Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 191-207.

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Neutralization by limestone is a common treatment for acid mine drainage (AMD). The effectiveness of using limestone to treat AMD can be reduced by aluminum (Al) and iron (Fe) oxyhydroxide coatings that form on the limestone, because the coatings inhibit the transport, and thus neutralization, of hydrogen ions (H+) derived from acid mine drainage. I used mixed flow reactor experiments to investigate the effect of Al coatings on the diffusion of H+ to the surface of limestone and to quantify how those Al coatings affect the limestone dissolution rate. Experiments used acidic Al sulfate solutions with initial Al concentrations ranging from 0.002 M to 0.01 M (32 to 329 ppm) and pH values ranging from 3.7 to 4.2, which are typical of conditions found at AMD sites. Cleaved pieces of Iceland spar calcite were used as a proxy for limestone. The pH was measured in the effluent to determine the rate of H+ consumption. Effluent solutions were analyzed for Al, calcium (Ca) and sulfur (S) using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP OES). Examination of the precipitated coatings using x-ray diffraction indicated that amorphous poorly crystalline gibbsite is the primary Al coating but scanning electron microscope analysis also suggests the possible presence of a poorly crystalline sulfur containing phase, such as hydrobasaluminite. The experimental data were used to calculate the diffusion coefficient of H+ through the Al coatings. The calculated diffusion coefficient for H+, assuming a gibbsite and/or hydrobasaluminite layer, ranged between 10-13 to 10-11 m2/sec, that are significantly lower than in pure water. / Master of Science

Soil improvement methods are used to minimize the consequences of liquefaction by changing the characteristics and/or response of a liquefiable soil deposit. When considering sites with previous development, the options for soil improvement are limited. Traditional methods, such as compaction and vibratory techniques, are difficult to employ because of adverse effects on adjacent structures. One potential method for soil improvement against soil liquefaction in developed sites is accelerated drainage through in situ vertical drains. Vertical drains expedite the dissipation of excess pore water pressures by reducing the length of the pore water drainage path. For more than thirty years, vertical gravel drains or stone columns have been employed to ensure the excess pore water pressure ratio remains below a prescribed maximum value. In recent years, the use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) has increased because the drains can be installed with less site disruption than with traditional soil improvement methods. To date, little-to-no field or experimental verification is available regarding the seismic performance of sites treated with PVDs. The effectiveness of PVDs for liquefaction remediation was evaluated via small-scale centrifuge testing and full-scale field testing. A small-scale centrifuge test was performed on an untreated soil deposit and on a soil deposit treated with small-scale vertical drains. Compared to the untreated condition, the presence of the small-scale vertical drains provided numerous benefits including smaller magnitudes of excess pore water pressure generation and buildup, smaller induced cyclic shear strains, reduced times for pore pressure dissipation, and smaller permanent horizontal and vertical displacements. In addition, full-scale in situ field experiments were performed in an untreated soil deposit and in a soil deposit treated with full-scale PVDs using a vibrating mandrel as the dynamic source. In the untreated test area, the maximum induced excess pore pressure ratio reached about 0.95. In the treated test area, the vibratory installation of the first few drains generated significant excess pore pressures; however, significant excess pore pressures were not generated during the vibratory installation of additional drains because of the presence of the adjacent drains. Additionally, the vibratory installation of the drains caused significant settlement and significantly altered the shear wave velocity of the sand. Dynamic shaking after installation of all of the drains induced small accelerations, small cyclic shear strains, and negligible excess pore water pressures in the soil. The results of the field experiment indicate that the prefabricated vertical drains were effective at dissipating excess pore water pressures during shaking and densifying the site. / text

Master of Science / Food Science Institute / Daniel Y.C. Fung / James L. Marsden / Listeria monocytogenes is known to be an environmental contaminant in food processing facilities. Floor drains in processing environments harbor Listeria spp. due to continuous presence of humidity and organic substrates. The cleaning and washing activities undertaken may translocate the bacterial cells from the drain to the surrounding environment, thus contaminating food products being produced. This study validates the effectiveness of Johnson Diversey ‘Eliminex’ Foaming Drain Cleaner and Johnson Diversey ‘Final Step’ 512 sanitizer for inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes in drain surfaces and evaluates the potential for translocation of L. monocytogenes from drains to food contact surfaces in the surrounding environment using Listeria innocua as a surrogate. A 7x 7 x 8 feet flexi glass chamber was built in which a 10 inch diameter drain mounted on an aluminum cabinet was placed. The drain was inoculated with the surrogate organism, L. innocua, at specific time intervals and then treated with the given chemicals. Sponge samples were taken and bacterial populations were recovered on Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA), Modified Oxford Medium (MOX) and Thin Agar Layer MOX (TALMOX). Stainless steel coupons (6.4 x 1.9 x 0.1 cm) were hung at 3 different heights 1, 3 and 5 feet inside the chamber and cell translocation from the drain on to the stainless steel coupons was studied. Reductions up to 4 Log CFU/area or ml were seen at the drain surface, drain crate, drain pipe and wash water for both free cells and cells entrapped in biofilms Treatment had a significant effect (p<0.05) on the reduction of bacterial cells. The wash water showed the greatest reduction from 8 Log CFU/ml to est. 0.23 Log CFU/ml. The given cleaner and sanitizer were found to be effective for reducing Listeria spp. on drain surfaces. Results for the second part indicated translocation at all three heights with percentage translocation ranging between 2-17%. Significantly higher translocation (p<0.05) was seen at 1 foot, followed by 3 feet and 5 feet indicating the closer the height to the drain, the greater the number of bacterial cells that are able to transfer from the drain to the surrounding environment.

Sewer flooding incidents in the UK are being increasingly associated with the presence of blockages. Blockages are difficult to deal with as although there are locations where they are more likely to occur, they do occur intermittently. In order to manage sewer blockage pro-actively sewer managers need to be able to identify the location of blockages promptly. Traditional CCTV inspection technologies are slow and relatively expensive so are not well suited to the rapid inspection of a network. This is needed if managers are to be able to address sewer blockages pro-actively. This thesis reports on the development of low-cost, rapidly deployable acoustic base sensor that will be able to survey live sewer pipes. The sensor emits short coded acoustic signals which are reflected from any defects of the wall of the underground pipes and recorded for future processing. The processing algorithms are based on the temporal windowing, deconvolution, Fourier, and intensity analysis so that the response can be linked directly to the location and property of the of the pipe deformation. The sensor was tested in a full scale sewer pipe in the laboratory and in few sites in UK, Austria and Netherlands and it was shown that it is able to discriminate between blockages and structural aspects of a sewer pipe such as a manhole and lateral connection. The anticipated cost is orders of magnitude lower than any current technique.

Neste trabalho apresentou-se a simulação numérica de aterros reforçado sobre argila mole com uso de drenos verticais pré-fabricados. O objetivo foi analisar o comportamento de um aterro reforçado com geossintético aliado ao uso de drenos verticais pré-fabricados. As análises numéricas de tensão-deformação foram realizadas pelo software PLAXIS 8.2. 2D. Pretendeu-se analisar as influências da rigidez do reforço, espaçamento entre drenos, velocidade de construção, construção do aterro em etapas, no comportamento dos aterros, como recalques verticais, deformações laterais e deformação do reforço. Foi utilizada a metodologia apresentada por Li & Rowe (2001), para a validação da modelagem dos aterros. A calibração do programa foi feita com a literatura de aterros reforçados. Nos resultados apresentados foram verificadas vantagens, como por exemplo: aceleração dos recalques e possibilidade da construção de aterros mais altos. O MEF mostrou que pode ser útil na escolha do reforço mais adequado para a condição de obra desejada, juntamente com espaçamento entre drenos. Foi possível verificar que a combinação de ambos os elementos pode ser bastante vantajosa em relação à utilização de apenas um deles. As deformações do reforço determinadas pelo MEF podem ser usadas para escolher o reforço adequado para um aterro sobre solo mole. Através dos resultados do método de elementos finitos pretendeu-se definir uma metodologia para calcular as deformações do reforço para uma altura de aterro determinada. / This paper presents the numerical simulation of reinforced embankment on soft clay with the use of prefabricated vertical drains. The objective is to analyze the behavior of a geosynthetic reinforced embankment along with the use of prefabricated vertical drains. The numerical analyzes of the stress-strain were performed by software PLAXIS 8.2. 2D. It was intended to analyze the influence of the stiffness of the reinforcement spacing between drains, construction speed, construction of the embankment in stages, the behavior of the landfill as settlements vertical, lateral deformations and deformation strengthening. We used the method presented by Li & Rowe (2001), to validate the modeling of landfills. The calibration was performed with the program literature reinforced embankments. In the following results were observed advantages such as: speeding up the possibility of repression and construction of embankments higher. MEF showed that may be helpful in selecting the most suitable for enhancing the desired work condition, with the spacing between drains. It can be seen that the combination of both elements can be quite advantageous over the use of just one. The deformation of the reinforcement determined by MEF can be used to choose the proper reinforcement for an embankment on soft soil. Through the results of the finite element method was intended to define a methodology to calculate the deformations of the reinforcement to a height of embankment determined.

L’érosion des sols est reconnue comme l’un des principaux facteurs à l’origine de la dégradation physico-chimique des environnements aquatiques. Ce phénomène, bien que largement décrit dans des régions topographiquement contrastées, reste, pour les régions de plaine agricole très peu détaillé en dépit d’une connectivité optimale entre les sources de matière et les masses d’eau. Dans ce contexte, nous avons développé une approche intégrée multi-paramètres permettant de retracer la cascade sédimentaire sur une plaine agricole drainée (bassin du Louroux : 47.16°N – 0.78°E) en partant des sources de matière jusqu’à leur accumulation dans un réceptacle sédimentaire, l’étang médiéval du Louroux. Dans les objectifs initiaux, il s’agissait (i) de quantifier à long (<60 ans) et court terme (<10 ans) l’évolution de la dynamique érosive en lien avec les perturbations anthropiques (remembrement, mise en place de réseaux de drainage, fossés), (ii) de tracer l’origine des sédiments transitant dans les cours d’eau (iii) et d’identifier les modali-tés de départs de la matière au niveau des berges. / Soil erosion is identified as one of the main factors influencing the physico-chemical degradation of the aquatic environments. This phenomenon has been largely described on contrasted topographic areas but there is a gap of knowledge about sediment mobilization/transfer in lowland areas despite the high connectivity level between the potential sources of sediment and the water bodies. In this context we have implemented an integrated multi-parameter approach allowing to track the sediment dynamics in a drained lowland area (the Louroux pond catchment: 47.16°N – 0.78°E) by starting from the sources of sediment to their accumulation in a sedimentary receptacle: the middle-age Louroux pond. The aims of this study are (i) to quantify at long (approx. 60 years) and short time scales (<10 years) the evolution of the erosion rate in the hillslope in link with the increase of the anthropogenic pressures (land consolidation, implementation of the drain network, ditches design), (ii) to track the origin of sediment reaching the pond, (iii) to identify and quantify the parameters influencing bank erosion, that is one of the main source of sediment transfers.

This study was designed to evaluate the ability of vertical drains to prevent liquefaction and limit associated settlement. Drain performance was investigated using full-scale tests with vertical drains in liquefiable sand using a laminar shear box with acceleration time histories applied at the base. Performance of the sand box with drains in these tests was compared with performance of the sane box without drains in previous tests. The test data was also used to create case histories which can be used for further research and calibration of computer models. Although some investigations regarding vertical drains have been performed with centrifuge tests, no full-scale drain installation had been tested previously. Two drain geometries were investigated, first with drains spaced at 4 feet and second with drains spaced at 3 feet, to determine the effect of spacing on drain effectiveness.Sand was hydraulically placed at a relative density of about 40%. Sensors to monitor pore water pressure, settlement, lateral displacement, and acceleration were placed in the laminar shear box. Three rounds of testing were performed with each drain configuration. Each round consisted of three tests, with peak sinusoidal acceleration levels of 0.05g, 0.1g, and 0.2g respectively, with 15 sinusoidal cycles in each case. A cone penetration test sounding was performed between each round as well as before and after testing to characterize the soil properties for each round.Prefabricated drains were effective at reducing excess pore pressure generation during shaking and increasing the rate of dissipation immediately following the shaking. Liquefaction induced settlement was typically reduced by about 50% relative to tests without drains. These results are in good agreement with results from previous centrifuge testing. Drains spaced closer together reduced the excess pore pressure that generated during shaking and increased the rate of pore pressure dissipation relative to tests with drains spaced further apart, but post-liquefaction settlements were similar. As the soil became denser, settlement decreased significantly, as did the time for pore pressures to dissipate.