Individual Cell-Level Temperature Monitoring of a Lithium-Ion Battery Pack.

The work described herein details the deployment of an optical fibre strand with five fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors for individual cell-level temperature monitoring of a three-cell lithium-ion battery pack. A polymer guide tube with 3D printed plinths is employed, resulting in high precision temperature readings with an average error of 0.97 °C, 1.33 °C, and 1.27 °C for FBG sensors on each battery cell, surpassing traditional thermocouple and platinum resistance sensors in some circumstances. The temperature response of FBGs positioned between battery cells demonstrates that, in addition to sensing temperature at the cell level, temperature data can be effectively acquired between cells, suggesting that FBGs may be used to monitor the heat radiated from individual cells in a battery pack.

Assessing the capacity of biochar to stabilize copper and lead in contaminated sediments using chemical and extraction methods.

Because of its high adsorption capacity, biochar has been used to stabilize metals when remediating contaminated soils; to date, however, it has seldom been used to remediate contaminated sediment. A biochar was used as a stabilization agent to remediate Cu- and Pb-contaminated sediments, collected from three locations in or close to Beijing. The sediments were mixed with a palm sawdust gasified biochar at a range of weight ratios (2.5%, 5%, and 10%) and incubated for 10, 30, or 60 days. The performance of the different treatments and the heavy metal fractions in the sediments were assessed using four extraction methods, including diffusive gradients in thin films, the porewater concentration, a sequential extraction, and the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure. The results showed that biochar could enhance the stability of heavy metals in contaminated sediments. The degree of stability increased as both the dose of biochar and the incubation time increased. The sediment pH and the morphology of the metal crystals adsorbed onto the biochar changed as the contact time increased. Our results showed that adsorption, metal crystallization, and the pH were the main controls on the stabilization of metals in contaminated sediment by biochar.

Assessing TCE source bioremediation by geostatistical analysis of a flux fence.

Mass discharge across transect planes is increasingly used as a metric for performance assessment of in situ groundwater remediation systems. Mass discharge estimates using concentrations measured in multilevel transects are often made by assuming a uniform flow field, and uncertainty contributions from spatial concentration and flow field variability are often overlooked. We extend our recently developed geostatistical approach to estimate mass discharge using transect data of concentration and hydraulic conductivity, so accounting for the spatial variability of both datasets. The magnitude and uncertainty of mass discharge were quantified by conditional simulation. An important benefit of the approach is that uncertainty is quantified as an integral part of the mass discharge estimate. We use this approach for performance assessment of a bioremediation experiment of a trichloroethene (TCE) source zone. Analyses of dissolved parent and daughter compounds demonstrated that the engineered bioremediation has elevated the degradation rate of TCE, resulting in a two-thirds reduction in the TCE mass discharge from the source zone. The biologically enhanced dissolution of TCE was not significant (~5%), and was less than expected. However, the discharges of the daughter products cis-1,2, dichloroethene (cDCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) increased, probably because of the rapid transformation of TCE from the source zone to the measurement transect. This suggests that enhancing the biodegradation of cDCE and VC will be crucial to successful engineered bioremediation of TCE source zones.

Increasing confidence in mass discharge estimates using geostatistical methods.

Mass discharge is one metric rapidly gaining acceptance for assessing the performance of in situ groundwater remediation systems. Multilevel sampling transects provide the data necessary to make such estimates, often using the Thiessen Polygon method. This method, however, does not provide a direct estimate of uncertainty. We introduce a geostatistical mass discharge estimation approach that involves a rigorous analysis of data spatial variability and selection of an appropriate variogram model. High-resolution interpolation was applied to create a map of measurements across a transect, and the magnitude and uncertainty of mass discharge were quantified by conditional simulation. An important benefit of the approach is quantified uncertainty of the mass discharge estimate. We tested the approach on data from two sites monitored using multilevel transects. We also used the approach to explore the effect of lower spatial monitoring resolution on the accuracy and uncertainty of mass discharge estimates. This process revealed two important findings: (1) appropriate monitoring resolution is that which yielded an estimate comparable with the full dataset value, and (2) high-resolution sampling yields a more representative spatial data structure descriptor, which can then be used via conditional simulation to make subsequent mass discharge estimates from lower resolution sampling of the same transect. The implication of the latter is that a high-resolution multilevel transect needs to be sampled only once to obtain the necessary spatial data descriptor for a contaminant plume exhibiting minor temporal variability, and thereafter less spatially intensely to reduce costs.

Channel flow and trichloroethylene treatment in a partly iron-filled fracture: experimental and model results.

Technical developments have now made it possible to emplace granular zero-valent iron (Fe(0)) in fractured media to create a Fe(0) fracture reactive barrier (Fe(0) FRB) for the treatment of contaminated groundwater. To evaluate this concept, we conducted a laboratory experiment in which trichloroethylene (TCE) contaminated water was flushed through a single uniform fracture created between two sandstone blocks. This fracture was partly filled with what was intended to be a uniform thickness of iron. Partial treatment of TCE by iron demonstrated that the concept of a Fe(0) FRB is practical, but was less than anticipated for an iron layer of uniform thickness. When the experiment was disassembled, evidence of discrete channelised flow was noted and attributed to imperfect placement of the iron. To evaluate the effect of the channel flow, an explicit Channel Model was developed that simplifies this complex flow regime into a conceptualised set of uniform and parallel channels. The mathematical representation of this conceptualisation directly accounts for (i) flow channels and immobile fluid arising from the non-uniform iron placement, (ii) mass transfer from the open fracture to iron and immobile fluid regions, and (iii) degradation in the iron regions. A favourable comparison between laboratory data and the results from the developed mathematical model suggests that the model is capable of representing TCE degradation in fractures with non-uniform iron placement. In order to apply this Channel Model concept to a Fe(0) FRB system, a simplified, or implicit, Lumped Channel Model was developed where the physical and chemical processes in the iron layer and immobile fluid regions are captured by a first-order lumped rate parameter. The performance of this Lumped Channel Model was compared to laboratory data, and benchmarked against the Channel Model. The advantages of the Lumped Channel Model are that the degradation of TCE in the system is represented by a first-order parameter that can be used directly in readily available numerical simulators.

Re-use of stabilised flue gas ashes from solid waste incineration in cement-treated base layers for pavements.

Fly ash from coal-burning power plants has been used extensively as a pozzolan and fine filler in concrete for many years. Laboratory experiments were performed investigating the effect of substituting the coal-based fly ash with chemically stabilised flue gas ashes (FGA) from waste incineration. Two types of FGA were treated by the Ferrox-process, which removes the majority of the easily soluble salts in the FGA and provides binding sites for heavy metals in terms of ferrihydrite. Cubes of cement treated base layer materials containing 5% stabilised FGA were cast, sealed and cured for two weeks. Cylinders (diameter 100 mm, length 150 mm) were drilled from these cubes for tank leaching experiments. Duplicate specimens were subject to compression strength testing and to tank leaching experiments. The compressive strength of the CTB fulfilled the Danish requirements for CTB, i.e. strength more than 5 MPa after 7 days. The tank leaching tests revealed that leaching of heavy metals was not significantly affected by the use of chemically stabilised flue gas ashes from waste incineration. Assuming that diffusion controls the leaching process it was calculated that less than 1% of the metals would leach during a 100-year period from a 0.5 m thick concrete slab exposed to water on one side. Leaching of the common ions Ca, Cl, Na and SO4 was increased 3-20 times from the specimens with chemically stabilised flue gas ashes from waste incineration. However, the quantities leached were still modest. These experiments suggest that FGA from waste incineration after Ferrox-treatment could be re-used in CTB without compromising the strength and leaching from the base layer.

Evidence of Al-Cr interactions affecting Cr-leaching from waste incineration ashes.

Leaching tests on flue gas ashes from waste incineration showed low leaching of Cr from ashes that under moist anaerobic conditions also produced hydrogen gas. In some cases, also the redox levels (aerobic/anaerobic conditions) during the leaching test affected Cr leaching. Aerobic ashes tested in an open batch leaching test leached Cr up to 2-3 orders of magnitude more than the ashes kept moist under anaerobic conditions and tested in a closed leaching test. Model experiments showed that metallic Al could reduce Cr and at the same time produce H(2). The hydrogen gas per se could not reduce Cr. Laboratory experiments with ashes provided evidence that metallic Al, present naturally in the ashes or amended, could reduce Cr under moist anaerobic, but not under aerobic storage. Significant Cr reduction was linked to, but not caused by hydrogen formation. The reduced Cr seemed to be partially reoxidizable upon aeration or drying. The observations presented provide a basis for understanding the complexity of Cr leaching from waste incineration ashes, as for example, why some chemical stabilization methods increase Cr leaching, and point out the need for standardizing leaching test conditions with respect to Cr.