Quantitative human risk analysis of 2015 Shenzhen dump failure considering influence of urbanization

With the rapid development of urbanization, a large amount of construction spoil was stockpiled around cities and formed extensive dumps. Construction spoil is one of the main construction and demolition(C&D) waste and municipal solid waste(MSW). Once the construction spoil dump becomes unstable, it will bring great risks to the surrounding residents. A catastrophic dump failure occurred on 20 December 2015 in Guangming New Strict, Shenzhen, China. Approximately 2.51×10^(6) m^(3) of construction waste slid out from the dumpsite, destroying 33 houses and causing total 77 casualties. This paper attempts to analyze the failure probability of the construction spoil dump using Monte Carlo simulation considering the spatial variability of soil properties, and to quantify the dynamic human risk considering the increasing urbanization. Influence of urbanization on the human element at risk is analyzed by referring to multi-temporal remote sensing images. A quantitative human risk assessment model is employed to determine the landslide human risk referring an assessment criteria curve between frequency of number fatalities and number of fatalities(F-N curve). It is found that the societal risk at daytime was 0.078, 0.088, and 1.432 in 2002, 2014, and 2015, respectively. Meanwhile, the societal risk at night was 0.034, 0.037, and 0.611 in 2002, 2014, and 2015, respectively. The quantitative method was benchmarked by the other landfill failure. It implies that the human risk increased with the development of urbanization and its value at daytime was approximately twice as much as at night. The new approach for the human risk assessment provides guidance for modern MSW landfills and highlights the obvious influence of urbanization on the human risk in other areas.

Monitoring lime and cement improvement using spectral induced polarization and bender element techniques

Spectral induced polarization(SIP)and bender element(BE)techniques show a high sensitivity to particle size,particle distribution and content of generated hydration products,which essentially govern the efficiency of ground improvement.In this context,both SIP and BE were integrated on a column setup to monitor the processes of lime and cement stabilization.A 5 mmol/L Na2CO3 solution was injected into the sand-lime mixture to produce CaCO3 precipitation,while deionized water was injected into the sandcement mixture to induce the hydration of cement.The average diameters of the precipitated particles or clusters were calculated from the relaxation time,which was a significant parameter of SIP signals,via the Schwarz equation.Two pairs of BE were used to demonstrate the heterogeneity of the product precipitation,which was probably caused by the location of the inflow and outflow on the SIP-BE column.SIP and BE showed the capability of nondestructively monitoring the spatiotemporal chemical evolution processes,which could be helpful for engineering applications.

Chemical oxygen demand oxidation via sustained-release persulfate balls: a rate-compatibility study of flow velocity, releasing, and oxidation

Identification of chemical oxygen demand(COD)in municipal solid waste(MSW)landfill leachates is a challenging problem.This paper investigated the feasibility of using sodium persulfate(PS),a strong oxidant,as a permeable reactive barrier(PRB)filling material.Firstly,sustained-release persulfate balls were manufactured to adjust the release rate of persulfate,the oxidation agent.In addition,Fe(II)-loaded activated carbon(Fe-AC)was used to help with an even distribution of Fe(II)in the porous medium(PRB in this case).Then,the oxidation efficiency and kinetic rate of COD removal by the sustained-release balls were subjected to batch tests.A mass ratio of 1:1.4:0.24:0.7 for PS:cement:sand:water was the most efficient for COD removal(95%).The breakthrough curve for a 5 mm sustained-release ball revealed that the retardation factor was 1.27 and that the hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient was 15.6 cm^(2)/d.The corresponding half-life of COD oxidation was 0.43 d,which was comparable with the half-life of PS release from sustained-release balls(0.56 d).The sustained-release persulfate balls were shown to be an economical material with a simple recipe and production method when catalyzed by Fe-AC.Compared with cutting-edge methods,sustained-release balls used in PRBs offer significant advantages in terms of both effectiveness and economy for the preparation of sustained-release and catalytic materials.These results verified the feasibility of using sustained-release persulfate balls as a PRB material for COD removal.

Influence of wettability in immiscible displacements with lattice Boltzmann method

The role of wettability,often characterized by contact angle(θ),in two-phase immiscible phases displacement is not well understood.In this study,the color gradient lattice Boltzmann method(LBM),capable of maintaining the prescribedθ(from 0°to 180°at intervals of 10°)throughout the numerical simulations,was used to investigate the displacement patterns and displacement efficiency in a 2D porous medium.The capillary numbers(Ca)used were 0.01,1,and 100,and the viscosity ratios(M)used were 0.1,1,and 10.At M=10,the saturation(S)had a bilinear relationship withθ,while for M=0.1 and 1,the S-θrelationships were complicated by Ca.A saturation contour in the M-Ca-θspace was proposed to demonstrate the movement of a traditional 2D M-Ca phase diagram withθincrements.The value of S continued to increase after the breakthrough,and the final saturation(0.997)for the hydrophilic condition(θ=10°)was higher than that(0.673)for the hydrophobic condition(θ=170°).