Three-year performance of in-situ mass stabilised contaminated site soils using MgO-bearing binders

This paper provides physical and chemical performances of mass stabilised organic and inorganic contaminated site soils using a new group of MgO-bearing binders over 3 years and evaluated the time-dependent performance during the 3 years. This study took place at a contaminated site in Castleford, UK in 2011, where MgO, ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) and Portland cement (PC) were mixed with the contaminated soils in a dry form using the ALLU mass mixing equipment. Soil cores were retrieved 40-day, 1-year and 3-year after the treatment. The core quality, strength, and the leaching properties were determined via physical observation, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and batch leaching tests. After 3-year treatment, the UCS values of ALLU mixes were in the range of 50–250 kPa; the leachate concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn (except Ni) in all mixes were lower than their drinking water standards; and the leachability of total organics was in the range of 10–105 mg/L. No apparent degradation of the mass stabilised materials after 3 years’ exposure to the field conditions was found. MgO-GGBS blends were found able to provide higher strength and less leachability of contaminants compared to PC and MgO-only mixes in mass stabilised soils

Exploring the Optimization Objective of One-Class Classification for Anomaly Detection

One-class classification (OCC) is a longstanding method for anomaly detection. With the powerful representation capability of the pre-trained backbone, OCC methods have witnessed significant performance improvements. Typically, most of these OCC methods employ transfer learning to enhance the discriminative nature of the pre-trained backbone's features, thus achieving remarkable efficacy. While most current approaches emphasize feature transfer strategies, we argue that the optimization objective space within OCC methods could also be an underlying critical factor influencing performance. In this work, we conducted a thorough investigation into the optimization objective of OCC. Through rigorous theoretical analysis and derivation, we unveil a key insights: any space with the suitable norm can serve as an equivalent substitute for the hypersphere center, without relying on the distribution assumption of training samples. Further, we provide guidelines for determining the feasible domain of norms for the OCC optimization objective. This novel insight sparks a simple and data-agnostic deep one-class classification method. Our method is straightforward, with a single 1x1 convolutional layer as a trainable projector and any space with suitable norm as the optimization objective. Extensive experiments validate the reliability and efficacy of our findings and the corresponding methodology, resulting in state-of-the-art performance in both one-class classification and industrial vision anomaly detection and segmentation tasks.Comment: 15 paegs, 10 figure

Three-year performance of in-situ mass stabilised contaminated site soils using MgO-bearing binders.

This paper provides physical and chemical performances of mass stabilised organic and inorganic contaminated site soils using a new group of MgO-bearing binders over 3 years and evaluated the time-dependent performance during the 3 years. This study took place at a contaminated site in Castleford, UK in 2011, where MgO, ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) and Portland cement (PC) were mixed with the contaminated soils in a dry form using the ALLU mass mixing equipment. Soil cores were retrieved 40-day, 1-year and 3-year after the treatment. The core quality, strength, and the leaching properties were determined via physical observation, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and batch leaching tests. After 3-year treatment, the UCS values of ALLU mixes were in the range of 50-250kPa; the leachate concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn (except Ni) in all mixes were lower than their drinking water standards; and the leachability of total organics was in the range of 10-105mg/L. No apparent degradation of the mass stabilised materials after 3 years' exposure to the field conditions was found. MgO-GGBS blends were found able to provide higher strength and less leachability of contaminants compared to PC and MgO-only mixes in mass stabilised soils.The authors are grateful to the funding from EPSRC IAA follow-on fund to support this research. The samples were all retrieved from a field trial sponsored by EPSRC/TSB (Grant No.: TP/5/CON/6/I/H0304E).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.07.01

Three-year performance of in-situ mass stabilised contaminated site soils using MgO-bearing binders.

This paper provides physical and chemical performances of mass stabilised organic and inorganic contaminated site soils using a new group of MgO-bearing binders over 3 years and evaluated the time-dependent performance during the 3 years. This study took place at a contaminated site in Castleford, UK in 2011, where MgO, ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) and Portland cement (PC) were mixed with the contaminated soils in a dry form using the ALLU mass mixing equipment. Soil cores were retrieved 40-day, 1-year and 3-year after the treatment. The core quality, strength, and the leaching properties were determined via physical observation, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and batch leaching tests. After 3-year treatment, the UCS values of ALLU mixes were in the range of 50-250kPa; the leachate concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn (except Ni) in all mixes were lower than their drinking water standards; and the leachability of total organics was in the range of 10-105mg/L. No apparent degradation of the mass stabilised materials after 3 years' exposure to the field conditions was found. MgO-GGBS blends were found able to provide higher strength and less leachability of contaminants compared to PC and MgO-only mixes in mass stabilised soils.The authors are grateful to the funding from EPSRC IAA follow-on fund to support this research. The samples were all retrieved from a field trial sponsored by EPSRC/TSB (Grant No.: TP/5/CON/6/I/H0304E).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.07.01

Sorption of lead by Salisbury biochar produced from British broadleaf hardwood.

In this study, the physicochemical properties of Salisbury biochar produced from British broadleaf hardwood and its adsorption characteristics towards lead were investigated. The biochar particle size has a significant effect on its BET surface area, cation exchange capacity and sorption of lead. The kinetics data were well fitted by the Pseudo second order model. The increase of biochar dosage increased the percentage of lead removal in solutions. The increase of initial solution pH increased the percentage of lead removal across the pH range of 2-10. The calculated maximum adsorption capacities of lead by Langmuir model were 47.66 and 30.04 mg/g for 0.15 mm and 2 mm samples. The adsorption capacities of different metals decreased in the order of lead > nickel > copper > zinc calculated in mmol/g. This study suggests a great potential of biochars derived from British broadleaf hardwood to be applied in soil remediation.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.06.11

Qualitative and quantitative characterisation of adsorption mechanisms of lead on four biochars.

The adsorption mechanisms of lead (Pb2+) on four biochars (SB produced from British hardwood at 600°C and three standard biochars produced from wheat straw pellets at 700°C (WSP700), rice husk at 700°C (RH700) and soft wood pellets at 550°C (SWP550)) were characterised qualitatively and quantitatively, using a combination of chemical and micro-structural methods. Sequential extraction test results show that Pb2+ was predominantly adsorbed on SB (85.31%), WSP700 (75.61%) and RH700 (85.76%) as acidic soluble fraction, which was potentially bioavailable if applied in soil. The exchangeable fraction for SB, WSP700 and RH700 was low (1.38-4.29%) and their water soluble fraction was negligible (0-0.14%). Micro-structural analysis further investigated this fraction and confirmed the presence of cerussite (PbCO3) on SB and hydrocerussite (Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2) on WSP700, RH 700 and SWP550, suggesting a mechanism of surface precipitation for Pb2+ adsorption on the biochars. The percentages of Pb2+ in the form of PbCO3 on SB (82.24%) and Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2 on WSP700 (13.00%), RH 700 (19.19%) and SWP550 (29.70%) were quantified using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). This study suggests that it is feasible to quantify different adsorption mechanisms of Pb2+ on biochars, which is important for the practical application of biochar in water and/or soil treatment

Kinetic and equilibrium modelling of MTBE (Methyl tert-butyl ether) adsorption on ZSM-5 zeolite: Batch and column studies

The intensive use of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as a gasoline additive has resulted in serious environmental problems due to its high solubility, volatility and recalcitrance. The feasibility of permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) with ZSM-5 type zeolite as a reactive medium was explored for MTBE contaminated groundwater remediation. Batch adsorption studies showed that the MTBE adsorption onto ZSM-5 follows the Langmuir model and obeys the pseudo-second-order model with an adsorption capacity of 53.55 mg·g-1. The adsorption process reached equilibrium within 24 h, and MTBE was barely desorbed with initial MTBE concentration of 300 mg·L-1. The mass transfer process is found to be primarily controlled by pore diffusion for MTBE concentrations from 100 to 600 mg·L-1. pH has little effect on the maximum adsorption capacity in the pH range of 2-10, while the presence of nickel reduces the capacity with Ni concentrations of 2.5-25 mg·L-1. In fixed-bed column tests, the Dose-Response model fits the breakthrough curve well, showing a saturation time of ~320 min and a removal capacity of ~18.71 mg·g-1 under the conditions of this study. Therefore, ZSM-5 is an extremely effective adsorbent for MTBE removal and has a huge potential to be used as a reactive medium in PRBs.China Scholarship Council; the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowshi

Distributed Fixed-Time Control for Leader-Steered Rigid Shape Formation with Prescribed Performance

Resorting to the principle of rigid body kinematics, a novel framework for a multi-robot network is proposed to form and maintain an invariant rigid geometric shape. Unlike consensus-based formation, this approach can perform both translational and rotational movements of the formation geometry, ensuring that the entire formation motion remains consistent with the leader. To achieve the target formation shape and motion, a distributed control protocol for multiple Euler-Lagrange robotic vehicles subject to nonholonomic constraints is developed. The proposed protocol includes a novel prescribed performance control (PPC) algorithm that addresses the second-order dynamics of the robotic vehicles by employing a combination of nonsingular sliding manifold and adaptive law. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed formation framework and control protocol is demonstrated through the numerical simulations and practical experiments with a team of four robotic vehicles

Adaptive Sliding Mode Fault Tolerant Control for Autonomous Vehicle With Unknown Actuator Parameters and Saturated Tire Force Based on the Center of Percussion

With consideration of tire force saturation in vehicle motions, a novel path-following controller is developed for autonomous vehicles with unknown-bound disturbances and unknown actuator parameters. An adaptive sliding-mode fault-tolerant control (ASM-FTC) strategy is designed to stabilize the path-following errors without any information of disturbance boundaries, actuator fault boundaries and steering ratio from the steering wheel to the front wheels. By selecting the distance from the center of gravity to the center of percussion as the preview length, the effects of the lateral rear-tire force are decoupled and cancelled out, and then the preview error, which represents the path-following performance, can be only commanded by the front-tire force. To further address the issue of unknown tire-road friction limits, a modified ASM-FTC strategy is presented to improve the path-following performance as the lateral tire force is saturated. Simulation results show that the modified ASM-FTC controller demonstrates superior tracking performance over the normal ASM-FTC while the autonomous vehicle follows desired paths

Adsorption of Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) onto ZSM-5 zeolite: fixed-bed column tests, breakthrough curve modelling and regeneration

ZSM-5, as a hydrophobic zeolite, has a good adsorption capacity for methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in batch adsorption studies. This study explores the applicability of ZSM-5 as a reactive material in permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) to decontaminate the MTBE-containing groundwater. A series of laboratory scale fixed-bed column tests were carried out to determine the breakthrough curves and evaluate the adsorption performance of ZSM-5 towards MTBE under different operational conditions, including bed length, flow rate, initial MTBE concentration and ZSM-5 dosage, and regeneration tests were carried out at 80, 150 and 300°C for 24 h. Dose-Response model was found to best describe the breakthrough curves. MTBE was effectively removed by the fixed-bed column packed with a ZSM-5/sand mixture with an adsorption capacity of 31.85 mg∙g-1 at 6 cm bed length, 1 mL∙min-1 flow rate, 300 mg∙L-1 initial MTBE concentration and 5% ZSM-5 dosage. The maximum adsorption capacity increased with the increase of bed length and the decrease of flow rate and MTBE concentration. The estimated kinetic parameters can be used to predict the dynamic behaviour of column systems. In addition, regeneration study shows that the adsorption capacity of ZSM-5 remains satisfactory (>85%) after up to four regeneration cycles