2013 Vol. 6, No. 3

Display Method:
Abstract:
The complexities of hydrological phenomena, the causes that lead to these complexities, and the essences and defects of reductionism are analyzed. The driving forces for the development of hydrology and the formation of branch subjects of hydrology are discussed. The theoretical basis and limitations of existing hydrology are summarized. Existing misunderstandings in the development of the watershed hydrological model are put forward. Finally, the necessity of the expansion of hydrology from linear to nonlinear is discussed.
Abstract:
A multi-anabranch river with three braid bars is a typical river pattern in nature, but no studies have been conducted to describe mixing characteristics of pollutants in the river. In this study, a physical model of a typical multi-anabranch river with three braid bars was established to explore the pollutant mixing characteristics in different branches. The multi-anabranch reach was separated into seven branches, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, and B7, by three braid bars. Five tracer release positions located 2.9 m upstream from the inlet section of the multi-anabranch reach were adopted, and the distances from the five positions to the left bank of the upstream main channel were 1/6B, 1/3B, 1/2B, 2/3B, and 5/6B (B is the width of the upstream main channel), respectively. The longitudinal velocities and pollutant concentrations in the seven branches were measured. The planar flow field and mixing characteristics of pollutants from the bottom to the surface in the multi-anabranch river were obtained and analyzed. The results show that the pollutant release positions are the main influencing factors in the pollutant transport process, and the diversion points and pollutant release positions jointly influence the percentage ratios of the pollutant fluxes in branches B1, B2, and B3 to the pollutant flux in the upstream main channel.
Abstract:
The particle size of sediment is one of the main factors that influence the phosphorus physical adsorption on sediment. In order to eliminate the effect of other components of sediment on the phosphorus physical adsorption, the sediment mineral matrices were obtained by removing inorganic matter, metal oxides, and organic matter from natural sediments, which were collected from the Nantong reach of the Yangtze River. The results show that an exponential relationship exists between the median particle size (D50) and specific surface area (Sg) of the sediment mineral matrices, and the fine sediment mineral matrix sample has a larger specific surface area and pore volume than the coarse sediment particles. The kinetic equations were used to describe the phosphorus adsorption process of the sediment mineral matrices, including the Elovich equation, quasi-first-order adsorption kinetic equation, and quasi-second-order adsorption kinetic equation. The results show that the quasi-second-order adsorption kinetic equation has the best fitting effect. Using the mass conservation and Langmuir adsorption kinetic equations, a formula was deduced to calculate the equilibrium adsorption capacity of the sediment mineral matrices. The results of this study show that the phosphorus adsorption capacity decreases with the increase of D50, indicating that the specific surface area and pore volume are the main factors in determining the phosphorus adsorption capacity of the sediment mineral matrices. This study will help understand the important role of sediment in the transformation of phosphorus in aquatic environments.
Abstract:
A series of carboxymethyl cellulose/organic montmorillonite (CMC/OMMT) nanocomposites with different weight ratios of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to organic montmorillonite (OMMT) were synthesized under different conditions. The nanocomposites were characterized by the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD) method, transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermal gravimetric (TG) analysis. The results showed that the introduction of CMC may have different influences on the physico-chemical properties of OMMT and intercalated-exfoliated nanostructures were formed in the nanocomposites. The effects of different reaction conditions on the adsorption capacity of samples for Congo Red (CR) dye were investigated by controlling the amount of hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), the weight ratio of CMC to OMMT, the reaction time, and the reaction temperature. Results from the adsorption experiment showed that the adsorption capacity of the nanocomposites can reach 171.37 mg/g, with the amount of CTAB being 1.0 cation exchange capacity (CEC) of MMT, the weight ratio of CMC to OMMT being 1?1, the reaction time being 6 h, and the reaction temperature being 60℃. The CMC/OMMT nanocomposite can be used as a potential adsorbent to remove CR dye from an aqueous solution.
Abstract:
In this study the sub-tidal and intra-tidal variations of salt fluxes in the upstream section of a shallow estuary (with a water depth of less than 3 m) were investigated. The salt fluxes were estimated based on the cross-sectional average salinity and velocity measured by the fluvial acoustic tomography system (FATS). The results indicate that the magnitude of seaward fluxes is approximately two times greater than that of landward fluxes under normal conditions. The results of short-term observation in the study area indicate that there is a phase lag of the bottom and surface salinities between the regions with the largest and smallest depths. The vertical shear flux with a peak value of ?0.7 m2/s during the ebb tide indicated an important contribution to the total salt flux compared with the advective flux. A phase lag occurred between the vertical shear terms in the regions with the largest and smallest depths, which resulted from the correlation between the vertical variations of the salinity and velocity and the existence of transversal velocity circulations.
Abstract:
The joint probability distribution of wind speed and significant wave height in the Bohai Bay was investigated by comparing the Gumbel logistic model, the Gumbel-Hougaard (GH) copula function, and the Clayton copula function. Twenty years of wind data from 1989 to 2008 were collected from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) database and the blended wind data of the Quick Scatterometer (QSCAT) satellite data set and re-analysis data from the United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Several typhoons were taken into account and merged with the background wind fields from the ECMWF or QSCAT/NCEP database. The 20-year data of significant wave height were calculated with the unstructured-grid version of the third-generation wind wave model Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) under extreme wind process conditions. The Gumbel distribution was used for univariate and marginal distributions. The distribution parameters were estimated with the method of L-moments. Based on the marginal distributions, the joint probability distributions, the associated return periods, and the conditional probability distributions were obtained. The GH copula function was found to be optimal according to the ordinary least squares (OLS) test. The results show that wind waves are the prevailing type of wave in the Bohai Bay.
Abstract:
The effects of optimized operation principles implemented at reservoirs on the Wujiang River in southwest China between September 2009 and April 2010 under drought conditions were analyzed based on operational data collected from the Guizhou Wujiang Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. A set of linear regression equations was developed to identify the key factors impacting the electric power generation at reservoirs. A 59% reduction in the inflow discharge at the Hongjiadu Reservoir led to a decrease of only 38% in the total electric power generation at the Hongjiadu, Dongfeng, Suofengying, and Wujiangdu reservoirs on the Wujiang River, indicating that optimized operation can play an important role in drought management. The water level and the amount of other water inputs at the Hongjiadu Reservoir and the outflow discharge at all of the reservoirs except the Wujiangdu Reservoir were key factors affecting the total electric power generation at reservoirs on the Wujiang River under optimized operation.
Abstract:
Hydroelectric facilities impact water temperature; low velocities in a reservoir increase residence time and enhance heat exchange in surface layers. In this study, an unsteady three-dimensional model was developed to predict the temperature dynamics in the McNary Dam forebay. The model is based on the open-source code OpenFOAM. RANS equations with the Boussinesq approximation were used to solve the flow field. A realizable k-ε model that accounts for the production of wind turbulence was developed. Solar radiation and convective heat transfer at the free surface were included. The result of the model was compared with the field data collected on August 18, 2004. Changes in diurnal stratification were adequately predicted by the model. Observed vertical and lateral temperature distributions were accurately captured. Results indicate that the model can be used as a numerical tool to assess structural and operational alternatives to reduce the forebay temperature.   
Abstract:
Considering the compressibility of the cavity in the cavitating flow, this paper presents a modified k-ω model for predicting the cavitating flow in a centrifugal pump, in which the modified k-ω model and Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model were combined with ANSYS CFX. To evaluate the modified and standard k-ω models, numerical simulations were performed with these two models, respectively, and the calculation results were compared with the experimental data. Numerical simulations were executed with three different values of the flow coefficient, and the simulation results of the modified k-ω model showed agreement with most of the experimental data. The cavitating flow in the centrifugal pump obtained by the modified k-ω model at the design flow coefficient of 0.102, was analyzed. When the cavitation number decreases, the cavity initially generates on the suction side of the blade near the leading edge and then expands to the outlet of the impeller, and the decrease of the total pressure coefficient mainly occurs upstream of the impeller passage, while the downstream remains almost unaffected by the development of cavitation.
Abstract:
Consolidation deformation occurs in clay liners under the self-weight of wastes at a simple garbage dump or dredged sediment dump, which leads to a decrease in the porosity. However, the migration of contaminants in clay liners is influenced by the porosity. Thus, the impact of consolidation deformation of clay liners on the migration of contaminants cannot be ignored. Based on Biot’s consolidation theory, the contaminant migration theory, and consideration of the three kinds of migration mechanisms of convection, diffusion, and adsorption, a one-dimensional migration model of contaminants in deforming porous media was established, and the finite difference method was adopted to obtain the numerical solutions for an established initial-boundary value problem. The impact of consolidation pressure on the migration law of a contaminant was studied. The results show that, regardless of adsorption modes, different consolidation pressures have similar impacts on the migration law of the contaminant. Namely, over a certain migration time, the greater the consolidation pressure is, the smaller the migration depth of the contaminant. The results also show that, while the migration time increases, the impact of a certain increment of consolidation pressure on the variation of contaminant concentration with the depth increases gradually and, while the migration depth increases, the impact of a certain increment of consolidation pressure on the variation of the contaminant concentration with time increases gradually.
Abstract:
This investigation was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of corrosion inhibitors in increasing the chloride threshold value for steel corrosion. Three types of corrosion inhibitors, calcium nitrite (Ca(NO2)2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and N,N'-dimethylaminoethanol (DMEA), which respectively represented the anodic inhibitor, cathodic inhibitor, and mixed inhibitor, were chosen. The experiment was carried out in a saturated calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) solution to simulate the electrolytic environment of concrete. The inhibitors were initially mixed at different levels, and then chloride ions were gradually added into the solution in several steps. The open-circuit potential (Ecorr) and corrosion current density (Icorr) determined by electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) were used to identify the initiation of active corrosion, thereby determining the chloride threshold value. It was found that although all the inhibitors were effective in decreasing the corrosion rate of steel reinforcement, they had a marginal effect on increasing the chloride threshold value.