Study on Gas Explosion Characteristics in Urban Utility Tunnels

In order to study the effects of three factors,namely,premixed gas concentration,number of pressure relief ports and number of obstacles,on the overpressure characteristics of gas explosion and flame structure of gas chambers in utility tunnels,in this paper,a small and narrow experimental platform for gas explosion was constructed to study the evolution mechanism and law of the kinetic characteristics and flame behavior of gas explosion in utility tunnels,with a view to revealing the special influencing mechanism of the overpressure characteristics and flame behavior of gas explosion in utility tunnels.The results show that in the methane concentration of 9.5%when the explosion overpressure reaches its peak,and at the same time by the utility tunnel long and narrow restricted space,the explosion generated by the precursor shock wave along with the flame compression wave were superimposed on both ends of the pipeline back and forth for many times so that the overpressure waveforms are cyclic oscillatory trend,increasing the explosion hazards;compared with the closed conditions,the relief port on the overpressure characteristics of the significant impact of the maximum decrease of 57.7%,when the frequency of overpressure oscillation is reduced,the gas explosion generated by the overpressure damage is reduced;the presence of obstacles significantly affects the flow field,accelerates the flame propagation and leads to greater overpressure peaks and overpressure oscillations.The conclusions of the study can provide a basis for the safety of natural gas in utility tunnels.

The effect of s-wave scattering length on self-trapping and tunneling phenomena of Fermi gases in one-dimensional accelerating optical lattices

We investigate the tunneling dynamics of the Fermi gases in an optical lattice in the Bose--Einstein condensation （BEC） regime. The three critical scattering lengths and the system energies are found in different cases of Josephson oscillation （JO）, oscillating-phase-type self-trapping （OPTST）, running-phase-type self-trapping （RPTST）, and self-trapping （ST）. It is found that the s-wave scattering lengths have a crucial role on the tunneling dynamics. By adjusting the scattering length in the adiabatic condition, the transition probability changes with the adiabatic periodicity and a rectangular periodic pattern emerges. The periodicity of the rectangular wave depends on the system parameters such as the periodicity of the adjustable parameter, the s-wave scattering length.

Developing a risk assessment system for gas tunnel disasters in China

Gas disasters always restrict the tunnel constructions in mountain area, which becomes a major geological barrier against the development of underground engineering. China is rich in coal resources and has a large amount of gas with a wide range of distribution. However, China experienced not only adverse effects on coal mining but also gas disasters in underground engineering construction, such as tunnels and chambers. With the increased number of tunnels passing through coal-bearing strata, the incidence of gas accidents is also rising. Therefore, the significance of preventing and mitigating gas disasters should be emphasized, and an effective risk assessment method for gas disasters should be established. On the basis of research on over 100 gas tunnels in China, a relatively ideal gas disaster risk assessment method and system for tunnels are established through the following measures. Firstly, geo-environmental conditions and gas situations were analyzed during construction. Secondly, qualitative analysis was combined with quantitative analysis. Finally, the influencing factors of gas disasters, including geological conditions, gas,and human factors, were investigated. The gas tunnel risk assessment system includes three levels:(1) the grading assessment of a gas tunnel during the planning stage,(2) the risk assessment of gas tunnel construction during the design and construction stages,(3) the gas tunnel outburst risk assessment during the coal uncovering stage. This system was applied to the dynamic assessment of gas disaster during the construction of the Zipingpu tunnel of Dujiangyan–Wenchuan Highway(in Sichuan, Southwest China). The assessment results were consistent with the actual excavation, which verified the rationality and feasibility of the system. The developed system was believed to be back-up and applied for risk assessment of gas disaster in the underground engineering construction.

Construction Safety Management and Construction Technology of Low-gas Tunnels

With the coordinated development of social economy and technology today,various advanced construction techniques and well-established management measures have begun to be widely used in coal-tunnel construction.However,in the construction process of low-gas tunnels,it will also cause a certain degree of adverse impact on the construction quality and safety due to the lack of technical experience and management experience to a certain extent.Based on this,this paper takes the actual tunnel project of a coal mine as an example to analyze the main construction technology and safety management measures of low-gas tunnels,so as to provide guarantee for the quality and safety of such tunnel construction.

An investigation of the effects of dust storms on rat lung using HRCT and blood gas analysis

The increasing intensity and frequency of sand-dust storms in China has led to greater prominence of associated environmentaland health issues. Many studies have focused on the health effects of air particulate contaminants, but fewformal investigations have studied the effects of sand-dust storms on human and animal health. The aim of this study wasto investigate the effects of dust storms on rat lung by using high resolution computed tomography （HRCT） and blood gasanalysis through a wind tunnel simulating. We found that the rat lung damage effects can be detected by the HRCT imagingafter exposure to sand-dust storm environments, but had no obvious result through blood gas analysis. Exposure durationspositively correlated with the damage degree to lung tissue. These will provide some evidence for clinical diagnosis ofnon-occupational pneumoconiosis.

Numerical simulation of influence of Langmuir adsorption constant on gas drainage radius of drilling in coal seam

To determine reasonable distance of gas pre-drainage drillings in coal seams, a solid–gas coupling model that takes gas adsorption effect into account was constructed. In view of different adsorption constants,the paper conducted the numerical simulation of pre-drainage gas in drillings along coal seam, studied the relationship of adsorption constants and permeability, gas pressure, and effective drainage radius of coal seams, and applied the approach to the layout of pre-drainage gas drillings in coal seams. The results show that the permeability of coal seams is on the gradual increase with time, which is divided into three sections according to the increase rate: the drainage time 0–30 d is the sharp increase section;30–220 d is the gradual increase section; and the time above 200 d is the stable section. The permeability of coal seams is in negative linear and positive exponent relation with volume adsorption constant VLand pressure adsorption constant PL, respectively. The effective drainage radius is in negative linear relation with VLand in positive exponent relation with PL. Compared with the former design scheme, the engineering quantity of drilling could be reduced by 25%.

Applications of airtight concrete grouting to road tunnels

Road tunnel excavation often traverses coal strata, which is at risk of firedamp explosion that usually results in disaster. Airtight concrete grouting is popularly used in this kind of tunnel project. Based on the essential theory of mechanics of fluids in porous media, the principle of improving concrete airtight property and its influential factors are investigated. The proportioning tests and monitoring method for airtight concrete are introduced, which is illustrated by a case study applied to the project of the Huayinshan Tunnel. It is proved by engineering practices that the achievement of this research work is beneficial to tunneling project across coal strata.

A Review on Self-Cleaning Coatings for Tunnels

Self-cleaning coatings for tunnels can effectively remove dust and stains accumulated over the surface of tunnel linings and their appurtenances due to the closed environment and poor ventilation.This paper systematically introduces the current research status of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels,focusing on the development of super-hydrophobic self-cleaning coatings,superamphiphobic self-cleaning coatings,exhaust gas degradation coatings,fire retardant coatings,and tunnel de-icing coatings.The advantages and disadvantages of the five functional coatings are then briefly described,and the problems of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels at the present stage are pointed out.Finally,the development direction of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels is proposed to provide a reference for the research and application of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels.

Exhaust process of cryogenic nitrogen gas from a cryogenic wind tunnel with an inclined exit

A new structural design for the vent stack with an inclined exit was proposed to reduce the settlement hazard of the cryogenic plume from a cryogenic wind tunnel;it extends the plume trajectory to increase the effective contact space and time for mixing between the plume gas and atmospheric air before the plume settles to the ground,contributing to more efficient energy consumption for heating.Reduced-scale experiments and numerical simulations of plume dispersion based on vertical and 30°-and 45°-inclined exits were conducted to study harm reduction and energy-saving potential.Analyses of the minimum temperature and minimum oxygen concentration of the plume near the ground indicate that the new exhaust design with an inclined exit clearly reduces the settlement hazard.Under windless conditions and without using a fan-ejector system,up to 15.9%of the heating energy used by the burner can be saved by adopting the new design.

Tunneling Dynamics of Dipolar Bosonic System with Periodically Modulated s-wave Scattering

Within the mean-field three-site Bose-Hubbard model, the tunneling dynamics of dipolar bosonic gas with a periodically modulation of s-wave scattering is investigated. The system experiences complex and rich coherent tunneling （CT）-coherent destruction of tunneling （CDT） transitions resulting from the correlated effect among the next-neighbor dipole-dipole interaction, the on-site interaction and the modulated s-wave scattering. In particular, The region of the modulated s-wave scattering for generating CT （CDT） is the widest （narrowest） when the on-site interaction and the next-neighbor dipole-dipole interaction have some correlated values, which are closely related to the tunneling energy and the interaction energy of the system. The correlated values for appearing CDT can be theoreticaJly gained from the tunneling energy and the interaction energy of the system.

Numerical and experimental analyses of methane leakage in shield tunnel

Tunnels constructed in gas-bearing strata are affected by the potential leakage of harmful gases,such as methane gas.Based on the basic principles of computational fluid dynamics,a numerical analysis was performed to simulate the ventilation and diffusion of harmful gases in a shield tunnel,and the effect of ventilation airflow speed on the diffusion of harmful gases was evaluated.As the airflow speed increased from 1.8 to 5.4 m/s,the methane emission was diluted,and the methane accumulation was only observed in the area near the methane leakage channels.The influence of increased ventilation airflow velocity was dominant for the ventilation modes with two and four fans.In addition,laboratory tests on methane leakage through segment joints were performed.The results show that the leakage process can be divided into“rapid leakage”and“slight leakage”,depending on the leakage pressure and the state of joint deformation.Based on the numerical and experimental analysis results,a relationship between the safety level and the joint deformation is established,which can be used as guidelines for maintaining utility tunnels.

Numerical study on the ceiling gas temperature in a subway train with different fire locations

Ceiling gas temperature rise is an important evaluation indicator determining the level of risk in a subway tunnel fire.However,very little literature has been found that has addressed the emergency when a fired subway train with lateral multiple openings stops in the interval tunnel.Hence,a battery of full-scale numerical simulations were employed to address the impact of train fire location on the gas temperature beneath the train ceiling.Numerical results showed that the ceiling gas temperature rise is affected by the pressure difference on both sides of fire source and the backflow from the end wall,which depends on the heat release rate and the fire location.The ceiling gas temperature rise decays exponentially in the process of longitudinal spread,and it can be predicted by a dimensionless model with a sum of two exponential equations.Finally,based on a critical fire location(L'cr=0.667),two exponential equations were developed to quantitatively express the influences of the fire size and the fire location on the maximum ceiling gas temperature.The research results can be utilized for providing an initial understanding of the smoke propagation in a subway train fire.

Influence of shock attenuation on tailored operation in free piston shock tunnels

The free piston shock tunnel is a type of shock tunnel with high performance. For this type of tunnel, the influence mechanism of shock wave attenuation on tailored operation is explored by numerical simulation and theoretical analysis. By introducing the normalized velocity, the simple constraint equation for shock wave under the tailored operation is deduced. Moreover, the real gas effect is also taken into account in this equation. Based on the equation, the tailored operation of shock tunnels can be predicted with very few calculations. The present study shows that the change rate of the thermodynamic state of the gas behind the shock wave is inconsistent with the attenuation rate of the shock wave, which is the fundamental reason why the wind tunnel achieves tailored operation at a lower Mach number of shock waves. This lower Mach number of shock waves differs from the corresponding ideal value by a factor, which is about the square root of shock attenuation rate.

Experimental and numerical investigation of gas diffusion under an urban underground construction

Rapid increase of urban underground constructions has a great consideration of underground environment safety and how to expel toxic gasses out of tunnels effectively.The utility tunnel is a typical urban tunnel construction with multiple underground pipelines including gas pipelines,and it is necessary to investigate characteristic of gas diffusion and monitor gas leakage to ensure tunnel safety.In this study,the experimental measurements of airflow and gas distributions were conducted in a 10 m full-scaled utility tunnel mockup,and gas diffusion characteristic was also investigated.Numerical simulation of utility tunnel leakage was also conducted by computational fluid dynamics(CFD).Different turbulence models and different air supply diffuser models were compared via the experimental results based on visualization and the relative root-mean-square error(RRMSE)index,which quan-titated the difference between the numerical and experimental results.The results showed that the standard k−εturbulence model and random air opening model could provide better results than other models.According to the experimental data analysis,it was necessary to consider the optimization of monitoring detector arrangements in actual utility tunnels.This study provided basic experimental data and the validated numerical model for the leakage source identification and underground tunnels simulation research.

Construction risks of Huaying mount tunnel and countermeasures

The Chongqing-Guang＇an motorway is planned to cross Huaying mount at Jingguan town of Chongqing city. The whole mount is a colossal anticline whose core is consisted of coal measure strata （upper Permian Longtan formation P21） and the limbs are limestone strata （middle Triassic Leikoupo formation T21 and lower Triassic Jialingjiang formation T1j）. The tunneling is full of risks of collapse, gas explosion or gas outburst, water （mud） inrush, gas inrush because of existence of faults, high pressure gas, karst tectonics and coal goafs around the tunnel. In order to cope with the high risk, two main countermeasures were taken to ensure security of construction. One is geology prediction, and the other is automatic wireless real-time monitoring system, which contains monitoring of video, wind speed, poisonous gas （CH4, CO, H2S, SO2）, people location, and automatic power-off equipment while gas contents being more than warning threshold. These ascertained the engineering safety effectively.

CAVITATION NUCLEI:EXPERIMENTS AND THEORY

The Swedish astrophysicist and Nobel Prize winner Hannes Alfven said： Theories come and go -- the experiment is here forever. Often a theory, which we set up to describe an observed physical phenomenon, suffers from the lack of knowledge of decisive parameters, and therefore at best the theory becomes insufficient. Contrary, the experiment always reveals nature itself, though at prevailing experimental conditions. With essential parameters being out of control and even maybe unidentified, apparently similar experiments may deviate way beyond our expectations. However, these discrepancies offer us a chance to reflect on the character of the unknown parameters. In this way non-concordant experimental results may hold the key to the development of better theories - and to new experiments for the testing of their validity. Cavitation and cavitation nuclei are phenomena of that character.

Real-time decay of fluorinated fullerene molecules on Cu（001） surface controlled by initial coverage

In this study, the evolution of C60F18 molecules on a Cu（001） surface was studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculations. The results showed that fluorinated fuUerenes （tortoise-shaped polar C60F18） decay on Cu（001） surfaces by a step-by-step detachment of F atoms from the C60 cage. The most favorable adsorption configuration was realized when the F atoms of C60F18 pointed towards the Cu surface and six F atoms were detached from it. The results also showed that a further decay of C60F12 molecules strongly depended on the initial C60F18 coverage. The detached F atoms initially formed a two-dimensional （2D） gas phase which then slowly transformed into F-induced surface structures. The degree of contact between the C60F12 molecules and the Cu（001） surface depended on the density of the 2D gas phase. Hence, the life-time of fluorinated fullerenes was determined by the density of the 2D gas phase, which was affected by the formation of new F-induced structures and the decay of C60F12 molecules.