Dryland salinity is increasing in the upper catchments of central and northern New South Wales, Australia. Consequently, salts may be exported downstream, which could adversely affect cotton irrigated-farming systems. In order to assess the potential threat of salinity a simple salt balance model based on progressively saline water (i.e., ECiw 0.4, 1.5, 4.0 and 9.0 dS/m) was used to simulate the potential impact of salinisation due to the farming systems. The study was carried out in the lower Namoi valley of northern New South Wales, Australia. A comparison has been made of the various non-linear techniques (indicator kriging, multiple indicator kriging and disjunctive kriging) to determine an optimal simulation method for the risk assessment. The simulation results indicate that potential salinisation due to application of the water currently used for irrigation (ECiw) is minimal and may not pose any problems to sustainability of irrigated agriculture. The same results were obtained by simulation based on irrigation using slightly more saline water (ECiw 1.4 dS/m). However, simulations based on irrigation using water of even lower quality (ECiw of 4 and 9.0 dS/m), shows potential high salinisation, which will require management inputs for sustainable cropping systems, especially legumes and wheat, which are used extensively in rotation with cotton. Disjunctive kriging was the best simulation method, as it produced fewer misclassifications in comparison with multiple-indicator kriging and indicator kriging. This study thus demonstrates that we can predict the salinity risk due to application of irrigation water of lower quality than that of the current water used. In addition, the results suggest here problems of excessive deep drainage and inefficient use of water might be a problem. The second part of this thesis deals with soil information required at the field scale for management practices particularly in areas where deep drainage is large. Unfortunately, traditional methods of soil inventory at the field level involve the design and adoption of sampling regimes and laboratory analysis that are time-consuming and costly. Because of this more often than not only limited data are collected. In areas where soil salinity is prevalent, detailed quantitative information for determining its cause is required to prescribe management solutions. This part deals with the description of a Mobile Electromagnetic Sensing System (MESS) and its application in an irrigated-cotton field suspected of exhibiting soil salinity. The field is within the study area of part one of this thesis-located about 2 km south west of Wee Waa. The EM38 and EM31 (ECa) data provide information, which was used in deciding where soil sample sites could be located in the field. The ECa data measured by the EM38 instrument was highly correlated with the effective cation exchange capacity. This relationship can be explained by soil mineralogy. Using different soil chemical properties (i.e. ESP and Ca/Mg ratio) a detailed transect study was undertaken to measure soil salinity adjoining the water storage. It is concluded that the most appropriate management option to remediation of the problem would be to excavate the soil directly beneath the storage floor where leakage is suspected. It is recommended that the dam not be enlarged from its current size owing to the unfavourable soil mineralogy (i.e. kaolin/illite) located in the area where it is located.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Graphite bricks make up a significant part of the core of an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR). The graphite moderates the neutrons vital to the continuation of the fission chain reaction and provides support and stability for the entire core. During operation, the graphite can be oxidised due to the extreme conditions inside the core and so undergo weight loss. Differential shrinkage caused by neutron interaction throughout the brick can also cause radial cracking to occur. The effects of the oxidation, weight loss and cracking reduce the ability of the graphite to function as a moderator. The effects also have the potential of reducing the structural integrity of the brick, causing movement and structural instability of the entire core. It is, therefore, vital to monitor the condition of the graphite bricks and to understand how the changes in the graphite's properties and structure may affect the safe operation of the reactor. This report firstly looks briefly at the effect of irradiation on the graphite brick; the mechanisms leading to weight loss and cracking. The report then considers various methods which can be used to inspect the deterioration of graphite blocks within the cores of AGRs deriving quantitative and qualitative information on density and crack profiling. These methods will be considered for use both on small samples trepanned from the core and in-situ blocks within the reactor core, requiring non-destructive techniques. The inspection methods considered in this report are: Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT); Four point probes; Eddy Current Tomography; and Electromagnetic Inductance Tomography (EMT).There are two main contributions of this thesis. First, the development an EIT methodology using outward facing probes, which were best suited to the geometry of the graphite bricks within the AGR. Proof of principle was established using both modelling and laboratory testing. The second contribution is the development of commercial grade EMT equipment, which can be used on-site to determine the conductivity of trepanned samples. The method was successfully demonstrated in the laboratory; however, further development will be required for use on-site, due to the sampling speed required.

The following abstract is for a thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Omar AbdelRehim AbdelKerim in 2015.Anti-personnel (AP) mines remain a global problem that affects communities around the world, with 110 million active landmines still present. Landmines are a particularly callous and indiscriminate type of weapon detonating irrespective of presence of an enemy soldier or a child. Their devastating effect on communities has led to their ban through the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Current detectors used for mine clearance operations have an impeding weakness that has prompted this research; metal detectors used in humanitarian demining suffer from a high False Alarm Rate (FAR) prompting regular excavation of metallic clutter. The research presented aims to develop a detector capable of discriminating between metallic clutter and mines through the use of the magnetic polarizability dyadic tensor to reduce FARs, increase demining efficiency and improve deminer’s safety. A measurement apparatus was designed and constructed to perform spectroscopic magnetic measurements of small symmetrical metallic objects and produce for the first time unscaled accurate tensor values. The tensors deduced from the measurements were validated against analytical and simulated results and were found to be within 5% of measured tensors. The tensors of minimum metal AP mine surrogates and metallic clutter of symmetrical shape were measured and formed part of a tensor library to be used later by future research. This is in addition to a set of un-circulated US coinage which could be used as a calibration metric and a comparison piece for future work in this area. A detailed description of the coil design and manufacturing process is presented to develop a coil array capable of inverting buried metallic object tensors. The selection criterion was poised to identify an array that was best suited to perform the correct measurements in order to invert to an accurate tensor. The manufactured coil exhibited strong mutual coupling between the receive coils deeming it unfit for the portable detector; however, the findings of the work presented and the selection criterion developed has aided the future design of a suitable coil array. Expected signal levels from minimum metal mine detection were calculated and helped aide in the design of future detectors to ensure suitable SNR performance is achieved. A portable detector has been developed using the sensor head presented within this thesis. Work still lies ahead to achieve the complete detector capable of performing target characterisation and clutter elimination; however, significant advances have been made and are presented throughout this thesis.

Thesis (DTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) are currents induced in ground-based conductor networks in the Earth's surface. The GIC are driven by an electric eld induced by geomagnetic variations which are a result of time-varying magnetospheric-ionospheric currents during adverse space weather events. Several studies have shown that there is a likelihood of technological damage (the power grid) in the mid- and low-latitude regions that could be linked to GIC during some geomagnetic storms over the past solar cycles. The effects of GIC in the power system can range from temporary damage (e.g. protective relay tripping) to permanent damage (thermal transformer damage). Measurements of GIC in most substations are done on the neutral-to-ground connections of transformers using Hall-effect transducers. However, there is a need to understand the characteristics of GIC in the power lines connected to these transformers. Direct measurements of GIC in the power lines are not feasible due to the low frequencies of these currents which make current measurements using current transformers (CT) impractical. This thesis discusses two techniques that can be employed to enhance understanding GIC characteristics in mid-latitude regions. The techniques involve the measurement of GIC in a power line using differential magnetometer measurements and modelling GIC using the finite element method. Low frequency magnetometers are used to measure magnetic felds in the vicinity of the power lines and the GIC is inferred using the Biot-Savart law. A finite element model, using COMSOL-Multiphysics, is used to calculate GIC with the measured magnetic field and a realistic Earth conductivity profile as inputs. The finite element model is used for the computation of electric field associated with GIC modelling.

Orientador: Eugênio José Zoqui / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T12:27:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Beil_WendelLeme_M.pdf: 9441091 bytes, checksum: a79e3096e6d5e36f55c442eaac25c9ea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: O presente trabalho visa desenvolver um projeto e executar a montagem e teste de um sistema de lingotamento contínuo, aprimorado com o uso da agitação eletromagnética, para a fabricação de lingotes de ligas de Al-Si com estrutura refinada de grãos. Durante seu desenvolvimento, o projeto almejou o estabelecimento de parâmetros construtivos do equipamento, bem como os parâmetros de processamento para obtenção dos lingotes. Os parâmetros estudados foram a altura de metal fundido na cavidade do molde, velocidade de lingotamento, temperatura de vazamento e rugosidade da cavidade do molde. Após serem determinados os parâmetros construtivos e de processamento, procedeu-se a obtenção dos lingotes propriamente ditos, em duas condições de refrigeração: refrigeração primária, somente no molde metálico, e refrigeração primária e secundária (com sistema de refrigeração na saída do lingote). Para cada uma dessas condições foram obtidos lingotes sem a aplicação do campo magnético e, sob a agitação eletromagnética a 1500 W com o campo magnético variando de 12 a 20 Gauss e 3000 W com o campo magnético variando de 22 a 38 Gauss. De posse dos lingotes seguiu-se a caracterização microestrutural por meio de análise metalográfica convencional e análise metalográfica por polarização de imagem, que buscou verificar a eficiência do sistema no refino de grãos. A condição de otimização alcançada sugere a fabricação de ligas de Al-Si nas seguintes condições: a temperatura de vazamento adotada foi de 800 ºC, rugosidade da cavidade do molde de Ra = 0,06 µm, velocidade de lingotamento 3 mm/s e altura de metal fundido na cavidade do molde de 15 a 20 mm, em que alcançou-se o tamanho de grãos com 178 µm e espaçamento interdendrítico de 125 µm, com uma potência de 1500 W e campo magnético de 12 a 20 Gauss / Abstract: This work aims to develop a project and implement the assembly and testing of a continuous casting system , enhanced with the use of electromagnetic stirring to manufacture ingots of Al-Si alloys with refined grain structure. During its development the project aspired to establishing constructive parameters of the equipment, as well as the establishment of the processing parameters for obtain ingots. The parameters studied were: the molten metal height in the mould cavity, the casting speed, the casting temperature, and the roughness of the mould cavity. After setting the construction and processing parameters were obtained obtain the ingots in two cooling conditions: primary cooling (considering only the metal mould), and primary and secondary cooling (with the ingot cooling system in the output). For each of these conditions were obtained ingots without applying the electromagnetic field and with electromagnetic stirring in 1500 W with a variation of electromagnetic field between 12 to 20 Gauss, and 3000 W with a variation eletrocmagnetic field between 22 to 38 Gauss. In possession of ingots followed the microstructural characterization by conventional metallographic analysis and metallographic analysis by polarization imaging, which aims to evaluate the efficiency of the grain refining system. The process optimized condition suggests the manufacturing Al-Si alloy in the following conditions: the pouring temperature was 800 °C, the mould cavity surface roughness Ra = 0.06 µm, casting speed is 3mm/s and molten metal height in the mould cavity of 15 to 20 mm where grain size up to 180 µm and interdendritic spacing of 125 µm, with a power of 1500 W and electromagnetic field of 12 to 20 Gauss / Mestrado / Materiais e Processos de Fabricação / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

An integrated electromagnetic (EM) and seismic geophysical study was performed to evaluate non-invasive approaches to estimate depth to shallow groundwater in arid environments with elevated soil salinity where the installation of piezometers would be impractical or prohibited. Both methods were tested in two study areas (semi-arid and arid respectively), one in Palmyra, Utah, USA near the shore of Utah Lake where groundwater is shallow and unconfined in relatively homogeneous lacustrine sediments. The other area is Carson Slough, Nevada, USA near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Amargosa Valley. The area is underlain by valley fill, with generally variable shallow depths to water in an ephemeral braided stream environment. The methods used include frequency domain electromagnetic induction allowing for multiple antenna-receiver spacings. High resolution compressional P-wave seismic profiles using a short (0.305 m) geophone spacing for common depth-point reflection stacking and first arrival modeling were also acquired. Both methods were deployed over several profiles where shallow piezometer control was present. The semi-arid Palmyra site with its simpler geohydrology serves as an independent calibration to be compared to the Carson Slough Site. EM results at both sites show that water surfaces correspond with a drop in conductivity. This is due to elevated concentrations of evaporative salts in the vadose zone immediately above the water table. EM and seismic profiles at the Palmyra site were readily correlated to depth to groundwater in monitoring wells demonstrating that the method is ideal under laterally homogeneous conditions. Interpreting the EM and seismic profiles at Carson Slough was challenging due to the laterally and vertically variable soil types, segmented perched water surfaces, and strong salinity variations. The high-resolution images and models provided by the seismic profiles confirm the simple soil and hydrological structure at the Palmyra site as well as the laterally complex structure at Carson Slough. The EM and seismic results indicate that an integrated geophysical approach is necessary for an area like Carson Slough, where continued leaching of salts combined with braided stream deposition has created a geophysically complex soil and groundwater system.

Oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) have been actively investigated since their inception due to their ability to manage high heat/heat fluxes. The OHP is a passive, wickless, two-phase heat transfer device that relies on pressure driven fluid oscillations within a hermetically-sealed serpentine channel structure. The cyclic phase-change heat transfer drives additional sensible heat transfer, and this combination causes OHPs to have high effective thermal conductivities. Many strides have been made, through both experimentation and modeling, to refine the design and implementation of OHPs. However, the main objective in OHP research has been to better understand the thermodynamic and fluid mechanic phenomena so as to enhance OHPs' thermal performance. The current work presents methods for using OHP in thermal-to-electric energy harvesting, which would allow for ‘dual-purpose’ OHP applications in which thermal management can be combined with work output. Energy harvesting occurred when a portion of the thermally-driven fluidic motion was used to generate a voltage either by electromagnetic induction or by a piezoelectric transducer imbedded in an OHP tube. For the induction approach, two methods were used to create the time-varying magnetic field required for induction. In the first, a ferrofluid was used as the OHP working fluid. Because the magnetic dipoles of the nanoparticles are randomly aligned naturally, two static, external ‘bias’ magnets were required to create a uniform magnetic field to align the particle dipoles for a non-zero magnetic flux change through a coaxial solenoid. The second method used a small rare-earth magnet confined inside a set length of an OHP channel that had a coaxial solenoid. As the OHP working fluid moved inside the harvesting channel, a portion of the fluid's momentum was transferred to the magnet, causing it to oscillate. For the piezoelectric approach, a narrow piezoelectric transducer was placed in a bow-shaped configuration along the inside of an OHP channel. Passing fluid would deflect the piezo creating a potential difference across its leads, which protruded out of the channel walls. All three of these methods successfully produced a voltage while retaining the excellent thermal performance synonymous with OHPs.

This thesis investigates geo-electric fields in the United Kingdom with particular regard to Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC) in the Scottish Power electricity transmission network (SPTN). The joint spectral characteristics of Scottish Power GIC and Eskdalemuir magnetic observatory data are analysed, and GIC are shown to be coherent with magnetic field variations over the period range 2-1100s. A bi-variate transfer function model of the physical link between magnetic field variations and GIC demonstrates that long-period (>200s) induction makes a first order contribution to the observed GIC at one SPTN site, and dominates the response at another. Thin-sheet modelling at a period of 750s is used to explore the relative influence of three factors on the size and spatial distribution of the calculated electric field: (i) the contrast in conductance between the sea and the land; (ii) variations in conductance due to sea depth; (iii) lateral variations in conductance representative of those in the geographic area occupied by the SPTN. The modelling suggests that a `coast-only' model (i) will over-predict electric field magnitudes in the SPTN region by a factor of 2-5 in comparison with model (iii). Distortion analysis of Magnetotelluric (MT) data at a period of 750s acquired over numerous field campaigns reveal pervasive galvanic distortion of the electric field in the SPTN region. GIC transfer functions of one site are consistently interpreted as proxy MT responses, and it is shown that galvanic distortion of the electric field modifies significantly the GIC amplitude response. A prototype model of the SPTN developed by the British Geological Survey and the Finnish Meteorological Institute is used to calculate GIC. It is shown that neglect of lateral variations of conductivity may lead to false conclusions about the direction of the external electric field that maximises GIC. Time derivatives of the Eskdalemuir horizontal magnetic field are used as an index of GIC activity, and to select events which may have led to large GIC in the time period (1983-2000) prior to the monitoring of GIC by Scottish Power. Backwards-prediction using the GIC transfer functions and observatory magnetic data suggests that GIC at the Scottish Power monitoring sites have amplitudes less than approximately 30A.

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of soil textural properties at the watershed scale is important for understanding spatial patterns of water movement, and in determining soil moisture storage and soil hydraulic transport properties. Capturing the heterogeneous nature of the subsurface without exhaustive and costly sampling presents a significant challenge. Soil scientists and geologists have adapted geophysical methods that measure a surrogate property related to the vital underlying process. Apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) is such a proxy, providing a measure of charge mobility due to application of an electric field, and is highly correlated to the electrical conductivity of the soil solution, clay percentage, and water content. Electromagnetic induction (EMI) provides the possibility of obtaining high resolution images of ECa across a landscape to identify subtle changes in subsurface properties. The aim of this study was to better characterize subsurface textural properties using EMI mapping and geostatistical analysis techniques. The effect of variable temperature environments on EMI instrumental response, and ECa - depth relationship were first determined. Then a procedure of repeated EMI mapping at varying soil water content was developed and integrated with temporal stability analysis to capture the time invariant properties of spatial soil texture on an agricultural field. In addition, an EMI imaging approach of densely sampling the subsurface of the Reynolds Mountain East watershed was presented using kriging to interpolate, and Sequential Gaussian Simulation to estimate the uncertainty in the maps. Due to the relative time-invariant characteristics of textural properties, it was possible to correlate clay samples collected over three seasons to ECa data of one mapping event. Kriging methods [ordinary kriging (OK), cokriging (CK), and regression kriging (RK)] were then used to integrate various levels of information (clay percentage, ECa, and spatial location) to produce clay percentage prediction maps. Leave-one-out cross-validation showed that the multivariate estimation methods CK and RK, incorporating the better sampled surrogate ECa, were able to improve the RMSE by 7% and 28%, respectively, relative to OK. Electromagnetic induction measurements provide an important exhaustive layer of information that can improve the quality and resolution of soil property maps used in hydrological and environmental research.