A novel technique was developed for studying gas phase flow in unsaturated porous media. Carbon dioxide was pumped through a back-lit chamber packed with translucent sand which was variably saturated with water containing the pH indicator dye methyl red. As the carbon dioxide dissolved in the pore water, lowering the...
Applications of several methods of coherent nonlinear Raman Spectroscopy have been made in this thesis research. The theory and potential of one of these, Photoacoustic Raman Spectroscopy (PARS), is discussed in chapter two. Experimental results are presented which illustrate the sensitivity of this method and establish sampling conditions for maximum...
The conventional advection-dispersion equation cannot adequately describe all processes driving
solute transport in heterogeneous systems. This dissertation focuses on the individual influences
of both chemical (Chapter 2) and physical processes (Chapters 3 and 4) which affect
solute transport. In Chapter 2 we analyzed uranium transport in natural sediment using the...
Understanding the mechanisms controlling colloid transport and deposition in the vadose zone is an important step in protecting our water resources. Colloid transport in unsaturated porous media was studied using X-Ray Microtomography (XMT), which is a non-destructive imaging technique that provides three-dimensional images at a resolution on the order of...
Fission product transport in a Gen. IV Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Plant utilizing vented fuel has been characterized using analytical and computational methods. The goal was to increase current understanding of fission product transport in helium-cooled GFRs using vented fuel and to provide a toolset for determining issues which may arise...
This thesis examines the transient response of a packed bed heat
regenerator when heated from an initial uniform bed temperature. Very large
(1700 K) temperature differences were studied as well as the effect of
simultaneous chemical reaction in the gas phase.
First the effects of temperature on physical and transport...
The trans-Pacific atmospheric transport of particulate matter (PM)-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to remote sites in western North America has been well documented and has triggered research questions regarding to atmospheric transformation of PM-bound PAHs and the potential impacts on human health from their inhalation exposure. In this dissertation, field...
Random fields are frequently used in computational simulations of real-life processes. In particular, in this work they are used in modeling of flow and transport in porous media. Porous media as they arise in geological formations are intrinsically deterministic but there is significant uncertainty involved in determination of their properties...
Vitamin C is an essential component of the human diet. Uptake of vitamin C in the cell is regulated by the function of sodium-dependent vitamin C transporters (SVCTs). SVCT1 (encoded by the SLC23A1 gene) is expressed in the colon, liver and kidney, where it plays a vital role in determining...