A Dual Delineation Approach to Untangle Interferences in Well Doublets Systems.

Traditional numerical methods for the delineation of wellhead protection areas span deterministic and probabilistic approaches. They provide time-related capture zones. However, none of the existing approaches identifies the groundwater contribution areas related to each source or sink. In this work, the worthiness of the so-called double delineation approach was extended. This task was achieved by simple postprocessing of its dual outputs leading to a highly efficient screening tool. In the particular context of geothermal resources management through the well doublets of the Dogger aquifer in the Paris Basin (France), the approach was extended to forecast the compositional heat breakthrough at production wells. Hence, cold-water breakthrough and temperature decline in production wells are timely assessed in low-enthalpy geothermal reservoirs. The method quantifies how groundwater volumes are moving through space and time between any couple of source and sink. It provides unprecedented tools advancing the enhanced understanding of water resources systems functioning. It is highly recommended to implement the presented concepts in the current and future generations of community groundwater models.

Transport properties and electrokinetic characterization of an amphoteric nanofilter.

Transport properties of a tubular nanofilter with amphoteric properties have been investigated by means of the SEDE (steric, electric, and dielectric exclusion) homogeneous model. Within the scope of this 1D model, the separation of solutes results from transport effects (described by means of extended Nernst-Planck equations) and interfacial phenomena including steric hindrance, the Donnan effect, and dielectric exclusion (expressed in terms of (i) the Born dielectric effect, which is connected to the lowering of the dielectric constant of a solution inside nanodimensional pores, and (ii) the interaction between ions and the polarization charges induced at the dielectric boundary between the pore walls and the pore-filling solution). The effective volume charge density of the membrane has been determined from tangential streaming potential experiments coupled with conductance experiments in a potassium chloride solution at various pH values ranging from 2 to 11. The inferred values have been used in the SEDE model to compute the ion rejection rates with the dielectric constant of the solution inside the pores as a single adjustable parameter. The model provides a relatively good description of experimental data even at extreme pH values for which a ternary system has been considered (K+, Cl-, and H+ or OH- depending on the pH). The fit to experimental data at the membrane isoelectric point indicates that the confinement effect decreases the dielectric constant inside the pores only slightly (with respect to its bulk value). However, the (pH-dependent) ionization of surface sites has been found to lead to a substantial lowering of the dielectric constant inside the pores.

Analysis of the pressure-induced potential arising through composite membranes with selective surface layers.

When a pressure gradient is applied through a charged selective membrane, the transmembrane electrical potential difference, called the filtration potential, results from both the applied pressure and induced concentration difference across the membrane. In this work we investigate the electrokinetic properties relative to both active and support layers of a composite ceramic membrane close to the nanofiltration range. First, the volume charge density of the active layer is obtained by fitting a transport model to experimental rejection rates (which are controlled by the active layer only). Next, the value of the volume charge density is used to compute the theoretical filtration potential through the active layer. For sufficiently high permeate volume fluxes, the concentration difference across the active layer becomes constant, which allows assessing the membrane potential of the active layer. Experimental measurements of the overall filtration potential arising through the whole membrane are performed. The contribution of the support layer to this overall filtration potential is put in evidence. That implies that the membrane potential of the active layer cannot be deduced directly from the overall filtration potential measurements. Finally, the contribution of the support layer is singled out by subtracting the theoretical filtration potential of the active layer from the experimental filtration potential measured across the whole membrane (i.e., support + active layers). The amphoteric behavior of both layers is put in evidence, which is confirmed by electrophoretic measurements carried out with the powdered support layer and by recently reported tangential streaming potential measurements.