) versus six (2%) had drug interactions (p=0·0005). INTERPRETATION: Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S aureus bacteraemia. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment

In situ X-ray tomographic microscopy observations of vesiculation of bubble-free and bubble-bearing magmas

Magma degassing is thought to play a major role in magma fractionation, transport, storage, and volcanic eruption dynamics. However, the conditions that determine when and how magma degassing operates prior to and during an eruption remain poorly constrained. We performed experiments to explore if the initial presence of gas bubbles in magma influences the capability of gas to escape from the magma. Vesiculation of natural H2O-poor (<<1 wt.%) silicic obsidian glasses was investigated by in situ, high-temperature (above the glass transition) experiments using synchrotron-based X-ray tomographic microscopy with high spatial (3 μm/pixel) and temporal resolution (1 second per 3D dataset). As a validation, a second set of experiments was performed on identical starting materials using a Karl-Fisher titration setup to quantify the amount of extracted gas that escapes via volatile diffusion and/or bubble coalescence during vesiculation. In both sets of experiments, vesiculation was triggered by heating the samples at room pressure. Our results suggest that the presence of pre-existing gas bubbles during a nucleation event significantly decreases the tendency of bubbles to coalesce and inhibits magma outgassing. In contrast, in initially bubble-free samples, the nucleation and growth of bubbles is accompanied by significant coalescence and outgassing. We infer that volatile-undersaturated (i.e. bubble-free) magmas in the reservoirs are more likely to erupt effusively, while the presence of excess gas already at depth (i.e. bubble-bearing systems) increases the likelihood of explosive eruptions.ISSN:0258-8900ISSN:1432-081

Dynamics of microcrack propagation in hardwood during heat treatment, investigated by synchrotron-based X-ray tomographic microscopy

The process of crack propagation in wood during pyrolysis is strongly linked to heterogeneities in its hierarchical porous structure. Fundamental understanding of this process is necessary for the analysis of the behavior of wood structural elements during fire exposure. Synchrotron-based X-ray tomographic microscopy combined with a recently developed laser-based furnace at the TOMCAT beamline of the Swiss Light Source provides a unique opportunity to study the heat-induced propagation of microcracks in hardwood in situ with high spatial and temporal resolutions. In this study, attention was focused on the 3D microstructure of beech and the interconnectivity between morphology and cracking patterns. It is shown that thermal cracks initiate mainly along the ray cells in hardwood and in the junction of seasonal growth layers. There is a clear indication of increased total porosity of the wood due to charring