Gas-entry pressure impact on the evaluation of hydrogen migration at different scales of a deep geological disposal of radioactive waste.

Although the importance of gas-entry pressure in simulating two-phase liquid-gas flow in porous media has been studied at the column and borehole scales, its impact on the simulation of transient hydraulic-gas at different scales of a deep geological repository of radioactive waste (DGR) in low permeability clay rock during the post-closure phase has not yet been studied. The purpose of this work is to show that neglecting this phenomenon can lead to underestimation of the maximum gas pressure and water-gas fluxes simulated within the host rock and backfilled drift network. This could impact the performance of the engineered barrier system of a DGR. Simulations performed for a high-level waste disposal cell and for a simplified repository composed of hundreds of disposal cells situated in a clay host rock, show that gas preferentially migrates through the DGR components with low capillary entry pressures, such as the excavation damaged zone (Refers to the zone where fractures develop due to failure of the rock mass around galleries after tunneling) (EDZ), the engineered barriers materials (backfill, bentonite-plug…) and interfaces between the EDZ and these materials. Such a result could have significant consequences on the performance of a repository, due to the accumulation of gas in the drift network and high increase of gas pressure, which could lead to the host rock hydraulic fracturing.

Piezoelectric Property of Electrospun PVDF Nanofibers as Linking Tips of Artificial-Hair-Cell Structures in Cochlea.

The death of hair cells and damage of natural tip links is one of the main causes of hearing-loss disability, and the development of an advanced artificial hearing aid holds the key to assisting those suffering from hearing loss. This study demonstrates the potential of using electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fibers to serve as the artificial tip links, for long-term hearing-aid-device development based on their piezoelectric properties. We have shown that the electrospun PVDF-fiber web, consisting of fibers ranging from 30-220 nm in diameter with high ß-phase content, possesses the high piezoresponse of 170 mV. Analyses based on combined characterization methods including SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, Raman, DSC, XPS, PFM and piezoelectricity have confirmed that an optimized value of 15 wt.% PVDF could act as an effective candidate for a tip-link connector in a vibration-frequency prototype. Based on this easily reproducible electrospinning technique and the multifunctionalities of the resulting PVDF fibers, this fundamental study may shed light on the bio-inspired design of artificial, self-powered, high performance, hair-cell-like sensors in cochlea to tackle the hearing loss issue.

Towards a better assessment model of transient radon concentrations in dwellings basements for the study of the effectiveness of soil radon mitigation systems designs.

In order to study effectiveness of soil radon mitigation systems in dwellings basements, it is necessary to develop robust numerical models that can estimate time-varying radon concentration in the basements. However, development of such models is a very challenging topic. Indeed, there are three difficult tasks that have to be solved: i°) to characterize soil and foundation materials hydraulic properties, and geometry, length, and position of cracks inside these materials, ii°) to solve discontinuity due to free gas flow in a basement volume embedded within a tortuous porous material, and iii°) to characterize the dwelling occupation mode by the inhabitants. The purpose of this work is twofold: first, to investigate the performance of a meshed-basement model (BM1), compared to classical mass balance models (BM2), in simulating measured fluctuations in time of point-radon concentration in the basement; and second, to study efficiency of soil depressurization systems (SDS) designs in reducing the higher radon concentrations in basements due to higher under-pressurizations. Application of both models to an experimental dwelling showed that BM1 is more efficient than BM2 in that it can better simulate both measured radon concentration and radon-entry-rate. Numerical SDS-scenarios by using BM1 showed that the basement sub-slab depressurization (SSD) alone is a costly solution for radon mitigation. However, scenarios combining SSD with a sump pumping well (SPW) design in the soil adjacent to the wall, showed to be a good alternative because it involves less energy for soil air extraction.

Comparison of two numerical modelling approaches to a field experiment of unsaturated radon transport in a covered uranium mill tailings soil (Lavaugrasse, France).

Uncertainties on the mathematical modelling of radon ((222)Rn) transport in an unsaturated covered uranium mill tailings (UMT) soil at field scale can have a great impact on the estimation of the average measured radon exhalation rate to the atmosphere at the landfill cover. These uncertainties are usually attributed to the numerical errors from numerical schemes dealing with soil layering, and to inadequate modelling of physical processes at the soil/plant/atmosphere interface and of the soil hydraulic and transport properties, as well as their parameterization. In this work, we demonstrate how to quantify these uncertainties by comparing simulation results from two different numerical models to experimental data of radon exhalation rate and activity concentration in the soil-gas measured in a covered UMT-soil near the landfill site Lavaugrasse (France). The first approach is based on the finite volume compositional (i.e., water, radon, air) transport model TOUGH2/EOS7Rn (Transport Of Unsaturated Groundwater and Heat version 2/Equation Of State 7 for Radon; Saâdi et al., 2014), while the second one is based on the finite difference one-component (i.e., radon) transport model TRACI (Transport de RAdon dans la Couche Insaturée; Ferry et al., 2001). Transient simulations during six months of variable rainfall and atmospheric air pressure showed that the model TRACI usually overestimates both measured radon exhalation rate and concentration. However, setting effective unsaturated pore diffusivities of water, radon and air components in soil-liquid and gas to their physical values in the model EOS7Rn, allowed us to enhance significantly the modelling of these experimental data. Since soil evaporation has been neglected, none of these two models was able to simulate the high radon peaks observed during the dry periods of summer. However, on average, the radon exhalation rate calculated by EOS7Rn was 34% less than that was calculated by TRACI, and much closer to the measured one for physically-based soil radon diffusion models. Unlike TRACI, EOS7Rn was able to simulate qualitatively seasonal variations of both radon exhalation and concentration. These results show that EOS7Rn produces less numerical errors than TRACI, and can be considered as a promising model for predicting radon transport in the landfill, if soil evaporation is modelled and its numerical inversion for parameter estimation is realized.

On the air-filled effective porosity parameter of Rogers and Nielson's (1991) bulk radon diffusion coefficient in unsaturated soils.

The radon exhalation rate at the earth's surface from soil or rock with radium as its source is the main mechanism behind the radon activity concentrations observed in both indoor and outdoor environments. During the last two decades, many subsurface radon transport models have used Rogers and Nielson's formula for modeling the unsaturated soil bulk radon diffusion coefficient. This formula uses an "air-filled effective porosity" to account for radon adsorption and radon dissolution in the groundwater. This formula is reviewed here, and its hypotheses are examined for accuracy in dealing with subsurface radon transport problems. The author shows its limitations by comparing one dimensional steady-state analytical solutions of the two-phase (air/water) transport equation (Fick's law) with Rogers and Nielson's formula. For radon diffusion-dominated transport, the calculated Rogers and Nielson's radon exhalation rate is shown to be unrealistic as it is independent of the values of the radon adsorption and groundwater dissolution coefficients. For convective and diffusive transport, radon exhalation rates calculated using Fick's law and this formula agree only for high values of gas-phase velocity and groundwater saturation. However, these conditions are not usually met in most shallow subsurface environments where radon migration takes place under low gas phase velocities and low water saturation.

Modelling denitrification at the catchment scale.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the importance of heterotrophic denitrification in the fate of nitrogen surpluses at the catchment scale. For that purpose we modified the denitrification module of TNT2 model and calibrated the model on a small catchment where denitrification measurements had been performed in different locations. The main interest of the TNT2 model is its ability to simulate the dynamics of the zones where soil and shallow water table interact, making it possible to spatialize the denitrification process. Daily water and nitrogen flux at the outlet were relatively well simulated (Nash of 0.85 and 0.77). In average, the model correctly simulates the denitrification measurements (R=0.68). Nitrogen flux towards the atmosphere, at the catchment scale (4.70 g N m(-2) year(-1)), is of the same order of magnitude as the soluble N flux in the stream. The model was able to reproduce the distribution of denitrification in the riparian (mean of 9.26 g N m(-2) year(-1)) and hillslope (mean of 3.45 g N m(-2) year(-1)) domains of the catchment. The results confirm the importance of riparian denitrification, but show also that hillslope soils contribute significantly (60%) to the whole catchment denitrification. The variations of denitrification rates, and also of nitrate concentrations in stream were not very well simulated by the model, highlighting the complexity of the spatial and temporal controls of nitrogen dynamics in areas with high inputs of nitrogen fertilizers, especially under organic forms.