Uptake of Organic Contaminants by Plants from Oil Sands Fine Tailings

The objectives of this experiment were to evaluate the performance of different plant species growing in different kinds of oil sands fine tailings,and to estimate the uptake of organic contaminants by plants from the oil sands fine tailings.In general,total hydrocarbon in the plant could be ranked(beginning with the highest)as:unweathered plant 4 tailings (UWT),Freeze Thawtailings(FT),weathered plant 4 tailings(WT),and consolidated tailings(CT) for the willow,poplar and cattails.For grass,CT amended with tailings sand and muskeg had the highest hydrocarbon level in the field treatment,however,other three kinds of tailings(FT,WT and UWT) had lower but similar to each other hydrocarbon levels.

Pore water pressure increment model for saturated Nanjing fine sand subject to cyclic loading

Three groups of dynamic triaxial tests were performed for saturated Nanjing fine sand subjected to uniform cyclic loading. The tested curves of the excess pore water pressure （EPWP） ratio variation with the ratio of the number of cycles are provided. The concept of the EPWP increment ratio is introduced and two new concepts of the effective dynamic shear stress ratio and the log decrement of effective stress are defined. It is found that the development of the EPWP increment ratio can be divided into three stages： descending, stable and ascending. Furthermore, at the stable and ascending stages, a satisfactory linear relationship is obtained between the accumulative EPWP increment ratio and natural logarithm of the effective dynamic shear stress ratio. Accordingly, the EPWP increment ratio at the number of cycles N has been deduced that is proportional to the log decrement of effective stress at the cycle number N-l, but is independent of the cyclic stress amplitude. Based on the analysis, a new EPWP increment model for saturated Nanjing fine sand is developed from tested data fitting, which provides a better prediction of the curves of EPWP generation, the number of cycles required for initial liquefaction and the liquefaction resistance.

Behavior of large post-liquefaction deformation in saturated Nanjing fine sand

Laboratory tests on the large post-liquefaction deformation of saturated Nanjing fine sand were performed by using a hollow cylinder apparatus. The stress-strain responses and the characteristics of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction were studied. It was found that the relationship between deviatoric stress and axial strain presented a sigmoid curve, and there was a good linearity relationship between normalized pore water pressure and deviatoric stress. On this basis, a constitutive model of stress-strain responses and a dissipation model of excess pore water pressure were established. It was found that the results predicted by the two models were in good agreement with the experimental data. The influence of relative densities and confining pressure on the characteristics of liquefied soil were studied, The results showed the relative densities and initial effective confining pressure all had an important influence on the stress-strain responses of liquefied saturated Nanjing fine sand. However, the dissipation model of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction was only affected by the confining pressure.

Effect of Initial Stress Conditions on the Threshold Shear Strain of Nanjing's Saturated Fine Sand

By using GDS dynamic hollow cylinder torsional apparatus, a series of cyclic torsional triaxial tests under complex initial consolidation condition are performed on Nanjing saturated fine sand. The effects of the initial principal stress direction αo, the initial ratio of deviatoric stress η0, the initial average effective principal stress Po and the initial intermediate principal stress parameter b0 on the threshold shear strain γt of Nanjing saturated fine sand are then systematically investigated. The results show that γt increases as η0,p0 and b0 increase respectively, while the other three parameters remain constant. ao has a great influence on γt, which is reduced when ao increases from 0° to 45°and increased when α0 increases from 45° to 90°. The effect of α0 on γt, plays a leading role and the effect of η0 will weaken when ao is approximately 45°.

H-M Bearing Capacity of A Modified Suction Caisson Determined by Using Load-/Displacement-Controlled Methods

This paper presents a series of monotonically combined lateral loading tests to investigate the bearing capacity of the MSCs （modified suction caissons） in the saturated marine fine sand. The lateral loads were applied under load- and displacement-controlled methods at the loading eccentricity ratios of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5. Results show that, in the displacement-controlled test, the deflection-softening behavior of load-deflection curves for MSCs was observed, and the softening degree of the load-deflection response increased with the increasing external skirt length or the decreasing loading eccentricity. It was also found that the rotation center of the MSC at failure determined by the load-controlled method is slightly lower than that by the displacement-controlled method. The calculated MSC capacity based on the rotation center position in serviceability limit state is relatively conservative, compared with the calculated capacity based on the rotation center position in the ultimate limit state. In the limit state, the passive earth pressures opposite the loading direction under load- and displacement-controlled methods decrease by 46% and 74% corresponding to peak values, respectively; however, the passive earth pressures in the loading direction at failure only decrease by approximately 3% and 7%, compared with their peak values.

Experimental investigation in the permeability of methane hydratebearing fine quartz sands

The permeability is one of the intrinsic parameters that determines the fluid flow in the porous media.The permeability in hydrate-bearing sediments affects the gas recovery and production of hydrate reservoirs significantly.The irregular permeability characteristics are challenging for fine-grained hydratebearing sediments.In this study,a series of experiments was conducted using an one-dimensional pressure vessel to investigate the hydrate formation characteristics and the permeability in hydratebearing fine quartz sands(volume weighted mean diameter was 36.695 mm).Hydrate saturations(0 e26%in volume)were controlled and calculated precisely based on the amount of injected water and gas,the system pressure and temperature.The results indicated that the hydrate nucleation induction period was completed during gas injection,and the average time of hydrate formation was within 500 min.The permeability of methane hydrate-bearing fine quartz sands was investigated by steady gas volume flow.For hydrate saturation lower than 13.94%,the hydrate mostly formed in grain-coating,the permeability reduction exponent calculated by Parallel Capillary,Kozeny Grain Coats and Simple Cubic Filling models were 2.00,2.10 and 1.74 respectively,and Simple Cubic Filling model was in accordance with the experimental data best.However,for hydrate saturation ranged from 13.94%to 25.91%,the permeability increased due to the flocculation structure formation of fine quartz sands and hydrate,which caused the increase of effective porosity.A new relationship among hydrate saturations,effective porosity,the ratio of permeability in the presence and the absence of hydrate was developed.This study developed the mathematical models for predicting the permeability with hydrate saturation in fine quartz sands,which could be valuable for understanding the characteristics of hydrate-bearing finegrained sediments.

Performance of engineered cementitious composite containing stone slurry powder waste

Most of the materials used in engineered cementitious composite are fine in size to achieve ductile nature.Stone slurry powder(SSP)is an inert material obtained from stone industries as by-product which may cause hazardous impact on environment.In this research work,partial replacement of silica sand(SS)and fine sand(FS)by SSP with different contents(25%and 50%each)for making engineered cementitious composite has been explored.The performance was evaluated on the basis of strength,tensile strain,mid span deflection capacity,ultra-sonic pulse velocity and microstructure.Mechanical strength was found to be increased at 25%SSP in both replacements;whereas,strength decreased slightly at 50%replacement.Tensile strain,mid span deflection and quality of concrete were enhanced with increase in SSP content.Using SSP formed denser cementitious composite can help to save the natural resources and contribute in making green cementitious composite.

Elutriation, attrition and segregation in a conical spouted bed with a fountain confiner

This study examined elutriation,attrition,and segregation in a conical spouted bed with a fountain confiner and incorporating an open sided draft tube.Fine silica sand with a wide particle size distribution was employed as a model material,operating in both the batch and continuous modes.The use of a fountain confiner is crucial when operating with fine particles,because otherwise the bed rapidly exhibits significant entrainment.The extent of attrition was quantified using a tracing technique based on differently-coloured sand fractions as well as monitoring size distributions by sieving.Particle breakage was found to be the primary attrition mechanism,and the fountain confiner was determined to limit the elutriation of fine particles resulting from breakage.Consequently,only a small fraction of the finest particles were entrained from the bed.The incorporation of a confiner increased operational stability while reducing segregation,especially in the upper half of the bed where the majority of segregation typically occurs.Thus,the bed was perfectly mixed apart from very minimal segregation close to the wall and at the bottom of the contactor.These results provide a basis for the design and operation of larger scale equipment for the continuous drying of materials.

Model predictions for behaviors of sand-nonplastic-fines mixtures using equivalent-skeleton void-ratio state index

It is a challenge to suggest a constitutive model for describing the stress-strain behavior of sand-fines mixtures due to that these granular mixtures exhibited very complex behaviors at different densities, pressures and fines contents. In this study, an elastoplastic constitutive model within the framework of the bounding surface plasticity and critical state theories was proposed for sand-nonplastic-fines mixtures by using the concept of the equivalent-skeleton void ratio and equivalent-skeleton void-ratio state index. The proposed model with a set of material constants calibrated from a few tests could be used to model the fines-dependent and state-dependent behaviors of the sand-nonplastic-fines mixture including the strain- softening and volumetric-expansion behaviors in the drained triaxial compression tests, and also the effects of fines content on the critical state lines in both the deviatoric stress versus mean effective stress and the void ratio versus mean effective stress planes.