A simple method to reconstruct the molar mass signal of respiratory gas to assess small airways with a double-tracer gas single-breath washout.

PubMed

Port, Johannes; Tao, Ziran; Junger, Annika; Joppek, Christoph; Tempel, Philipp; Husemann, Kim; Singer, Florian; Latzin, Philipp; Yammine, Sophie; Nagel, Joachim H; Kohlhäufl, Martin

2017-11-01

For the assessment of small airway diseases, a noninvasive double-tracer gas single-breath washout (DTG-SBW) with sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) and helium (He) as tracer components has been proposed. It is assumed that small airway diseases may produce typical ventilation inhomogeneities which can be detected within one single tidal breath, when using two tracer components. Characteristic parameters calculated from a relative molar mass (MM) signal of the airflow during the washout expiration phase are analyzed. The DTG-SBW signal is acquired by subtracting a reconstructed MM signal without tracer gas from the signal measured with an ultrasonic sensor during in- and exhalation of the double-tracer gas for one tidal breath. In this paper, a simple method to determine the reconstructed MM signal is presented. Measurements on subjects with and without obstructive lung diseases including the small airways have shown high reliability and reproducibility of this method.

Generation of ethylene tracer by noncatalytic pyrolysis of natural gas at elevated pressure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lu, Y.; Chen, S.; Rostam-Abadi, M.; Ruch, R.; Coleman, D.; Benson, L.J.

2005-01-01

There is a critical need within the pipeline gas industry for an inexpensive and reliable technology to generate an identification tag or tracer that can be added to pipeline gas to identify gas that may escape and improve the deliverability and management of gas in underground storage fields. Ethylene is an ideal tracer, because it does not exist naturally in the pipeline gas, and because its physical properties are similar to the pipeline gas components. A pyrolysis process, known as the Tragen process, has been developed to continuously convert the ???2%-4% ethane component present in pipeline gas into ethylene at common pipeline pressures of 800 psi. In our studies of the Tragen process, pyrolysis without steam addition achieved a maximum ethylene yield of 28%-35% at a temperature range of 700-775 ??C, corresponding to an ethylene concentration of 4600-5800 ppm in the product gas. Coke deposition was determined to occur at a significant rate in the pyrolysis reactor without steam addition. The ?? 13C isotopic analysis of gas components showed a ?? 13C value of ethylene similar to ethane in the pipeline gas, indicating that most of the ethylene was generated from decomposition of the ethane in the raw gas. However, ?? 13C isotopic analysis of the deposited coke showed that coke was primarily produced from methane, rather than from ethane or other heavier hydrocarbons. No coke deposition was observed with the addition of steam at concentrations of > 20% by volume. The dilution with steam also improved the ethylene yield. ?? 2005 American Chemical Society.

Gas-partitioning tracer test to qualify trapped gas during recharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heilweil, Victor M.; Kip, Solomon D.; Perkins, Kim S.; Ellett, Kevin M.

2004-01-01

Dissolved helium and bromide tracers were used to evaluate trapped gas during an infiltration pond experiment. Dissolved helium preferentially partitioned into trapped gas bubbles, or other pore air, because of its low solubility in water. This produced observed helium retardation factors of as much as 12 relative to bromide. Numerical simulations of helium breakthrough with both equilibrium and kinetically limited advection/dispersion/retardation did not match observed helium concentrations. However, better fits were obtained by including a decay term representing the diffusive loss of helium through interconnected, gas-filled pores. Calculations indicate that 7% to more than 26% of the porosity beneath the pond was filled with gas. Measurements of laboratory hydraulic properties indicate that a 10% decrease in saturation would reduce the hydraulic conductivity by at least one order of magnitude in the well-sorted sandstone, but less in the overlying soils. This is consistent with in situ measurements during the experiment, which show steeper hydraulic gradients in sandstone than in soil. Intrinsic permeability of the soil doubled during the first six months of the experiment, likely caused by a combination of dissolution and thermal contraction of trapped gas. Managers of artificial recharge basins may consider minimizing the amount of trapped gas by using wet, rather than dry, tilling to optimize infiltration rates, particularly in well-sorted porous media in which reintroduced trapped gas may cause substantial reductions in permeability. Trapped gas may also inhibit the amount of focused infiltration that occurs naturally during ephemeral flood events along washes and playas.

Gas-partitioning tracer test to quantify trapped gas during recharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heilweil, V.M.; Solomon, D.K.; Perkins, K.S.; Ellett, K.M.

2004-01-01

Dissolved helium and bromide tracers were used to evaluate trapped gas during an infiltration pond experiment. Dissolved helium preferentially partitioned into trapped gas bubbles, or other pore air, because of its low solubility in water. This produced observed helium retardation factors of as much as 12 relative to bromide. Numerical simulations of helium breakthrough with both equilibrium and kinetically limited advection/dispersion/retardation did not match observed helium concentrations. However, better fits were obtained by including a decay term representing the diffusive loss of helium through interconnected, gas-filled pores. Calculations indicate that 7% to more than 26% of the porosity beneath the pond was filled with gas. Measurements of laboratory hydraulic properties indicate that a 10% decrease in saturation would reduce the hydraulic conductivity by at least one order of magnitude in the well-sorted sandstone, but less in the overlying soils. This is consistent with in situ measurements during the experiment, which show steeper hydraulic gradients in sandstone than in soil. Intrinsic permeability of the soil doubled during the first six months of the experiment, likely caused by a combination of dissolution and thermal contraction of trapped gas. Managers of artificial recharge basins may consider minimizing the amount of trapped gas by using wet, rather than dry, tilling to optimize infiltration rates, particularly in well-sorted porous media in which reintroduced trapped gas may cause substantial reductions in permeability. Trapped gas may also inhibit the amount of focused infiltration that occurs naturally during ephemeral flood events along washes and playas.

A Rapid, Low-Cost Method to Determine Travel Times at Managed Aquifer Recharge Operations Using Noble Gas Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moran, J. E.; Visser, A.; Singleton, M. J.; Esser, B. K.; Halliwell, M.; Hillegonds, D. J.

2012-12-01

Managed aquifer recharge is a key component for the sustainable use of surface water and groundwater in the arid western U.S. When recycled water is a recharge water source, subsurface residence time, required for bacteria and virus deactivation, is best verified by application of an extrinsic tracer. Desirable tracer properties include: no real or perceived health risk, inexpensive even for a large volume of tagged water, large dynamic range, efficient introduction, convenient sampling methods, and rapid, low-cost analysis. We have developed and tested a dissolved noble gas tracer technique ideally suited for tracing large water volumes at managed aquifer recharge facilities. In an application of the method at a water district's facilities in the San Francisco Bay area, Xenon was introduced into a 106 m3 pond over a period of 7 days using a 300 m length of gas-permeable silicone tubing. Samples from the pond, near-field shallow monitoring wells, and production wells about 400 m from the recharge pond were analyzed for dissolved Xe by noble gas membrane inlet mass spectrometry (NGMIMS). The NGMIMS uses a syringe pump, gas-permeable membrane inlet, and quadrupole residual gas analyzer for measurement of noble gas concentrations. Samples are collected in VOA vials, and analysis can be carried out in real-time, with a measurement uncertainty of about 5% for Xe. Tracer first appeared in a production well 136 days after starting the tracer introduction at 0.7% (C/C0) of the peak pond xenon concentration. The cost of the tracer is about US650/106 m3 water, and the NGMIMS was assembled with parts totaling approximately US50,000, making application of the tracer method feasible for most managed aquifer recharge projects. This project is part of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program.

ANALYSIS OF A GAS-PHASE PARTITIONING TRACER TEST CONDUCTED IN AN UNSATURATED FRACTURED-CLAY FORMATION

EPA Science Inventory

The gas-phase partitioning tracer method was used to estimate non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL), water, and air saturations in the vadose zone at a chlorinated-solvent contaminated field site in Tucson, AZ. The tracer test was conducted in a fractured-clay system that is the confin...

Estimation of Knudsen diffusion coefficients from tracer experiments conducted with a binary gas system and a porous medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibi, Yoshihiko; Kashihara, Ayumi

2018-03-01

A previous study has reported that Knudsen diffusion coefficients obtained by tracer experiments conducted with a binary gas system and a porous medium are consistently smaller than those obtained by permeability experiments conducted with a single-gas system and a porous medium. To date, however, that study is the only one in which tracer experiments have been conducted with a binary gas system. Therefore, to confirm this difference in Knudsen diffusion coefficients, we used a method we had developed previously to conduct tracer experiments with a binary carbon dioxide-nitrogen gas system and five porous media with permeability coefficients ranging from 10-13 to 10-11 m2. The results showed that the Knudsen diffusion coefficient of N2 (DN2) (cm2/s) was related to the effective permeability coefficient ke (m2) as DN2 = 7.39 × 107ke0.767. Thus, the Knudsen diffusion coefficients of N2 obtained by our tracer experiments were consistently 1/27 of those obtained by permeability experiments conducted with many porous media and air by other researchers. By using an inversion simulation to fit the advection-diffusion equation to the distribution of concentrations at observation points calculated by mathematically solving the equation, we confirmed that the method used to obtain the Knudsen diffusion coefficient in this study yielded accurate values. Moreover, because the Knudsen diffusion coefficient did not differ when columns with two different lengths, 900 and 1500 mm, were used, this column property did not influence the flow of gas in the column. The equation of the dusty gas model already includes obstruction factors for Knudsen diffusion and molecular diffusion, which relate to medium heterogeneity and tortuosity and depend only on the structure of the porous medium. Furthermore, there is no need to take account of any additional correction factor for molecular diffusion except the obstruction factor because molecular diffusion is only treated in a multicomponent

Appraisal of transport and deformation in shale reservoirs using natural noble gas tracers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heath, Jason E.; Kuhlman, Kristopher L.; Robinson, David G.

2015-09-01

This report presents efforts to develop the use of in situ naturally-occurring noble gas tracers to evaluate transport mechanisms and deformation in shale hydrocarbon reservoirs. Noble gases are promising as shale reservoir diagnostic tools due to their sensitivity of transport to: shale pore structure; phase partitioning between groundwater, liquid, and gaseous hydrocarbons; and deformation from hydraulic fracturing. Approximately 1.5-year time-series of wellhead fluid samples were collected from two hydraulically-fractured wells. The noble gas compositions and isotopes suggest a strong signature of atmospheric contribution to the noble gases that mix with deep, old reservoir fluids. Complex mixing and transport of fracturingmore » fluid and reservoir fluids occurs during production. Real-time laboratory measurements were performed on triaxially-deforming shale samples to link deformation behavior, transport, and gas tracer signatures. Finally, we present improved methods for production forecasts that borrow statistical strength from production data of nearby wells to reduce uncertainty in the forecasts.« less

RE-ENTRAINMENT AND DISPERSION OF EXHAUSTS FROM INDOOR RADON REDUCTION SYSTEMS: ANALYSIS OF TRACER GAS DATA

EPA Science Inventory

Tracer gas studies were conducted around four model houses in a wind tunnel, and around one house in the field, to quantify re-entrainment and dispersion of exhaust gases released from residential indoor radon reduction systems. Re-entrainment tests in the field suggest that acti...

Plan for radionuclide tracer studies of the residence time distribution in the Wilsonville dissolver and preheater

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jolley, R.L.; Begovich, J.M.; Brashear, H.R.

1983-12-01

Stimulus-response measurements using radiotracers to measure residence time distribution (RTD) and hydrodynamic parameters for the preheaters and dissolvers at the Ft. Lewis Solvent Refined Coal (SRC) and the Exxon Donor Solvent (EDS) coal conversion pilot plants are reviewed. A plan is also presented for a series of radioactive tracer studies proposed for the Advanced Coal Liquefaction Facility at Wilsonville, Alabama, to measure the RTD for the preheater and dissolvers in the SRC-I mode. The tracer for the gas phase will be /sup 133/Xe, and /sup 198/Au (on carbonized resin or as an aqueous colloidal suspension) will be used as themore » slurry tracer. Four experimental phases are recommended for the RTD tracer studies: (1) preheater; (2) dissolver with 100% takeoff; (3) dissolver with 100% takeoff and solids withdrawal; and (4) dissolver with 50% takeoff. Eighteen gas-tracer and 22 liquid-tracer injections are projected to accomplish the four experimental phases. Two to four tracer injections are projected for preliminary tests to ensure the capability of safe injection of the radiotracers and the collection of statistically significant data. A complete projected cost and time schedule is provided, including procurement of necessary components, preparation of the radiotracers, assembly and testing of tracer injection apparatus and detection systems, onsite work and tracer injections, laboratory experimentation, data analysis, and report writing.« less

Estimation of Knudsen diffusion coefficients from tracer experiments conducted with a binary gas system and a porous medium.

PubMed

Hibi, Yoshihiko; Kashihara, Ayumi

2018-03-01

A previous study has reported that Knudsen diffusion coefficients obtained by tracer experiments conducted with a binary gas system and a porous medium are consistently smaller than those obtained by permeability experiments conducted with a single-gas system and a porous medium. To date, however, that study is the only one in which tracer experiments have been conducted with a binary gas system. Therefore, to confirm this difference in Knudsen diffusion coefficients, we used a method we had developed previously to conduct tracer experiments with a binary carbon dioxide-nitrogen gas system and five porous media with permeability coefficients ranging from 10 -13 to 10 -11  m 2 . The results showed that the Knudsen diffusion coefficient of N 2 (D N2 ) (cm 2 /s) was related to the effective permeability coefficient k e (m 2 ) as D N2  = 7.39 × 10 7 k e 0.767 . Thus, the Knudsen diffusion coefficients of N 2 obtained by our tracer experiments were consistently 1/27 of those obtained by permeability experiments conducted with many porous media and air by other researchers. By using an inversion simulation to fit the advection-diffusion equation to the distribution of concentrations at observation points calculated by mathematically solving the equation, we confirmed that the method used to obtain the Knudsen diffusion coefficient in this study yielded accurate values. Moreover, because the Knudsen diffusion coefficient did not differ when columns with two different lengths, 900 and 1500 mm, were used, this column property did not influence the flow of gas in the column. The equation of the dusty gas model already includes obstruction factors for Knudsen diffusion and molecular diffusion, which relate to medium heterogeneity and tortuosity and depend only on the structure of the porous medium. Furthermore, there is no need to take account of any additional correction factor for molecular diffusion except the obstruction factor because molecular diffusion is

Using Noble Gas Tracers to Estimate CO2 Saturation in the Field: Results from the 2014 CO2CRC Otway Repeat Residual Saturation Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaForce, T.; Ennis-King, J.; Boreham, C.; Serno, S.; Cook, P. J.; Freifeld, B. M.; Gilfillan, S.; Jarrett, A.; Johnson, G.; Myers, M.; Paterson, L.

2015-12-01

Residual trapping efficiency is a critical parameter in the design of secure subsurface CO2 storage. Residual saturation is also a key parameter in oil and gas production when a field is under consideration for enhanced oil recovery. Tracers are an important tool that can be used to estimate saturation in field tests. A series of measurements of CO2 saturation in an aquifer were undertaken as part of the Otway stage 2B extension field project in Dec. 2014. These tests were a repeat of similar tests in the same well in 2011 with improvements to the data collection and handling method. Two single-well tracer tests using noble gas tracers were conducted. In the first test krypton and xenon are injected into the water-saturated formation to establish dispersivity of the tracers in single-phase flow. Near-residual CO2 saturation is then established near the well. In the second test krypton and xenon are injected with CO2-saturated water to measure the final CO2 saturation. The recovery rate of the tracers is similar to predicted rates using recently published partitioning coefficients. Due to technical difficulties, there was mobile CO2 in the reservoir throughout the second tracer test in 2014. As a consequence, it is necessary to use a variation of the previous simulation procedure to interpret the second tracer test. One-dimensional, radial simulations are used to estimate average saturation of CO2 near the well. Estimates of final average CO2 saturation are computed using two relative permeability models, thermal and isothermal simulations, and three sets of coefficients for the partitioning of the tracers between phases. Four of the partitioning coefficients used were not previously available in the literature. The noble gas tracer field test and analysis of the 2011 and 2014 data both give an average CO2 saturation that is consistent with other field measurements. This study has demonstrated the repeatability of the methodology for noble gas tracer tests in the

Determination of water saturation using gas phase partitioning tracers and time-lapse electrical conductivity measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Timothy C.; Oostrom, Martinus; Truex, Michael J.

2013-05-21

Water saturation is an important indicator of contaminant distribution and plays a governing role in contaminant transport within the vadose zone. Understanding the water saturation distribution is critical for both remediation and contaminant flux monitoring in unsaturated environments. In this work we propose and demonstrate a method of remotely determining water saturation levels using gas phase partitioning tracers and time-lapse bulk electrical conductivity measurements. The theoretical development includes the partitioning chemistry for the tracers we demonstrate (ammonia and carbon dioxide), as well as a review of the petrophysical relationship governing how these tracers influence bulk conductivity. We also investigate methodsmore » of utilizing secondary information provided by electrical conductivity breakthrough magnitudes induced by the tracers. We test the method on clean, well characterized, intermediate-scale sand columns under controlled conditions. Results demonstrate the capability to predict partitioning coefficients and accurately monitor gas breakthrough curves along the length of the column according to the corresponding electrical conductivity response, leading to accurate water saturation estimates. This work is motivated by the need to develop effective characterization and monitoring techniques for contaminated deep vadose zone environments, and provides a proof-of-concept toward uniquely characterizing and monitoring water saturation levels at the field scale and in three-dimensions using electrical resistivity tomography.« less

AERMOD as a Gaussian dispersion model for planning tracer gas dispersion tests for landfill methane emission quantification.

PubMed

Matacchiera, F; Manes, C; Beaven, R P; Rees-White, T C; Boano, F; Mønster, J; Scheutz, C

2018-02-13

The measurement of methane emissions from landfills is important to the understanding of landfills' contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The Tracer Dispersion Method (TDM) is becoming widely accepted as a technique, which allows landfill emissions to be quantified accurately provided that measurements are taken where the plumes of a released tracer-gas and landfill-gas are well-mixed. However, the distance at which full mixing of the gases occurs is generally unknown prior to any experimental campaign. To overcome this problem the present paper demonstrates that, for any specific TDM application, a simple Gaussian dispersion model (AERMOD) can be run beforehand to help determine the distance from the source at which full mixing conditions occur, and the likely associated measurement errors. An AERMOD model was created to simulate a series of TDM trials carried out at a UK landfill, and was benchmarked against the experimental data obtained. The model was used to investigate the impact of different factors (e.g. tracer cylinder placements, wind directions, atmospheric stability parameters) on TDM results to identify appropriate experimental set ups for different conditions. The contribution of incomplete vertical mixing of tracer and landfill gas on TDM measurement error was explored using the model. It was observed that full mixing conditions at ground level do not imply full mixing over the entire plume height. However, when full mixing conditions were satisfied at ground level, then the error introduced by variations in mixing higher up were always less than 10%. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Olive Oil Tracer Particle Size Analysis for Optical Flow Investigations in a Gas Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Shaun; Smith, Barton

2014-11-01

Seed tracer particles must be large enough to scatter sufficient light while being sufficiently small to follow the flow. These requirements motivate a desire for control over the particle size. For gas measurements, it is common to use atomized oil droplets as tracer particles. A Laskin nozzle is a device for generating oil droplets in air by directing high-pressure air through small holes under an oil surface. The droplet diameter frequency distribution can be varied by altering the hole diameter, the number of holes, or the inlet pressure. We will present a systematic study of the effect of these three parameters on the resultant particle distribution as it leaves the Laskin nozzle. The study was repeated for cases where the particles moved through a typical jet facility before their size was measured. While the jet facility resulted in an elimination of larger particles, the average particle diameter could be varied by a factor of two at both the seeder exit and downstream of the jet facility.

Determination of stream reaeration coefficients by use of tracers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kilpatrick, F.A.; Rathbun, R.E.; Yotsukura, N.; Parker, G.W.; DeLong, L.L.

1987-01-01

Stream reaeration is the physical absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere by a flowing stream. This is the primary process by which a stream replenishes the oxygen consumed in the biodegradation of organic wastes.Prior to 1965, reaeration rate coefficients could be estimated only by indirect methods. In 1965, a direct method of measuring stream reaeration coefficients was developed in which a radioactive tracer gas was injected into a stream--the tracer gas being desorbed from the stream inversely to how oxygen would be absorbed. The technique has since been modified by substituting hydrocarbon gases for the radioactive tracer gas.This manual describes the slug-injection and constant-rate injection methods of performing gas-tracer desorption measurements. Emphasis is on the use of rhodamine WT dye as a relatively conservative tracer and propane as the nonconservative gas tracer, on planning field tests, methods of injection, sampling and analysis, and computational techniques to compute desorption and reaeration coefficients.

Determination of stream reaeration coefficients by use of tracers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kilpatrick, F.A.; Rathbun, R.E.; Yotsukura, Nobuhiro; Parker, G.W.; DeLong, L.L.

1989-01-01

Stream reaeration is the physical absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere by a flowing stream. This is the primary process by which a stream replenishes the oxygen consumed in the biodegradation of organic wastes. Prior to 1965, reaeration rate coefficients could be estimated only by indirect methods. In 1965, a direct method of measuring stream reaeration coefficients was developed whereby a radioactive tracer gas was injected into a stream-the principle being that the tracer gas would be desorbed from the stream inversely to how oxygen would be absorbed. The technique has since been modified by substituting hydrocarbon gases for the radioactive tracer gas. This manual describes the slug-injection and constant-rate-injection methods of measuring gas-tracer desorption. Emphasis is on the use of rhodamine WT dye as a relatively conservative tracer and propane as the nonconservative gas tracer, on planning field tests, on methods of injection, sampling, and analysis, and on techniques for computing desorption and reaeration coefficients.

A pilot study of the behavior of gas- and particle-phase ETS tracers in residences

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Apte, Michael; Gundel, Lara; Dod, Raymond

2002-02-01

Our previous study of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in a three-room environmental chamber showed that smoking history significantly influenced inter-room ETS transport, particularly of gas-phase nicotine. We conducted a three-home pilot study where smoking was limited to one room. Single-smoker residences were monitored during five one-week periods while the smoker participated in a smoking cessation program. Nicotine traced ETS particles were detected reliably in the smoking rooms (SRs) and unreliably in the non-smoking rooms (NSRs). On average, the ventilation- and volume-normalized smoking rate, 0.1 Cigarette-h{sup -1} m{sup -3}, added about 17 and 4 {micro}g m{sup -3} of ETS particles intomore » the SR and NSR, while average nicotine concentration increases were 2 and 0.06 {micro}g m{sup -3}, respectively. Thus, nicotine tracers may underestimate ETS particle exposure in a NSR (e.g., a child's bedroom) by a factor of 2 to 8. In other words, ETS exposure predicted from nicotine concentrations could be almost an order of magnitude lower than actual exposure.« less

A gas-tracer injection for evaluating the fate of methane in a coastal plain stream: Degassing versus in-stream oxidation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heilweil, Victor M.; Solomon, D. Kip; Darrah, Thomas H.; Gilmore, Troy E.; Genereux, David P.

2016-01-01

Methane emissions from streams and rivers have recently been recognized as an important component of global greenhouse budgets. Stream methane is lost as evasion to the atmosphere or in-stream methane oxidation. Previous studies have quantified evasion and oxidation with point-scale measurements. In this study, dissolved gases (methane, krypton) were injected into a coastal plain stream in North Carolina to quantify stream CH4 losses at the watershed scale. Stream-reach modeling yielded gas transfer and oxidation rate constants of 3.2 ± 0.5 and 0.5 ± 1.5 d–1, respectively, indicating a ratio of about 6:1. The resulting evasion and oxidation rates of 2.9 mmol m–2 d–1 and 1,140 nmol L–1 d–1, respectively, lie within ranges of published values. Similarly, the gas transfer velocity (K600) of 2.1 m d–1 is consistent with other gas tracer studies. This study illustrates the utility of dissolved-gas tracers for evaluating stream methane fluxes. In contrast to point measurements, this approach provides a larger watershed-scale perspective. Further work is needed to quantify the magnitude of these fluxes under varying conditions (e.g., stream temperature, nutrient load, gradient, flow rate) at regional and global scales before reliable bottom-up estimates of methane evasion can be determined at global scales.

10 CFR 39.45 - Subsurface tracer studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Subsurface tracer studies. 39.45 Section 39.45 Energy....45 Subsurface tracer studies. (a) The licensee shall require all personnel handling radioactive tracer material to use protective gloves and, if required by the license, other protective clothing and...

10 CFR 39.45 - Subsurface tracer studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Subsurface tracer studies. 39.45 Section 39.45 Energy....45 Subsurface tracer studies. (a) The licensee shall require all personnel handling radioactive tracer material to use protective gloves and, if required by the license, other protective clothing and...

10 CFR 39.45 - Subsurface tracer studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Subsurface tracer studies. 39.45 Section 39.45 Energy....45 Subsurface tracer studies. (a) The licensee shall require all personnel handling radioactive tracer material to use protective gloves and, if required by the license, other protective clothing and...

Measuring self-pollution in school buses using a tracer gas technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behrentz, Eduardo; Fitz, Dennis R.; Pankratz, David V.; Sabin, Lisa D.; Colome, Steven D.; Fruin, Scott A.; Winer, Arthur M.

A potentially important, but inadequately studied, source of children's exposure to pollutants during school bus commutes is the introduction of a bus's own exhaust into the passenger compartment. We developed and applied a method to determine the amount of a bus's own exhaust penetrating into the cabin in a study of six in-use school buses over a range of routes, roadway types, fuels, and emission control technologies. A tracer gas, SF 6, was metered into the bus's exhaust system using a mass flow controller whose flow rate was logged by a data acquisition system and processed with the concurrent real-time pollutant measurement data. At the same time, the SF 6 concentration inside the bus was measured using an AeroVironment CTA-1000 continuous analyzer connected to a series of solenoids that switched the sample inlet between the front and rear of the bus cabin. To account for a baseline drift of the CTA-1000, SF 6-free air was also drawn through a line located outside at the front of the bus. Although this third sample line generally provided a reference zero value, it also showed that under certain wind conditions (i.e., wind from the rear) when the bus was stopped and was idling, significant amounts of the bus's own exhaust reached this location at the front of the bus. Self-pollution, the percentage of a bus's own exhaust that can be found inside its cabin, was a function of bus type and age, and a strong function of window position (i.e., open or closed). We estimated up to 0.3% of the air inside the cabin was from the bus's own exhaust in older buses, approximately 10 times the percentage observed for newer buses, and 25% of the black carbon concentration variance was explained by the buses' self-pollution. Analysis of the tracer gas concentrations provided a powerful tool for identifying potentially high-exposure conditions.

New Tracers of Gas Migration in the Continental Crust

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kurz, Mark D.

2015-11-01

Noble gases are exceptional tracers in continental settings due to the remarkable isotopic variability between the mantle, crust, and atmosphere, and because they are inert. Due to systematic variability in physical properties, such as diffusion, solubility, and production rates, the combination of helium, neon, and argon provides unique but under-utilized indices of gas migration. Existing noble gas data sets are dominated by measurements of gas and fluid phases from gas wells, ground waters and hot springs. There are very few noble gas measurements from the solid continental crust itself, which means that this important reservoir is poorly characterized. The centralmore » goal of this project was to enhance understanding of gas distribution and migration in the continental crust using new measurements of noble gases in whole rocks and minerals from existing continental drill cores, with an emphasis on helium, neon, argon. We carried out whole-rock and mineral-separate noble gas measurements on Precambrian basement samples from the Texas Panhandle. The Texas Panhandle gas field is the southern limb of the giant Hugoton-Panhandle oil and gas field; it has high helium contents (up to ~ 2 %) and 3He/4He of 0.21 (± 0.03) Ra. Because the total amount of helium in the Panhandle gas field is relatively well known, crustal isotopic data and mass balance calculations can be used to constrain the ultimate source rocks, and hence the helium migration paths. The new 3He/4He data range from 0.03 to 0.11 Ra (total), all of which are lower than the gas field values. There is internal isotopic heterogeneity in helium, neon, and argon, within all the samples; crushing extractions yield less radiogenic values than melting, demonstrating that fluid inclusions preserve less radiogenic gases. The new data suggest that the Precambrian basement has lost significant amounts of helium, and shows the importance of measuring helium with neon and argon. The 4He/40Ar values are

Assessing the Accuracy of the Tracer Dilution Method with Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, D.; Delkash, M.; Chow, F. K.; Imhoff, P. T.

2015-12-01

Landfill methane emissions are difficult to estimate due to limited observations and data uncertainty. The mobile tracer dilution method is a widely used and cost-effective approach for predicting landfill methane emissions. The method uses a tracer gas released on the surface of the landfill and measures the concentrations of both methane and the tracer gas downwind. Mobile measurements are conducted with a gas analyzer mounted on a vehicle to capture transects of both gas plumes. The idea behind the method is that if the measurements are performed far enough downwind, the methane plume from the large area source of the landfill and the tracer plume from a small number of point sources will be sufficiently well-mixed to behave similarly, and the ratio between the concentrations will be a good estimate of the ratio between the two emissions rates. The mobile tracer dilution method is sensitive to different factors of the setup such as placement of the tracer release locations and distance from the landfill to the downwind measurements, which have not been thoroughly examined. In this study, numerical modeling is used as an alternative to field measurements to study the sensitivity of the tracer dilution method and provide estimates of measurement accuracy. Using topography and wind conditions for an actual landfill, a landfill emissions rate is prescribed in the model and compared against the emissions rate predicted by application of the tracer dilution method. Two different methane emissions scenarios are simulated: homogeneous emissions over the entire surface of the landfill, and heterogeneous emissions with a hot spot containing 80% of the total emissions where the daily cover area is located. Numerical modeling of the tracer dilution method is a useful tool for evaluating the method without having the expense and labor commitment of multiple field campaigns. Factors tested include number of tracers, distance between tracers, distance from landfill to transect

Atmospheric and soil-gas monitoring for surface leakage at the San Juan Basin CO{sub 2} pilot test site at Pump Canyon New Mexico, using perfluorocarbon tracers, CO{sub 2} soil-gas flux and soil-gas hydrocarbons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wells, Arthur W; Diehl, J Rodney; Strazisar, Brian R

2012-05-01

Near-surface monitoring and subsurface characterization activities were undertaken in collaboration with the Southwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership on their San Juan Basin coal-bed methane pilot test site near Navajo City, New Mexico. Nearly 18,407 short tons (1.670 × 107 kg) of CO{sub 2} were injected into 3 seams of the Fruitland coal between July 2008 and April 2009. Between September 18 and October 30, 2008, two additions of approximately 20 L each of perfluorocarbon (PFC) tracers were mixed with the CO{sub 2} at the injection wellhead. PFC tracers in soil-gas and in the atmosphere were monitored over a period ofmore » 2 years using a rectangular array of permanent installations. Additional monitors were placed near existing well bores and at other locations of potential leakage identified during the pre-injection site survey. Monitoring was conducted using sorbent containing tubes to collect any released PFC tracer from soil-gas or the atmosphere. Near-surface monitoring activities also included CO{sub 2} surface flux and carbon isotopes, soil-gas hydrocarbon levels, and electrical conductivity in the soil. The value of the PFC tracers was demonstrated when a significant leakage event was detected near an offset production well. Subsurface characterization activities, including 3D seismic interpretation and attribute analysis, were conducted to evaluate reservoir integrity and the potential that leakage of injected CO{sub 2} might occur. Leakage from the injection reservoir was not detected. PFC tracers made breakthroughs at 2 of 3 offset wells which were not otherwise directly observable in produced gases containing 20–30% CO{sub 2}. These results have aided reservoir geophysical and simulation investigations to track the underground movement of CO{sub 2}. 3D seismic analysis provided a possible interpretation for the order of appearance of tracers at production wells.« less

Simultaneous imaging of fuel vapor mass fraction and gas-phase temperature inside gasoline sprays using two-line excitation tracer planar laser-induced fluorescence.

PubMed

Zigan, Lars; Trost, Johannes; Leipertz, Alfred

2016-02-20

This paper reports for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, on the simultaneous imaging of the gas-phase temperature and fuel vapor mass fraction distribution in a direct-injection spark-ignition (DISI) spray under engine-relevant conditions using tracer planar laser-induced fluorescence (TPLIF). For measurements in the spray, the fluorescence tracer 3-pentanone is added to the nonfluorescent surrogate fuel iso-octane, which is excited quasi-simultaneously by two different excimer lasers for two-line excitation LIF. The gas-phase temperature of the mixture of fuel vapor and surrounding gas and the fuel vapor mass fraction can be calculated from the two LIF signals. The measurements are conducted in a high-temperature, high-pressure injection chamber. The fluorescence calibration of the tracer was executed in a flow cell and extended significantly compared to the existing database. A detailed error analysis for both calibration and measurement is provided. Simultaneous single-shot gas-phase temperature and fuel vapor mass fraction fields are processed for the assessment of cyclic spray fluctuations.

Using noble gas tracers to constrain a groundwater flow model with recharge elevations: A novel approach for mountainous terrain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doyle, Jessica M.; Gleeson, Tom; Manning, Andrew H.; Mayer, K. Ulrich

2015-01-01

Environmental tracers provide information on groundwater age, recharge conditions, and flow processes which can be helpful for evaluating groundwater sustainability and vulnerability. Dissolved noble gas data have proven particularly useful in mountainous terrain because they can be used to determine recharge elevation. However, tracer-derived recharge elevations have not been utilized as calibration targets for numerical groundwater flow models. Herein, we constrain and calibrate a regional groundwater flow model with noble-gas-derived recharge elevations for the first time. Tritium and noble gas tracer results improved the site conceptual model by identifying a previously uncertain contribution of mountain block recharge from the Coast Mountains to an alluvial coastal aquifer in humid southwestern British Columbia. The revised conceptual model was integrated into a three-dimensional numerical groundwater flow model and calibrated to hydraulic head data in addition to recharge elevations estimated from noble gas recharge temperatures. Recharge elevations proved to be imperative for constraining hydraulic conductivity, recharge location, and bedrock geometry, and thus minimizing model nonuniqueness. Results indicate that 45% of recharge to the aquifer is mountain block recharge. A similar match between measured and modeled heads was achieved in a second numerical model that excludes the mountain block (no mountain block recharge), demonstrating that hydraulic head data alone are incapable of quantifying mountain block recharge. This result has significant implications for understanding and managing source water protection in recharge areas, potential effects of climate change, the overall water budget, and ultimately ensuring groundwater sustainability.

Radon as a natural tracer for gas transport within uranium waste rock piles.

PubMed

Silva, N C; Chagas, E G L; Abreu, C B; Dias, D C S; Lopez, D; Guerreiro, E T Z; Alberti, H L C; Braz, M L; Branco, O; Fleming, P

2014-07-01

Acid mine drainage (AMD) has been identified as the main cause for outflow of acid water and radioactive/non-radioactive contaminants. AMD encompasses pyrites oxidation when water and oxygen are available. AMD was identified in uranium waste rock piles (WRPs) of Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil-Caldas facility (Brazilian uranium mine), resulting in high costs for water treatment. AMD reduction is the main challenge, and scientific investigation has been conducted to understand oxygen and water transportation within WRPs, where 222Rn is used as natural tracer for oxygen transportation. The study consists of soil radon gas mapping in the top layer of WRP4 using active soil gas pumping, radon adsorption in active charcoal and 222Rn determination using high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. A sampling network of 71 points was built where samples were collected at a depth of 40 cm. Soil radon gas concentration ranged from 33.7 to 1484.2 kBq m(-3) with mean concentration of 320.7±263.3 kBq m(-3). © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Hydroxyl as a Tracer of Dark Gas in a Diffuse Molecular Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Josh; Donate, Emmanuel; Magnani, Loris A.

2017-06-01

In an attempt to determine the extent of dark molecular gas at high Galactic latitudes, we have conducted a survey of OH at 18 cm in a region containing the diffuse molecular cloud MBM 53. Dark molecular gas is a term that refers to molecular hydrogen that is either difficult or impossible to detect by conventional spectroscopic means. While models of photo-dissociation regions predict that some molecular hydrogen is found under conditions where other species are too low in abundance to be detected by radio spectroscopy, recent estimates have predicted that as much dark molecular gas exists as that normally detected by CO(1-0) surveys. However, more sensitive surveys either in the CO(1-0) line or other tracers should detect some of this gas. We observed 44 lines of sight at 18 cm to see if very sensitive OH observations could detect some of the dark molecular gas in the Pegasus-Pisces region. Our data were taken with the 305 m Arecibo radiotelescope and have typical rms values of 6-7 mK. We compared our OH observations with the Georgia/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA high-latitude CO(1-0) survey. Of 8 OH detections at 1667 MHz, 5 were not detected by the CO survey and indicate that at least some of the dark molecular gas may be traced by sensitive OH observations.

10 CFR 39.45 - Subsurface tracer studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Subsurface tracer studies. 39.45 Section 39.45 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR WELL LOGGING Equipment § 39.45 Subsurface tracer studies. (a) The licensee shall require all personnel handling radioactive...

10 CFR 39.45 - Subsurface tracer studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Subsurface tracer studies. 39.45 Section 39.45 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR WELL LOGGING Equipment § 39.45 Subsurface tracer studies. (a) The licensee shall require all personnel handling radioactive...

Near-Road Mulltipollutant Profiles: Association between Volatile Organic Compounds and a Tracer Gas Surrogate Near a Busy Highway

EPA Science Inventory

This research characterizes associations between multiple pollutants in the near-road environment attributed to a roadway line source. It also examines the use of a tracer gas as a surrogate of mobile source pollutants. Air samples were collected in summa canisters along a 300 m ...

The Tracer Gas Method of Determining the Charging Efficiency of Two-stroke-cycle Diesel Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schweitzer, P H; Deluca, Frank, Jr

1942-01-01

A convenient method has been developed for determining the scavenging efficiency or the charging efficiency of two-stroke-cycle engines. The method consists of introducing a suitable tracer gas into the inlet air of the running engine and measuring chemically its concentration both in the inlet and exhaust gas. Monomethylamine CH(sub 3)NH(sub 2) was found suitable for the purpose as it burns almost completely during combustion, whereas the "short-circuited" portion does not burn at all and can be determined quantitatively in the exhaust. The method was tested both on four-stroke and on two-stroke engines and is considered accurate within 1 percent.

Gas exchange rates measured using a dual-tracer (SF6 and3he) method in the coastal waters of Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hyun-Woo; Lee, Kitack; Kaown, Duk-In

2008-03-01

Over a period of 5 days between August 12 and 17, 2005, we performed a gas exchange experiment using the dual tracer method in a tidal coastal ocean located off the southern coast of Korea. The gas exchange rate was determined from temporal changes in the ratio of3He to SF6 measured daily in the surface mixed layer. The measured gas exchange rate ( k CO 2), normalized to a Schmidt number of 600 for CO2 in fresh water at 20°C, was approximately 5.0 cm h-1 at a mean wind speed of 3.9 m s-1 during the study period. This value is significantly less than those obtained from floating chamber-based experiments performed previously in estuarine environments, but is similar in magnitude to values obtained using the dual tracer method in river and tidal coastal waters and values predicted on the basis of the relationship between the gas exchange rate and wind speed (Wanninkhof 1992), which is generally applicable to the open ocean. Our result is also consistent with the relationship of Raymond and Cole (2001), which was derived from experiments carried out in estuarine environments using222Rn and chlorofluorocarbons along with measurements undertaken in the Hudson River, Canada, using SF6 and3He. Our results indicate that tidal action in a microtidal region did not discernibly enhance the measured k CO 2 value.

Using noble gas tracers to estimate residual CO2 saturation in the field: results from the CO2CRC Otway residual saturation and dissolution test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaForce, T.; Ennis-King, J.; Paterson, L.

2013-12-01

Residual CO2 saturation is a critically important parameter in CO2 storage as it can have a large impact on the available secure storage volume and post-injection CO2 migration. A suite of single-well tests to measure residual trapping was conducted at the Otway test site in Victoria, Australia during 2011. One or more of these tests could be conducted at a prospective CO2 storage site before large-scale injection. The test involved injection of 150 tonnes of pure carbon dioxide followed by 454 tonnes of CO2-saturated formation water to drive the carbon dioxide to residual saturation. This work presents a brief overview of the full test sequence, followed by the analysis and interpretation of the tests using noble gas tracers. Prior to CO2 injection krypton (Kr) and xenon (Xe) tracers were injected and back-produced to characterise the aquifer under single-phase conditions. After CO2 had been driven to residual the two tracers were injected and produced again. The noble gases act as non-partitioning aqueous-phase tracers in the undisturbed aquifer and as partitioning tracers in the presence of residual CO2. To estimate residual saturation from the tracer test data a one-dimensional radial model of the near-well region is used. In the model there are only two independent parameters: the apparent dispersivity of each tracer and the residual CO2 saturation. Independent analysis of the Kr and Xe tracer production curves gives the same estimate of residual saturation to within the accuracy of the method. Furthermore the residual from the noble gas tracer tests is consistent with other measurements in the sequence of tests.

Groundwater studies using isotopes and noble gases as a tracer: Review and prospect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazahaya, Kohei; Yasuhara, Masaya; Takahashi, Hiroshi A.; Morikawa, Noritoshi; Ohwada, Michiko; Tosaki, Yuki; Asai, Kazuyoshi

Environmental tracers become a common tool for the groundwater study and a number of methods have been presented in order to understand groundwater flow processes, water budget, origins, chemical reaction processes and retention time. Tracers often used are selected and reviewed for their various methods and advantages as follows; 1) stable 18O, D in water, 2) stable 13C and radioactive 14C in DIC, 3) noble gases such as He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe and their isotopes, 4) radioactive 36Cl in dissolved chloride and some heavier isotopes, and 5) inert gaseous species such as CFCs. If they are less reactive species, they likely preserve information at the time of recharge or their origin. Use of D, 18O and the d-value of water is the powerful tool to determine the recharge area because recharged meteoric water have their inherent isotopic ratios correlated with the recharge elevation, distance from the coast, or the local topography. Carbon-bearing species are more reactive though, use of stable isotopes of DIC leads to identify its origin and helps to analyze the chemical reaction between minerals and water or gas addition processes during the groundwater flow in aquifers. Radioactive 14C has been used to estimate groundwater age however special attention should be paid for, i.e., the origin of DIC, before applying the method. Noble gas tracers are the useful species to presume recharge temperature from their concentrations in water using their temperature dependence of solubilities. Radiogenic 4He concentration can be used for the very long-term groundwater dating since the 4He is produced in the crust and is accumulated in the deep aquifers, if the local accumulation rate of 4He is known. Radioactive 36Cl has been used to determine the age of very old saline waters up to million years. This isotope will also be convenient for the dating of very younger waters, by the use of bomb-produced 36Cl resulted from surface nuclear experiments near the seawater in the 1950s

Evaluation of short-term tracer fluctuations in groundwater and soil air in a two year study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenner, Florian; Mayer, Simon; Aeschbach, Werner; Weissbach, Therese

2016-04-01

The application of gas tracers like noble gases (NGs), SF6 or CFCs in groundwater studies such as paleo temperature determination requires a detailed understanding of the dynamics of reactive and inert gases in the soil air with which the infiltrating water equilibrates. Due to microbial gas consumption and production, NG partial pressures in soil air can deviate from atmospheric air, an effect that could bias noble gas temperatures estimates if not taken into account. So far, such an impact on NG contents in groundwater has not been directly demonstrated. We provide the first long-term study of the above mentioned gas tracers and physical parameters in both the saturated and unsaturated soil zone, sampled continuously for more than two years near Mannheim (Germany). NG partial pressures in soil air correlate with soil moisture and the sum value of O2+CO2, with a maximal significant enhancement of 3-6% with respect to atmospheric air during summer time. Observed seasonal fluctuations result in a mass dependent fractionation of NGs in soil air. Concentrations of SF6 and CFCs in soil air are determined by corresponding fluctuations in local atmospheric air, caused by industrial emissions. Arising concentration peaks are damped with increasing soil depth. Shallow groundwater shows short-term NG fluctuations which are smoothed within a few meters below the water table. A correlation between NG contents of soil air and of groundwater is observable during strong recharge events. However, there is no evidence for a permanent influence of seasonal variations of soil air composition on shallow groundwater. Fluctuating NG contents in shallow groundwater are rather determined by variations of soil temperature and water table level. Our data gives evidence for a further temperature driven equilibration of groundwater with entrapped air bubbles within the topmost saturated zone, which permanently occurs even some years after recharge. Local subsurface temperature fluctuations

Dense Molecular Gas Tracers in the Outflow of the Starburst Galaxy NGC 253

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, Fabian; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Leroy, Adam K.; Veilleux, Sylvain; Warren, Steven R.; Hodge, Jacqueline; Levy, Rebecca C.; Meier, David S.; Ostriker, Eve C.; Ott, Jürgen; Rosolowsky, Erik; Scoville, Nick; Weiss, Axel; Zschaechner, Laura; Zwaan, Martin

2017-02-01

We present a detailed study of a molecular outflow feature in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 using ALMA. We find that this feature is clearly associated with the edge of NGC 253's prominent ionized outflow, has a projected length of ˜300 pc, with a width of ˜50 pc, and a velocity dispersion of ˜40 km s-1, which is consistent with an ejection from the disk about 1 Myr ago. The kinematics of the molecular gas in this feature can be interpreted (albeit not uniquely) as accelerating at a rate of 1 km s-1 pc-1. In this scenario, the gas is approaching an escape velocity at the last measured point. Strikingly, bright tracers of dense molecular gas (HCN, CN, HCO+, CS) are also detected in the molecular outflow: we measure an HCN(1-0)/CO(1-0) line ratio of ˜ 1/10 in the outflow, similar to that in the central starburst region of NGC 253 and other starburst galaxies. By contrast, the HCN/CO line ratio in the NGC 253 disk is significantly lower (˜ 1/30), similar to other nearby galaxy disks. This strongly suggests that the streamer gas originates from the starburst, and that its physical state does not change significantly over timescales of ˜1 Myr during its entrainment in the outflow. Simple calculations indicate that radiation pressure is not the main mechanism for driving the outflow. The presence of such dense material in molecular outflows needs to be accounted for in simulations of galactic outflows.

Tracer airflow measurement system (TRAMS)

DOEpatents

Wang, Duo [Albany, CA

2007-04-24

A method and apparatus for measuring fluid flow in a duct is disclosed. The invention uses a novel high velocity tracer injector system, an optional insertable folding mixing fan for homogenizing the tracer within the duct bulk fluid flow, and a perforated hose sampling system. A preferred embodiment uses CO.sub.2 as a tracer gas for measuring air flow in commercial and/or residential ducts. In extant commercial buildings, ducts not readily accessible by hanging ceilings may be drilled with readily plugged small diameter holes to allow for injection, optional mixing where desired using a novel insertable foldable mixing fan, and sampling hose.

The effect of wind and currents on gas exchange in an estuarine system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Broecker, W. S.; Ledwell, J. R.; Bopp, R.

1987-01-01

The objectives were to develop a non-volatile tracer to use in gas exchange experiments in laterally unconfined systems and to study applications of deliberate tracers in limnology and oceanography. Progress was made on both fronts but work on the development of the non-volatile tracer proved to be more difficult and labor intensive that anticipated so no field experiments using non-volatile tracers was performed as yet. In the search for a suitable non-volatile tracer for an ocean scale gas exchange experiment a tracer was discovered which does not have the required sensitivity for a large scale experiment, but is very easy to analyze and will be well suited for smaller experiments such as gas exchange determinations on rivers and streams. Sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, was used successfully as a volatile tracer along with tritium as a non-volatile tracer to study gas exchange rates from a primary stream. This is the first gas exchange experiment in which gas exchange rates were determined on a head water stream where significant groundwater input occurs along the reach. In conjunction with SF6, Radon-222 measurements were performed on the groundwater and in the stream. The feasibility of using a combination of SF6 and radon is being studied to determine groundwater inputs and gas exchange of rates in streams with significant groundwater input without using a non-volatile tracer.

Noble gas and hydrocarbon tracers in multiphase unconventional hydrocarbon systems: Toward integrated advanced reservoir simulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darrah, T.; Moortgat, J.; Poreda, R. J.; Muehlenbachs, K.; Whyte, C. J.

2015-12-01

Although hydrocarbon production from unconventional energy resources has increased dramatically in the last decade, total unconventional oil and gas recovery from black shales is still less than 25% and 9% of the totals in place, respectively. Further, the majority of increased hydrocarbon production results from increasing the lengths of laterals, the number of hydraulic fracturing stages, and the volume of consumptive water usage. These strategies all reduce the economic efficiency of hydrocarbon extraction. The poor recovery statistics result from an insufficient understanding of some of the key physical processes in complex, organic-rich, low porosity formations (e.g., phase behavior, fluid-rock interactions, and flow mechanisms at nano-scale confinement and the role of natural fractures and faults as conduits for flow). Noble gases and other hydrocarbon tracers are capably of recording subsurface fluid-rock interactions on a variety of geological scales (micro-, meso-, to macro-scale) and provide analogs for the movement of hydrocarbons in the subsurface. As such geochemical data enrich the input for the numerical modeling of multi-phase (e.g., oil, gas, and brine) fluid flow in highly heterogeneous, low permeability formations Herein we will present a combination of noble gas (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe abundances and isotope ratios) and molecular and isotopic hydrocarbon data from a geographically and geologically diverse set of unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs in North America. Specifically, we will include data from the Marcellus, Utica, Barnett, Eagle Ford, formations and the Illinois basin. Our presentation will include geochemical and geological interpretation and our perspective on the first steps toward building an advanced reservoir simulator for tracer transport in multicomponent multiphase compositional flow (presented separately, in Moortgat et al., 2015).

AIR INFILTRATION MEASUREMENTS USING TRACER GASES: A LITERATURE REVIEW

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of a literature review of air filtration measurements using tracer gases, including sulfur hexafluoride, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and radioactive argon and krypton. Sulfur hexafluoride is the commonest tracer gas of choice...

Measurement of the odor impact of a waste deposit using the SF6-tracer method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roetzer, H.; Muehldorf, V.; Riesing, J.

1994-12-01

Landfill gas emitted from a waste disposal often causes odor nuisance in the vicinity. To verify that the odor concentrations were below these limit values, the odor contributions of different sources had to be distinguished. A tracer method was applied to measure the odor impact of the sanitary landfill to its environment. The emitted landfill gas was labelled with the tracer gas SF6. The tracer gas was parted to even amounts and released through ten special nozzles equally distributed over the surface of the landfill. In the area around the landfill the concentration of the tracer gas was measured bymore » collecting air samples and analyzing them with a gas chromatograph with an electron capture detector. Fifteen air sampling units were used to collect eight consecutive air samples at each selected point. These measurements gave the relation between the emission of landfill gas and the resulting concentrations in ambient air.« less

Quantification of Gas Emissions from Refinieries, Gas Stations, Oil Wells and Agriculture using Optical Solar Occultation Flux and Tracer Correlation Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellqvist, J.; Samuelsson, J.; Marianne, E.; Brohede, S.; Andersson, P.; Johansson, J.; Isoz, O.; Tisopulos, L.; Polidori, A.; Pikelnaya, O.

2016-12-01

Industrial volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions may contribute significantly to ozone formation. In order to investigate how much small sources contribute to the VOC concentrations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area a comprehensive emission study has been carried out on behalf of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). VOC emissions from major sources such as refineries, oil wells, petrol stations oil depots and oil platforms were measured during September and October 2015 using several unique optical methods, including the Solar Occultation Flux method (SOF) and tracer correlation technique based on extractive FTIR and DOAS combined with an open path multi reflection cell. In addition, measurements of ammonia emissions from farming in Chino were demonstrated. The measurements in this study were quality assured by carrying out a controlled source gas release study and side by side measurements with several other techniques. The results from the field campaign show that the emissions from the above mentioned sources are largely underestimated in inventories with potential impact on the air quality in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The results show that oil and gas production is a very significant VOC emission source. In this presentation the techniques will be discussed together with the main results from the campaign including the quality assurance work.

Numerical Simulations of Airflows and Tracer Transport in the Southwestern United States.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Tetsuji

2000-03-01

Project MOHAVE (Measurement of Haze and Visual Effects) produced a unique set of tracer data over the southwestern United States. During the summer of 1992, a perfluorocarbon tracer gas was released from the Mohave Power Project (MPP), a large coal-fired facility in southern Nevada. Three-dimensional atmospheric models, the Higher-Order Turbulence Model for Atmospheric Circulation-Random Puff Transport and Diffusion (HOTMAC-RAPTAD), were used to simulate the concentrations of tracer gas that were observed during a portion of the summer intensive period of Project MOHAVE. The study area extended from northwestern Arizona to southern Nevada and included Lake Mead, the Colorado River Valley, the Grand Canyon National Park, and MPP. The computational domain was 368 km in the east-west direction by 252 km in the north-south direction. Rawinsonde and radar wind profiler data were used to provide initial and boundary conditions to HOTMAC simulations. HOTMAC with a horizontal grid spacing of 4 km was able to simulate the diurnal variations of drainage and upslope flows along the Grand Canyon and Colorado River Valley. HOTMAC also captured the diurnal variations of turbulence, which played important roles for the transport and diffusion simulations by RAPTAD. The modeled tracer gas concentrations were compared with observations. The model's performance was evaluated statistically.

Modified expression for bulb-tracer depletion—Effect on argon dating standards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fleck, Robert J.; Calvert, Andrew T.

2014-01-01

40Ar/39Ar geochronology depends critically on well-calibrated standards, often traceable to first-principles K-Ar age calibrations using bulb-tracer systems. Tracer systems also provide precise standards for noble-gas studies and interlaboratory calibration. The exponential expression long used for calculating isotope tracer concentrations in K-Ar age dating and calibration of 40Ar/39Ar age standards may provide a close approximation of those values, but is not correct. Appropriate equations are derived that accurately describe the depletion of tracer reservoirs and concentrations of sequential tracers. In the modified expression the depletion constant is not in the exponent, which only varies as integers by tracer-number. Evaluation of the expressions demonstrates that systematic error introduced through use of the original expression may be substantial where reservoir volumes are small and resulting depletion constants are large. Traditional use of large reservoir to tracer volumes and the resulting small depletion constants have kept errors well less than experimental uncertainties in most previous K-Ar and calibration studies. Use of the proper expression, however, permits use of volumes appropriate to the problems addressed.

Characterization of solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography for the analysis of gasoline tracers in different microenvironments.

PubMed

Ceballos, Diana; Zielinska, Barbara; Fujita, Eric; Sagebiel, John

2007-03-01

Gasoline tracers were collected on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers and analyzed by capillary gas chromatography with photoionization detector (GC/PID). This was part of a larger study to quantify personal exposure to motor vehicle gasoline evaporative and combustive emissions in high-end exposure microenvironments (MEs). The SPME fiber selected for this application was a 75-microm carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane. Sequential 10-min samples were collected for measurement of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and ortho-, meta-, and para-xylene in different MEs in Atlanta, GA, in summer 2002 and Reno, NV, in spring 2003. Field calibrations were performed with certified gas standards in 1-L Tedlar bags for varying concentrations and exposure times. SPME detection limits were approximately 0.2 ppbv with a precision of 3-17% and accuracy of 30%. A dynamic system was designed for temperature and relative humidity calibrations, with corrections for the effects of these variables performed when necessary. SPME data compared satisfactorily with integrated canister samples, continuous PID, and field portable mass spectrometer data.

GEOMETRIC OFFSETS ACROSS SPIRAL ARMS IN M51: NATURE OF GAS AND STAR FORMATION TRACERS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Louie, Melissa; Koda, Jin; Egusa, Fumi, E-mail: melissa.louie@stonybrook.edu

We report measurements of geometric offsets between gas spiral arms and associated star-forming regions in the grand-design spiral galaxy M51. These offsets are a suggested measure of the star formation timescale after the compression of gas at spiral arm entry. A surprising discrepancy, by an order of magnitude, has been reported in recent offset measurements in nearby spiral galaxies. Measurements using CO and H{alpha} emission find large and ordered offsets in M51. On the contrary, small or non-ordered offsets have been found using the H I 21 cm and 24 {mu}m emissions, possible evidence against gas flow through spiral arms,more » and thus against the conventional density-wave theory with a stationary spiral pattern. The goal of this paper is to understand the cause of this discrepancy. We investigate potential causes by repeating those previous measurements using equivalent data, methods, and parameters. We find offsets consistent with the previous measurements and conclude that the difference of gas tracers, i.e., H I versus CO, is the primary cause. The H I emission is contaminated significantly by the gas photodissociated by recently formed stars and does not necessarily trace the compressed gas, the precursor of star formation. The H I gas and star-forming regions coincide spatially and tend to show small offsets. We find mostly positive offsets with substantial scatter between CO and H{alpha}, suggesting that gas flow through spiral arms (i.e., density wave) though the spiral pattern may not necessarily be stationary.« less

Determination of the solubility of low volatility liquid organic compounds in water using volatile-tracer assisted headspace gas chromatography.

PubMed

Zhang, Shu-Xin; Chai, Xin-Sheng; Barnes, Donald G

2016-02-26

This study reports a new headspace gas chromatographic method (HS-GC) for the determination of water solubility of low volatility liquid organic compounds (LVLOs). The HS-GC analysis was performed on a set of aqueous solutions containing a range of concentrations of toluene-spiked (as a tracer) LVLOs, from under-saturation to over-saturation. A plot of the toluene tracer GC signal vs. the concentration of the LVLO results in two lines of different slopes that intersect at the concentration corresponding to the compound's solubility in water. The results showed that the HS-GC method has good precision (RSD <6.3%) and good accuracy, in which the relative deference between the data measured by the HS-GC method and the reference method were within 6.0%. The HS-GC method is simple and particularly suitable for measuring the solubility of LVLOs at elevated temperatures. This approach should be of special interest to those concerned about the impact of the presence of low-volatility organic liquids in waters of environmental and biological systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Combining tracer flux ratio methodology with low-flying aircraft measurements to estimate dairy farm CH4 emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daube, C.; Conley, S.; Faloona, I. C.; Yacovitch, T. I.; Roscioli, J. R.; Morris, M.; Curry, J.; Arndt, C.; Herndon, S. C.

2017-12-01

Livestock activity, enteric fermentation of feed and anaerobic digestion of waste, contributes significantly to the methane budget of the United States (EPA, 2016). Studies question the reported magnitude of these methane sources (Miller et. al., 2013), calling for more detailed research of agricultural animals (Hristov, 2014). Tracer flux ratio is an attractive experimental method to bring to this problem because it does not rely on estimates of atmospheric dispersion. Collection of data occurred during one week at two dairy farms in central California (June, 2016). Each farm varied in size, layout, head count, and general operation. The tracer flux ratio method involves releasing ethane on-site with a known flow rate to serve as a tracer gas. Downwind mixed enhancements in ethane (from the tracer) and methane (from the dairy) were measured, and their ratio used to infer the unknown methane emission rate from the farm. An instrumented van drove transects downwind of each farm on public roads while tracer gases were released on-site, employing the tracer flux ratio methodology to assess simultaneous methane and tracer gas plumes. Flying circles around each farm, a small instrumented aircraft made measurements to perform a mass balance evaluation of methane gas. In the course of these two different methane quantification techniques, we were able to validate yet a third method: tracer flux ratio measured via aircraft. Ground-based tracer release rates were applied to the aircraft-observed methane-to-ethane ratios, yielding whole-site methane emission rates. Never before has the tracer flux ratio method been executed with aircraft measurements. Estimates from this new application closely resemble results from the standard ground-based technique to within their respective uncertainties. Incorporating this new dimension to the tracer flux ratio methodology provides additional context for local plume dynamics and validation of both ground and flight-based data.

The project MOHAVE tracer study: study design, data quality, and overview of results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, Mark C.

In the winter and summer of 1992, atmospheric tracer studies were conducted in support of project MOHAVE, a visibility study in the southwestern United States. The primary goal of project MOHAVE is to determine the effects of the Mohave power plant and other sources upon visibility at Grand Canyon National Park. Perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) were released from the Mohave power plant and other locations and monitored at about 30 sites. The tracer data are being used for source attribution analysis and for evaluation of transport and dispersion models and receptor models. Collocated measurements showed the tracer data to be of high quality and suitable for source attribution analysis and model evaluation. The results showed strong influences of channeling by the Colorado River canyon during both winter and summer. Flow from the Mohave power plant was usually to the south, away from the Grand Canyon in winter and to the northeast, toward the Grand Canyon in summer. Tracer released at Lake Powell in winter was found to often travel downstream through the entire length of the Grand Canyon. Data from summer tracer releases in southern California demonstrated the existence of a convergence zone in the western Mohave Desert.

Following Footsteps: ECD Tracer Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smale, Jim, Editor

2002-01-01

This document consists of the single 2002 issue of The Bernard van Leer Foundation's "Early Childhood Matters," a periodical addressed to practitioners in the field of early childhood education and including information on projects funded by the Foundation. Articles in this issue focus on early childhood development tracer studies of…

Transport dynamics in a sheltered estuary and connecting tidal straits: SF6 tracer study in New York Harbor.

PubMed

Caplow, Theodore; Schlosser, Peter; Ho, David T; Santella, Nicholas

2003-11-15

In July 2002, approximately 0.9 mol of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) was injected into Newark Bay, NJ, a 14 km2 estuary that forms part of New York Harbor, to investigate circulation, mixing, and the transport and fate of solutes. The SF6 tracer was observed over 11 consecutive days using a high-resolution measurement system. Total tracer mass in the sheltered waters declined quasiexponentially at a rate of 0.29 +/- 0.03 d(-1). Air-water gas exchange was estimated to account for 56% of tracer mass loss, upon the basis of wind speed/gas exchange parametrizations. Large-scale tidal transfer of solutes through the Kill van Kull strait (7 km long) caused net seaward flushing contrary to the apparent residual circulation. Seaward transport via the Arthur Kill strait (20 km long) appeared to depend on longitudinal dispersion, residual circulation, and freshwater discharge and was approximately 1 order of magnitude lower. The loss rate due to flushing alone was 0.13 +/- 0.02 d(-1), indicating a mean residence time for water and solutes in Newark Bay of approximately 8 days (without gas exchange). The experiment provides direct visualization of the transport of a released contaminant, and suggests a relationship between the length and configuration of tidal straits and related transport of solutes.

Optical detection of tracer species in strongly scattering media.

PubMed

Brauser, Eric M; Rose, Peter E; McLennan, John D; Bartl, Michael H

2015-03-01

A combination of optical absorption and scattering is used to detect tracer species in a strongly scattering medium. An optical setup was developed, consisting of a dual-beam scattering detection scheme in which sample scattering beam overlaps with the characteristic absorption feature of quantum dot tracer species, while the reference scattering beam is outside any absorption features of the tracer. This scheme was successfully tested in engineered breakthrough tests typical of wastewater and subsurface fluid analysis, as well as in batch analysis of oil and gas reservoir fluids and biological samples. Tracers were detected even under highly scattering conditions, conditions in which conventional absorption or fluorescence methods failed.

Leakage detection of Marcellus Shale natural gas at an Upper Devonian gas monitoring well: a 3-d numerical modeling approach.

PubMed

Zhang, Liwei; Anderson, Nicole; Dilmore, Robert; Soeder, Daniel J; Bromhal, Grant

2014-09-16

Potential natural gas leakage into shallow, overlying formations and aquifers from Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations is a public concern. However, before natural gas could reach underground sources of drinking water (USDW), it must pass through several geologic formations. Tracer and pressure monitoring in formations overlying the Marcellus could help detect natural gas leakage at hydraulic fracturing sites before it reaches USDW. In this study, a numerical simulation code (TOUGH 2) was used to investigate the potential for detecting leaking natural gas in such an overlying geologic formation. The modeled zone was based on a gas field in Greene County, Pennsylvania, undergoing production activities. The model assumed, hypothetically, that methane (CH4), the primary component of natural gas, with some tracer, was leaking around an existing well between the Marcellus Shale and the shallower and lower-pressure Bradford Formation. The leaky well was located 170 m away from a monitoring well, in the Bradford Formation. A simulation study was performed to determine how quickly the tracer monitoring could detect a leak of a known size. Using some typical parameters for the Bradford Formation, model results showed that a detectable tracer volume fraction of 2.0 × 10(-15) would be noted at the monitoring well in 9.8 years. The most rapid detection of tracer for the leak rates simulated was 81 days, but this scenario required that the leakage release point was at the same depth as the perforation zone of the monitoring well and the zones above and below the perforation zone had low permeability, which created a preferred tracer migration pathway along the perforation zone. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the time needed to detect CH4 leakage at the monitoring well was very sensitive to changes in the thickness of the high-permeability zone, CH4 leaking rate, and production rate of the monitoring well.

Statistical atmospheric inversion of local gas emissions by coupling the tracer release technique and local-scale transport modelling: a test case with controlled methane emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ars, Sébastien; Broquet, Grégoire; Yver Kwok, Camille; Roustan, Yelva; Wu, Lin; Arzoumanian, Emmanuel; Bousquet, Philippe

2017-12-01

This study presents a new concept for estimating the pollutant emission rates of a site and its main facilities using a series of atmospheric measurements across the pollutant plumes. This concept combines the tracer release method, local-scale atmospheric transport modelling and a statistical atmospheric inversion approach. The conversion between the controlled emission and the measured atmospheric concentrations of the released tracer across the plume places valuable constraints on the atmospheric transport. This is used to optimise the configuration of the transport model parameters and the model uncertainty statistics in the inversion system. The emission rates of all sources are then inverted to optimise the match between the concentrations simulated with the transport model and the pollutants' measured atmospheric concentrations, accounting for the transport model uncertainty. In principle, by using atmospheric transport modelling, this concept does not strongly rely on the good colocation between the tracer and pollutant sources and can be used to monitor multiple sources within a single site, unlike the classical tracer release technique. The statistical inversion framework and the use of the tracer data for the configuration of the transport and inversion modelling systems should ensure that the transport modelling errors are correctly handled in the source estimation. The potential of this new concept is evaluated with a relatively simple practical implementation based on a Gaussian plume model and a series of inversions of controlled methane point sources using acetylene as a tracer gas. The experimental conditions are chosen so that they are suitable for the use of a Gaussian plume model to simulate the atmospheric transport. In these experiments, different configurations of methane and acetylene point source locations are tested to assess the efficiency of the method in comparison to the classic tracer release technique in coping with the distances

Transport of Perfluorocarbon Tracers in the Cranfield Geological Carbon Sequestration Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moortgat, J.; Soltanian, M. R.; Amooie, M. A.; Cole, D. R.; Graham, D. E.; Pfiffner, S. M.; Phelps, T.

2017-12-01

A field-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) injection pilot project was conducted by the Southeast Regional Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) at Cranfield, Mississippi. Two associated campaigns in 2009 and 2010 were carried out to co-inject perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) with CO2. Tracers in gas samples from two observation wells were analyzed to construct breakthrough curves. We present the compiled field data as well as detailed numerical modeling of the flow and transport of CO2, brine, and introduced tracers. A high-resolution static model of the formation geology in the Detailed Area Study (DAS) was used in order to capture the impact of connected flow pathways created by fluvial channels on breakthrough curves and breakthrough times of PFTs and SF6 tracers. We use the cubic-plus-association (CPA) equation of state, which takes into account the polar nature of water molecules, to describe the phase behavior of CO2-brine-tracer mixtures. We show how the combination of multiple tracer injection pulses with detailed numerical simulations provide a powerful tool in constraining both formation properties and how complex flow pathways develop over time.

VAPOR-PHASE TRANSPORT OF TRICHLOROETHENE IN AN INTERMEDIATE-SCALE VADOSE-ZONE SYSTEM: RETENTION PROCESSES AND TRACER-BASED PREDICTION

PubMed Central

Costanza-Robinson, Molly S.; Carlson, Tyson D.; Brusseau, Mark L.

2013-01-01

Gas-phase miscible-displacement experiments were conducted using a large weighing lysimeter to evaluate retention processes for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in water-unsaturated (vadoze-zone) systems, and to test the utility of gas-phase tracers for predicting VOC retardation. Trichloroethene (TCE) served as a model VOC, while trichlorofluoromethane (CFM) and heptane were used as partitioning tracers to independently characterize retention by water and the air-water interface, respectively. Retardation factors for TCE ranged between 1.9 and 3.5, depending on water content. The results indicate that dissolution into the bulk water was the primary retention mechanism for TCE under all conditions studied, contributing approximately two thirds of the total measured retention. Accumulation at the air-water interface comprised a significant fraction of the observed retention for all experiments, with an average contribution of approximately 24%. Sorption to the solid phase contributed approximately 10% to retention. Water contents and air-water interfacial areas estimated based on the CFM and heptane tracer data, respectively, were similar to independently measured values. Retardation factors for TCE predicted using the partitioning-tracer data were in reasonable agreement with the measured values. These results suggest that gas-phase tracer tests hold promise for characterizing the retention and transport of VOCs in the vadose-zone. PMID:23333418

Characterization of two-phase flow regimes in horizontal tubes using 81mKr tracer experiments.

PubMed

Oriol, Jean; Leclerc, Jean Pierre; Berne, Philippe; Gousseau, Georges; Jallut, Christian; Tochon, Patrice; Clement, Patrice

2008-10-01

The diagnosis of heat exchangers on duty with respect to flow mal-distributions needs the development of non-intrusive inlet-outlet experimental techniques in order to perform an online fault diagnosis. Tracer experiments are an example of such techniques. They can be applied to mono-phase heat exchangers but also to multi-phase ones. In this case, the tracer experiments are more difficult to perform. In order to check for the capabilities of tracer experiments to be used for the flow mal-distribution diagnosis in the case of multi-phase heat exchangers, we present here a preliminary study on the simplest possible system: two-phase flows in a horizontal tube. (81m)Kr is used as gas tracer and properly collimated NaI (TI) crystal scintillators as detectors. The specific shape of the tracer response allows two-phase flow regimes to be characterized. Signal analysis allows the estimation of the gas phase real average velocity and consequently of the liquid phase real average velocity as well as of the volumetric void fraction. These results are compared successfully to those obtained with liquid phase tracer experiments previously presented by Oriol et al. 2007. Characterization of the two-phase flow regimes and liquid dispersion in horizontal and vertical tubes using coloured tracer and no intrusive optical detector. Chem. Eng. Sci. 63(1), 24-34, as well as to those given by correlations from literature.

Use of capillary gas chromatography with negative ion-chemical ionization mass spectrometry for the determination of perfluorocarbon tracers in the atmosphere.

PubMed

Cooke, K M; Simmonds TPG; Nickless, G; Makepeace, A P

2001-09-01

A sensitive and selective technique for the quantitative measurement of atmospheric perfluorocarbon trace species at the sub part per quadrillion (10(-15)) levels is presented. The method utilizes advances in adsorbent enrichment techniques coupled with benchtop capillary gas chromatography and negative ion-chemical ionization mass spectrometry. The development and enhancement of sampling technology for tracer experiments is described, and the results from background measurements and a preliminary field experiment are presented. The overall precision of the analytical method with respect to the preferred tracer for these atmospheric transport studies, perfluoromethylcyclohexane, was +/-1.7%. The background concentrations of perfluorodimethylcyclobutane, perfluoromethylcyclopentane, and perfluoromethylcyclohexane at a remote coastal location (Mace Head, Ireland, 53 degrees N, 10 degrees W) were found to be 2.5 (+/-0.4), 6.8 (+/-1.0), and 5.2 fL L(-1) (+/-1.3), respectively. Background concentrations within an urban conurbation (Bristol, U.K.) were slightly greater at 3.0 (+/-1.5), 8.1 (+/-1.8), and 6.3 fL L(-1) (+/-1.1), respectively.

Tracer tomography: design concepts and field experiments using heat as a tracer.

PubMed

Doro, Kennedy O; Cirpka, Olaf A; Leven, Carsten

2015-04-01

Numerical and laboratory studies have provided evidence that combining hydraulic tomography with tomographic tracer tests could improve the estimation of hydraulic conductivity compared with using hydraulic data alone. Field demonstrations, however, have been lacking so far, which we attribute to experimental difficulties. In this study, we present a conceptual design and experimental applications of tracer tomography at the field scale using heat as a tracer. In our experimental design, we improve active heat tracer testing by minimizing possible effects of heat losses, buoyancy, viscosity, and changing boundary conditions. We also utilize a cost-effective approach of measuring temperature changes in situ at high resolution. We apply the presented method to the 8 m thick heterogeneous, sandy gravel, alluvial aquifer at the Lauswiesen Hydrogeological Research Site in Tübingen, Germany. Results of our tomographic heat-tracer experiments are in line with earlier work on characterizing the aquifer at the test site. We demonstrate from the experimental perspective that tracer tomography is applicable and suitable at the field scale using heat as a tracer. The experimental results also demonstrate the potential of heat-tracer tomography as a cost-effective means for characterizing aquifer heterogeneity. © 2014, National Ground Water Association.

IMAGE Project: Results of Laboratory Tests on Tracers for Supercritical Conditions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandvoll, Øyvind; Opsahl Viig, Sissel; Nardini, Isabella; Muller, Jiri

2016-04-01

The use of tracers is a well-established technique for monitoring dynamic behaviour of water and gas through a reservoir. In geothermal reservoirs special challenges are encountered due to high temperatures and pressures. In this work, tracer candidates for monitoring water at supercritical conditions (temperature > 374°C, pressure ca 218 bar), are tested in laboratory experiments. Testing of tracers at supercritical water conditions requires experimental set-ups which tolerate harsh conditions with respect to high temperature and pressure. In addition stringent HES (health, environment and safety) factors have to be taken into consideration when designing and performing the experiments. The setup constructed in this project consists of a pressure vessel, high pressure pump, instrumentation for pressure and temperature control and instrumentation required for accurate sampling of tracers. In order to achieve accurate results, a special focus has been paid to the development of the tracer sampling technique. Perfluorinated cyclic hydrocarbons (PFCs) have been selected as tracer candidates. This group of compounds is today commonly used as gas tracers in oil reservoirs. According to the literature they are stable at temperatures up to 400°C. To start with, five PFCs have been tested for thermal stability in static experiments at 375°C and 108 bar in the experimental setup described above. The tracer candidates will be further tested for several months at the relevant conditions. Preliminary results indicate that some of the PFC compounds show stability after three months. However, in order to arrive at conclusive results, the experiments have to be repeated over a longer period and paying special attention to more accurate sampling procedures.

In VIVO tracer kinetics of plant function using positron emission technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fares, Y.; Goeschl, J. D.; Magnuson, C. E.; Mckinney, C. J.; Musser, R. L.; Strain, B. R.

1989-04-01

A 11CO 2 storage and dispensing system was developed and used successfully to deliver constant activity levels for 2 h plant tracer experiments. Using tracer kinetics of a step input function the relationships between diurnal patterns of carbon partitioning and gas exchange properties of leaves in C 3 and C 4 plants were studied. We also studied the immediate and long term effects of the abrupt changes in CO 2 concentrations on carbon partitioning of these species. Results indicate that raising the CO 2 concentration above ambient immediately increases 11C storage over export rates, while lowering the CO 2 concentration immediately decreases storage more than export rates. This long term accumulation of starch may depend as much on the biochemistry of partitioning within the leaf as on limitations in the sink capacity of plants. Although gas exchange remained constant during the photoperiod, the photosynthate storage rate increased and the export rate decreased. These changes were more pronounced in C 4 plants.

Deuterium used as artificial tracer in column studies under saturated water flow conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koeniger, P.; Geiges, M.; Leibundgut, Ch.

2003-04-01

In contrast to numerous investigations using deuterium as an environmental tracer, hydrological investigations with deuterium-labelled water are rather rare. Currently applications in groundwater studies are restricted due to increasing costs of spiking large water quantities but an application as intelligent tracer might be of advantage especially in combination with other tracers and under distinct environmental conditions. Therefore deuterium was applied as artificial tracer in column experiments that are well proved as a tool to characterise tracer behaviour in recent studies. Deuterium was tested in comparison to the more familiar conservative tracer fluorescein. Varying experimental conditions, e.g. column length (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 m), initial tracer concentration (0.01, 0.02, 0.2 mg) and flow velocity (1.5 to 6.0 m/d) were used to investigate tracer behaviour under saturated water flow conditions. Deuterium was analysed using an H/Device with chrome reduction connected to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer and expressed in relative concentrations [per mill V-SMOW]. Theoretical tracer breakthrough curves were calculated using a one dimensional dispersion model. The results indicate higher mean transport velocities and smaller dispersion for deuterium in all experiments. Due to different molecule properties that also determine the interaction of soil substrate and tracer, deuterium indicates a more conservative transport behaviour. Deuterium is non-toxic, completely soluble, chemically and biologically stable and not subject to light-influenced decay. Furthermore, it shows promise for investigations of water flow in the unsaturated zone, and of interactions of water in soil-plant-atmosphere systems. A further discussion of problems, together with possibilities for applying deuterium as an artificial tracer, will be presented.

A rapid method for the measurement of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride (SF5CF3), and Halon 1211 (CF2ClBr) in hydrologic tracer studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Busenberg, Eurybiades; Plummer, Niel

2010-01-01

A rapid headspace method for the simultaneous laboratory determination of intentionally introduced hydrologic tracers, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride (SF5CF3), Halon 1211 (CF2ClBr), and other halocarbons in water and gases is described. The high sensitivity of the procedure allows for introduction of minimal tracer mass (a few grams) into hydrologic systems with a large dynamic range of analytical detection (dilutions to 1:108). Analysis times by gas chromatography with electron capture detector are less than 1 min for SF6; about 2 min for SF6 and SF5CF3; and 4 min for SF6, SF5CF3, and Halon 1211. Many samples can be rapidly collected, preserved in stoppered septum bottles, and analyzed at a later time in the laboratory. Examples are provided showing the effectiveness of the gas tracer test studies in varied hydrogeological settings.

A rapid method for the measurement of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride (SF5CF3), and Halon 1211 (CF2ClBr) in hydrologic tracer studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Busenberg, Eurybiades; Plummer, L. Niel

2010-11-01

A rapid headspace method for the simultaneous laboratory determination of intentionally introduced hydrologic tracers, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride (SF5CF3), Halon 1211 (CF2ClBr), and other halocarbons in water and gases is described. The high sensitivity of the procedure allows for introduction of minimal tracer mass (a few grams) into hydrologic systems with a large dynamic range of analytical detection (dilutions to 1:108). Analysis times by gas chromatography with electron capture detector are less than 1 min for SF6; about 2 min for SF6 and SF5CF3; and 4 min for SF6, SF5CF3, and Halon 1211. Many samples can be rapidly collected, preserved in stoppered septum bottles, and analyzed at a later time in the laboratory. Examples are provided showing the effectiveness of the gas tracer test studies in varied hydrogeological settings.

Vapor-phase transport of trichloroethene in an intermediate-scale vadose-zone system: retention processes and tracer-based prediction.

PubMed

Costanza-Robinson, Molly S; Carlson, Tyson D; Brusseau, Mark L

2013-02-01

Gas-phase transport experiments were conducted using a large weighing lysimeter to evaluate retention processes for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in water-unsaturated (vadose-zone) systems, and to test the utility of gas-phase tracers for predicting VOC retardation. Trichloroethene (TCE) served as a model VOC, while trichlorofluoromethane (CFM) and heptane were used as partitioning tracers to independently characterize retention by water and the air-water interface, respectively. Retardation factors for TCE ranged between 1.9 and 3.5, depending on water content. The results indicate that dissolution into the bulk water was the primary retention mechanism for TCE under all conditions studied, contributing approximately two-thirds of the total measured retention. Accumulation at the air-water interface comprised a significant fraction of the observed retention for all experiments, with an average contribution of approximately 24%. Sorption to the solid phase contributed approximately 10% to retention. Water contents and air-water interfacial areas estimated based on the CFM and heptane tracer data, respectively, were similar to independently measured values. Retardation factors for TCE predicted using the partitioning-tracer data were in reasonable agreement with the measured values. These results suggest that gas-phase tracer tests hold promise for characterizing the retention and transport of VOCs in the vadose-zone. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nitrate turnover in a peat soil under drained and rewetted conditions: results from a [(15)N]nitrate-bromide double-tracer study.

PubMed

Russow, Rolf; Tauchnitz, Nadine; Spott, Oliver; Mothes, Sibylle; Bernsdorf, Sabine; Meissner, Ralph

2013-01-01

Under natural conditions, peatlands are generally nitrate-limited. However, recent concerns about an additional N input into peatlands by atmospheric N deposition have highlighted the risk of an increased denitrification activity and hence the likelihood of a rise of emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the turnover of added nitrate in a drained and a rewetted peatland using a [(15)N]nitrate-bromide double-tracer method. The double-tracer method allows a separation between physical effects (dilution, dispersion and dislocation) and microbial and chemical nitrate transformation by comparing with the conservative Br(-) tracer. In the drained peat site, low NO3(-) consumption rates have been observed. In contrast, NO3(-) consumption at the rewetted peat site rises rapidly to about 100% within 4 days after tracer application. Concomitantly, the (15)N abundances of nitrite and ammonium in soil water increased and lead to the conclusion that, besides commonly known NO3(-) reduction to nitrite (i.e. denitrification), a dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium has simultaneously taken place. The present study reveals that increasing NO3(-) inputs into rewetted peatlands via atmospheric deposition results in a rapid NO3(-) consumption, which could lead to an increase in N2O emissions into the atmosphere.

The Fischa-Dagnitz spring, Southern Vienna Basin: a multi tracer time series study re-assessing earlier conceptual assumptions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suckow, Axel; Gerber, Christoph; Kralik, Martin; Sültenfuss, Jürgen; Purtschert, Roland

2013-04-01

The gravel aquifer of the Southern Vienna Basin is a very important backup drinking water resource for the city of Vienna. A discharge location, the Fischa-Dagnitz spring in the Southern Vienna Basin, Austria, was re-investigated in 2011, five years after the gas exchange tracer test published in (Stolp et al., 2010), and sampled for stable isotopes 18O/2H, tritium, 3He, SF6 and 85Kr (Gerber et al., 2012). Additionally, new tritium time series data (Davis et al., 1967), previously not considered in Stolp et al. (2010), were included. These show a higher and earlier tritium peak of >300 TU in 1965 in the discharge of the Fischa-Dagnitz spring as compared to 221 TU in 1972 considered in Stolp et al. (2010). The new 3He, SF6 and 85Kr gas tracer data from 2011 confirm the earlier finding for 3He of Stolp et al. (2010) and indicate a more recent equilibration with the atmosphere than the water bound tracers 18O, 2H and tritium. A new modelling attempt using the Lumpy code (Suckow, 2012) confirmed the discrepancy between the tritium data and the gaseous tracers 3He, SF6 and 85Kr. No steady-state combination of local recharge (represented by an exponential model) and Schwarza river infiltration flowing through the gravel aquifer (represented by a parallel dispersion model) can equally well explain both the tritium time series and the gas tracer results. A revised conceptual model proposes that a pinching of the aquifer at unconformities in the gravel body or a fault zone known in the gravel body forces groundwater along the flow path closer to the surface and exposes it to the atmosphere. This would tend to reset the "dating" clock for the gaseous tracers 3He, SF6 and 85Kr, which can equilibrate quickly with the atmosphere, but not for tritium, which marks the transport behaviour of the water itself. These findings are of importance also for other multi-tracer assessments of groundwater movement in phreatic aquifer systems. References: Davis, G.H., Payne, B.R., Dincer, T

Simultaneous Analyses and Applications of Multiple Fluorobenzoate and Halide Tracers in Hydrologic Studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Q; Moran, J E

2004-01-22

An analytical method that employs ion chromatography has been developed to more fully exploit the use of fluorobenzoic acids (FBAs) and halides as hydrologic tracers. In a single run, this reliable, sensitive, and robust method can simultaneously separate and quantify halides (fluoride, chloride, bromide, and iodide) and up to seven FBAs from other common groundwater constituents (e.g., nitrate and sulfate). The usefulness of this ion chromatographic (IC) analytical method is demonstrated in both field and laboratory tracer experiments. Field experiments in unsaturated tuff featuring fractures or a fault show that this efficient and cost-effective method helps achieve the objectives ofmore » tracer studies that use multiple FBAs and/or diffusivity tracers (simultaneous use of one or more FBA and halide). The field study examines the hydrologic response of fractures and the matrix to different flow rates and the contribution of matrix diffusion in chemical transport. Laboratory tracer experiments with eight geologic media from across the United States--mostly from Department of Energy facilities where groundwater contamination is prevalent and where subsurface characterization employing tracers has been ongoing or is in need--reveal several insights about tracer transport behavior: (1) Bromide and FBAs are not always transported conservatively. (2) The delayed transport of these anionic tracers is likely related to geologic media characteristics, such as organic matter, pH, iron oxide content, and clay mineralogy. (3) Any use of iodine as a hydrologic tracer should take into account the different sorption behaviors of iodide and iodate and the possible conversion of iodine's initial chemical form. (4) The transport behavior of potential FBA and halide tracers under relevant geochemical conditions should be evaluated before beginning ambitious, large-scale field tracer experiments.« less

Modeling of meteorology, tracer transport and chemistry for the Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Studies 2012 and 2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadov, R.; McKeen, S. A.; Angevine, W. M.; Frost, G. J.; Roberts, J. M.; De Gouw, J. A.; Warneke, C.; Peischl, J.; Brown, S. S.; Edwards, P. M.; Wild, R. J.; Pichugina, Y. L.; Banta, R. M.; Brewer, A.; Senff, C. J.; Langford, A. O.; Petron, G.; Karion, A.; Sweeney, C.; Schnell, R. C.; Johnson, B.; Zamora, R. J.; Helmig, D.; Park, J.; Evans, J.; Stephens, C. R.; Olson, J. B.; Trainer, M.

2013-12-01

The Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Studies (UBWOS) field campaigns took place during winter of 2012 and 2013 in the Uintah Basin, Utah. The studies were aimed at characterizing meteorology, emissions of atmospheric constituents and air chemistry in a region abundant with oil and gas production, with associated emissions of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and NOx. High ozone pollution events were observed throughout the Uintah Basin during the winter of 2013, but not during the winter of 2012. A clear understanding of the processes leading to high ozone events is still lacking. We present here high spatiotemporal resolution simulations of meteorology, tracer transport and gas chemistry over the basin during January-February, 2012 and 2013 using the WRF/Chem regional photochemical model. Correctly characterizing the meteorology poses unique challenges due to complex terrain, cold-pool conditions, and shallow inversion layers observed during the winter of 2013. We discuss the approach taken to adequately simulate the meteorology over the basin and present evaluations of the modeled meteorology using surface, lidar and tethersonde measurements. Initial simulations use a passive tracer within the model as a surrogate for CH4 released from oil and gas wells. These tracer transport simulations show that concentrations of inert, emitted species near the surface in 2013 were 4-8 times higher than 2012 due to much shallower boundary layers and reduced winds in 2013. This is supported by in-situ measurements of CH4 made at the Horse Pool surface station during the field campaigns. Full photochemical simulations are forced by VOC and NOx emissions that are determined in a top-down approach, using observed emission ratios of VOC and NOx relative to CH4, along with available information of active wells, compressors, and processing plants. We focus on differences in meteorology, temperature, and radiation between the two winters in determining ozone concentrations in the

Interpretation of Tracer Experiments on Inverted Five-spot Well-patterns within the Western Half of the Farnsworth Unit Oil Field

DOE PAGES

White, Mark D.; Esser, R. P.; McPherson, B. P.; ...

2017-07-01

The Southwest Carbon Partnership (SWP), one of the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships, is currently working to demonstrate the utilization and storage of CO 2 in the Farnsworth Unit (FWU) Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) site under the final development phase of this U.S. DOE initiative. A component of the research is to use fluid tracers to understand the multifluid flow patterns that develop between injection and production wells via collected field data and supporting numerical reservoir models. The FWU, located in the Anadarko Basin, Ochiltree County, Texas, and being operated by Chaparral Energy, ismore » a mature EOR water-flood field, which is currently being converted to a CO 2 flow, with inverted 5-spot patterns transitioning from pure water to alternating CO 2 and water floods (i.e., water alternating gas (WAG)) at an approximate rate of one every 6 to 10 months. The SWP tracer program is conducting a suite of tracer injections into the active 5-spot patterns at the FWU. Tracers have been selected to be nonreactive and either principally soluble in CO 2 (gas soluble) or water (aqueous soluble). In addition to characterizing the multifluid flow behaviour within reservoir, the gas and aqueous tracers have roles in detecting any leakage from the reservoir. A total of seven unique perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) compounds make up the suite of gas soluble tracers and eight unique naphthalene sulfonate tracer (NPT) compounds comprise the aqueous soluble tracers. Lastly, all selected tracers are significantly detectable below the parts per billion concentrations, allowing for high resolution for the inter-well tests at relatively low injection volumes.« less

Interpretation of Tracer Experiments on Inverted Five-spot Well-patterns within the Western Half of the Farnsworth Unit Oil Field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

White, Mark D.; Esser, R. P.; McPherson, B. P.

The Southwest Carbon Partnership (SWP), one of the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships, is currently working to demonstrate the utilization and storage of CO 2 in the Farnsworth Unit (FWU) Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) site under the final development phase of this U.S. DOE initiative. A component of the research is to use fluid tracers to understand the multifluid flow patterns that develop between injection and production wells via collected field data and supporting numerical reservoir models. The FWU, located in the Anadarko Basin, Ochiltree County, Texas, and being operated by Chaparral Energy, ismore » a mature EOR water-flood field, which is currently being converted to a CO 2 flow, with inverted 5-spot patterns transitioning from pure water to alternating CO 2 and water floods (i.e., water alternating gas (WAG)) at an approximate rate of one every 6 to 10 months. The SWP tracer program is conducting a suite of tracer injections into the active 5-spot patterns at the FWU. Tracers have been selected to be nonreactive and either principally soluble in CO 2 (gas soluble) or water (aqueous soluble). In addition to characterizing the multifluid flow behaviour within reservoir, the gas and aqueous tracers have roles in detecting any leakage from the reservoir. A total of seven unique perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) compounds make up the suite of gas soluble tracers and eight unique naphthalene sulfonate tracer (NPT) compounds comprise the aqueous soluble tracers. Lastly, all selected tracers are significantly detectable below the parts per billion concentrations, allowing for high resolution for the inter-well tests at relatively low injection volumes.« less

Analysis techniques for tracer studies of oxidation. M. S. Thesis Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basu, S. N.

1984-01-01

Analysis techniques to obtain quantitative diffusion data from tracer concentration profiles were developed. Mass balance ideas were applied to determine the mechanism of oxide growth and to separate the fraction of inward and outward growth of oxide scales. The process of inward oxygen diffusion with exchange was theoretically modelled and the effect of lattice diffusivity, grain boundary diffusivity and grain size on the tracer concentration profile was studied. The development of the tracer concentration profile in a growing oxide scale was simulated. The double oxidation technique was applied to a FeCrAl-Zr alloy using 0-18 as a tracer. SIMS was used to obtain the tracer concentration profile. The formation of lacey oxide on the alloy was discussed. Careful consideration was given to the quality of data required to obtain quantitative information.

Journal: Efficient Hydrologic Tracer-Test Design for Tracer ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Hydrological tracer testing is the most reliable diagnostic technique available for the determination of basic hydraulic and geometric parameters necessary for establishing operative solute-transport processes. Tracer-test design can be difficult because of a lack of prior knowledge of the basic hydraulic and geometric parameters desired and the appropriate tracer mass to release. A new efficient hydrologic tracer-test design (EHTD) methodology has been developed to facilitate the design of tracer tests by root determination of the one-dimensional advection-dispersion equation (ADE) using a preset average tracer concentration which provides a theoretical basis for an estimate of necessary tracer mass. The method uses basic measured field parameters (e.g., discharge, distance, cross-sectional area) that are combined in functional relatipnships that descrive solute-transport processes related to flow velocity and time of travel. These initial estimates for time of travel and velocity are then applied to a hypothetical continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) as an analog for the hydrological-flow system to develop initial estimates for tracer concentration, tracer mass, and axial dispersion. Application of the predicted tracer mass with the hydraulic and geometric parameters in the ADE allows for an approximation of initial sample-collection time and subsequent sample-collection frequency where a maximum of 65 samples were determined to be necessary for descri

Exploring Hydrofluorocarbons as Groundwater Age Tracers (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haase, K. B.; Busenberg, E.; Plummer, L. N.; Casile, G.; Sanford, W. E.

2013-12-01

Groundwater dating tracers are an essential tool for analyzing hydrologic conditions in groundwater systems. Commonly used tracers for dating post-1940's groundwater include sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), 3H-3He, and other isotopic tracers (85Kr, δ2H and δ18O isotopes, etc.). Each tracer carries a corresponding set of advantages and limitations imposed by field, analytical, and interpretive methods. Increasing the number available tracers is appealing, particularly if they possess inert chemical properties and unique temporal emission histories from other tracers. Atmospherically derived halogenated trace gases continue to hold untapped potential for new tracers, as they are generally inert and their emission histories are well documented. SF5CF3, and CFC-13 were previously shown to have application as dating tracers, though their low mixing ratios and low solubility require large amounts of water to be degassed for their quantification. Two related groups of compounds, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are hypothesized to be potential age tracers, having similar mixing ratios to the CFCs and relatively high solubility. However, these compounds yield gas chromatography electron capture detector (GC-ECD) responses that are 10-2 -10-5 less than CFC-12, making purge and trap or field stripping GC-ECD approaches impractical. Therefore, in order to use dissolved HCFCs and HFCs as age tracers, different approaches are needed. To solve this problem, we developed an analytical method that uses an atomic emission detector (GC-AED) in place of an ECD to detect fluorinated compounds. In contrast to the ECD, the AED is a universally sensitive, highly linear, elementally specific detector. The new GC-AED system is being used to measure chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), and other fluorinated compounds in one liter water samples to study their potential as age dating tracers. HCFC-22 is a

Using predictive uncertainty analysis to optimise tracer test design and data acquisition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallis, Ilka; Moore, Catherine; Post, Vincent; Wolf, Leif; Martens, Evelien; Prommer, Henning

2014-07-01

Tracer injection tests are regularly-used tools to identify and characterise flow and transport mechanisms in aquifers. Examples of practical applications are manifold and include, among others, managed aquifer recharge schemes, aquifer thermal energy storage systems and, increasingly important, the disposal of produced water from oil and shale gas wells. The hydrogeological and geochemical data collected during the injection tests are often employed to assess the potential impacts of injection on receptors such as drinking water wells and regularly serve as a basis for the development of conceptual and numerical models that underpin the prediction of potential impacts. As all field tracer injection tests impose substantial logistical and financial efforts, it is crucial to develop a solid a-priori understanding of the value of the various monitoring data to select monitoring strategies which provide the greatest return on investment. In this study, we demonstrate the ability of linear predictive uncertainty analysis (i.e. “data worth analysis”) to quantify the usefulness of different tracer types (bromide, temperature, methane and chloride as examples) and head measurements in the context of a field-scale aquifer injection trial of coal seam gas (CSG) co-produced water. Data worth was evaluated in terms of tracer type, in terms of tracer test design (e.g., injection rate, duration of test and the applied measurement frequency) and monitoring disposition to increase the reliability of injection impact assessments. This was followed by an uncertainty targeted Pareto analysis, which allowed the interdependencies of cost and predictive reliability for alternative monitoring campaigns to be compared directly. For the evaluated injection test, the data worth analysis assessed bromide as superior to head data and all other tracers during early sampling times. However, with time, chloride became a more suitable tracer to constrain simulations of physical transport

A case study of the Weather Research and Forecasting model applied to the Joint Urban 2003 tracer field experiment. Part 2: Gas tracer dispersion

DOE PAGES

Nelson, Matthew A.; Brown, Michael J.; Halverson, Scot A.; ...

2016-07-28

Here, the Quick Urban & Industrial Complex (QUIC) atmospheric transport, and dispersion modelling, system was evaluated against the Joint Urban 2003 tracer-gas measurements. This was done using the wind and turbulence fields computed by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. We compare the simulated and observed plume transport when using WRF-model-simulated wind fields, and local on-site wind measurements. Degradation of the WRF-model-based plume simulations was cased by errors in the simulated wind direction, and limitations in reproducing the small-scale wind-field variability. We explore two methods for importing turbulence from the WRF model simulations into the QUIC system. The firstmore » method uses parametrized turbulence profiles computed from WRF-model-computed boundary-layer similarity parameters; and the second method directly imports turbulent kinetic energy from the WRF model. Using the WRF model’s Mellor-Yamada-Janjic boundary-layer scheme, the parametrized turbulence profiles and the direct import of turbulent kinetic energy were found to overpredict and underpredict the observed turbulence quantities, respectively. Near-source building effects were found to propagate several km downwind. These building effects and the temporal/spatial variations in the observed wind field were often found to have a stronger influence over the lateral and vertical plume spread than the intensity of turbulence. Correcting the WRF model wind directions using a single observational location improved the performance of the WRF-model-based simulations, but using the spatially-varying flow fields generated from multiple observation profiles generally provided the best performance.« less

A case study of the Weather Research and Forecasting model applied to the Joint Urban 2003 tracer field experiment. Part 2: Gas tracer dispersion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nelson, Matthew A.; Brown, Michael J.; Halverson, Scot A.

Here, the Quick Urban & Industrial Complex (QUIC) atmospheric transport, and dispersion modelling, system was evaluated against the Joint Urban 2003 tracer-gas measurements. This was done using the wind and turbulence fields computed by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. We compare the simulated and observed plume transport when using WRF-model-simulated wind fields, and local on-site wind measurements. Degradation of the WRF-model-based plume simulations was cased by errors in the simulated wind direction, and limitations in reproducing the small-scale wind-field variability. We explore two methods for importing turbulence from the WRF model simulations into the QUIC system. The firstmore » method uses parametrized turbulence profiles computed from WRF-model-computed boundary-layer similarity parameters; and the second method directly imports turbulent kinetic energy from the WRF model. Using the WRF model’s Mellor-Yamada-Janjic boundary-layer scheme, the parametrized turbulence profiles and the direct import of turbulent kinetic energy were found to overpredict and underpredict the observed turbulence quantities, respectively. Near-source building effects were found to propagate several km downwind. These building effects and the temporal/spatial variations in the observed wind field were often found to have a stronger influence over the lateral and vertical plume spread than the intensity of turbulence. Correcting the WRF model wind directions using a single observational location improved the performance of the WRF-model-based simulations, but using the spatially-varying flow fields generated from multiple observation profiles generally provided the best performance.« less

Tracer-Test Planning Using the Efficient Hydrologic Tracer ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Hydrological tracer testing is the most reliable diagnostic technique available for establishing flow trajectories and hydrologic connections and for determining basic hydraulic and geometric parameters necessary for establishing operative solute-transport processes. Tracer-test design can be difficult because of a lack of prior knowledge of the basic hydraulic and geometric parameters desired and the appropriate tracer mass to release. A new efficient hydrologic tracer-test design (EHTD) methodology has been developed that combines basic measured field parameters (e.g., discharge, distance, cross-sectional area) in functional relationships that describe solute-transport processes related to flow velocity and time of travel. The new method applies these initial estimates for time of travel and velocity to a hypothetical continuously stirred tank reactor as an analog for the hydrologic flow system to develop initial estimates for tracer concentration and axial dispersion, based on a preset average tracer concentration. Root determination of the one-dimensional advection-dispersion equation (ADE) using the preset average tracer concentration then provides a theoretical basis for an estimate of necessary tracer mass.Application of the predicted tracer mass with the hydraulic and geometric parameters in the ADE allows for an approximation of initial sample-collection time and subsequent sample-collection frequency where a maximum of 65 samples were determined to be

Observational Studies of Parameters Influencing Air-sea Gas Exchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schimpf, U.; Frew, N. M.; Bock, E. J.; Hara, T.; Garbe, C. S.; Jaehne, B.

A physically-based modeling of the air-sea gas transfer that can be used to predict the gas transfer rates with sufficient accuracy as a function of micrometeorological parameters is still lacking. State of the art are still simple gas transfer rate/wind speed relationships. Previous measurements from Coastal Ocean Experiment in the Atlantic revealed positive correlations between mean square slope, near surface turbulent dis- sipation, and wind stress. It also demonstrated a strong negative correlation between mean square slope and the fluorescence of surface-enriched colored dissolved organic matter. Using heat as a proxy tracer for gases the exchange process at the air/water interface and the micro turbulence at the water surface can be investigated. The anal- ysis of infrared image sequences allow the determination of the net heat flux at the ocean surface, the temperature gradient across the air/sea interface and thus the heat transfer velocity and gas transfer velocity respectively. Laboratory studies were carried out in the new Heidelberg wind-wave facility AELOTRON. Direct measurements of the Schmidt number exponent were done in conjunction with classical mass balance methods to estimate the transfer velocity. The laboratory results allowed to validate the basic assumptions of the so called controlled flux technique by applying differ- ent tracers for the gas exchange in a large Schmidt number regime. Thus a modeling of the Schmidt number exponent is able to fill the gap between laboratory and field measurements field. Both, the results from the laboratory and the field measurements should be able to give a further understanding of the mechanisms controlling the trans- port processes across the aqueous boundary layer and to relate the forcing functions to parameters measured by remote sensing.

Estimates of tracer-based piston-flow ages of groundwater from selected sites: National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 2006-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shapiro, Stephanie D.; Plummer, Niel; Busenberg, Eurybiades; Widman, Peggy K.; Casile, Gerolamo C.; Wayland, Julian E.; Runkle, Donna L.

2012-01-01

Piston-flow age dates were interpreted from measured concentrations of environmental tracers from 812 National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program groundwater sites from 27 Study Units across the United States. The tracers of interest include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and tritium/helium-3 (3H/3He). Tracer data compiled for this analysis were collected from 2006 to 2010 from groundwater wells in NAWQA studies, including: * Land-Use Studies (LUS, shallow wells, usually monitoring wells, located in recharge areas under dominant land-use settings), * Major-Aquifer Studies (MAS, wells, usually domestic supply wells, located in principal aquifers and representing the shallow drinking water supply), * Flow System Studies (FSS, networks of clustered wells located along a flowpath extending from a recharge zone to a discharge zone, preferably a shallow stream) associated with Land-Use Studies, and * Reference wells (wells representing groundwater minimally impacted by anthropogenic activities) also associated with Land-Use Studies. Tracer data were evaluated using documented methods and are presented as aqueous concentrations, equivalent atmospheric concentrations (for CFCs and SF6), and tracer-based piston-flow ages. Selected ancillary data, such as redox data, well-construction data, and major dissolved-gas (N2, O2, Ar, CH4, and CO2) data, also are presented. Recharge temperature was inferred using climate data (approximated by mean annual air temperature plus 1°C [MAAT +1°C]) as well as major dissolved-gas data (N2-Ar-based) where available. The N2-Ar-based temperatures showed significantly more variation than the climate-based data, as well as the effects of denitrification and degassing resulting from reducing conditions. The N2-Ar-based temperatures were colder than the climate-based temperatures in networks where recharge was limited to the winter months when evapotranspiration was reduced. The tracer-based piston-flow ages

Determination of biomass burning tracers in air samples by GC/MS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janoszka, Katarzyna

2018-01-01

Levoglucosan (LG) as a main cellulose burning product at 300°C is a biomass burning tracer. LG characterize by relatively high molar mass and it is sorbed by particulate matter. In the study of air pollution monitoring LG is mainly analyzed in particulate matter, PM1 and PM2,5. The tracer create relatively high O-H…O bond and weaker C-H…O bond. Due to the hydrogen bond, LG dissolves very well in water. Analytical procedure of LG determination include: extraction, derivatization and analysis by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry detector. In water samples levoglucosan is determined by liquid chromatography. The paper presents a methodology for particulate matter samples determination their analysis by gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometry detector. Determination of LG content in particulate matter was performed according to an analytical method based on simultaneous pyridine extraction and derivatization using N,O-bis (trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide and trimethylchlorosilane mixture (BSTFA: TMCS, 99: 1).

Assessing the containment efficiency of a microbiological safety cabinet during the simultaneous generation of a nanoaerosol and a tracer gas.

PubMed

Cesard, V; Belut, E; Prevost, C; Taniere, A; Rimbert, N

2013-04-01

The intention of this article is to compare the containment performance of a Type II microbiological safety cabinet (MSC) confronted with the simultaneous generation of a saline nanoparticle aerosol and a tracer gas (SF(6)). The back dissemination coefficient, defined as the ratio of the pollutant concentration measured outside the enclosure to the pollutant flow rate emitted inside the enclosure, is calculated in order to quantify the level of protection of each airborne contaminant tested for three enclosure operating configurations: an initial configuration (without perturbations), a configuration exposing a dummy in front of the enclosure (simulation of an operator), and a configuration employing the movement of a plate in front of the enclosure (simulation of human movement). Based on the results of this study, we observed that nanoparticulate and gaseous behaviours are strongly correlated, thus showing the predominance of air-driven transport over particle-specific behaviour. The average level of protection afforded by the MSC was found systematically slightly higher for the nanoaerosol than for the gas in the studied configurations (emission properties of the source, operating conditions, and measurement protocols). This improved protection efficiency, however, cannot be considered as a warrant of protection for operators since operating condition and ventilation parameters are still more influential on the containment than the pollutant nature (i.e. nanoaerosol or gas).

Estimation of bias with the single-zone assumption in measurement of residential air exchange using the perfluorocarbon tracer gas method

PubMed Central

Van Ryswyk, K; Wallace, L; Fugler, D; MacNeill, M; Héroux, M È; Gibson, M D; Guernsey, J R; Kindzierski, W; Wheeler, A J

2015-01-01

Residential air exchange rates (AERs) are vital in understanding the temporal and spatial drivers of indoor air quality (IAQ). Several methods to quantify AERs have been used in IAQ research, often with the assumption that the home is a single, well-mixed air zone. Since 2005, Health Canada has conducted IAQ studies across Canada in which AERs were measured using the perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) gas method. Emitters and detectors of a single PFT gas were placed on the main floor to estimate a single-zone AER (AER1z). In three of these studies, a second set of emitters and detectors were deployed in the basement or second floor in approximately 10% of homes for a two-zone AER estimate (AER2z). In total, 287 daily pairs of AER2z and AER1z estimates were made from 35 homes across three cities. In 87% of the cases, AER2z was higher than AER1z. Overall, the AER1z estimates underestimated AER2z by approximately 16% (IQR: 5–32%). This underestimate occurred in all cities and seasons and varied in magnitude seasonally, between homes, and daily, indicating that when measuring residential air exchange using a single PFT gas, the assumption of a single well-mixed air zone very likely results in an under prediction of the AER. PMID:25399878

Chemical Tracer Methods: Chapter 7

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, Richard W.

2017-01-01

Tracers have a wide variety of uses in hydrologic studies: providing quantitative or qualitative estimates of recharge, identifying sources of recharge, providing information on velocities and travel times of water movement, assessing the importance of preferential flow paths, providing information on hydrodynamic dispersion, and providing data for calibration of water flow and solute-transport models (Walker, 1998; Cook and Herczeg, 2000; Scanlon et al., 2002b). Tracers generally are ions, isotopes, or gases that move with water and that can be detected in the atmosphere, in surface waters, and in the subsurface. Heat also is transported by water; therefore, temperatures can be used to trace water movement. This chapter focuses on the use of chemical and isotopic tracers in the subsurface to estimate recharge. Tracer use in surface-water studies to determine groundwater discharge to streams is addressed in Chapter 4; the use of temperature as a tracer is described in Chapter 8.Following the nomenclature of Scanlon et al. (2002b), tracers are grouped into three categories: natural environmental tracers, historical tracers, and applied tracers. Natural environmental tracers are those that are transported to or created within the atmosphere under natural processes; these tracers are carried to the Earth’s surface as wet or dry atmospheric deposition. The most commonly used natural environmental tracer is chloride (Cl) (Allison and Hughes, 1978). Ocean water, through the process of evaporation, is the primary source of atmospheric Cl. Other tracers in this category include chlorine-36 (36Cl) and tritium (3H); these two isotopes are produced naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere; however, there are additional anthropogenic sources of them.

Molecular Gas in Starburts: Understanding Mergers using High Density Gas Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manohar, Swarnima; Scoville, N.; Walter, F.; Sheth, K.

2014-01-01

NGC 6240 and Arp 220 can be considered the founding members of a very active class of objects called Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies or ULIRGs. They are in different stages of mergers and hence are excellent case studies to enhance our knowledge about the merging process. We have imaged the dense star-forming regions of these galaxies at sub-arcsec resolution with ALMA and CARMA. Multi-band imaging allows multilevel excitation analysis of HCN, HCO+ and CS transitions which will constrain the properties of the gas as a function of position and velocity (across line profiles). We are doing an extensive multilevel excitation analysis of the merger as a function of radius which enables in depth understanding of the gas dynamics and gas properties such as temperature and density. This in turn probes the homogeneity of the gas in the merging system and hence the regions that facilitate high star formation rates. This tandem use of CARMA with ALMA to map these systems at different merger stages will assemble a more integrated picture of the merger process. We are probing the distribution and dynamics of star forming gas and star formation activity in the dense disk structures to enable new theoretical understanding of the physics, dynamics, star formation activity and associated feedback in the most active and rapidly evolving galactic nuclei. Here we present preliminary observations of Arp 220 and NGC 6240 from ALMA and CARMA.

A CFD study of gas-solid jet in a CFB riser flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Tingwen; Guenther, Chris

2012-03-01

Three-dimensional high-resolution numerical simulations of a gas–solid jet in a high-density riser flow were conducted. The impact of gas–solid injection on the riser flow hydrodynamics was investigated with respect to voidage, tracer mass fractions, and solids velocity distribution. The behaviors of a gas–solid jet in the riser crossflow were studied through the unsteady numerical simulations. Substantial separation of the jetting gas and solids in the riser crossflow was observed. Mixing of the injected gas and solids with the riser flow was investigated and backmixing of gas and solids was evaluated. In the current numerical study, both the overall hydrodynamics ofmore » riser flow and the characteristics of gas–solid jet were reasonably predicted compared with the experimental measurements made at NETL.« less

Application of multiple tracers (SF6 and chloride) to identify the transport by characteristics of contaminant at two separate contaminated sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, K. K.; Lee, S. S.; Kim, H. H.; Koh, E. H.; Kim, M. O.; Lee, K.; Kim, H. J.

2016-12-01

Multiple tracers were applied for source and pathway detection at two different sites. CO2 gas injected in the subsurface for a shallow-depth CO2 injection and leak test can be regarded as a potential contaminant source. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the migration pattern of CO2 gas. Also, at a DNAPL contaminated site, it is important to figure out the characteristics of plume evolution from the source zone. In this study, multiple tracers (SF6 and chloride) were used to evaluate the applicability of volatile and non-volatile tracers and to identify the characteristics of contaminant transport at each CO2 injection and leak test site and DNAPL contaminated site. Firstly, at the CO2 test site, multiple tracers were used to perform the single well push-drift-pull tracer test at total 3 specific depth zones. As results of tests, volatile and non-volatile tracers showed different mass recovery percentage. Most of chloride mass was recovered but less than half of SF6 mass was recovered due to volatile property. This means that only gaseous SF6 leak out to unsaturated zone. However, breakthrough curves of both tracers indicated similar peak time, effective porosity, and regional groundwater velocity. Also, at both contaminated sites, natural gradient tracer tests were performed with multiple tracers. With the results of natural gradient tracer test, it was possible to confirm the applicability of multiple tracers and to understand the contaminant transport in highly heterogeneous aquifer systems through the long-term monitoring of tracers. Acknowledgement: financial support was provided by the R&D Project on Environmental Management of Geologic CO2 Storage)" from the KEITI (Project Number: 2014001810003) and Korea Ministry of Environment as "The GAIA project (2014000540010)".

Gastric activity studies using a magnetic tracer.

PubMed

Cordova-Fraga, T; Bernal-Alvarado, J J; Gutierrez-Juarez, G; Sosa, M; Vargas-Luna, M

2004-10-01

A magnetic pulse generator has been set up in order to study gastric activity. Two coils 1.05 m in diameter, arranged in a Helmholtz configuration, were used. The system generated magnetic field pulses higher than 15 mT, of duration 17.3+/-1.2 ms. Measurements were performed in 11 male volunteers, with average age 29.3+/-6.4 years and body mass index 26.0+/-4.8 kg m(-2). Magnetite (Fe3O4) particles with diameters from 75 to 125 microm were used as magnetic tracers, which were mixed in 250 ml of yogurt in concentrations from 2 to 5 g. Signals were registered by using a high speed 3 axis fluxgate digital magnetometer and processed to determine the relaxation of the magnetic tracers by fitting a first-order exponential function to the data, a mean relaxation constant K = 116+/-40 s(-1) was obtained. Also, an average gastric peristaltic frequency was measured; a value of 3.2+/-0.3 cpm was determined.

Modified Perfluorocarbon Tracer Method for Measuring Effective Multizone Air Exchange Rates

PubMed Central

Shinohara, Naohide; Kataoka, Toshiyuki; Takamine, Koichi; Butsugan, Michio; Nishijima, Hirokazu; Gamo, Masashi

2010-01-01

A modified procedure was developed for the measurement of the effective air exchange rate, which represents the relationship between the pollutants emitted from indoor sources and the residents’ level of exposure, by placing the dosers of tracer gas at locations that resemble indoor emission sources. To measure the 24-h-average effective air exchange rates in future surveys based on this procedure, a low-cost, easy-to-use perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) doser with a stable dosing rate was developed by using double glass vials, a needle, a polyethylene-sintered filter, and a diffusion tube. Carbon molecular sieve cartridges and carbon disulfide (CS2) were used for passive sampling and extraction of the tracer gas, respectively. Recovery efficiencies, sampling rates, and lower detection limits for 24-h sampling of hexafluorobenzene, octafluorotoluene, and perfluoroallylbenzene were 40% ± 3%, 72% ± 5%, and 84% ± 6%; 10.5 ± 1.1, 14.4 ± 1.4, and 12.2 ± 0.49 mL min−1; and 0.20, 0.17, and 0.26 μg m−3, respectively. PMID:20948928

Modified perfluorocarbon tracer method for measuring effective multizone air exchange rates.

PubMed

Shinohara, Naohide; Kataoka, Toshiyuki; Takamine, Koichi; Butsugan, Michio; Nishijima, Hirokazu; Gamo, Masashi

2010-09-01

A modified procedure was developed for the measurement of the effective air exchange rate, which represents the relationship between the pollutants emitted from indoor sources and the residents' level of exposure, by placing the dosers of tracer gas at locations that resemble indoor emission sources. To measure the 24-h-average effective air exchange rates in future surveys based on this procedure, a low-cost, easy-to-use perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) doser with a stable dosing rate was developed by using double glass vials, a needle, a polyethylene-sintered filter, and a diffusion tube. Carbon molecular sieve cartridges and carbon disulfide (CS₂) were used for passive sampling and extraction of the tracer gas, respectively. Recovery efficiencies, sampling rates, and lower detection limits for 24-h sampling of hexafluorobenzene, octafluorotoluene, and perfluoroallylbenzene were 40% ± 3%, 72% ± 5%, and 84% ± 6%; 10.5 ± 1.1, 14.4 ± 1.4, and 12.2 ± 0.49 mL min⁻¹; and 0.20, 0.17, and 0.26 μg m⁻³, respectively.

DISSOCIATION OF SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE TRACER GAS IN THE PRESENCE OF AN INDOOR COMBUSTION SOURCE

EPA Science Inventory

As an odorless, non-toxic, and inert compound, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is one of the most widely used tracer gases in indoor air quality studies in both controlled and uncontrolled environments. This compound may be subject to hydrolysis under elevated temperature to form acidi...

Innovative techniques for the description of reservoir heterogeneity using tracers. Second technical annual progress report, October 1991--September 1992

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pope, G.A.; Sepehrnoori, K.

1992-12-31

This second annual report on innovative uses of tracers for reservoir characterization contains four sections each describing a novel use of oilfield tracers. The first section describes and illustrates the use of a new single-well tracer test to estimate wettability. This test consists of the injection of brine containing tracers followed by oil containing tracers, a shut-in period to allow some of the tracers to react, and then production of the tracers. The inclusion of the oil injection slug with tracers is unique to this test, and this is what makes the test work. We adapted our chemical simulator, UTCHEM,more » to enable us to study this tracer method and made an extensive simulation study to evaluate the effects of wettability based upon characteristic curves for relative permeability and capillary pressure for differing wetting states typical of oil reservoirs. The second section of this report describes a new method for analyzing interwell tracer data based upon a type-curve approach. Theoretical frequency response functions were used to build type curves of ``transfer function`` and ``phase spectrum`` that have dimensionless heterogeneity index as a parameter to characterize a stochastic permeability field. We illustrate this method by analyzing field tracer data. The third section of this report describes a new theory for interpreting interwell tracer data in terms of channeling and dispersive behavior for reservoirs. Once again, a stochastic approach to reservoir description is taken. The fourth section of this report describes our simulation of perfluorocarbon gas tracers. This new tracer technology developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory is being tested at the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 in California. We report preliminary simulations made of these tracers in one of the oil reservoirs under evaluation with these tracers in this field. Our compostional simulator (UTCOMP) was used for this simulation study.« less

LOW LEVEL COUNTING TECHNIQUES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BIOMEDICAL TRACER PROBLEMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hosain, F.; Nag, B.D.

1959-12-01

Low-level counting techniques in tracer experiments are discussed with emphasis on the measurement of beta and gamma radiations with Geiger and scintillation counting methods. The basic principles of low-level counting are outlined. Screen-wall counters, internal gas counters, low-level beta counters, scintillation spectrometers, liquid scintillators, and big scintillation installations are described. Biomedical tracer investigations are discussed. Applications of low-level techniques in archaeological dating, biology, and other problems are listed. (M.C.G.)

Quantification of Nitrous Oxide from Fugitive Emissions by Tracer Dilution Method using a Mobile Real-time Nitrous Oxide Analyzer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mønster, J.; Rella, C.; Jacobson, G. A.; He, Y.; Hoffnagle, J.; Scheutz, C.

2012-12-01

Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas considered 298 times stronger than carbon dioxide on a hundred years term (Solomon et al. 2007). The increasing global concentration is of great concern and is receiving increasing attention in various scientific and industrial fields. Nitrous oxide is emitted from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Inventories of source specific fugitive nitrous oxide emissions are often estimated on the basis of modeling and mass balance. While these methods are well-developed, actual measurements for quantification of the emissions can be a useful tool for verifying the existing estimation methods as well as providing validation for initiatives targeted at lowering unwanted nitrous oxide emissions. One approach to performing such measurements is the tracer dilution method (Galle et al. 2001), in which a tracer gas is released at the source location at a known flow. The ratio of downwind concentrations of both the tracer gas and nitrous oxide gives the ratios of the emissions rates. This tracer dilution method can be done with both stationary and mobile measurements; in either case, real-time measurements of both tracer and analyte gas is required, which places high demands on the analytical detection method. To perform the nitrous oxide measurements, a novel, robust instrument capable of real-time nitrous oxide measurements has been developed, based on cavity ring-down spectroscopy and operating in the near-infrared spectral region. We present the results of the laboratory and field tests of this instrument in both California and Denmark. Furthermore, results are presented from measurements using the mobile plume method with a tracer gas (acetylene) to quantify the nitrous oxide and methane emissions from known sources such as waste water treatment plants and composting facilities. Nitrous oxide (blue) and methane (yellow) plumes downwind from a waste water treatment facility.

FTIR gas chromatographic analysis of perfumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diederich, H.; Stout, Phillip J.; Hill, Stephen L.; Krishnan, K.

1992-03-01

Perfumes, natural or synthetic, are complex mixtures consisting of numerous components. Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques have been extensively utilized for the analysis of perfumes and essential oils. A limited number of perfume samples have also been analyzed by FT-IR gas chromatographic (GC-FTIR) techniques. Most of the latter studies have been performed using the conventional light pipe (LP) based GC-FTIR systems. In recent years, cold-trapping (in a matrix or neat) GC-FTIR systems have become available. The cold-trapping systems are capable of sub-nanogram sensitivities. In this paper, comparison data between the LP and the neat cold-trapping GC- FTIR systems is presented. The neat cold-trapping interface is known as Tracer. The results of GC-FTIR analysis of some commercial perfumes is also presented. For comparison of LP and Tracer GC-FTIR systems, a reference (synthetic) mixture containing 16 major and numerous minor constituents was used. The components of the mixture are the compounds commonly encountered in commercial perfumes. The GC-FTIR spectra of the reference mixture was obtained under identical chromatographic conditions from an LP and a Tracer system. A comparison of the two sets of data thus generated do indeed show the enhanced sensitivity level of the Tracer system. The comparison also shows that some of the major components detected by the Tracer system were absent from the LP data. Closer examination reveals that these compounds undergo thermal decomposition on contact with the hot gold surface that is part of the LP system. GC-FTIR data were obtained for three commercial perfume samples. The major components of these samples could easily be identified by spectra search against a digitized spectral library created using the Tracer data from the reference mixture.

Halon-1301, a new Groundwater Age Tracer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyer, Monique; van der Raaij, Rob; Morgenstern, Uwe; Jackson, Bethanna

2015-04-01

Groundwater dating is an important tool to assess groundwater resources in regards to direction and time scale of groundwater flow and recharge and to assess contamination risks and manage remediation. To infer groundwater age information, a combination of different environmental tracers, such as tritium and SF6, are commonly used. However ambiguous age interpretations are often faced, due to a limited set of available tracers and limitations of each tracer method when applied alone. There is a need for additional, complementary groundwater age tracers. We recently discovered that Halon-1301, a water soluble and entirely anthropogenic gaseous substance, may be a promising candidate [Beyer et al, 2014]. Halon-1301 can be determined along with SF6, SF5CF3 and CFC-12 in groundwater using a gas chromatography setup with attached electron capture detector developed by Busenberg and Plummer [2008]. Halon-1301 has not been assessed in groundwater. This study assesses the behaviour of Halon-1301 in water and its suitability as a groundwater age tracer. We determined Halon-1301 in 17 groundwater and various modern (river) waters sites located in 3 different groundwater systems in the Wellington Region, New Zealand. These waters have been previously dated with tritium, CFC-12, CFC-11 and SF6 with mean residence times ranging from 0.5 to over 100 years. The waters range from oxic to anoxic and some show evidence of CFC contamination or degradation. This allows us to assess the different properties affecting the suitability of Halon-1301 as groundwater age tracer, such as its conservativeness in water and local contamination potential. The samples are analysed for Halon-1301 and SF6simultaneously, which allows identification of issues commonly faced when using gaseous tracers such as contamination with modern air during sampling. Overall we found in the assessed groundwater samples Halon-1301 is a feasible new groundwater tracer. No sample indicated significantly elevated

Asian Tracer Experiment and Atmospheric Modeling (TEAM) Project: Draft Field Work Plan for the Asian Long-Range Tracer Experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allwine, K Jerry; Flaherty, Julia E.

2007-08-01

This report provides an experimental plan for a proposed Asian long-range tracer study as part of the international Tracer Experiment and Atmospheric Modeling (TEAM) Project. The TEAM partners are China, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Optimal times of year to conduct the study, meteorological measurements needed, proposed tracer release locations, proposed tracer sampling locations and the proposed durations of tracer releases and subsequent sampling are given. Also given are the activities necessary to prepare for the study and the schedule for completing the preparation activities leading to conducting the actual field operations. This report is intended to providemore » the TEAM members with the information necessary for planning and conducting the Asian long-range tracer study. The experimental plan is proposed, at this time, to describe the efforts necessary to conduct the Asian long-range tracer study, and the plan will undoubtedly be revised and refined as the planning goes forward over the next year.« less

Using Temperature as a Tracer to Study Fluid Flow Patterns On and Offshore Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chi, W. C.

2017-12-01

Fluid flows are a dynamic system in the crust that affect crustal deformation and formation of natural resources. It is difficult to study fluid flow velocity instrumentally, but temperature data offers a quantitative tool that can be used as a tracer to study crustal hydrogeology. Here we present numerical techniques we have applied to study the fluid migration velocity along conduits including faults in on and offshore settings. Offshore SW Taiwan, we use a bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) from seismic profiles to study the temperature field at several hundred meters subbottom depth. The BSR is interpreted as the base of a gas hydrate stability zone under the seabed. Gas hydrates are solid-state water with gas molecules enclosed, which can be found where the temperature, pressure, and salinity conditions allow hydrates to be stable. Using phase diagrams and hydro pressure information we can derive the temperature at the BSR. BSRs are widespread in the study area, providing very dense temperature field information which shows upward bending of the BSR near faults. We have quantitatively estimated the 1D and 2D fluid flow patterns required to fit the BSR-based temperature field. This shows that fault zones can act as conduits with high permeability parallel to the fault planes. On the other hand, fault zones can also act as barriers to fluid flow, as demonstrated in our onland temperature data. We have collected temperature profiles at several bore holes onland that are very close together. The preliminary results show that the fault zones separate the ground water systems, causing very different geothermal gradients. Our results show that the physical properties of fault zones can be anisotropic, as demonstrated in previous work. Future work includes estimating the regional water expulsion budget offshore SW Taiwan, in particular for several gas hydrate sites.

Measurements of methane emissions from natural gas gathering facilities and processing plants: measurement methods

DOE PAGES

Roscioli, J. R.; Yacovitch, T. I.; Floerchinger, C.; ...

2015-05-07

Increased natural gas production in recent years has spurred intense interest in methane (CH 4) emissions associated with its production, gathering, processing, transmission, and distribution. Gathering and processing facilities (G&P facilities) are unique in that the wide range of gas sources (shale, coal-bed, tight gas, conventional, etc.) results in a wide range of gas compositions, which in turn requires an array of technologies to prepare the gas for pipeline transmission and distribution. We present an overview and detailed description of the measurement method and analysis approach used during a 20-week field campaign studying CH 4 emissions from the natural gasmore » G&P facilities between October 2013 and April 2014. Dual-tracer flux measurements and on-site observations were used to address the magnitude and origins of CH 4 emissions from these facilities. The use of a second tracer as an internal standard revealed plume-specific uncertainties in the measured emission rates of 20–47%, depending upon plume classification. Furthermore, combining downwind methane, ethane (C 2H 6), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO 2), and tracer gas measurements with on-site tracer gas release allows for quantification of facility emissions and in some cases a more detailed picture of source locations.« less

Simple Spreadsheet Models For Interpretation Of Fractured Media Tracer Tests

EPA Science Inventory

An analysis of a gas-phase partitioning tracer test conducted through fractured media is discussed within this paper. The analysis employed matching eight simple mathematical models to the experimental data to determine transport parameters. All of the models tested; two porous...

Tracer Studies In A Laboratory Beach Subjected To Waves

EPA Science Inventory

This work investigated the washout of dissolved nutrients from beaches due to waves by conducting tracer studies in a laboratory beach facility. The effects of waves were studied in the case where the beach was subjected to the tide, and that in which no tidal action was present...

Molecular Gas in Local Mergers: Understanding Mergers using High Density Gas Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manohar, Swarnima; Scoville, N.; Sheth, K.

2013-01-01

NGC 6240 and Arp 220 can be considered the founding members of a very active class of objects called Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies or ULIRGs. They are in different stages of mergers and hence are excellent case studies to enhance our knowledge about the merging process. We have imaged the dense star-forming regions of these galaxies at sub-arcsec resolution with ALMA and CARMA. Multi-band imaging will allow multilevel excitation analysis of HCN, HCO+ and CS transitions which will be used to constrain the properties of the gas as a function of position and velocity (across line profiles). We aim to do an extensive multilevel excitation analysis of the merger as a function of radius which will enable in depth understanding of the gas dynamics and gas properties such as temperature and density. This will in turn probe the homogeneity of the gas in the merging system and hence the regions that facilitate high star formation rates. This tandem use of CARMA with ALMA to map these systems at different merger stages will help assemble a more integrated picture of the merger process. We will probe the distribution and dynamics of star forming gas and star formation activity in the dense disk structures to enable new theoretical understanding of the physics, dynamics, star formation activity and associated feedback in the most active and rapidly evolving galactic nuclei. Here we present preliminary observations of Arp 220 and NGC 6240 from ALMA and CARMA.

Chemical Tracers as an Indicator of Transport in the UT/LS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, F. L.; Hurst, D. F.; Elkins, J. W.; Nance, J. D.; Dutton, G. S.; Hall, B. D.

2009-12-01

Previous airborne studies have proven the scientific value of chemical tracers in examining transport of the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UT/LS). ESRL scientists operated two airborne gas chromatographs on the NCAR G-V during the NSF sponsored Stratosphere-Troposphere Analyses of Regional Transport START-08 campaign over the midlatitudes of central North America. The Unmanned aircraft systems Chromatograph for Atmospheric Trace Species (UCATS) is comprised of a two-channel electron capture detection-gas chromatograph (ECD-GC), an ozone absorption photometer, and a water vapor tunable diode laser spectrometer. It measures N2O and SF6 every 70 seconds on one EC-GC channel, and H2, CO, and CH4 every 140 seconds on the second channel. PAN and Trace Hydrohalocarbon ExpeRiment (PANTHER) is a six-channel gas chromatograph with four ECD-GC channels and two mass selective detector-gas chromatograph (MSD-GC) channels that double the sampling rate to 180 seconds by using two traps and columns. The ECD-GC channels measure N2O, SF6, CFC-11, CFC-12, halon-1211, and PAN once every 70 seconds, H2, CH4, and CO once every 140 seconds. The two MSD-GC channels measure methyl halides (CH3I, CH3Cl, CH3I), HCFCs (22, 141b, 142b), HFC-134a, sulfur gases (COS and CS2) once every 180 seconds. These data represent a diversity of atmospheric lifetimes and are useful in examining transport in UT/LS. One example is the tracer-tracer correlation plot of N2O versus SF6, which shows three distinction regions of transport, LS, tropospause transition, and UT. Tropospheric gradients for both gases are apparent in the UT region. Other correlations will be shown in this presentation. A comparison of common species measured between UCATS and PANTHER shows a better than one percent agreement between the two instruments.

Biological tracer method

DOEpatents

Strong-Gunderson, Janet M.; Palumbo, Anthony V.

1998-01-01

The present invention is a biological tracer method for characterizing the movement of a material through a medium, comprising the steps of: introducing a biological tracer comprising a microorganism having ice nucleating activity into a medium; collecting at least one sample of the medium from a point removed from the introduction point; and analyzing the sample for the presence of the biological tracer. The present invention is also a method for using a biological tracer as a label for material identification by introducing a biological tracer having ice nucleating activity into a material, collecting a sample of a portion of the labelled material and analyzing the sample for the presence of the biological tracer.

Biological tracer method

DOEpatents

Strong-Gunderson, J.M.; Palumbo, A.V.

1998-09-15

The present invention is a biological tracer method for characterizing the movement of a material through a medium, comprising the steps of: introducing a biological tracer comprising a microorganism having ice nucleating activity into a medium; collecting at least one sample of the medium from a point removed from the introduction point; and analyzing the sample for the presence of the biological tracer. The present invention is also a method for using a biological tracer as a label for material identification by introducing a biological tracer having ice nucleating activity into a material, collecting a sample of a portion of the labelled material and analyzing the sample for the presence of the biological tracer. 2 figs.

A tracer experiment to study flow paths of water in a forest soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feyen, H.; Wunderli, H.; Wydler, H.; Papritz, A.

1999-12-01

This contribution discusses a tracer experiment, which was performed to study the flow paths of water in a macroporous forest soil. The experiment was performed in the framework of a study on the cycling of nitrogen in forested Prealpine catchments, in which losses of nitrate from virtually pristine areas were observed. Two soil plots with distinct micro-topography and top-soil were investigated: a well drained mor humus on a mound and a wet muck humus in a small depression. To reveal the effect of the soil horizons on the flow regime, tracers were applied both onto the soil surface and injected into the sub-soil. Tracers injected directly into the gleyic sub-soil reached the outlet (at a distance of 3.3 m) about 1000 times faster than could be expected from the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil matrix. Peak concentrations were observed after 18 (muck humus, tracer recovery 31%) to 70 min (mor humus, tracer recovery 40%). The peak concentration was 10 times smaller on the drier mor humus plot as compared to the muck humus. The mobile water content of the sub-soil varied between 0.5 (muck humus) and 1.3% (mor humus) of the total available soil water. The discrepancy in residence time, peak concentration and volume of mobile water between both sub-soils can be attributed to the differently structured sub-soil (longer travel distance and mixing volume in the drier mor humus). Tracers applied onto the soil surface resulted in a much slower breakthrough (tracer peaks after 400-700 min). Thus, in contrast to the sub-soil, flow through the matrix was the predominating transport process in the upper humus layers of both plots.

An airborne perfluorocarbon tracer system and its first application for a Lagrangian experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Y.; Baumann, R.; Schlager, H.

2015-01-01

A perfluorocarbon tracer system (PERTRAS), specifically designed for Lagrangian aircraft experiments, has been developed by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center, DLR). It consists of three main parts: a tracer release unit (RU), an adsorption tube sampler (ATS), and a tracer analytical system. The RU was designed for airborne tracer release experiments; meanwhile, it can be used on various platforms for different experimental purposes (here research vessel). PERTRAS was for the first time applied in the field campaign Stratospheric ozone: Halogen Impacts in a Varying Atmosphere (SHIVA) in November 2011. An amount of 8.8 kg perfluoromethylcyclopentane (PMCP) was released aboard the research vessel Sonne (RV Sonne) near the operational site of this campaign, Miri, Malaysia, on 21 November. The tracer samples collected using the ATS onboard the DLR research aircraft Falcon were analyzed in the laboratory using a thermal desorber-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) system. Guided by forecasts calculated with the Lagrangian model Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT), 64 tracer samples were collected onboard the Falcon approximately 5 and 25 h after the release, mostly with a time resolution of 1 min. Enhanced PMCP concentrations relative to ambient PMCP background values (mean: 6.62 fmol mol-1) were detected during three intersects of the fresh tracer plume (age 5 h), with a maximum value of 301.33 fmol mol-1. This indicates that the fresh tracer plume was successfully intercepted at the forecast position. During the second flight, 25 h after the release, the center of tracer plume was not detected by the sampling system due to a faster advection of the plume than forecast. The newly developed PERTRAS system has been successfully deployed for the first time. The instrumental setup and comparisons between the measurements and HYSPLIT simulations are presented in this study.

An airborne perfluorocarbon tracer system and its first application for a Lagrangian experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Y.; Baumann, R.; Schlager, H.

2014-07-01

A perfluorocarbon tracer system (PERTRAS), specifically designed for Lagrangian aircraft experiments, has been developed by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center, DLR). It consists of three main parts: a tracer release unit (RU), an adsorption tube sampler (ATS) and a tracer analytical system. The RU was designed for airborne tracer release experiments; meanwhile, it can be used on various platforms for different experimental purpose (here research vessel). PERTRAS was for the first time applied in the field campaign Stratospheric ozone: halogen Impacts in a Varying Atmosphere (SHIVA) in November 2011. An amount of 8.8 kg perfluoromethylcyclopentane (PMCP) was released aboard the research vessel Sonne (RV Sonne) near the operational site of this campaign, Miri, Malaysia, on 21 November. The tracer samples collected using the ATS on board the DLR research aircraft Falcon were analyzed in the laboratory using a thermal desorber/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD/GC/MS) system. Guided by forecasts calculated with the Lagrangian model, Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT), 64 tracer samples were collected onboard the Falcon approximately 5 and 25 h after the release, respectively, mostly with a time resolution of 1 min. Enhanced PMCP concentrations relative to ambient PMCP background values (mean: 6.62 fmol mol-1) were detected during three intersects of the fresh tracer plume (age 5 h), with a maximum value of 301.33 fmol mol-1. This indicates that the fresh tracer plume was successfully intercepted at the forecasted position. During the second flight, 25 h after the release, the center of tracer plume was not detected by the sampling system due to a faster advection of the plume than forecasted. The newly developed PERTRAS system has been successfully deployed for the first time. The instrumental set-up and comparisons between the measurements and HYSPLIT simulations are presented in this study.

THE NEW YORK CITY URBAN DISPERSION PROGRAM MARCH 2005 FIELD STUDY: TRACER METHODS AND RESULTS.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

WATSON, T.B.; HEISER, J.; KALB, P.

The Urban Dispersion Program March 2005 Field Study tracer releases, sampling, and analytical methods are described in detail. There were two days where tracer releases and sampling were conducted. A total of 16.0 g of six tracers were released during the first test day or Intensive Observation Period (IOP) 1 and 15.7 g during IOP 2. Three types of sampling instruments were used in this study. Sequential air samplers, or SAS, collected six-minute samples, while Brookhaven atmospheric tracer samplers (BATS) and personal air samplers (PAS) collected thirty-minute samples. There were a total of 1300 samples resulting from the two IOPs.more » Confidence limits in the sampling and analysis method were 20% as determined from 100 duplicate samples. The sample recovery rate was 84%. The integrally averaged 6-minute samples were compared to the 30-minute samples. The agreement was found to be good in most cases. The validity of using a background tracer to calculate sample volumes was examined and also found to have a confidence level of 20%. Methods for improving sampling and analysis are discussed. The data described in this report are available as Excel files. An additional Excel file of quality assured tracer data for use in model validation efforts is also available. The file consists of extensively quality assured BATS tracer data with background concentrations subtracted.« less

The use of tracers to assess leakage from the sequestration of CO2 in a depleted oil reservoir, New Mexico, USA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wells, A.W.; Diehl, J.R.; Bromhal, G.S.

Geological sequestration of CO2 in depleted oil reservoirs is a potentially useful strategy for greenhouse gas management and can be combined with enhanced oil recovery. Development of methods to estimate CO2 leakage rates is essential to assure that storage objectives are being met at sequestration facilities. Perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) were added as three 12 h slugs at about one week intervals during the injection of 2090 tons of CO2 into the West Pearl Queen (WPQ) depleted oil formation, sequestration pilot study site located in SE New Mexico. The CO2 was injected into the Permian Queen Formation. Leakage was monitored inmore » soil–gas using a matrix of 40 capillary adsorbent tubes (CATs) left in the soil for periods ranging from days to months. The tracers, perfluoro-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane (PDCH), perfluorotrimethylcyclohexane (PTCH) and perfluorodimethylcyclobutane (PDCB), were analyzed using thermal desorption, and gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Monitoring was designed to look for immediate leakage, such as at the injection well bore and at nearby wells, and to develop the technology to estimate overall CO2 leak rates based on the use of PFTs. Tracers were detected in soil–gas at the monitoring sites 50 m from the injection well within days of injection. Tracers continued to escape over the following years. Leakage appears to have emanated from the vicinity of the injection well in a radial pattern to about 100 m and in directional patterns to 300 m. Leakage rates were estimated for the 3 tracers from each of the 4 sets of CATs in place following the start of CO2 injection. Leakage was fairly uniform during this period. As a first approximation, the CO2 leak rate was estimated at about 0.0085% of the total CO2 sequestered per annum.« less

Rapid Multi-Tracer PET Tumor Imaging With F-FDG and Secondary Shorter-Lived Tracers.

PubMed

Black, Noel F; McJames, Scott; Kadrmas, Dan J

2009-10-01

Rapid multi-tracer PET, where two to three PET tracers are rapidly scanned with staggered injections, can recover certain imaging measures for each tracer based on differences in tracer kinetics and decay. We previously showed that single-tracer imaging measures can be recovered to a certain extent from rapid dual-tracer (62)Cu - PTSM (blood flow) + (62)Cu - ATSM (hypoxia) tumor imaging. In this work, the feasibility of rapidly imaging (18)F-FDG plus one or two of these shorter-lived secondary tracers was evaluated in the same tumor model. Dynamic PET imaging was performed in four dogs with pre-existing tumors, and the raw scan data was combined to emulate 60 minute long dual- and triple-tracer scans, using the single-tracer scans as gold standards. The multi-tracer data were processed for static (SUV) and kinetic (K(1), K(net)) endpoints for each tracer, followed by linear regression analysis of multi-tracer versus single-tracer results. Static and quantitative dynamic imaging measures of FDG were both accurately recovered from the multi-tracer scans, closely matching the single-tracer FDG standards (R > 0.99). Quantitative blood flow information, as measured by PTSM K(1) and SUV, was also accurately recovered from the multi-tracer scans (R = 0.97). Recovery of ATSM kinetic parameters proved more difficult, though the ATSM SUV was reasonably well recovered (R = 0.92). We conclude that certain additional information from one to two shorter-lived PET tracers may be measured in a rapid multi-tracer scan alongside FDG without compromising the assessment of glucose metabolism. Such additional and complementary information has the potential to improve tumor characterization in vivo, warranting further investigation of rapid multi-tracer techniques.

Evaluating 10B-enriched Boric Acid, Bromide, and Heat as Tracers of Recycled Groundwater Flow near MAR Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, T.; Clark, J. F.

2012-12-01

Coupled with the unpredictability of a changing climate, the projected growth in human population over the next century requires new and innovative ways to augment already-depleted water supplies. An increasingly popular and promising development is managed aquifer recharge (MAR), a cost-effective method of intentionally storing potable water in groundwater aquifers at engineered sites worldwide. Reclaimed (or recycled) water, defined as cleaned and treated wastewater, will account for a larger portion of MAR water in future years. A crucial component for managing groundwater recharged with reclaimed water is its subsurface travel time. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), with the most recent draft of regulations issued on November 21, 2011, requires the application of groundwater tracers to demonstrate subsurface residence time. Residence time increases the quality of reclaimed water via soil-aquifer treatment (SAT), which includes mechanisms such as sorption, biological degradation, and microbial inactivation to remove potential contaminants or pathogens. This study addresses the need for an appropriate tracer to determine groundwater residence times near MAR facilities. Standard shallow groundwater dating techniques, such as T/3He and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) methods, cannot be used because their uncertainties are typically ± 2 years, longer than the target CDPH retention time of ~6 months. These methods also cannot map preferential flow paths. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), a nonreactive synthetic gas, is well-established as a deliberate tracer for determining subsurface travel time; however, SF6 is a very strong greenhouse gas and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is regulating its emission. Other tracers, such as noble gas isotopes, that have successfully determined subsurface retention times are impractical due to their high cost. A multi-tracer experiment at the San Gabriel Spreading Grounds test basin (Montebello Forebay, Los Angeles

Estimation of bias with the single-zone assumption in measurement of residential air exchange using the perfluorocarbon tracer gas method.

PubMed

Van Ryswyk, K; Wallace, L; Fugler, D; MacNeill, M; Héroux, M È; Gibson, M D; Guernsey, J R; Kindzierski, W; Wheeler, A J

2015-12-01

Residential air exchange rates (AERs) are vital in understanding the temporal and spatial drivers of indoor air quality (IAQ). Several methods to quantify AERs have been used in IAQ research, often with the assumption that the home is a single, well-mixed air zone. Since 2005, Health Canada has conducted IAQ studies across Canada in which AERs were measured using the perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) gas method. Emitters and detectors of a single PFT gas were placed on the main floor to estimate a single-zone AER (AER(1z)). In three of these studies, a second set of emitters and detectors were deployed in the basement or second floor in approximately 10% of homes for a two-zone AER estimate (AER(2z)). In total, 287 daily pairs of AER(2z) and AER(1z) estimates were made from 35 homes across three cities. In 87% of the cases, AER(2z) was higher than AER(1z). Overall, the AER(1z) estimates underestimated AER(2z) by approximately 16% (IQR: 5-32%). This underestimate occurred in all cities and seasons and varied in magnitude seasonally, between homes, and daily, indicating that when measuring residential air exchange using a single PFT gas, the assumption of a single well-mixed air zone very likely results in an under prediction of the AER. The results of this study suggest that the long-standing assumption that a home represents a single well-mixed air zone may result in a substantial negative bias in air exchange estimates. Indoor air quality professionals should take this finding into consideration when developing study designs or making decisions related to the recommendation and installation of residential ventilation systems. © 2014 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Indoor Air published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Health Canada.

The Inherent Tracer Fingerprint of Captured CO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flude, Stephanie; Gyore, Domokos; Stuart, Finlay; Boyce, Adrian; Haszeldine, Stuart; Chalaturnyk, Rick; Gilfillan, Stuart

2017-04-01

Inherent tracers, the isotopic and trace gas composition of captured CO2 streams, are potentially powerful tracers for use in CCS technology [1,2]. Despite this potential, the inherent tracer fingerprint in captured CO2 streams has yet to be robustly investigated and documented [3]. Here, we will present the first high quality systematic measurements of the carbon and oxygen isotopic and noble gas fingerprints measured in anthropogenic CO2 captured from combustion power stations and fertiliser plants, using amine capture, oxyfuel and gasification processes, and derived from coal, biomass and natural gas feedstocks. We will show that δ13C values are mostly controlled by the feedstock composition, as expected. The majority of the CO2 samples exhibit δ18O values similar to atmospheric O2 although captured CO2 samples from biomass and gas feedstocks at one location in the UK are significantly higher. Our measured noble gas concentrations in captured CO2 are generally as expected [2], typically being two orders of magnitude lower in concentration than in atmospheric air. Relative noble gas elemental abundances are variable and often show an opposite trend to that of a water in contact with the atmosphere. Expected enrichments in radiogenic noble gases (4He and 40Ar) for fossil fuel derived CO2 were not always observed due to dilution with atmospheric noble gases during the CO2 generation and capture process. Many noble gas isotope ratios indicate that isotopic fractionation takes place during the CO2 generation and capture processes, resulting in isotope ratios similar to fractionated air. We conclude that phase changes associated with CO2 transport and sampling may induce noble gas elemental and isotopic fractionation, due to different noble gas solubilities between high (liquid or supercritical) and low (gaseous) density CO2. Data from the Australian CO2CRC Otway test site show that δ13C of CO2 will change once injected into the storage reservoir, but that this

Tracking the fate of nitrate through pulse-flow wetlands: A mesocosm scale 15N enrichment tracer study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Messer, Tiffany L.; Burchell, Michael R.; Böhlke, John Karl; Tobias, Craig R.

2017-01-01

Quantitative information about the fate of applied nitrate (NO3-N) in pulse-flow constructed wetlands is essential for designing wetland treatment systems and assessing their nitrogen removal services for agricultural and stormwater applications. Although many studies have documented NO3-N losses in wetlands, controlled experiments indicating the relative importance of different processes and N sinks are scarce. In the current study, 15NO3-N isotope enrichment tracer experiments were conducted in wetland mesocosms of two different wetland soil types at two realistic agricultural NO3-N source loads. The 15N label was traced from the source NO3-N into plant biomass, soil (including organic matter and ammonium), and N-gas constituents over 7–10 day study periods. All sinks responded positively to higher NO3-N loading. Plant uptake exceeded denitrification 2–3 fold in the low NO3-N loading experiments, while both fates were nearly equivalent in the high loading experiments. One to two years later, soils largely retained the assimilated tracer N, whereas plants had lost much of it. Results demonstrated that plant and microbial assimilation in the soil (temporary N sinks) can exceed denitrification (permanent N loss) in pulse-flow environments and must be considered by wetland designers and managers for optimizing nitrogen removal potential.

Preliminary Results from Downhole Osmotic Samplers in a Gas Tracer Injection Experiment in the Upper Oceanic Crust on the Eastern Flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jong, M. T.; Clark, J. F.; Neira, N. M.; Fisher, A. T.; Wheat, C. G.

2015-12-01

We present results from a gas tracer injection experiment in the ocean crust on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, in an area of hydrothermal circulation. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer was injected in Hole 1362B in 2010, during IODP Expedition 327. Fluid samples were subsequently collected from a borehole observatory (CORK) installed in this hole and similar CORKs in three additional holes (1026B, 1362A, and 1301A), located 300 to 500 m away. This array of holes is located on 3.5 My old seafloor, as an array oriented subparallel to the Endeavor Segment of Juan de Fuca Ridge. Borehole fluid samples were collected in copper coils using osmotic pumps. In addition to pumps at seafloor wellheads, downhole sampling pumps were installed in the perforated casing in the upper ocean crust. These downhole samplers were intended to produce a high-resolution continuous record of tracer concentrations, including records from the first year after tracer injection in Holes 1362A and 1362B. In contrast, wellhead samplers were not installed on these CORKs holes until 2011, and wellhead records from all CORKs have a record gap of up to one year, because of a delayed expedition in 2012. The downhole samples were recovered with the submersible Alvin in August 2014. SF6 concentrations in downhole samples recovered in 2014 are generally consistent with data obtained from wellhead samples. Of particular interest are the results from Hole 1362B, where a seafloor valve was opened and closed during various recovery expeditions. High resolution tracer curves produced from the 1362B downhole samples confirm that these operations produced an SF6 breakthrough curve corresponding to a classic push-pull test used to evaluate contaminant field locations in terrestrial setting. Complete analyses of downhole samples from these CORKs are expected to produce high-resolution breakthrough curves that will allow more precise analysis and modeling of hydrothermal flow in the study area.

Gas-phase naphthalene concentration data recovery in ambient air and its relevance as a tracer of sources of volatile organic compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uria-Tellaetxe, Iratxe; Navazo, Marino; de Blas, Maite; Durana, Nieves; Alonso, Lucio; Iza, Jon

2016-04-01

Despite the toxicity of naphthalene and the fact that it is a precursor of atmospheric photooxidants and secondary aerosol, studies on ambient gas-phase naphthalene are generally scarce. Moreover, as far as we are concerned, this is the first published one using long-term hourly ambient gas-phase naphthalene concentrations. In this work, it has been also demonstrated the usefulness of ambient gas-phase naphthalene to identify major sources of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in complex scenarios. Initially, in order to identify main benzene emission sources, hourly ambient measurements of 60 VOC were taken during a complete year together with meteorological data in an urban/industrial area. Later, due to the observed co-linearity of some of the emissions, a procedure was developed to recover naphthalene concentration data from recorded chromatograms to use it as a tracer of the combustion and distillation of petroleum products. The characteristic retention time of this compound was determined comparing previous GC-MS and GC-FID simultaneous analysis by means of relative retention times, and its concentration was calculated by using relative response factors. The obtained naphthalene concentrations correlated fairly well with ethene (r = 0.86) and benzene (r = 0.92). Besides, the analysis of daily time series showed that these compounds followed a similar pattern, very different from that of other VOC, with minimum concentrations at day-time. This, together with the results from the assessment of the meteorological dependence pointed out a coke oven as the major naphthalene and benzene emitting sources in the study area.

Identification of fentanyl metabolites in rat urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with stable-isotope tracers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goromaru, T.; Matsuura, H.; Furuta, T.

The metabolites of fentanyl (l), which has been widely used as a neuroleptic analgesic agent, were identified in urine of rats by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry combined with a stable-isotope tracer technique. After the oral administration of an equimolar mixture of l and deuterium-labeled l (l/l-d5), the urinary metabolites were extracted with chloroform at pH 9.0. Extracts were derivatized and analyzed by GC/MS. Metabolites were identified by the presence of doublet ion peaks separated by 5 amu, and chemical structures were established from analyses of fragmentation pathways. The metabolites were identified as 4-N-(N-propionylanilino)-piperidine, 4-N-(N-hydroxypropionylanilino)piperidine, 4-N-(N-propionylanilino) hydroxypiperidine, 1-(2-phenethyl)-4-N-(N-hydroxypropionylanilino)piperidine and 1-(2-phenethyl)-4-N-(N-propionylanilino)hydroxypiperidine. These metabolites,more » together with unchanged l, were also detected in urine of rats receiving l/l-d5 intravenously, by selected-ion monitoring of the specific cluster ions.« less

Statistically Based Morphodynamic Modeling of Tracer Slowdown

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borhani, S.; Ghasemi, A.; Hill, K. M.; Viparelli, E.

2017-12-01

Tracer particles are used to study bedload transport in gravel-bed rivers. One of the advantages associated with using of tracer particles is that they allow for direct measures of the entrainment rates and their size distributions. The main issue in large scale studies with tracer particles is the difference between tracer stone short term and long term behavior. This difference is due to the fact that particles undergo vertical mixing or move to less active locations such as bars or even floodplains. For these reasons the average virtual velocity of tracer particle decreases in time, i.e. the tracer slowdown. In summary, tracer slowdown can have a significant impact on the estimation of bedload transport rate or long term dispersal of contaminated sediment. The vast majority of the morphodynamic models that account for the non-uniformity of the bed material (tracer and not tracer, in this case) are based on a discrete description of the alluvial deposit. The deposit is divided in two different regions; the active layer and the substrate. The active layer is a thin layer in the topmost part of the deposit whose particles can interact with the bed material transport. The substrate is the part of the deposit below the active layer. Due to the discrete representation of the alluvial deposit, active layer models are not able to reproduce tracer slowdown. In this study we try to model the slowdown of tracer particles with the continuous Parker-Paola-Leclair morphodynamic framework. This continuous, i.e. not layer-based, framework is based on a stochastic description of the temporal variation of bed surface elevation, and of the elevation specific particle entrainment and deposition. Particle entrainment rates are computed as a function of the flow and sediment characteristics, while particle deposition is estimated with a step length formulation. Here we present one of the first implementation of the continuum framework at laboratory scale, its validation against

Aligning Higher Education to Workforce Needs in Liberia: A Tracer Study of University Graduates in Liberia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flomo, John S., Jr.

2013-01-01

This study investigated the congruence between higher education and the labor market from the perspectives of college graduates in Liberia. It specifically examined the alignment of the skills college students acquire in college to Liberia's labor market. The study employed a Tracer Study quantitative research methodology. Tracer study as a…

Rapid Multi-Tracer PET Tumor Imaging With 18F-FDG and Secondary Shorter-Lived Tracers

PubMed Central

Black, Noel F.; McJames, Scott; Kadrmas, Dan J.

2009-01-01

Rapid multi-tracer PET, where two to three PET tracers are rapidly scanned with staggered injections, can recover certain imaging measures for each tracer based on differences in tracer kinetics and decay. We previously showed that single-tracer imaging measures can be recovered to a certain extent from rapid dual-tracer 62Cu – PTSM (blood flow) + 62Cu — ATSM (hypoxia) tumor imaging. In this work, the feasibility of rapidly imaging 18F-FDG plus one or two of these shorter-lived secondary tracers was evaluated in the same tumor model. Dynamic PET imaging was performed in four dogs with pre-existing tumors, and the raw scan data was combined to emulate 60 minute long dual- and triple-tracer scans, using the single-tracer scans as gold standards. The multi-tracer data were processed for static (SUV) and kinetic (K1, Knet) endpoints for each tracer, followed by linear regression analysis of multi-tracer versus single-tracer results. Static and quantitative dynamic imaging measures of FDG were both accurately recovered from the multi-tracer scans, closely matching the single-tracer FDG standards (R > 0.99). Quantitative blood flow information, as measured by PTSM K1 and SUV, was also accurately recovered from the multi-tracer scans (R = 0.97). Recovery of ATSM kinetic parameters proved more difficult, though the ATSM SUV was reasonably well recovered (R = 0.92). We conclude that certain additional information from one to two shorter-lived PET tracers may be measured in a rapid multi-tracer scan alongside FDG without compromising the assessment of glucose metabolism. Such additional and complementary information has the potential to improve tumor characterization in vivo, warranting further investigation of rapid multi-tracer techniques. PMID:20046800

Tracer-based quantification of individual frac discharge in single-well multiple-frac backflow: sensitivity study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghergut, Julia; Behrens, Horst; Sauter, Martin

2014-05-01

Within the deep-geothermal research project at GroßSchönebeck in the NE German Basin, targeting volcanic rocks (Lower Rotliegend) and siliciclastics (Upper Rotliegend) in the Lower Permian by means of a well doublet with several screening intervals between 3815 and 4247 m b.s.l., several artificial fractures with different geometric and hydraulic characteristics were created at each well, aiming to increase reservoir performance [1], [2]. It could not be told a priori which of the various fracturing treatments was to prove as most promising in terms of future reservoir productivity. At the intended-production well (GS-4), one large-area waterfrac was created in the low-permeability volcanic rocks, and two gel-proppant fractures in selected sandstone layers. Each fracturing treatment was accompanied by the injection of a water-dissolved tracer slug, followed by a defined volume of tracer-free ('chaser') fluid [3]. Each frac received a different species of a sulfonated aromatic acid salt, as a conservative water tracer. During subsequent backflow tests (either gas-based lifting, or production by means of a downhole submersible pump), each frac can contribute a certain (more or less constant) amount to the measured total discharge (also depending on whether and when each frac 'starts' contributing, and which effective aperture and area it actually 'manifests' during the process). Since these individual-frac discharge amounts cannot be measured directly, it was endeavoured to indirectly determine ('resolve') them from tracer signals as detectable in the overall backflow discharge. Therefore, we need to examine how these tracer signals depend on local discharge values and on local hydrogeologic parameters (matrix porosity, permeability distribution; frac transmissivity, thickness, effective area and aperture), and to what extent hydrogeological uncertainty will impede the inversion of local discharge values. To this end, a parameter sensitivity study was conducted on

A Tracer Study of Lebanese Upper Secondary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vlaardingerbroek, Barend; Dallal, Kamel; Rizkallah, George; Rabah, Jihan

2007-01-01

This paper presents data arising from a tracer study of 90 terminating Beirut upper secondary school students. Nearly all the students intended to transit to university, about half of them to science and technology programmes, and subsequently did so. Median anticipated earnings upon graduation were realistic, but a lack of information or guidance…

The Connection between Different Tracers of the Diffuse Interstellar Medium: Kinematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, Johnathan S.; Federman, S. R.; Flagey, Nicolas; Goldsmith, Paul F.; Langer, William D.; Pineda, Jorge L.; Lambert, D. L.

2018-05-01

Using visible, radio, microwave, and submillimeter data, we study several lines of sight toward stars generally closer than 1 kpc on a component-by-component basis. We derive the component structure seen in absorption at visible wavelengths from Ca II, Ca I, K I, CH, CH+, and CN and compare it to emission from H I, CO and its isotopologues, and C+ from the GOT C+ survey. The correspondence between components in emission and absorption helps create a more unified picture of diffuse atomic and molecular gas in the interstellar medium. We also discuss how these tracers are related to the CO-dark H2 gas probed by C+ emission and discuss the kinematic connections among the species observed.

Subsurface dynamics of reactive and inert gases in the context of noble gases as environmental tracers in groundwater hydrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayer, Simon; Jenner, Florian; Aeschbach, Werner

2017-04-01

Applications of inert gases in groundwater hydrology require a profound understanding of underlying biogeochemical processes. Some of these processes are, however, not well understood and therefore require further investigation. This is the first study simultaneously investigating soil air and groundwater in the context of noble gas tracer applications, accounting for seasonal effects in different climate regions. The sampled data confirm a general reliability of common assumptions proposed in the literature. In particular, a solubility-controlled description of excess air formation and of groundwater degassing can be confirmed. This study identifies certain effects which need to be taken into account to reliably evaluate noble gas patterns. First, long-term samplings suggest a permanent temperature-driven equilibration of shallow groundwater with entrapped air bubbles, even some years after recharge. Second, minor groundwater degassing is found to challenge existing excess air model approaches, depending on the amount and the fractionation of excess air. Third, soil air composition data of this study imply a potential bias of noble gas temperatures by up to about 2℃ due to microbial oxygen depletion and a reduced sum value of O2+CO2. This effect causes systematically lower noble gas temperatures in tropical groundwater samples and in shallow mid-latitude groundwater samples after strong recharge during the warm season. However, a general bias of noble gas temperatures in mid-latitudes is probably prevented by a predominant recharge during the cold season, accompanied by nearly atmospheric noble gas mixing ratios in the soil air. Findings of this study provide a remarkable contribution to the reliability of noble gas tracer applications in hydrology, in particular with regard to paleoclimate reconstructions and an understanding of subsurface gas dynamics.

High-Resolution Simulations of Gas-Solids Jet Penetration Into a High Density Riser Flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Tingwen

2011-05-01

High-resolution simulations of a gas-solids jet in a 0.3 m diameter and 15.9 m tall circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser were conducted with the open source software-MFIX. In the numerical simulations, both gas and solids injected through a 1.6 cm diameter radial-directed tube 4.3 m above the bottom distributor were tracked as tracers, which enable the analysis of the characteristics of a two-phase jet. Two jetting gas velocities of 16.6 and 37.2 m/s were studied with the other operating conditions fixed. Reasonable flow hydrodynamics with respect to overall pressure drop, voidage, and solids velocity distributions were predicted. Due to themore » different dynamic responses of gas and particles to the crossflow, a significant separation of gas and solids within the jet region was predicted for both cases. In addition, the jet characteristics based on tracer concentration and tracer mass fraction profiles at different downstream levels are discussed. Overall, the numerical predictions compare favorably to the experimental measurements made at NETL.« less

Discovery of Phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) PET Tracer AMG 580 to Support Clinical Studies.

PubMed

Hu, Essa; Chen, Ning; Kunz, Roxanne K; Hwang, Dah-Ren; Michelsen, Klaus; Davis, Carl; Ma, Ji; Shi, Jianxia; Lester-Zeiner, Dianna; Hungate, Randall; Treanor, James; Chen, Hang; Allen, Jennifer R

2016-07-14

We report the discovery of PDE10A PET tracer AMG 580 developed to support proof of concept studies with PDE10A inhibitors in the clinic. To find a tracer with higher binding potential (BPND) in NHP than our previously reported tracer 1, we implemented a surface plasmon resonance assay to measure the binding off-rate to identify candidates with slower washout rate in vivo. Five candidates (2-6) from two structurally distinct scaffolds were identified that possessed both the in vitro characteristics that would favor central penetration and the structural features necessary for PET isotope radiolabeling. Two cinnolines (2, 3) and one keto-benzimidazole (5) exhibited PDE10A target specificity and brain uptake comparable to or better than 1 in the in vivo LC-MS/MS kinetics distribution study in SD rats. In NHP PET imaging study, [(18)F]-5 produced a significantly improved BPND of 3.1 and was nominated as PDE10A PET tracer clinical candidate for further studies.

Quantification of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from various waste treatment facilities by tracer dilution method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mønster, Jacob; Rella, Chris; Jacobson, Gloria; Kjeldsen, Peter; Scheutz, Charlotte

2013-04-01

tracer gas concentrations while another measured the nitrous oxide concentration. We present the performance of these instruments at different waste treatment facilities (waste water treatment plants, composting facilities, sludge mineralization beds, anaerobic digesters and landfills) in Denmark, and discuss the strengths and limitations of the method of the method for quantifying methane and nitrous oxide emissions from the different sources. Furthermore, we have measured the methane emissions from 10 landfills with emission rates ranging from 5 to 135 kg/h depending on the age, state, content and aftercare of the landfill. In addition, we have studied 3 waste water treatment plants, and found nitrous oxide emission of 200 to 700 g/h from the aeration tanks and a total methane emission ranging from 2 to 15 kg/h, with the primary emission coming from the sludge treatment. References Galle, B., Samuelsson, J., Svensson, B.H., and Börjesson, G. (2001). Measurements of methane emissions from landfills using a time correlation tracer method based on FTIR absorption spectroscopy. Environmental Science & Technology 35 (1), 21-25 Scheutz, C., Samuelsson, J., Fredenslund, A. M., and Kjeldsen, P. (2011). Quantification of multiple methane emission sources at landfills using a double tracer technique. Waste Management, 31(5), 1009-17 Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, R.B. Alley, T. Berntsen, N.L. Bindoff, Z. Chen, A. Chidthaisong, J.M. Gregory, G.C. Hegerl, M. Heimann, B. Hewitson, B.J. Hoskins, F. Joos, J. Jouzel, V. Kattsov, U. Lohmann, T.Matsuno, M. Molina, N. Nicholls, J.Overpeck, G. Raga, V. Ramaswamy, J. Ren, M. Rusticucci, R. Somerville, T.F. Stocker, P. Whetton, R.A.Wood and D. Wratt, 2007: Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

Non-input analysis for incomplete trapping irreversible tracer with PET.

PubMed

Ohya, Tomoyuki; Kikuchi, Tatsuya; Fukumura, Toshimitsu; Zhang, Ming-Rong; Irie, Toshiaki

2013-07-01

When using metabolic trapping type tracers, the tracers are not always trapped in the target tissue; i.e., some are completely trapped in the target, but others can be eliminated from the target tissue at a measurable rate. The tracers that can be eliminated are termed 'incomplete trapping irreversible tracers'. These incomplete trapping irreversible tracers may be clinically useful when the tracer β-value, the ratio of the tracer (metabolite) elimination rate to the tracer efflux rate, is under approximately 0.1. In this study, we propose a non-input analysis for incomplete trapping irreversible tracers based on the shape analysis (Shape), a non-input analysis used for irreversible tracers. A Monte Carlo simulation study based on experimental monkey data with two actual PET tracers (a complete trapping irreversible tracer [(11)C]MP4A and an incomplete trapping irreversible tracer [(18)F]FEP-4MA) was performed to examine the effects of the environmental error and the tracer elimination rate on the estimation of the k3-parameter (corresponds to metabolic rate) using Shape (original) and modified Shape (M-Shape) analysis. The simulation results were also compared with the experimental results obtained with the two PET tracers. When the tracer β-value was over 0.03, the M-Shape method was superior to the Shape method for the estimation of the k3-parameter. The simulation results were also in reasonable agreement with the experimental ones. M-Shape can be used as the non-input analysis of incomplete trapping irreversible tracers for PET study. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Uncertainties in Air Exchange using Continuous-Injection, Long-Term Sampling Tracer-Gas Methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sherman, Max H.; Walker, Iain S.; Lunden, Melissa M.

2013-12-01

The PerFluorocarbon Tracer (PFT) method is a low-cost approach commonly used for measuring air exchange in buildings using tracer gases. It is a specific application of the more general Continuous-Injection, Long-Term Sampling (CILTS) method. The technique is widely used but there has been little work on understanding the uncertainties (both precision and bias) associated with its use, particularly given that it is typically deployed by untrained or lightly trained people to minimize experimental costs. In this article we will conduct a first-principles error analysis to estimate the uncertainties and then compare that analysis to CILTS measurements that were over-sampled, throughmore » the use of multiple tracers and emitter and sampler distribution patterns, in three houses. We find that the CILTS method can have an overall uncertainty of 10-15percent in ideal circumstances, but that even in highly controlled field experiments done by trained experimenters expected uncertainties are about 20percent. In addition, there are many field conditions (such as open windows) where CILTS is not likely to provide any quantitative data. Even avoiding the worst situations of assumption violations CILTS should be considered as having a something like a ?factor of two? uncertainty for the broad field trials that it is typically used in. We provide guidance on how to deploy CILTS and design the experiment to minimize uncertainties.« less

Radio-tracer techniques for the study of flow in saturated porous materials

USGS Publications Warehouse

Skibitzke, H.E.; Chapman, H.T.; Robinson, G.M.; McCullough, Richard A.

1961-01-01

An experiment was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey to determine the feasibility of using a radioactive substance as a tracer in the study of microscopic flow in a saturated porous solid. A radioactive tracer was chosen in preference to dye or other chemical in order to eliminate effects of the tracer itself on the flow system such as those relating to density, viscosity and surface tension. The porous solid was artificial "sandstone" composed of uniform fine grains of sand bonded together with an epoxy adhesive. The sides of the block thus made were sealed with an epoxy coating compound to insure water-tightness. Because of the chemical inertness of the block it was possible to use radioactive phosphorus (P32). Ion-exchange equilibrium was created between the block and nonradioactive phosphoric acid. Then a tracer tagged with P32 was injected into the block in the desired geometric configuration, in this case, a line source. After equilibrium in isotopic exchange was reached between the block and the line source, the block was rinsed, drained and sawn into slices. It was found that a quantitative analysis of the flow system may be made by assaying the dissected block. ?? 1961.

Determination of the Isotopic Enrichment of 13C- and 2H-Labeled Tracers of Glucose Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry: Application to Dual- and Triple-Tracer Studies.

PubMed

Trötzmüller, Martin; Triebl, Alexander; Ajsic, Amra; Hartler, Jürgen; Köfeler, Harald; Regittnig, Werner

2017-11-21

Multiple-tracer approaches for investigating glucose metabolism in humans usually involve the administration of stable and radioactive glucose tracers and the subsequent determination of tracer enrichments in sampled blood. When using conventional, low-resolution mass spectrometry (LRMS), the number of spectral interferences rises rapidly with the number of stable tracers employed. Thus, in LRMS, both computational effort and statistical uncertainties associated with the correction for spectral interferences limit the number of stable tracers that can be simultaneously employed (usually two). Here we show that these limitations can be overcome by applying high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The HRMS method presented is based on the use of an Orbitrap mass spectrometer operated at a mass resolution of 100 000 to allow electrospray-generated ions of the deprotonated glucose molecules to be monitored at their exact masses. The tracer enrichment determination in blood plasma is demonstrated for several triple combinations of 13 C- and 2 H-labeled glucose tracers (e.g., [1- 2 H 1 ]-, [6,6- 2 H 2 ]-, [1,6- 13 C 2 ]glucose). For each combination it is shown that ions arising from 2 H-labeled tracers are completely differentiated from those arising from 13 C-labeled tracers, thereby allowing the enrichment of a tracer to be simply calculated from the observed ion intensities using a standard curve with curve parameters unaffected by the presence of other tracers. For each tracer, the HRMS method exhibits low limits of detection and good repeatability in the tested 0.1-15.0% enrichment range. Additionally, due to short sample preparation and analysis times, the method is well-suited for high-throughput determination of multiple glucose tracer enrichments in plasma samples.

The Reanalysis for Stratospheric Trace-gas Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pawson, Steven; Li, Shuhua

2002-01-01

In order to re-examine trace gas transport in the middle atmosphere for the period May 1991 until April 1995, a "reanalysis" is being performed using an up-to-date version of the DAO's "GEOS" assimilation system. The Reanalysis for Stratospheric Trace-gas Studies (ReSTS) is intended to provide state-of-the-art estimates of the atmosphere during a period when the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite provided a high density of trace-gas observations, and when the aerosol loading from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo contaminated the lower stratosphere, at the same time performing a natural tracer transport experiment. This study will present the first results from ReSTS, focussing on the improvements over the meteorological analyses produced by the then-operational GEOS-1 data assimilation system; emphasis will be placed on the improved representations of physical processes between GEOS-1 and the current GEOS-4 systems, highlighting the transport properties of the datasets. Alongside the production of a comprehensive atmospheric dataset, important components of ReSTS include performing sensitivity studies to the formulation of the assimilation system (including the representation of physical processes in the GCM, such as feedbacks between ozone/aerosols and meteorology) and to the inclusion of additional data types (including limb-sounding temperature data alongside the TOVS observations). Impacts of some of these factors on the analyzed meteorology and transport will be discussed. Of particular interest are attempts to determine the relative importance of various steps in the assimilation process to the quality of the final analyses.

Identification and characterization of conservative organic tracers for use as hydrologic tracers for the Yucca Mountain site characterization study. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stetzenbach, K.; Farnham, I.

1996-06-01

Extensive tracer testing is expected to take place at the C-well complex in the Nevada Test Site as part of the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project. The C-well complex consists of one pumping well, C3, and two injection wells, C1 and C2 into which tracer will be introduced. The goal of this research was to provide USGS with numerous tracers to completed these tests. Several classes of fluorinated organic acids have been evaluated. These include numerous isomers of fluorinated benzoic acids, cinnamic acids, and salicylic acids. Also several derivatives of 2-hydroxy nicotinic acid (pyridone) have been tested. The stability ofmore » these compounds was determined using batch and column tests. Ames testing (mutagenicity/carcinogenicity) was conducted on the fluorinated benzoic acids and a literature review of toxicity of the fluorobenzoates and three perfluoro aliphatic acids was prepared. Solubilities were measured and method development work was performed to optimize the detection of these compounds. A Quality Assurance (QA) Program was developed under existing DOE and USGS guidelines. The program includes QA procedures and technical standard operating procedures. A tracer test, using sodium iodide, was performed at the C-well complex. HRC chemists performed analyses on site, to provide real time data for the USGS hydrologists and in the laboratories at UNLV. Over 2,500 analyses were performed. This report provides the results of the laboratory experiments and literature reviews used to evaluate the potential tracers and reports on the results of the iodide C-well tracer test.« less

Integrating Source Apportionment Tracers into a Bottom-up Inventory of Methane Emissions in the Barnett Shale Hydraulic Fracturing Region.

PubMed

Townsend-Small, Amy; Marrero, Josette E; Lyon, David R; Simpson, Isobel J; Meinardi, Simone; Blake, Donald R

2015-07-07

A growing dependence on natural gas for energy may exacerbate emissions of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4). Identifying fingerprints of these emissions is critical to our understanding of potential impacts. Here, we compare stable isotopic and alkane ratio tracers of natural gas, agricultural, and urban CH4 sources in the Barnett Shale hydraulic fracturing region near Fort Worth, Texas. Thermogenic and biogenic sources were compositionally distinct, and emissions from oil wells were enriched in alkanes and isotopically depleted relative to natural gas wells. Emissions from natural gas production varied in δ(13)C and alkane ratio composition, with δD-CH4 representing the most consistent tracer of natural gas sources. We integrated our data into a bottom-up inventory of CH4 for the region, resulting in an inventory of ethane (C2H6) sources for comparison to top-down estimates of CH4 and C2H6 emissions. Methane emissions in the Barnett are a complex mixture of urban, agricultural, and fossil fuel sources, which makes source apportionment challenging. For example, spatial heterogeneity in gas composition and high C2H6/CH4 ratios in emissions from conventional oil production add uncertainty to top-down models of source apportionment. Future top-down studies may benefit from the addition of δD-CH4 to distinguish thermogenic and biogenic sources.

Time series measurements of transient tracers and tracer-derived transport in the Deep Western Boundary Current between the Labrador Sea and the subtropical Atlantic Ocean at Line W

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, John N.; Smethie, William M.; Yashayev, Igor; Curry, Ruth; Azetsu-Scott, Kumiko

2016-11-01

Time series measurements of the nuclear fuel reprocessing tracer 129I and the gas ventilation tracer CFC-11 were undertaken on the AR7W section in the Labrador Sea (1997-2014) and on Line W (2004-2014), located over the US continental slope off Cape Cod, to determine advection and mixing time scales for the transport of Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) within the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC). Tracer measurements were also conducted in 2010 over the continental rise southeast of Bermuda to intercept the equatorward flow of DSOW by interior pathways. The Labrador Sea tracer and hydrographic time series data were used as input functions in a boundary current model that employs transit time distributions to simulate the effects of mixing and advection on downstream tracer distributions. Model simulations of tracer levels in the boundary current core and adjacent interior (shoulder) region with which mixing occurs were compared with the Line W time series measurements to determine boundary current model parameters. These results indicate that DSOW is transported from the Labrador Sea to Line W via the DWBC on a time scale of 5-6 years corresponding to a mean flow velocity of 2.7 cm/s while mixing between the core and interior regions occurs with a time constant of 2.6 years. A tracer section over the southern flank of the Bermuda rise indicates that the flow of DSOW that separated from the DWBC had undergone transport through interior pathways on a time scale of 9 years with a mixing time constant of 4 years.

Single-scan dual-tracer FLT+FDG PET tumor characterization.

PubMed

Kadrmas, Dan J; Rust, Thomas C; Hoffman, John M

2013-02-07

Rapid multi-tracer PET aims to image two or more tracers in a single scan, simultaneously characterizing multiple aspects of physiology and function without the need for repeat imaging visits. Using dynamic imaging with staggered injections, constraints on the kinetic behavior of each tracer are applied to recover individual-tracer measures from the multi-tracer PET signal. The ability to rapidly and reliably image both (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and (18)F-fluorothymidine (FLT) would provide complementary measures of tumor metabolism and proliferative activity, with important applications in guiding oncologic treatment decisions and assessing response. However, this tracer combination presents one of the most challenging dual-tracer signal-separation problems--both tracers have the same radioactive half-life, and the injection delay is short relative to the half-life and tracer kinetics. This work investigates techniques for single-scan dual-tracer FLT+FDG PET tumor imaging, characterizing the performance of recovering static and dynamic imaging measures for each tracer from dual-tracer datasets. Simulation studies were performed to characterize dual-tracer signal-separation performance for imaging protocols with both injection orders and injection delays of 10-60 min. Better performance was observed when FLT was administered first, and longer delays before administration of FDG provided more robust signal-separation and recovery of the single-tracer imaging measures. An injection delay of 30 min led to good recovery (R > 0.96) of static image values (e.g. SUV), K(net), and K(1) as compared to values from separate, single-tracer time-activity curves. Recovery of higher order rate parameters (k(2), k(3)) was less robust, indicating that information regarding these parameters was harder to recover in the presence of statistical noise and dual-tracer effects. Performance of the dual-tracer FLT(0 min)+FDG(32 min) technique was further evaluated using PET/CT imaging

Single-scan dual-tracer FLT+FDG PET tumor characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadrmas, Dan J.; Rust, Thomas C.; Hoffman, John M.

2013-02-01

Rapid multi-tracer PET aims to image two or more tracers in a single scan, simultaneously characterizing multiple aspects of physiology and function without the need for repeat imaging visits. Using dynamic imaging with staggered injections, constraints on the kinetic behavior of each tracer are applied to recover individual-tracer measures from the multi-tracer PET signal. The ability to rapidly and reliably image both 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and 18F-fluorothymidine (FLT) would provide complementary measures of tumor metabolism and proliferative activity, with important applications in guiding oncologic treatment decisions and assessing response. However, this tracer combination presents one of the most challenging dual-tracer signal-separation problems—both tracers have the same radioactive half-life, and the injection delay is short relative to the half-life and tracer kinetics. This work investigates techniques for single-scan dual-tracer FLT+FDG PET tumor imaging, characterizing the performance of recovering static and dynamic imaging measures for each tracer from dual-tracer datasets. Simulation studies were performed to characterize dual-tracer signal-separation performance for imaging protocols with both injection orders and injection delays of 10-60 min. Better performance was observed when FLT was administered first, and longer delays before administration of FDG provided more robust signal-separation and recovery of the single-tracer imaging measures. An injection delay of 30 min led to good recovery (R > 0.96) of static image values (e.g. SUV), Knet, and K1 as compared to values from separate, single-tracer time-activity curves. Recovery of higher order rate parameters (k2, k3) was less robust, indicating that information regarding these parameters was harder to recover in the presence of statistical noise and dual-tracer effects. Performance of the dual-tracer FLT(0 min)+FDG(32 min) technique was further evaluated using PET/CT imaging studies in

Single-scan dual-tracer FLT+FDG PET tumor characterization

PubMed Central

Kadrmas, Dan J; Rust, Thomas C; Hoffman, John M

2013-01-01

Rapid multi-tracer PET aims to image two or more tracers in a single scan, simultaneously characterizing multiple aspects of physiology and function without the need for repeat imaging visits. Using dynamic imaging with staggered injections, constraints on the kinetic behavior of each tracer are applied to recover individual-tracer measures from the multi-tracer PET signal. The ability to rapidly and reliably image both 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and 18F-fluorothymidine (FLT) would provide complementary measures of tumor metabolism and proliferative activity, with important applications in guiding oncologic treatment decisions and assessing response. However, this tracer combination presents one of the most challenging dual-tracer signal-separation problems—both tracers have the same radioactive half-life, and the injection delay is short relative to the half-life and tracer kinetics. This work investigates techniques for single-scan dual-tracer FLT+FDG PET tumor imaging, characterizing the performance of recovering static and dynamic imaging measures for each tracer from dual-tracer datasets. Simulation studies were performed to characterize dual-tracer signal-separation performance for imaging protocols with both injection orders and injection delays of 10–60 min. Better performance was observed when FLT was administered first, and longer delays before administration of FDG provided more robust signal-separation and recovery of the single-tracer imaging measures. An injection delay of 30 min led to good recovery (R > 0.96) of static image values (e.g. SUV), Knet, and K1 as compared to values from separate, single-tracer time-activity curves. Recovery of higher order rate parameters (k2, k3) was less robust, indicating that information regarding these parameters was harder to recover in the presence of statistical noise and dual-tracer effects. Performance of the dual-tracer FLT(0 min)+FDG(32 min) technique was further evaluated using PET/CT imaging studies

A finite element code for modelling tracer transport in a non-isothermal two-phase flow system for CO2 geological storage characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, F.; Niemi, A. P.; Yang, Z.; Fagerlund, F.; Licha, T.; Sauter, M.

2011-12-01

This paper presents a new finite element method (FEM) code for modeling tracer transport in a non-isothermal two-phase flow system. The main intended application is simulation of the movement of so-called novel tracers for the purpose of characterization of geologically stored CO2 and its phase partitioning and migration in deep saline formations. The governing equations are based on the conservation of mass and energy. Among the phenomena accounted for are liquid-phase flow, gas flow, heat transport and the movement of the novel tracers. The movement of tracers includes diffusion and the advection associated with the gas and liquid flow. The temperature, gas pressure, suction, concentration of tracer in liquid phase and concentration of tracer in gas phase are chosen as the five primary variables. Parameters such as the density, viscosity, thermal expansion coefficient are expressed in terms of the primary variables. The governing equations are discretized in space using the Galerkin finite element formulation, and are discretized in time by one-dimensional finite difference scheme. This leads to an ill-conditioned FEM equation that has many small entries along the diagonal of the non-symmetric coefficient matrix. In order to deal with the problem of non-symmetric ill-conditioned matrix equation, special techniques are introduced . Firstly, only nonzero elements of the matrix need to be stored. Secondly, it is avoided to directly solve the whole large matrix. Thirdly, a strategy has been used to keep the diversity of solution methods in the calculation process. Additionally, an efficient adaptive mesh technique is included in the code in order to track the wetting front. The code has been validated against several classical analytical solutions, and will be applied for simulating the CO2 injection experiment to be carried out at the Heletz site, Israel, as part of the EU FP7 project MUSTANG.

Stratospheric age tracers: re-evaluating old friends and making new ones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leedham Elvidge, Emma; Bönisch, Harald; Engel, Andreas; Fraser, Paul J.; Gallacher, Eileen; Gooch, Lauren; Mühle, Jens; Oram, David E.; Ray, Eric A.; Röckmann, Thomas; Sturges, William T.; Weiss, Ray F.; Laube, Johannes C.

2017-04-01

Stratospheric transport, specifically the mean meridional or Brewer-Dobson circulation, cannot be measured directly, but can be inferred from trace gas distributions. For example, the transit time of air from the troposphere to a given location in the stratosphere is described by the 'age of the air', determined by observations of inert chemical tracers. Ideal tracers should have no stratospheric sources or sinks and should have shown a linear tropospheric trend for at least a decade. Sulphur hexafluoride, SF6, is a very long-lived compound that is often used as an atmospheric transport tracer. Use of SF6 assumes an accurate understanding of its atmospheric lifetime, which is currently estimated to be around 3200 years. However, as SF6 loss mainly occurs in the rarely-sampled mesosphere, loss rates must be determined indirectly. Recent evidence suggests that SF6 loss mechanisms may be underestimated, reducing its atmospheric lifetime. This would complicate the use of SF6 as a tracer of stratospheric transport. In this work we collate data from five stratospheric aircraft and balloon campaigns stretching over 17 years with long-term tropospheric trends from Cape Grim, Tasmania to re-investigate the suitability of this age tracer. At the same time, we assess alternative transport tracers, such as CF4(PFC-14), C2F6 (PFC-116), C3F8 (PFC-218) and CHF3 (HFC-23), HFC-125 and HFC-227ea. Mean ages derived from each tracer are compared, along with an in-depth analysis of the uncertainties involved in these calculations. Key uncertainties associated with calculating the age of air from chemical tracers include: (1) uncertainties in the atmospheric measurements, (2) uncertainties during the processing (namely applying a polynomial fit) of the tropospheric trend for input into the age calculation and (3) uncertainties in the assumptions involved in the age of air calculation. Our results indicate good suitability for some of these gases, in terms of their inertness

Predictive value of tracer studies for /sup 131/I treatment in hyperthyroid cats

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Broome, M.R.; Turrel, J.M.; Hays, M.T.

In 76 cats with hyperthyroidism, peak thyroidal radioiodine (/sup 131/I) uptakes and effective half-lives were determined after administration of tracer and therapeutic activities of /sup 131/I. In 6 additional hyperthyroid cats, only peak thyroidal uptakes after administration of tracer and therapeutic activities of /sup 131/I were determined. Good correlation was found between peak thyroidal uptakes of tracer and therapeutic /sup 131/I; however, only fair correlation was observed between effective half-lives. In 79% of the cats, the effective half-life for therapeutic /sup 131/I was longer than that for tracer /sup 131/I. After administration of therapeutic activity of /sup 131/I, monoexponential andmore » biphasic decay curves were observed in 51 and 16 cats, respectively. Using therapeutic kinetic data, radiation doses to the thyroid gland were calculated retrospectively on the basis of 2 methods for determining the activity of /sup 131/I administered: (1) actual administration of tracer-compensated activity and (2) hypothetic administration of uniform activity (3 mCi). Because of the good predictive ability of tracer kinetic data for the therapeutic kinetic data, the tracer-compensated radiation doses came significantly (P = 0.008) closer to the therapeutic goal than did the uniform-activity doses. In addition, the use of tracer kinetic information reduced the extent of the tendency for consistently high uniform-activity doses. A manual method for acquiring tracer kinetic data was developed and was an acceptable alternative to computerized techniques. Adoption of this method gives individuals and institutions with limited finances the opportunity to characterize the iodine kinetics in cats before proceeding with administration of therapeutic activities of /sup 131/I.« less

Tracer Gas Transport under Mixed Convection Conditions in anExperimental Atrium: Comparison Between Experiments and CFDPredictions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jayaraman, Buvaneswari; Finlayson, Elizabeth U.; Sohn, MichaelD.

We compare computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions using a steady-state Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model with experimental data on airflow and pollutant dispersion under mixed-convection conditions in a 7 x 9 x 11m high experimental facility. The Rayleigh number, based on height, was O(10{sup 11}) and the atrium was mechanically ventilated. We released tracer gas in the atrium and measured the spatial distribution of concentrations; we then modeled the experiment using four different levels of modeling detail. The four computational models differ in the choice of temperature boundary conditions and the choice of turbulence model. Predictions from a low-Reynolds-number k-{var_epsilon}more » model with detailed boundary conditions agreed well with the data using three different model-measurement comparison metrics. Results from the same model with a single temperature prescribed for each wall also agreed well with the data. Predictions of a standard k-{var_epsilon} model were about the same as those of an isothermal model; neither performed well. Implications of the results for practical applications are discussed.« less

Isotope pattern deconvolution as rising tool for isotope tracer studies in environmental research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irrgeher, Johanna; Zitek, Andreas; Prohaska, Thomas

2014-05-01

During the last decade stable isotope tracers have emerged as versatile tool in ecological research. Besides 'intrinsic' isotope tracers caused by the natural variation of isotopes, the intentional introduction of 'extrinsic' enriched stable isotope tracers into biological systems has gained significant interest. Hereby the induced change in the natural isotopic composition of an element allows amongst others for studying the fate and fluxes of metals, trace elements and species in organisms or provides an intrinsic marker or tag of particular biological samples. Due to the shoreless potential of this methodology, the number of publications dealing with applications of isotope (double) spikes as tracers to address research questions in 'real world systems' is constantly increasing. However, some isotope systems like the natural Sr isotopic system, although potentially very powerful for this type of application, are still rarely used, mainly because their adequate measurement/determination poses major analytical challenges; as e.g. Sr is available in significant amounts in natural samples. In addition, biological systems underlie complex processes such as metabolism, adsorption/desorption or oxidation/reduction. As a consequence, classic evaluation approaches such as the isotope dilution mass spectrometry equation are often not applicable because of the unknown amount of tracer finally present in the sample. Isotope pattern deconvolution (IPD), based on multiple linear regression, serves as simplified alternative data processing strategy to double spike isotope dilution calculations. The outstanding advantage of this mathematical tool lies in the possibility of deconvolving the isotope pattern in a spiked sample without knowing the quantities of enriched isotope tracer being incorporated into the natural sample matrix as well as the degree of impurities and species-interconversion (e.g. from sample preparation). Here, the potential of IPD for environmental tracer

Characterization of thermal tracer tests and heat exchanges in fractured media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de La Bernardie, Jérôme; Bour, Olivier; Guihéneuf, Nicolas; Chatton, Eliot; Labasque, Thierry; Longuevergne, Laurent; Le Lay, Hugo; Koch, Florian; Gerard, Marie-Françoise; Lavenant, Nicolas; Le Borgne, Tanguy

2016-04-01

Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source particularly attractive due to associated low greenhouse gas emission rates. Crystalline rocks are in general considered of poor interest for geothermal applications at shallow depths (< 100m), because of the low permeability of the medium. In some cases, fractures may enhance permeability, but thermal energy storage at these shallow depths is still remaining very challenging because of the low storativity of the medium. Within this framework, the purpose of this study is to test the possibility of efficient thermal energy storage in shallow fractured rocks with a single well semi open loop heat exchanger (standing column well). For doing so, several heat tracer tests have been achieved along a borehole between two connected fractures. The heat tracer tests have been achieved at the experimental site of Ploemeur (H+ observatory network). The tracer tests consist in monitoring the temperature in the upper fracture while injecting hot water in the deeper one thanks to a field boiler. For such an experimental setup, the main difficulty to interpret the data comes from the requirement for separating the temperature advective signal of the tracer test (temperature recovery) from the heat increase due to injection of hot water through the borehole which induces heat losses all along the injection tube in the water column. For doing so, in addition to a double straddle packer used for isolating the injection chamber, the particularity of the experimental set up is the use of fiber optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS); an innovative technology which allows spatial and temporal monitoring of the temperature all along the well. Thanks to this tool, we were able to estimate heat increases coming from diffusion along the injection tube which is found much lower than localized temperature increases resulting from tracer test recovery. With local temperatures probes, separating both effects would not have been feasible. We

Development of Standardized Mobile Tracer Correlation Approach for Large Area Emission Measurements (DRAFT UNDER EPA REVIEW)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster-wittig, T. A.; Thoma, E.; Green, R.; Hater, G.; Swan, N.; Chanton, J.

2013-12-01

Improved understanding of air emissions from large area sources such as landfills, waste water ponds, open-source processing, and agricultural operations is a topic of increasing environmental importance. In many cases, the size of the area source, coupled with spatial-heterogeneity, make direct (on-site) emission assessment difficult; methane emissions, from landfills for example, can be particularly complex [Thoma et al, 2009]. Recently, whole-facility (remote) measurement approaches based on tracer correlation have been utilized [Scheutz et al, 2011]. The approach uses a mobile platform to simultaneously measure a metered-release of a conservative gas (the tracer) along with the target compound (methane in the case of landfills). The known-rate tracer release provides a measure of atmospheric dispersion at the downwind observing location allowing the area source emission to be determined by a ratio calculation [Green et al, 2010]. Although powerful in concept, the approach has been somewhat limited to research applications due to the complexities and cost of the high-sensitivity measurement equipment required to quantify the part-per billion levels of tracer and target gas at kilometer-scale distances. The advent of compact, robust, and easy to use near-infrared optical measurement systems (such as cavity ring down spectroscopy) allow the tracer correlation approach to be investigated for wider use. Over the last several years, Waste Management Inc., the U.S. EPA, and collaborators have conducted method evaluation activities to determine the viability of a standardized approach through execution of a large number of field measurement trials at U.S. landfills. As opposed to previous studies [Scheutz et al, 2011] conducted at night (optimal plume transport conditions), the current work evaluated realistic use-scenarios; these scenarios include execution by non-scientist personnel, daylight operation, and full range of atmospheric condition (all plume transport

Human biokinetic data and a new compartmental model of zirconium--a tracer study with enriched stable isotopes.

PubMed

Greiter, Matthias B; Giussani, Augusto; Höllriegl, Vera; Li, Wei Bo; Oeh, Uwe

2011-09-01

Biokinetic models describing the uptake, distribution and excretion of trace elements are an essential tool in nutrition, toxicology, or internal dosimetry of radionuclides. Zirconium, especially its radioisotope (95)Zr, is relevant to radiation protection due to its production in uranium fission and neutron activation of nuclear fuel cladding material. We present a comprehensive set of human data from a tracer study with stable isotopes of zirconium. The data are used to refine a biokinetic model of zirconium. Six female and seven male healthy adult volunteers participated in the study. It includes 16 complete double tracer investigations with oral ingestion and intravenous injection, and seven supplemental investigations. Tracer concentrations were measured in blood plasma and urine collected up to 100 d after tracer administration. The four data sets (two chemical tracer forms in plasma and urine) each encompass 105-240 measured concentration values above detection limits. Total fractional absorption of ingested zirconium was found to be 0.001 for zirconium in citrate-buffered drinking solution and 0.007 for zirconium oxalate solution. Biokinetic models were developed based on the linear first-order kinetic compartmental model approach used by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The main differences of the optimized systemic model of zirconium to the current ICRP model are (1) recycling into the transfer compartment made necessary by the observed tracer clearance from plasma, (2) different parameters related to fractional absorption for each form of the ingested tracer, and (3) a physiologically based excretion pathway to urine. The study considerably expands the knowledge on the biokinetics of zirconium, which was until now dominated by data from animal studies. The proposed systemic model improves the existing ICRP model, yet is based on the same principles and fits well into the ICRP radiation protection approach. Copyright © 2011

In situ measurement of methane oxidation in groundwater by using natural-gradient tracer tests

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, R.L.; Howes, B.L.; Garabedian, S.P.

1991-01-01

Methane oxidation was measured in an unconfined sand and gravel aquifer (Cape Cod, Mass.) by using in situ natural-gradient tracer tests at both a pristine, oxygenated site and an anoxic, sewage-contaminated site. The tracer sites were equipped with multilevel sampling devices to create target grids of sampling points; the injectate was prepared with groundwater from the tracer site to maintain the same geochemical conditions. Methane oxidation was calculated from breakthrough curves of methane relative to halide and inert gas (hexafluoroethane) tracers and was confirmed by the appearance of 13C-enriched carbon dioxide in experiments in which 13C-enriched methane was used as the tracer. A V(max) for methane oxidation could be calculated when the methane concentration was sufficiently high to result in zero-order kinetics throughout the entire transport interval. Methane breakthrough curves could be simulated by modifying a one-dimensional advection-dispersion transport model to include a Michaelis-Menten-based consumption term for methane oxidation. The K(m) values for methane oxidation that gave the best match for the breakthrough curve peaks were 6.0 and 9.0 ??M for the uncontaminated and contaminated sites, respectively. Natural-gradient tracer tests are a promising approach for assessing microbial processes and for testing in situ bioremediation potential in groundwater systems.

In situ measurement of methane oxidation in groundwater by using natural-gradient tracer tests.

PubMed Central

Smith, R L; Howes, B L; Garabedian, S P

1991-01-01

Methane oxidation was measured in an unconfined sand and gravel aquifer (Cape Cod, Mass.) by using in situ natural-gradient tracer tests at both a pristine, oxygenated site and an anoxic, sewage-contaminated site. The tracer sites were equipped with multilevel sampling devices to create target grids of sampling points; the injectate was prepared with groundwater from the tracer site to maintain the same geochemical conditions. Methane oxidation was calculated from breakthrough curves of methane relative to halide and inert gas (hexafluroethane) tracers and was confirmed by the appearance of 13C-enriched carbon dioxide in experiments in which 13C-enriched methane was used as the tracer. A Vmax for methane oxidation could be calculated when the methane concentration was sufficiently high to result in zero-order kinetics throughout the entire transport interval. Methane breakthrough curves could be simulated by modifying a one-dimensional adevection-dispersion transport model to include a Michaelis-Menten-based consumption term for methane oxidation. The Km values for methane oxidation that gave the best match for the breakthrough curve peaks were 6.0 and 9.0 microM for the uncontaminated and contaminated sites, respectively. Natural-gradient tracer tests are a promising approach for assessing microbial processes and for testing in situ bioremediation potential in groundwater systems. PMID:1892389

Multiphase, multicomponent parameter estimation for liquid and vapor fluxes in deep arid systems using hydrologic data and natural environmental tracers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kwicklis, Edward M.; Wolfsberg, Andrew V.; Stauffer, Philip H.; Walvoord, Michelle Ann; Sully, Michael J.

2006-01-01

Multiphase, multicomponent numerical models of long-term unsaturated-zone liquid and vapor movement were created for a thick alluvial basin at the Nevada Test Site to predict present-day liquid and vapor fluxes. The numerical models are based on recently developed conceptual models of unsaturated-zone moisture movement in thick alluvium that explain present-day water potential and tracer profiles in terms of major climate and vegetation transitions that have occurred during the past 10 000 yr or more. The numerical models were calibrated using borehole hydrologic and environmental tracer data available from a low-level radioactive waste management site located in a former nuclear weapons testing area. The environmental tracer data used in the model calibration includes tracers that migrate in both the liquid and vapor phases (??D, ??18O) and tracers that migrate solely as dissolved solutes (Cl), thus enabling the estimation of some gas-phase as well as liquid-phase transport parameters. Parameter uncertainties and correlations identified during model calibration were used to generate parameter combinations for a set of Monte Carlo simulations to more fully characterize the uncertainty in liquid and vapor fluxes. The calculated background liquid and vapor fluxes decrease as the estimated time since the transition to the present-day arid climate increases. However, on the whole, the estimated fluxes display relatively little variability because correlations among parameters tend to create parameter sets for which changes in some parameters offset the effects of others in the set. Independent estimates on the timing since the climate transition established from packrat midden data were essential for constraining the model calibration results. The study demonstrates the utility of environmental tracer data in developing numerical models of liquid- and gas-phase moisture movement and the importance of considering parameter correlations when using Monte Carlo analysis to

Quantification of methane emissions from 15 Danish landfills using the mobile tracer dispersion method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mønster, Jacob; Samuelsson, Jerker, E-mail: jerker.samuelsson@fluxsense.se; Kjeldsen, Peter

2015-01-15

Highlights: • Quantification of whole landfill site methane emission at 15 landfills. • Multiple on-site source identification and quantification. • Quantified methane emission from shredder waste and composting. • Large difference between measured and reported methane emissions. - Abstract: Whole-site methane emissions from 15 Danish landfills were assessed using a mobile tracer dispersion method with either Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), using nitrous oxide as a tracer gas, or cavity ring-down spectrometry (CRDS), using acetylene as a tracer gas. The landfills were chosen to represent the different stages of the lifetime of a landfill, including open, active, and closed coveredmore » landfills, as well as those with and without gas extraction for utilisation or flaring. Measurements also included landfills with biocover for oxidizing any fugitive methane. Methane emission rates ranged from 2.6 to 60.8 kg h{sup −1}, corresponding to 0.7–13.2 g m{sup −2} d{sup −1}, with the largest emission rates per area coming from landfills with malfunctioning gas extraction systems installed, and the smallest emission rates from landfills closed decades ago and landfills with an engineered biocover installed. Landfills with gas collection and recovery systems had a recovery efficiency of 41–81%. Landfills where shredder waste was deposited showed significant methane emissions, with the largest emission from newly deposited shredder waste. The average methane emission from the landfills was 154 tons y{sup −1}. This average was obtained from a few measurement campaigns conducted at each of the 15 landfills and extrapolating to annual emissions requires more measurements. Assuming that these landfills are representative of the average Danish landfill, the total emission from Danish landfills were calculated at 20,600 tons y{sup −1}, which is significantly lower than the 33,300 tons y{sup −1} estimated for the national greenhouse gas

Dual-tracer background subtraction approach for fluorescent molecular tomography

PubMed Central

Holt, Robert W.; El-Ghussein, Fadi; Davis, Scott C.; Samkoe, Kimberley S.; Gunn, Jason R.; Leblond, Frederic

2013-01-01

Abstract. Diffuse fluorescence tomography requires high contrast-to-background ratios to accurately reconstruct inclusions of interest. This is a problem when imaging the uptake of fluorescently labeled molecularly targeted tracers in tissue, which can result in high levels of heterogeneously distributed background uptake. We present a dual-tracer background subtraction approach, wherein signal from the uptake of an untargeted tracer is subtracted from targeted tracer signal prior to image reconstruction, resulting in maps of targeted tracer binding. The approach is demonstrated in simulations, a phantom study, and in a mouse glioma imaging study, demonstrating substantial improvement over conventional and homogenous background subtraction image reconstruction approaches. PMID:23292612

Fracture Characterization in Reactive Fluid-Fractured Rock Systems Using Tracer Transport Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhopadhyay, S.

2014-12-01

Fractures, whether natural or engineered, exert significant controls over resource exploitation from contemporary energy sources including enhanced geothermal systems and unconventional oil and gas reserves. Consequently, fracture characterization, i.e., estimating the permeability, connectivity, and spacing of the fractures is of critical importance for determining the viability of any energy recovery program. While some progress has recently been made towards estimating these critical fracture parameters, significant uncertainties still remain. A review of tracer technology, which has a long history in fracture characterization, reveals that uncertainties exist in the estimated parameters not only because of paucity of scale-specific data but also because of knowledge gaps in the interpretation methods, particularly in interpretation of tracer data in reactive fluid-rock systems. We have recently demonstrated that the transient tracer evolution signatures in reactive fluid-rock systems are significantly different from those in non-reactive systems (Mukhopadhyay et al., 2013, 2014). For example, the tracer breakthrough curves in reactive fluid-fractured rock systems are expected to exhibit a long pseudo-state condition, during which tracer concentration does not change by any appreciable amount with passage of time. Such a pseudo-steady state condition is not observed in a non-reactive system. In this paper, we show that the presence of this pseudo-steady state condition in tracer breakthrough patterns in reactive fluid-rock systems can have important connotations for fracture characterization. We show that the time of onset of the pseudo-steady state condition and the value of tracer concentration in the pseudo-state condition can be used to reliably estimate fracture spacing and fracture-matrix interface areas.

Preparation study of indocyanine green-rituximab: A new receptor-targeted tracer for sentinel lymph node in breast cancer

PubMed Central

Cong, Bin-Bin; Sun, Xiao; Song, Xian-Rang; Liu, Yan-Bing; Zhao, Tong; Cao, Xiao-Shan; Qiu, Peng-Fei; Tian, Chong-Lin

2016-01-01

An appropriate receptor-targeted tracer for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was prepared. We combined the fluorescence tracer (Indocyanine green, ICG) with Rituximab (a chimeric human/murine monoclonal antibody targeting the CD20 antigen on the surface of lymphocyte) directly to produce a new tracer (ICG-Rituximab). When the new tracer drains to the lymph node, Rituximab will combine with CD20 receptor on the B-cell surface in the lymph node. If the statue of antibody-receptor connection does not reach saturation, the number of Rituximab is less than CD20. With this appropriate injection dose, the new tracer could only stay in sentinel lymph node (SLN) and make it imaging. Positive fluorescence SLN was detected 12 minutes after injection with no other organs imaging. The imaging of SLN was stable and clear for 20–24 hours. Due to SLN stained with more ICG than the lymphatic vessel, the fluorescence situation of SLN would be brighter than the vessel. The surgeon can detect the positive fluorescence SLN easily without following the fluorescence imaging lymphatic vessel. The results of our preliminary study showed that the new tracer might be useful for improving SLN imaging and worth further clinical study. SLNB with the new tracer could be a convenient method for detecting SLN and would become a standard performance in clinical practice. PMID:27374088

Preparation study of indocyanine green-rituximab: A new receptor-targeted tracer for sentinel lymph node in breast cancer.

PubMed

Cong, Bin-Bin; Sun, Xiao; Song, Xian-Rang; Liu, Yan-Bing; Zhao, Tong; Cao, Xiao-Shan; Qiu, Peng-Fei; Tian, Chong-Lin; Yu, Jin-Ming; Wang, Yong-Sheng

2016-07-26

An appropriate receptor-targeted tracer for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was prepared. We combined the fluorescence tracer (Indocyanine green, ICG) with Rituximab (a chimeric human/murine monoclonal antibody targeting the CD20 antigen on the surface of lymphocyte) directly to produce a new tracer (ICG-Rituximab). When the new tracer drains to the lymph node, Rituximab will combine with CD20 receptor on the B-cell surface in the lymph node. If the statue of antibody-receptor connection does not reach saturation, the number of Rituximab is less than CD20. With this appropriate injection dose, the new tracer could only stay in sentinel lymph node (SLN) and make it imaging. Positive fluorescence SLN was detected 12 minutes after injection with no other organs imaging. The imaging of SLN was stable and clear for 20-24 hours. Due to SLN stained with more ICG than the lymphatic vessel, the fluorescence situation of SLN would be brighter than the vessel. The surgeon can detect the positive fluorescence SLN easily without following the fluorescence imaging lymphatic vessel. The results of our preliminary study showed that the new tracer might be useful for improving SLN imaging and worth further clinical study. SLNB with the new tracer could be a convenient method for detecting SLN and would become a standard performance in clinical practice.

Numerical simulations to assess the tracer dilution method for measurement of landfill methane emissions.

PubMed

Taylor, Diane M; Chow, Fotini K; Delkash, Madjid; Imhoff, Paul T

2016-10-01

Landfills are a significant contributor to anthropogenic methane emissions, but measuring these emissions can be challenging. This work uses numerical simulations to assess the accuracy of the tracer dilution method, which is used to estimate landfill emissions. Atmospheric dispersion simulations with the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) are run over Sandtown Landfill in Delaware, USA, using observation data to validate the meteorological model output. A steady landfill methane emissions rate is used in the model, and methane and tracer gas concentrations are collected along various transects downwind from the landfill for use in the tracer dilution method. The calculated methane emissions are compared to the methane emissions rate used in the model to find the percent error of the tracer dilution method for each simulation. The roles of different factors are examined: measurement distance from the landfill, transect angle relative to the wind direction, speed of the transect vehicle, tracer placement relative to the hot spot of methane emissions, complexity of topography, and wind direction. Results show that percent error generally decreases with distance from the landfill, where the tracer and methane plumes become well mixed. Tracer placement has the largest effect on percent error, and topography and wind direction both have significant effects, with measurement errors ranging from -12% to 42% over all simulations. Transect angle and transect speed have small to negligible effects on the accuracy of the tracer dilution method. These tracer dilution method simulations provide insight into measurement errors that might occur in the field, enhance understanding of the method's limitations, and aid interpretation of field data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lighting the dark molecular gas and a Bok globule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Togi, Aditya G.

Stars are the building blocks of galaxies. The gas present in galaxies is the primary fuel for star formation. Galaxy evolution depends on the amount of gas present in the interstellar medium (ISM). Stars are born mainly from molecular gas in the GMCs. Robust knowledge of the molecular hydrogen H2 gas distribution is necessary to understand star formation in galaxies. Since H2 is not readily observable in the cold interstellar medium (ISM), the molecular gas content has traditionally been inferred using indirect tracers like carbon-monoxide (CO), dust emission, gamma ray interactions, and star formation efficiency. Physical processes resulting in enhancement and reduction of these indirect tracers can result in misleading estimates of molecular gas masses. My dissertation work is based on devising a new temperature power law distribution model for H2, a direct tracer, to calculate the total molecular gas mass in galaxies. The model parameters are estimated using mid infrared (MIR) H2 rotational line fluxes obtained from IRS-Spitzer (Infrared Spectrograph-Spitzer) instrument and the model is extrapolated to a suitable lower temperature to recover the total molecular gas mass. The power law model is able to recover the dark molecular gas, undetected by CO, in galaxies at metallicity as low as one-tenth of our Milky Way value. I have applied the power law model in U/LIRGs and shocks of Stephan's Quintet to understand molecular gas properties, where shocks play an important role in exciting H2. Comparing the molecular gas content derived through our power law model can be useful in studying the application of our model in mergers. The parameters derived by our model is useful in understanding variation in molecular gas properties in shock regions of Stephan's Quintet. Low mass stars are formed in small isolated dense cores known as Bok globules. Multiple star formation events are seen in a Bok globule. In my thesis I also studied a Bok globule, B207, and determined the

USING CONTINUOUS MONITORS FOR CONDUCTING TRACER STUDIES IN WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

The use of online monitors for conducting a distribution system tracer study is proving to be an essential tool to accurately understand the flow dynamics in a distribution system. In a series of field testing sponsored by U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Greater ...

Tracer tests and the structure of permeability in the Corallian limestone aquifer of northern England, UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foley, Aidan; Cachandt, Gerd; Franklin, Janine; Willmore, Fergus; Atkinson, Tim

2012-05-01

The Corallian limestone of northern England (UK) is widely exploited for water supplies and exhibits the karstic phenomena of sinking rivers, conduit development and groundwater velocities of several kilometres per day. To test a number of model-derived source protection zones and elucidate contaminant transport mechanisms in the aquifer, three tracer tests were conducted from a set of swallow-holes draining the River Derwent toward public water supply wells in the eastern part of the aquifer. Tracers used included: Enterobacter cloacae (bacteriophage), Photine C (optical brightener), sodium fluorescein (fluorescent dye) and sulphur hexafluoride (dissolved gas), the varying properties of which make them suitable analogues for different types of potential contaminant. Observed tracer transport times and arrival patterns indicate that tracer transport occurs through karstic channels embedded in a network of primary fissures which exert control over tracer concentrations once initial tracer plumes have passed. A dipole flow system is observed between the swallow-holes and the closest abstraction well, whilst previously modelled source protection zones do not accurately reflect either groundwater velocity or those areas of the aquifer supplying the wells. These findings imply that managing such aquifers for potential contamination should rely upon empirical tracer evidence for source-protection zone modelling.

Comparison of different tracers for PIV measurements in EHD airflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamdi, M.; Havet, M.; Rouaud, O.; Tarlet, D.

2014-04-01

In this study, a proposed method for selecting a tracer for particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) measurement in electrohydrodynamics flows was developed. To begin with, several published studies were identified that exploit different tracers, such as oil smoke, cigarette smoke and titanium dioxide (TiO2). An assortment of tracers was then selected based on comparisons with conventional dimensionless numbers; Stokes number ( St), Archimedes number ( Ar) and electrical mobility ratio ( M). Subsequently, an experimental study for testing tracers was developed, which enabled the velocity profile of an ionic wind generated by a needle/ring configuration to be measured. Air velocity measurements carried out with a Pitot tube, considered as the reference measurements, were compared to PIV measurements for each tracer. In addition, the current-voltage curves and the evolution of the current during seeding were measured. All the experimental results show that TiO2, SiO2 microballoons and incense smoke are the ideal tracers in the series of tracers investigated.

Dynamic dual-tracer PET reconstruction.

PubMed

Gao, Fei; Liu, Huafeng; Jian, Yiqiang; Shi, Pengcheng

2009-01-01

Although of important medical implications, simultaneous dual-tracer positron emission tomography reconstruction remains a challenging problem, primarily because the photon measurements from dual tracers are overlapped. In this paper, we propose a simultaneous dynamic dual-tracer reconstruction of tissue activity maps based on guidance from tracer kinetics. The dual-tracer reconstruction problem is formulated in a state-space representation, where parallel compartment models serve as continuous-time system equation describing the tracer kinetic processes of dual tracers, and the imaging data is expressed as discrete sampling of the system states in measurement equation. The image reconstruction problem has therefore become a state estimation problem in a continuous-discrete hybrid paradigm, and H infinity filtering is adopted as the estimation strategy. As H infinity filtering makes no assumptions on the system and measurement statistics, robust reconstruction results can be obtained for the dual-tracer PET imaging system where the statistical properties of measurement data and system uncertainty are not available a priori, even when there are disturbances in the kinetic parameters. Experimental results on digital phantoms, Monte Carlo simulations and physical phantoms have demonstrated the superior performance.

Flow optimization study of a batch microfluidics PET tracer synthesizing device

PubMed Central

Elizarov, Arkadij M.; Meinhart, Carl; van Dam, R. Michael; Huang, Jiang; Daridon, Antoine; Heath, James R.; Kolb, Hartmuth C.

2010-01-01

We present numerical modeling and experimental studies of flow optimization inside a batch microfluidic micro-reactor used for synthesis of human-scale doses of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracers. Novel techniques are used for mixing within, and eluting liquid out of, the coin-shaped reaction chamber. Numerical solutions of the general incompressible Navier Stokes equations along with time-dependent elution scalar field equation for the three dimensional coin-shaped geometry were obtained and validated using fluorescence imaging analysis techniques. Utilizing the approach presented in this work, we were able to identify optimized geometrical and operational conditions for the micro-reactor in the absence of radioactive material commonly used in PET related tracer production platforms as well as evaluate the designed and fabricated micro-reactor using numerical and experimental validations. PMID:21072595

Heat tracer methods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, Richard W.; Scanlon, Bridget R.

2010-01-01

The flow of heat in the subsurface is closely linked to the movement of water (Ingebritsen et al., 2006). As such, heat has been used as a tracer in groundwater studies for more than 100 years (Anderson, 2005). As with chemical and isotopic tracers (Chapter 7), spatial or temporal trends in surface and subsurface temperatures can be used to infer rates of water movement. Temperature can be measured accurately, economically, at high frequencies, and without the need to obtain water samples, facts that make heat an attractive tracer. Temperature measurements made over space and time can be used to infer rates of recharge from a stream or other surface water body (Lapham, 1989; Stonestrom and Constantz, 2003); measurements can also be used to estimate rates of steady drainage through depth intervals within thick unsaturated zones (Constantz et al., 2003; Shan and Bodvarsson, 2004). Several thorough reviews of heat as a tracer in hydrologic studies have recently been published (Constantz et al., 2003; Stonestrom and Constantz, 2003; Anderson, 2005; Blasch et al., 2007; Constantz et al., 2008). This chapter summarizes heat-tracer approaches that have been used to estimate recharge.Some clarification in terminology is presented here to avoid confusion in descriptions of the various approaches that follow. Diffuse recharge is that which occurs more or less uniformly across large areas in response to precipitation, infiltration, and drainage through the unsaturated zone. Estimates of diffuse recharge determined using measured temperatures in the unsaturated zone are referred to as potential recharge because it is possible that not all of the water moving through the unsaturated zone will recharge the aquifer; some may be lost to the atmosphere by evaporation or plant transpiration. Estimated fluxes across confining units in the saturated zone are referred to as interaquifer flow (Chapter 1). Focused recharge is that which occurs directly from a point or line source, such

In situ monitoring of tracer tests: how to distinguish tracer recovery from natural background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailly-Comte, V.; Durepaire, X.; Batiot-Guilhe, C.; Schnegg, P.-A.

2018-03-01

Hydrogeological tracer tests are primarily conducted with fluorescent tracers. Field fluorometers make it possible to monitor tracers at very low concentrations (<1 ppb) and at high frequency. However, changes in natural fluorescence at a site resulting from variations of dissolved and suspended inorganic and organic material may compromise the measurement of useful signals, thereby limiting the chances of identifying or quantifying the real tracer recovery. An elevated natural signal can mask small concentrations of the tracer while its variability can give the impression of a false recovery. This article shows how the use of a combination of several continuous measurements at different wavelengths allows a better extraction of the natural signal. Field multispectral fluorometers were installed at two Mediterranean karst outlets; both drain carbonate systems but have different environmental conditions. The fluorometers functioned over several hydrologic cycles, in periods affected or not by artificial tracers, making it possible to observe natural signal variations at these sites. The optical properties of this type of field fluorometer were used to calculate the spectral response of the different optics of the measuring probe. These responses, superimposed on three-dimensional excitation/emission matrices produced from laboratory fluorescence measurements, allowed an understanding of what the fluorometer sees under natural flow conditions. The result is an innovative method for correcting artificial tracer results. This type of correction makes it possible to fine-tune the effect of natural background variation on tracer recovery curves for a clear identification of the tracer presence and a more precise quantification of its recovery.

System Validation Experiments for Obtaining Tracer Laser-Induced Fluorescence Data at Elevated Pressure and Temperature.

PubMed

Hartwig, Jason; Mittal, Gaurav; Kumar, Kamal; Sung, Chih-Jen

2018-04-01

This paper presents a set of system validation experiments that can be used to qualify either static or flow experimental systems for gathering tracer photophysical data or conducting laser diagnostics at high pressure and temperature in order to establish design and operation limits and reduce uncertainty in data interpretation. Tests demonstrated here quantify the effect of tracer absorption at the test cell walls, stratification, photolysis, pyrolysis, adequacy of mixing and seeding, and reabsorption of laser light using acetone as the tracer and 282 nm excitation. Results show that acetone exhibits a 10% decrease in fluorescence signal over 36 000 shots at 127.4 mJ/cm 2 , and photolysis is negligible below 1000 shots collected. Meanwhile, appropriately chosen gas residence times can mitigate risks due to pyrolysis and inadequate mixing and seeding; for the current work 100 ms residence time ensured <0.5% alteration of tracer number density due to thermal destruction. Experimental results here are compared to theoretical values from the literature.

Simultaneous measurement of ventilation using tracer gas techniques and VOC concentrations in homes, garages and vehicles.

PubMed

Batterman, Stuart; Jia, Chunrong; Hatzivasilis, Gina; Godwin, Chris

2006-02-01

Air exchange rates and interzonal flows are critical ventilation parameters that affect thermal comfort, air migration, and contaminant exposure in buildings and other environments. This paper presents the development of an updated approach to measure these parameters using perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) gases, the constant injection rate method, and adsorbent-based sampling of PFT concentrations. The design of miniature PFT sources using hexafluorotoluene and octafluorobenzene tracers, and the development and validation of an analytical GC/MS method for these tracers are described. We show that simultaneous deployment of sources and passive samplers, which is logistically advantageous, will not cause significant errors over multiday measurement periods in building, or over shorter periods in rapidly ventilated spaces like vehicle cabins. Measurement of the tracers over periods of hours to a week may be accomplished using active or passive samplers, and low method detection limits (<0.025 microg m(-3)) and high precisions (<10%) are easily achieved. The method obtains the effective air exchange rate (AER), which is relevant to characterizing long-term exposures, especially when ventilation rates are time-varying. In addition to measuring the PFT tracers, concentrations of other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are simultaneously determined. Pilot tests in three environments (residence, garage, and vehicle cabin) demonstrate the utility of the method. The 4 day effective AER in the house was 0.20 h(-1), the 4 day AER in the attached garage was 0.80 h(-1), and 16% of the ventilation in the house migrated from the garage. The 5 h AER in a vehicle traveling at 100 km h(-1) under a low-to-medium vent condition was 92 h(-1), and this represents the highest speed test found in the literature. The method is attractive in that it simultaneously determines AERs, interzonal flows, and VOC concentrations over long and representative test periods. These measurements are

Assessing denitrification in groundwater using natural gradient tracer tests with 15N: In situ measurement of a sequential multistep reaction

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Richard L.; Böhlke, John Karl; Garabedian, Stephen P.; Revesz, Kinga M.; Yoshinari, Tadashi

2004-01-01

Denitrification was measured within a nitrate‐contaminated aquifer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, using natural gradient tracer tests with 15N nitrate. The aquifer contained zones of relatively high concentrations of nitrite (up to 77 μM) and nitrous oxide (up to 143 μM) and has been the site of previous studies examining ground water denitrification using the acetylene block technique. Small‐scale (15–24 m travel distance) tracer tests were conducted by injecting 15N nitrate and bromide as tracers into a depth interval that contained nitrate, nitrite, nitrous oxide, and excess nitrogen gas. The timing of the bromide breakthrough curves at down‐gradient wells matched peaks in 15N abundance above background for nitrate, nitrite, nitrous oxide, and nitrogen gas after more than 40 days of travel. Results were simulated with a one‐dimensional transport model using linked reaction kinetics for the individual steps of the denitrification reaction pathway. It was necessary to include within the model spatial variations in background concentrations of all nitrogen oxide species. The model indicated that nitrite production (0.036–0.047 μmol N (L aquifer)−1 d−1) was faster than the subsequent denitrification steps (0.013–0.016 μmol N (L aquifer)−1 d−1 for nitrous oxide and 0.013–0.020 μmol N (L aquifer)−1 d−1 for nitrogen gas) and that the total rate of reaction was slower than indicated by both acetylene block tracer tests and laboratory incubations. The rate of nitrate removal by denitrification was much slower than the rate of transport, indicating that nitrate would migrate several kilometers down‐gradient before being completely consumed.

Molecular Gas in Starburts ARP 220 & NGC 6240: Understanding Mergers using High Density Gas Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manohar, Swarnima; Scoville, Nicholas; Sheth, Kartik

2015-01-01

NGC 6240 and Arp 220 can be considered the founding members of a very active class of objects called Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies or ULIRGs. They are in different stages of mergers and hence are excellent case studies to enhance our knowledge about the merging process. We have imaged the dense star-forming regions of these galaxies at sub-arcsec resolution with ALMA and CARMA. Multi-band imaging allows multilevel excitation analysis of HCN, HCO+ and CS transitions which will constrain the properties of the gas as a function of position and velocity (across line profiles). We are doing an extensive multilevel excitation analysis of the merger as a function of radius which enables in depth understanding of the gas dynamics and gas properties such as temperature and density. This in turn probes the homogeneity of the gas in the merging system and hence the regions that facilitate high star formation rates. This tandem use of CARMA with ALMA to map these systems at different merger stages will assemble a more integrated picture of the merger process. We are probing the distribution and dynamics of star forming gas and star formation activity in the dense disk structures to enable new theoretical understanding of the physics, dynamics, star formation activity and associated feedback in the most active and rapidly evolving galactic nuclei. Here we present our observations of Arp 220 and NGC 6240 from ALMA and CARMA.

OT2_dlis_3: Ammonia as a Tracer of the Earliest Stages of Star Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lis, D.

2011-09-01

Stars form in molecular cloud cores, cold and dense regions enshrouded by dust. The initiation of this process is among the least understood steps of star formation. High!resolution heterodyne spectroscopy provides invaluable information about the physical conditions (density, temperature), kinematics (infall, outflows), and chemistry of these regions. Classical molecular tracers, such CO, CS, and many other abundant gas!phase species, have been shown to freeze out onto dust grain mantles in pre!stellar cores. However, N!bearing species, in particular ammonia, are much less affected by depletion and are observed to stay in the gas phase at densities in excess of 1e6 cm!3. The molecular freeze!out has important consequences for the chemistry of dense gas. In particular, the depletion of abundant gas!phase species with heavy atoms drives up abundances of deuterated H3+ isotopologues, which in turn results in spectacular deuteration levels of molecules that do remain in the gas phase. Consequently, lines of deuterated N!bearing species, in particular the fundamental lines of ammonia isotopologues, having very high critical densities, are optimum tracers of innermost regions of dense cores. We propose to study the morphology, density structure and kinematics of cold and dense cloud cores, by mapping the spatial distribution of ammonia isotopologues in isolated dense pre!stellar cores using Herschel/HIFI. These observations provide optimum probes of the onset of star formation, as well as the physical processes that control gas!grain interaction, freeze!out, mantle ejection and deuteration. The sensitive, high!resolution spectra acquired within this program will be analyzed using sophisticated radiative transfer models and compared with outputs of state!of!the!art 3D MHD simulations and chemical models developed by the members of our team.

Quantification of conservative and reactive transport using a single groundwater tracer test in a fractured media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatton, Eliot; Labasque, Thierry; Guillou, Aurélie; Béthencourt, Lorine; de La Bernardie, Jérôme; Boisson, Alexandre; Koch, Florian; Aquilina, Luc

2017-04-01

Identification of biogeochemical reactions in aquifers and determining kinetics is important for the prediction of contaminant transport in aquifers and groundwater management. Therefore, experiments accounting for both conservative and reactive transport are essential to understand the biogeochemical reactivity at field scale. This study presents the results of a groundwater tracer test using the combined injection of dissolved conservative and reactive tracers (He, Xe, Ar, Br-, O2 and NO3-) in order to evaluate the transport properties of a fractured media in Brittany, France. Dissolved gas concentrations were continuously monitored in situ with a CF-MIMS (Chatton et al, 2016) allowing a high frequency (1 gas every 2 seconds) multi-tracer analysis (N2, O2, CO2, CH4, N2O, H2, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) over a large resolution (6 orders of magnitude). Along with dissolved gases, groundwater biogeochemistry was monitored through the sampling of major anions and cations, trace elements and microbiological diversity. The results show breakthrough curves allowing the combined quantification of conservative and reactive transport properties. This ongoing work is an original approach investigating the link between heterogeneity of porous media and biogeochemical reactions at field scale. Eliot Chatton, Thierry Labasque, Jérôme de La Bernardie, Nicolas Guihéneuf, Olivier Bour and Luc Aquilina; Field Continuous Measurement of Dissolved Gases with a CF-MIMS: Applications to the Physics and Biogeochemistry of Groundwater Flow; Environmental Science & Technology, in press, 2016.

Journal: A Review of Some Tracer-Test Design Equations for Tracer-Mass Estimation and Sample Collection Frequency

EPA Science Inventory

Determination of necessary tracer mass, initial sample-collection time, and subsequent sample-collection frequency are the three most difficult aspects to estimate for a proposed tracer test prior to conducting the tracer test. To facilitate tracer-mass estimation, 33 mass-estima...

Geophysical Methods, Tracer Leakage, and Flow Modeling Studies at the West Pearl Queen Carbon Sequestration/EOR Pilot Site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bromhal, G. S.; Wilson, T. H.; Wells, A.; Diehl, R.; Smith, D. H.

2003-12-01

Recently, a few thousand tons of CO2 were injected into the West Pearl Queen field, a depleted oil reservoir in southeastern New Mexico, for a pilot carbon sequestration project. Small amounts of 3 different perfluorocarbon tracers were injected with the CO2. Approximately 50 capillary absorption tube samplers (CATS) were located across the field within 2m of the grounds surface to detect the tracers in extremely small (~10-13L) quantities. After only several days, the CATS detected quantities of tracers at distances of up to 350m from the injection well. Greater amounts of tracers were detected in the different directions. The underground transport mechanism(s) are uncertain; however, appearance of tracer in the CATS after only a 6 day period suggests that CO2 movement may have occurred through near-surface processes. Subsequent tracer measurements made over 10 and 54 day time periods revealed continued tracer leakage. To try to understand the tracer information, we conducted lineament interpretations of the area using a black and white aerial photo taken in 1949, digital orthophotos, and Landsat TM imagery. Lineament interpretations revealed distinct northeast and northwest trending lineament sets. These directions coincided roughly with the direction of tracer-leakage into areas northwest and southwest of the injection well. The near-surface geology consists of a few-feet thick veneer of late Pleistocene and Holocene sand dunes covering the middle Pleistocene Mescalero caliche. A survey of the caliche was made using ground penetrating radar (GPR) to attempt to identify any preferential migration pathways. Modeling studies also were performed to identify the potential leakage pathways at the site. Because of the relatively fast appearance of tracers at large distances from the injection well, simple diffusion through the surface layers was ruled out. Wind patterns in the area have also made transport through the atmosphere and back into the ground highly unlikely

TRACER DISPERSION STUDIES FOR HYDRAULIC CHARACTERIZATION OF PIPES

EPA Science Inventory

A series of experiments were conducted at the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Test & Evaluation (T&E) Facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, to quantify longitudinal dispersion of a sodium fluoride tracer in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe and ductile iron pipe under laminar, tr...

DUST CONTINUUM EMISSION AS A TRACER OF GAS MASS IN GALAXIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Groves, Brent A.; Schinnerer, Eva; Walter, Fabian

2015-01-20

We use a sample of 36 galaxies from the KINGFISH (Herschel IR), HERACLES (IRAM CO), and THINGS (Very Large Array H I) surveys to study empirical relations between Herschel infrared (IR) luminosities and the total mass of the interstellar gas (H{sub 2} + H I). Such a comparison provides a simple empirical relationship without introducing the uncertainty of dust model fitting. We find tight correlations, and provide fits to these relations, between Herschel luminosities and the total gas mass integrated over entire galaxies, with the tightest, almost linear, correlation found for the longest wavelength data (SPIRE 500). However, we findmore » that accounting for the gas-phase metallicity (affecting the dust to gas ratio) is crucial when applying these relations to low-mass, and presumably high-redshift, galaxies. The molecular (H{sub 2}) gas mass is found to be better correlated with the peak of the IR emission (e.g., PACS160), driven mostly by the correlation of stellar mass and mean dust temperature. When examining these relations as a function of galactocentric radius, we find the same correlations, albeit with a larger scatter, up to a radius of r ∼ 0.7 r {sub 25} (containing most of a galaxy's baryonic mass). However, beyond that radius, the same correlations no longer hold, with increasing gas (predominantly H I) mass relative to the infrared emission. The tight relations found for the bulk of the galaxy's baryonic content suggest that total gas masses of disk-like (non-merging/ULIRG) galaxies can be inferred from far-infrared continuum measurements in situations where only the latter are available, e.g., in ALMA continuum observations of high-redshift galaxies.« less

Skeletal scintigraphy and quantitative tracer studies in metabolic bone disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogelman, Ignac

Bone scan imaging with the current bone seeking radiopharmaceuticals, the technetium-99m labelled diphosphonates, has dramatically improved our ability to evaluate skeletal pathology. In this thesis, chapter 1 presents a review of the history of bone scanning, summarises present concepts as to the mechanism of uptake of bone seeking agents and briefly illustrates the role of bone scanning in clinical practice. In chapter 2 the applications of bone scan imaging and quantitative tracer techniques derived from the bone scan in the detection of metabolic bone disease are discussed. Since skeletal uptake of Tc-99m diphosphonate depends upon skeletal metabolism one might expect that the bone scan would be of considerable value in the assessment of metabolic bone disease. However in these disorders the whole skeleton is often diffusely involved by the metabolic process and simple visual inspection of the scan image may not reveal the uniformly increased uptake of tracer. Certain patterns of bone scan abnormality have, however, been reported in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and renal osteo-dystrophy; the present studies extend these observations and introduce the concept of "metabolic features" which are often recognisable in conditions with generalised increased bone turnover. As an aid to systematic recognition of these features on a given bone scan image a semi-quantitative scoring system, the metabolic index, was introduced. The metabolic index allowed differentiation between various groups of patients with metabolic disorders and a control population. In addition, in a bone scan study of patients with acromegaly, it was found that the metabolic index correlated well with disease activity as measured by serum growth hormone levels. The metabolic index was, however, found to be a relatively insensitive means of identifying disease in individual patients. Patients with increased bone turnover will have an absolute increase in skeletal uptake of tracer. As a

Overview of SIMS-Based Experimental Studies of Tracer Diffusion in Solids and Application to Mg Self-Diffusion

DOE PAGES

Kulkarni, Nagraj S.; Bruce Warmack, Robert J.; Radhakrishnan, Bala; ...

2014-09-23

Tracer diffusivities provide the most fundamental information on diffusion in materials and are the foundation of robust diffusion databases. Compared to traditional radiotracer techniques that utilize radioactive isotopes, the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) based thin-film technique for tracer diffusion is based on the use of enriched stable isotopes that can be accurately profiled using SIMS. Experimental procedures & techniques that are utilized for the measurement of tracer diffusion coefficients are presented for pure magnesium, which presents some unique challenges due to the ease of oxidation. The development of a modified Shewmon-Rhines diffusion capsule for annealing Mg and an ultra-highmore » vacuum (UHV) system for sputter deposition of Mg isotopes are discussed. Optimized conditions for accurate SIMS depth profiling in polycrystalline Mg are provided. An automated procedure for the correction of heat-up and cool-down times during tracer diffusion annealing is discussed. The non-linear fitting of a SIMS depth profile data using the thin film Gaussian solution to obtain the tracer diffusivity along with the background tracer concentration and tracer film thickness is discussed. An Arrhenius fit of the Mg self-diffusion data obtained using the low-temperature SIMS measurements from this study and the high-temperature radiotracer measurements of Shewmon and Rhines (1954) was found to be a good representation of both types of diffusion data that cover a broad range of temperatures between 250 - 627° C (523 900 K).« less

A membrane inlet mass spectrometry system for noble gases at natural abundances in gas and water samples.

PubMed

Visser, Ate; Singleton, Michael J; Hillegonds, Darren J; Velsko, Carol A; Moran, Jean E; Esser, Bradley K

2013-11-15

Noble gases dissolved in groundwater can reveal paleotemperatures, recharge conditions, and precise travel times. The collection and analysis of noble gas samples are cumbersome, involving noble gas purification, cryogenic separation and static mass spectrometry. A quicker and more efficient sample analysis method is required for introduced tracer studies and laboratory experiments. A Noble Gas Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry (NG-MIMS) system was developed to measure noble gases at natural abundances in gas and water samples. The NG-MIMS system consists of a membrane inlet, a dry-ice water trap, a carbon-dioxide trap, two getters, a gate valve, a turbomolecular pump and a quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an electron multiplier. Noble gases isotopes (4)He, (22)Ne, (38)Ar, (84)Kr and (132)Xe are measured every 10 s. The NG-MIMS system can reproduce measurements made on a traditional noble gas mass spectrometer system with precisions of 2%, 8%, 1%, 1% and 3% for He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe, respectively. Noble gas concentrations measured in an artificial recharge pond were used to monitor an introduced xenon tracer and to reconstruct temperature variations to within 2 °C. Additional experiments demonstrated the capability to measure noble gases in gas and in water samples, in real time. The NG-MIMS system is capable of providing analyses sufficiently accurate and precise for introduced noble gas tracers at managed aquifer recharge facilities, groundwater fingerprinting based on excess air and noble gas recharge temperature, and field and laboratory studies investigating ebullition and diffusive exchange. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydrological tracers using nanobiotechnology: proof of concept.

PubMed

Sharma, Asha N; Luo, Dan; Walter, M Todd

2012-08-21

In order to answer questions that involve differentiating among multiple and potentially interacting hydrological flowpaths, it would be ideal to use multiple tracers with identical transport properties that can nonetheless be distinguished from each other. This paper describes the development and proof of concept of a new kind of engineered tracer system that allows a large number of individual tracers to be simultaneously distinguished from one another. This new tracer is composed of polylactic acid (PLA) microspheres into which short strands of synthetic DNA and paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are incorporated. The synthetic DNA serves as the "label" or "tag" in our tracers that allow us to distinguish one tracer from another, and paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are included in the tracer to facilitate magnetic concentration of the tracers in potentially dilute water samples. Some potential advantages of this tracer concept include: virtually limitless uniquely labeled tracers, highly sensitive detection, and relatively moderate expense. Three proof-of-concept experiments at scales ranging from orders of 10 cm to 100 m demonstrated the use of the tracer system.

Waste Oil Burn-Off in Coast Guard Power Plants - Diesel Piston Ring Wear Study by Radioactive Tracer Techniques

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1976-07-01

This report covers the results of a study utilizing a radioactive tracer technique to determine wear effects on the upper compression rings of a two-stroke cycle diesel engine burning mixtures of waste lube oil in fuel oil. The radioactive tracer tec...

A dual tracer ratio method for comparative emission measurements in an experimental dairy housing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohn, Joachim; Zeyer, Kerstin; Keck, Margret; Keller, Markus; Zähner, Michael; Poteko, Jernej; Emmenegger, Lukas; Schrade, Sabine

2018-04-01

Agriculture, and in particular dairy farming, is an important source of ammonia (NH3) and non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This calls for the development and quantification of effective mitigation strategies. Our study presents the implementation of a dual tracer ratio method in a novel experimental dairy housing with two identical, but spatially separated housing areas. Modular design and flexible floor elements allow the assessment of structural, process engineering and organisational abatement measures at practical scale. Thereby, the emission reduction potential of specific abatement measures can be quantified in relation to a reference system. Emissions in the naturally ventilated housing are determined by continuous dosing of two artificial tracers (sulphur hexafluoride SF6, trifluoromethylsulphur pentafluoride SF5CF3) and their real-time detection in the ppt range with an optimized GC-ECD method. The two tracers are dosed into different experimental sections, which enables the independent assessment of both housing areas. Mass flow emissions of NH3 and GHGs are quantified by areal dosing of tracer gases and multipoint sampling as well as real-time analysis of both tracer and target gases. Validation experiments demonstrate that the technique is suitable for both areal and point emission sources and achieves an uncertainty of less than 10% for the mass emissions of NH3, methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), which is superior to other currently available methods. Comparative emission measurements in this experimental dairy housing will provide reliable, currently unavailable information on emissions for Swiss dairy farming and demonstrate the reduction potential of mitigation measures for NH3, GHGs and potentially other pollutants.

Nocturnal Glucose Metabolism in Type 1 Diabetes: A Study Comparing Single Versus Dual Tracer Approaches.

PubMed

Mallad, Ashwini; Hinshaw, Ling; Dalla Man, Chiara; Cobelli, Claudio; Basu, Rita; Lingineni, Ravi; Carter, Rickey E; Kudva, Yogish C; Basu, Ananda

2015-08-01

Understanding the effect size, variability, and underlying physiology of the dawn phenomenon is important for next-generation closed-loop control algorithms for type 1 diabetes (T1D). We used an iterative protocol design to study 16 subjects with T1D on individualized insulin pump therapy for two successive nights. Endogenous glucose production (EGP) rates at 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. were measured with [6,6-(2)H(2)]glucose as a single tracer, infused from midnight to 7 a.m. in all subjects. To explore possibility of tracer recycling due to prolonged [6,6-(2)H(2)]glucose infusion, which was highly probable after preplanned interim data analyses, we infused a second tracer, [6-(3)H]glucose, from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. in the last seven subjects to measure EGP at 7 a.m. Cortisol concentrations increased during both nights, but changes in glucagon and insulin concentration were inconsistent. Although the plasma glucose concentrations rose from midnight to 7 a.m. during both nights, EGP measured with [6,6-(2)H(2)]glucose between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. did not differ during Night 1 but fell in Night 2. However, EGP measured with [6-(3)H]glucose at 7 a.m. was higher than that measured with [6,6-(2)H(2)]glucose during both nights, thereby suggesting tracer recycling probably underestimating EGP calculated at 7 a.m. with [6,6-(2)H(2)]glucose. Likewise, EGP was higher at 7 a.m. with [6-(3)H]glucose than at 3 a.m. with [6,6-(2)H(2)]glucose during both nights. The data demonstrate a consistent overnight rise in glucose concentrations through increased EGP, mediated likely by rising cortisol concentrations. The observations with the dual tracer approach imply significant tracer recycling leading to underestimation of EGP measured by longer-duration tracer infusion.

Evaluation of the ERP dispersion model using Darlington tracer-study data. Report No. 90-200-K

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wright, S.C.

1990-01-01

In this study, site-boundary atmospheric dilution factors calculated by the atmospheric dispersion model used in the ERP (Emergency Response Planning) computer code were compared to data collected during the Darlington tracer study. The purpose of this comparison was to obtain estimates of model uncertainty under a variety of conditions. This report provides background on ERP, the ERP dispersion model and the Darlington tracer study. Model evaluation techniques are discussed briefly, and the results of the comparison of model calculations with the field data are presented and reviewed.

Helium as a Dynamical Tracer in the Thermosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thayer, J. P.; Liu, X.; Wang, W.; Burns, A. G.

2014-12-01

Helium has been a missing constituent in current thermosphere general circulation models. Although typically a minor gas relative to the more abundant major gasses, its unique properties of being chemically inert and light make it an excellent tracer of thermosphere dynamics. Studying helium can help simplify understanding of transport effects. This understanding can then be projected to other gasses whose overall structure and behavior are complex but, by contrasting with helium, can be evaluated for its transport dependencies. The dynamical influences on composition impact estimates of thermosphere mass density, where helium during solar minima can have a direct contribution, as well as ionosphere electron density. Furthermore, helium estimates in the upper thermosphere during solar minima have not been observed since the 1976 minimum. Indirect estimates of helium in the upper thermosphere during the recent extreme solar minimum indicates winter-time helium concentrations exceeded NRL-MSISE00 estimates by 30%-70% during periods of quiet geomagnetic activity. For times of active geomagnetic conditions, helium concentrations near ~450 km altitude are estimated to decrease while oxygen concentrations increase. An investigation of the altitude structure in thermosphere mass density storm-time perturbations reveal the important effects of composition change with maximum perturbation occurring near the He/O transition region and a much weaker maximum occurring near the O/N2 transition region. However, evaluating helium behavior and its role as a dynamical tracer is not straightforward and model development is necessary to adequately establish the connection to specific dynamical processes. Fortunately recent efforts have led to the implementation of helium modules in the NCAR TIEGCM and TIME-GCM. In this invited talk, the simulated helium behavior and structure will be shown to reproduce observations (such as the wintertime helium bulge and storm-time response) and its

LOW LEVEL LOW ENERGY LOW QUANTITY SAMPLE COUNTING IN TRACER WORK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hosain, F.

1958-01-01

A gas-flow Geiger counter has been set in anticoincidence with a ring of 10 Geiger-Mueller cosmic-ray counters and the whole assembly placed inside an iron castle. Radioactive samples can be introduced directly within the structure of the counter. The apparatus has been used in very low level tracer work with S/sup 35/, Fe/sup 55/, and I/sup 131/. (J.S.R.)

3-D numerical evaluation of density effects on tracer tests.

PubMed

Beinhorn, M; Dietrich, P; Kolditz, O

2005-12-01

In this paper we present numerical simulations carried out to assess the importance of density-dependent flow on tracer plume development. The scenario considered in the study is characterized by a short-term tracer injection phase into a fully penetrating well and a natural hydraulic gradient. The scenario is thought to be typical for tracer tests conducted in the field. Using a reference case as a starting point, different model parameters were changed in order to determine their importance to density effects. The study is based on a three-dimensional model domain. Results were interpreted using concentration contours and a first moment analysis. Tracer injections of 0.036 kg per meter of saturated aquifer thickness do not cause significant density effects assuming hydraulic gradients of at least 0.1%. Higher tracer input masses, as used for geoelectrical investigations, may lead to buoyancy-induced flow in the early phase of a tracer test which in turn impacts further plume development. This also holds true for shallow aquifers. Results of simulations with different tracer injection rates and durations imply that the tracer input scenario has a negligible effect on density flow. Employing model cases with different realizations of a log conductivity random field, it could be shown that small variations of hydraulic conductivity in the vicinity of the tracer injection well have a major control on the local tracer distribution but do not mask effects of buoyancy-induced flow.

EFFICIENT HYDROLOGICAL TRACER-TEST DESIGN (EHTD ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Hydrological tracer testing is the most reliable diagnostic technique available for establishing flow trajectories and hydrologic connections and for determining basic hydraulic and geometric parameters necessary for establishing operative solute-transport processes. Tracer-test design can be difficult because of a lack of prior knowledge of the basic hydraulic and geometric parameters desired and the appropriate tracer mass to release. A new efficient hydrologic tracer-test design (EHTD) methodology has been developed that combines basic measured field parameters (e.g., discharge, distance, cross-sectional area) in functional relationships that describe solute-transport processes related to flow velocity and time of travel. The new method applies these initial estimates for time of travel and velocity to a hypothetical continuously stirred tank reactor as an analog for the hydrologic flow system to develop initial estimates for tracer concentration and axial dispersion, based on a preset average tracer concentration. Root determination of the one-dimensional advection-dispersion equation (ADE) using the preset average tracer concentration then provides a theoretical basis for an estimate of necessary tracer mass.Application of the predicted tracer mass with the hydraulic and geometric parameters in the ADE allows for an approximation of initial sample-collection time and subsequent sample-collection frequency where a maximum of 65 samples were determined to

Application of ERT, Saline Tracer and Numerical Studies to Delineate Preferential Paths in Fractured Granites.

PubMed

Sreeparvathy, Vijay; Kambhammettu, B V N P; Peddinti, Srinivasa Rao; Sarada, P S L

2018-03-22

Accurate quantification of in situ heterogeneity and flow processes through fractured geologic media remains elusive for hydrogeologists due to the complexity in fracture characterization and its multiscale behavior. In this research, we demonstrated the efficacy of tracer-electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) experiments combined with numerical simulations to characterize heterogeneity and delineate preferential flow paths in a fractured granite aquifer. A series of natural gradient saline tracer experiments were conducted from a depth window of 18 to 22 m in an injection well (IW) located inside the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad campus. Tracer migration was monitored in a time-lapse mode using two cross-sectional surface ERT profiles placed in the direction of flow gradient. ERT data quality was improved by considering stacking, reciprocal measurements, resolution indicators, and geophysical logs. Dynamic changes in subsurface electrical properties inferred via resistivity anomalies were used to highlight preferential flow paths of the study area. Temporal changes in electrical resistivity and tracer concentration were monitored along the vertical in an observation well located at 48 m to the east of the IW. ERT-derived tracer breakthrough curves were in agreement with geochemical sample measurements. Fracture geometry and hydraulic properties derived from ERT and pumping tests were further used to evaluate two mathematical conceptualizations that are relevant to fractured aquifers. Results of numerical analysis conclude that dual continuum model that combines matrix and fracture systems through a flow exchange term has outperformed equivalent continuum model in reproducing tracer concentrations at the monitoring wells (evident by a decrease in RMSE from 199 to 65 mg/L). A sensitivity analysis on model simulations conclude that spatial variability in hydraulic conductivity, local-scale dispersion, and flow exchange at fracture-matrix interface

Tracer-Test Planning Using the Efficient Hydrologic Tracer-Test Design (Ehtd) Program (2005)

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrological tracer testing is the most reliable diagnostic technique available for establishing flow trajectories and hydrologic connections and for determining basic hydraulic and geometric parameters necessary for establishing operative solute-transport processes. Tracer-test ...

Tracer-Test Planning Using the Efficient Hydrologic Tracer-Test Design (Ehtd) Program (2003)

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrological tracer testing is the most reliable diagnostic technique available for establishing flow trajectories and hydrologic connections and for determining basic hydraulic and geometric parameters necessary for establishing operative solute-transport processes. Tracer-test ...

Evaluation of groundwater residence time in a high mountain aquifer system (Sacramento Mountains, USA): insights gained from use of multiple environmental tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Land, Lewis; Timmons, Stacy

2016-06-01

The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (USA) has conducted a regional investigation of groundwater residence time within the southern Sacramento Mountains aquifer system using multiple environmental tracers. Results of the tracer surveys indicate that groundwater in the southern Sacramento Mountains ranges in age from less than 1 year to greater than 50 years, although the calculated ages contain uncertainties and vary significantly depending on which tracer is used. A distinctive feature of the results is discordance among the methods used to date groundwater in the study area. This apparent ambiguity results from the effects of a thick unsaturated zone, which produces non-conservative behavior among the dissolved gas tracers, and the heterogeneous character and semi-karstic nature of the aquifer system, which may yield water from matrix porosity, fractures, solution-enlarged conduits, or a combination of the three. The data also indicate mixing of groundwater from two or more sources, including recent recharge originating from precipitation at high elevations, old groundwater stored in the matrix, and pre-modern groundwater upwelling along fault zones. The tracer data have also been influenced by surface-water/groundwater exchange via losing streams and lower elevation springs (groundwater recycling). This study highlights the importance of using multiple tracers when conducting large-scale investigations of a heterogeneous aquifer system, and sheds light on characteristics of groundwater flow systems that can produce discrepancies in calculations of groundwater age.

Ammonium transport and reaction in contaminated groundwater: Application of isotope tracers and isotope fractionation studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Böhlke, J.K.; Smith, Richard L.; Miller, Daniel N.

2006-01-01

Ammonium (NH4+) is a major constituent of many contaminated groundwaters, but its movement through aquifers is complex and poorly documented. In this study, processes affecting NH4+ movement in a treated wastewater plume were studied by a combination of techniques including large‐scale monitoring of NH4+ distribution; isotopic analyses of coexisting aqueous NH4+, NO3−, N2, and sorbed NH4+; and in situ natural gradient 15NH4+tracer tests with numerical simulations of 15NH4+, 15NO3−, and 15N2 breakthrough data. Combined results indicate that the main mass of NH4+ was moving downgradient at a rate about 0.25 times the groundwater velocity. Retardation factors and groundwater ages indicate that much of the NH4+ in the plume was recharged early in the history of the wastewater disposal. NO3− and excess N2 gas, which were related to each other by denitrification near the plume source, were moving downgradient more rapidly and were largely unrelated to coexisting NH4+. The δ15N data indicate areas of the plume affected by nitrification (substantial isotope fractionation) and sorption (no isotope fractionation). There was no conclusive evidence for NH4+‐consuming reactions (nitrification or anammox) in the anoxic core of the plume. Nitrification occurred along the upper boundary of the plume but was limited by a low rate of transverse dispersive mixing of wastewater NH4+ and O2 from overlying uncontaminated groundwater. Without induced vertical mixing or displacement of plume water with oxic groundwater from upgradient sources, the main mass of NH4+ could reach a discharge area without substantial reaction long after the more mobile wastewater constituents are gone. Multiple approaches including in situ isotopic tracers and fractionation studies provided critical information about processes affecting NH4+ movement and N speciation.

First Results from the Dense Extragalactic GBT+ARGUS Survey (DEGAS): A Direct, Quantitative Test of the Role of Gas Density in Star Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kepley, Amanda; Bigiel, Frank; Bolatto, Alberto; Church, Sarah; Cleary, Kieran; Frayer, David; Gallagher, Molly; Gundersen, Joshua; Harris, Andrew; Hughes, Annie; Jimenez-Donaire, Maria Jesus; Kessler, Sarah; Lee, Cheoljong; Leroy, Adam; Li, Jialu; Donovan Meyer, Jennifer; Rosolowsky, Erik; Sandstrom, Karin; Schinnener, Eva; Schruba, Andreas; Sieth, Matt; Usero, Antonio

2018-01-01

Gas density plays a central role in all modern theories of star formation. A key test of these theories involves quantifying the resolved gas density distribution and its relationship to star formation within a wide range of galactic environments. Until recently, this experiment has been difficult to perform owing to the faint nature of key molecular gas tracers like HCN and HCO+, but the superior sensitivity of modern millimeter instruments like ALMA and the IRAM 30m make these types of experiments feasible. In particular, the sensitivity and resolution provided by large aperture of the GBT combined with fast mapping speeds made possible by its new 16-pixel, 3mm focal plane array (Argus) make the GBT an almost-ideal instrument for this type of study. The Dense Extragalactic GBT+Argus Survey (DEGAS) will leverage these capabilities to perform the largest, resolved survey of molecular gas tracers in nearby galaxies, ultimately mapping a suite of four molecular gas tracers in the inner 2’ by 2’ of 36 nearby galaxies. When complete in 2020, DEGAS will be the largest resolved survey of dense molecular gas tracers in nearby galaxies. This talk will present early results from the first observations for this Green Bank Telescope large survey and highlight some exciting future possibilities for this survey.

Accounting for pharmacokinetic differences in dual-tracer receptor density imaging

PubMed Central

Tichauer, K M; Diop, M; Elliott, J T; Samkoe, K S; Hasan, T; St. Lawrence, K; Pogue, B W

2014-01-01

Dual-tracer molecular imaging is a powerful approach to quantify receptor expression in a wide range of tissues by using an untargeted tracer to account for any nonspecific uptake of a molecular-targeted tracer. This approach has previously required the pharmacokinetics of the receptor-targeted and untargeted tracers to be identical, requiring careful selection of an ideal untargeted tracer for any given targeted tracer. In this study, methodology capable of correcting for tracer differences in arterial input functions, as well as binding-independent delivery and retention, is derived and evaluated in a mouse U251 glioma xenograft model using an Affibody tracer targeted to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a cell membrane receptor overexpressed in many cancers. Simulations demonstrated that blood, and to a lesser extent vascular-permeability, pharmacokinetic differences between targeted and untargeted tracers could be quantified by deconvolving the uptakes of the two tracers in a region of interest devoid of targeted tracer binding, and therefore corrected for, by convolving the uptake of the untargeted tracer in all regions of interest by the product of the deconvolution. Using fluorescently labelled, EGFR-targeted and untargeted Affibodies (known to have different blood clearance rates), the average tumor concentration of EGFR in 4 mice was estimated using dual-tracer kinetic modelling to be 3.9 ± 2.4 nM compared to an expected concentration of 2.0 ± 0.4 nM. However, with deconvolution correction a more equivalent EGFR concentration of 2.0 ± 0.4 nM was measured. PMID:24743262

Accounting for pharmacokinetic differences in dual-tracer receptor density imaging.

PubMed

Tichauer, K M; Diop, M; Elliott, J T; Samkoe, K S; Hasan, T; St Lawrence, K; Pogue, B W

2014-05-21

Dual-tracer molecular imaging is a powerful approach to quantify receptor expression in a wide range of tissues by using an untargeted tracer to account for any nonspecific uptake of a molecular-targeted tracer. This approach has previously required the pharmacokinetics of the receptor-targeted and untargeted tracers to be identical, requiring careful selection of an ideal untargeted tracer for any given targeted tracer. In this study, methodology capable of correcting for tracer differences in arterial input functions, as well as binding-independent delivery and retention, is derived and evaluated in a mouse U251 glioma xenograft model using an Affibody tracer targeted to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a cell membrane receptor overexpressed in many cancers. Simulations demonstrated that blood, and to a lesser extent vascular-permeability, pharmacokinetic differences between targeted and untargeted tracers could be quantified by deconvolving the uptakes of the two tracers in a region of interest devoid of targeted tracer binding, and therefore corrected for, by convolving the uptake of the untargeted tracer in all regions of interest by the product of the deconvolution. Using fluorescently labeled, EGFR-targeted and untargeted Affibodies (known to have different blood clearance rates), the average tumor concentration of EGFR in four mice was estimated using dual-tracer kinetic modeling to be 3.9 ± 2.4 nM compared to an expected concentration of 2.0 ± 0.4 nM. However, with deconvolution correction a more equivalent EGFR concentration of 2.0 ± 0.4 nM was measured.

A new in-situ method to determine the apparent gas diffusion coefficient of soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laemmel, Thomas; Paulus, Sinikka; Schack-Kirchner, Helmer; Maier, Martin

2015-04-01

Soil aeration is an important factor for the biological activity in the soil and soil respiration. Generally, gas exchange between soil and atmosphere is assumed to be governed by diffusion and Fick's Law is used to describe the fluxes in the soil. The "apparent soil gas diffusion coefficient" represents the proportional factor between the flux and the gas concentration gradient in the soil and reflects the ability of the soil to "transport passively" gases through the soil. One common way to determine this coefficient is to take core samples in the field and determine it in the lab. Unfortunately this method is destructive and needs laborious field work and can only reflect a small fraction of the whole soil. As a consequence insecurity about the resulting effective diffusivity on the profile scale must remain. We developed a new in-situ method using new gas sampling device, tracer gas and inverse soil gas modelling. The gas sampling device contains several sampling depths and can be easily installed into vertical holes of an auger, which allows for fast installation of the system. At the lower end of the device inert tracer gas is injected continuously. The tracer gas diffuses into the surrounding soil. The resulting distribution of the tracer gas concentrations is used to deduce the diffusivity profile of the soil. For Finite Element Modeling of the gas sampling device/soil system the program COMSOL is used. We will present the results of a field campaign comparing the new in-situ method with lab measurements on soil cores. The new sampling pole has several interesting advantages: it can be used in-situ and over a long time; so it allows following modifications of diffusion coefficients in interaction with rain but also vegetation cycle and wind.

Tracer SWIW tests in propped and un-propped fractures: parameter sensitivity issues, revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghergut, Julia; Behrens, Horst; Sauter, Martin

2017-04-01

-scale diffusion; (iii) attempt to determine both advective and non-advective transport parameters from one and the same conservative-tracer signal (relying on 'third-party' knowledge), or from twin signals of a so-called 'dual' tracer pair, e. g.: using tracers with contrasting reactivity and partitioning behavior to determine residual saturation in depleted oilfields (Tomich et al. 1973), or to determine advective parameters (Ghergut et al. 2014); using early-time signals of conservative and sorptive tracers for propped-fracture characterization (Karmakar et al. 2015); using mid-time signals of conservative tracers for a reservoir-borne inflow profiling in multi-frac systems (Ghergut et al. 2016), etc. The poster describes new uses of type-(iii) techniques for the specific purposes of shale-gas reservoir characterization, productivity monitoring, diagnostics and engineering of 're-frac' treatments, based on parameter sensitivity findings from German BMWi research project "TRENDS" (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, FKZ 0325515) and from the EU-H2020 project "FracRisk" (grant no. 640979).

A comparative uptake study of multiplexed PET tracers in mice with turpentine-induced inflammation.

PubMed

Huang, Tingting; Wang, Hongliang; Tang, Ganghua; Liang, Xiang; Nie, Dahong; Yi, Chang; Wu, Kening

2012-11-26

The potential value of multiplexed positron emission tomography (PET) tracers in mice with turpentine-induced inflammation was evaluated and compared with 2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([¹⁸F]FDG) for glucose metabolism imaging. These PET tracers included [¹⁸F]fluoromethylcholine ([¹⁸F]FCH) for choline metabolism imaging, (S-[¹¹C]methyl)-D-cysteine ([¹¹C]DMCYS) for amino acid metabolism imaging, [¹¹C]bis(zinc(II)-dipicolylamine) ([¹¹C]DPA-Zn²⁺) for apoptosis imaging, 2-(4-N-[¹¹C]-methylaminophenyl)-6-hydroxybenzothiazole ([¹¹C]PIB) for β amyloid binding imaging, and [¹⁸F]fluoride (¹⁸F⁻) for bone metabolism imaging. In mice with turpentine-induced inflammation mice, the biodistribution of all the tracers mentioned above at 5, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min postinjection was determined. Also, the time-course curves of the tracer uptake ratios for inflammatory thigh muscle (IM) to normal uninflammatory thigh muscle (NM), IM to blood (BL), IM to brain (BR), and IM to liver (LI) were acquired, respectively. Moreover, PET imaging with the tracers within 60 min postinjection on a clinical PET/CT scanner was also conducted. [¹⁸F]FDG and ¹⁸F⁻ showed relatively higher uptake ratios for IM to NM, IM to BL, IM to BR, and IM to LI than [¹⁸F]FCH, [¹¹C]DPA-Zn²⁺, [¹¹C]DMCYS and [¹¹C]PIB, which were highly consistent with the results delineated in PET images. The results demonstrate that ¹⁸F⁻ seems to be a potential PET tracer for inflammation imaging. [¹⁸F]FCH and [¹¹C]DMCYS, with lower accumulation in inflammatory tissue than [¹⁸F]FDG, are not good PET tracers for inflammation imaging. As a promising inflammatory tracer, the chemical structure of [¹¹C]DPA-Zn²⁺ needs to be further optimized.

Experimental design for estimating parameters of rate-limited mass transfer: Analysis of stream tracer studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wagner, Brian J.; Harvey, Judson W.

1997-01-01

Tracer experiments are valuable tools for analyzing the transport characteristics of streams and their interactions with shallow groundwater. The focus of this work is the design of tracer studies in high-gradient stream systems subject to advection, dispersion, groundwater inflow, and exchange between the active channel and zones in surface or subsurface water where flow is stagnant or slow moving. We present a methodology for (1) evaluating and comparing alternative stream tracer experiment designs and (2) identifying those combinations of stream transport properties that pose limitations to parameter estimation and therefore a challenge to tracer test design. The methodology uses the concept of global parameter uncertainty analysis, which couples solute transport simulation with parameter uncertainty analysis in a Monte Carlo framework. Two general conclusions resulted from this work. First, the solute injection and sampling strategy has an important effect on the reliability of transport parameter estimates. We found that constant injection with sampling through concentration rise, plateau, and fall provided considerably more reliable parameter estimates than a pulse injection across the spectrum of transport scenarios likely encountered in high-gradient streams. Second, for a given tracer test design, the uncertainties in mass transfer and storage-zone parameter estimates are strongly dependent on the experimental Damkohler number, DaI, which is a dimensionless combination of the rates of exchange between the stream and storage zones, the stream-water velocity, and the stream reach length of the experiment. Parameter uncertainties are lowest at DaI values on the order of 1.0. When DaI values are much less than 1.0 (owing to high velocity, long exchange timescale, and/or short reach length), parameter uncertainties are high because only a small amount of tracer interacts with storage zones in the reach. For the opposite conditions (DaI ≫ 1.0), solute

Suitability and potential of environmental tracers for base-flow determination in streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerber, C.; Purtschert, R.; Darling, G.; Gooddy, D.; Kralik, M.; Humer, F.; Sültenfuss, J.

2012-04-01

The temporal and spatial distribution of the proportion of groundwater discharge into gaining rivers can be estimated with conventional geochemical parameters and 222Rn measurements (COOK et al., 2006). However, the quantification of the age of the discharging groundwater requires either groundwater sampling from boreholes in the vicinity of the river e.g. (FETTE et al., 2005) or tracer measurements in the river water itself. A promising tracer for age dating of base flow in streams is 85Kr. Its chemically inertness and the relatively low diffusion coefficient (long exchange time with the atmosphere) favours 85Kr in comparison to e.g. 3H/3He (STOLP et al., 2010). In this paper, measurements of 85Kr, 3H/3Hetrit and SF6 from a small scale system in the southern Vienna basin (STOLP et al., 2010) are presented and discussed. In combination with completing parameters (stable isotopes, geochemistry, flux measurements) and model calculations the gas exchange dynamic between stream water and the atmosphere is estimated. This is a key factor for the age characterization of the discharging groundwater. The sensitivity of the individual methods to origin and amount of excess air is also discussed. Cook P. G., Lamontagne S., Berhane D., and Clark J. F. (2006) Quantifying groundwater discharge to Cockburn River, southeastern Australia, using dissolved gas tracers 222Rn and SF6. WRR 42.doi:10.1029/2006WR004921 Fette M., Kipfer R., Schubert C. J., Hoehn E., and Wehrli.B. (2005) Assessing river-groundwater exchange in the regulated Rhone River (Switzerland) using stable isotopes and geochemical tracers. Appl. Geochemistry 20, 701-712 Stolp B., Solomon D. K., Vitvar T., Rank D., Aggarwal P. K., and Han L. F. (2010) Age dating base flow at springs and gaining streams using helium-3 and tritium: Fischa-Dagnitz system, southern Vienna Basin, Austria. Water Resour. Res. 46, 13.doi:10.1029/2009WR008006

Quantification of methane fluxes from industrial sites using a combination of a tracer release method and a Gaussian model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ars, S.; Broquet, G.; Yver-Kwok, C.; Wu, L.; Bousquet, P.; Roustan, Y.

2015-12-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations keep on increasing in the atmosphere since industrial revolution. Methane (CH4) is the second most important anthropogenic GHG after carbon dioxide (CO2). Its sources and sinks are nowadays well identified however their relative contributions remain uncertain. The industries and the waste treatment emit an important part of the anthropogenic methane that is difficult to quantify because the sources are fugitive and discontinuous. A better estimation of methane emissions could help industries to adapt their mitigation's politic and encourage them to install methane recovery systems in order to reduce their emissions while saving money. Different methods exist to quantify methane emissions. Among them is the tracer release method consisting in releasing a tracer gas near the methane source at a well-known rate and measuring both their concentrations in the emission plume. The methane rate is calculated using the ratio of methane and tracer concentrations and the emission rate of the tracer. A good estimation of the methane emissions requires a good differentiation between the methane actually emitted by the site and the methane from the background concentration level, but also a good knowledge of the sources distribution over the site. For this purpose, a Gaussian plume model is used in addition to the tracer release method to assess the emission rates calculated. In a first step, the data obtained for the tracer during a field campaign are used to tune the model. Different model's parameterizations have been tested to find the best representation of the atmospheric dispersion conditions. Once these parameters are set, methane emissions are estimated thanks to the methane concentrations measured and a Bayesian inversion. This enables to adjust the position and the emission rate of the different methane sources of the site and remove the methane background concentration.

Study of Gas Solid Flow Characteristics in Cyclone Inlet Ducts of A300Mwe CFB Boiler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, J. Y.; Lu, X. F.; Lai, J.; Liu, H. Z.

Gas solid flow characteristics in cyclone's inlet duct of a 300MW CFB boiler were studied in a cold circulating fluidized bed (CFB) experimental setup according to a 410t/h CFB boiler with a scale of 10∶1. Tracer particles were adopted in the experiment and their motion trajectories in the two kinds of cyclone's inlet ducts were photographed by a high-speed camera. By analyzing the motion trajectories of tracer particles, acceleration performance of particle phases in the two inlet ducts was obtained. Results indicate that the acceleration performance of particles in the long inlet duct is better than that in the short inlet duct, but the pressure drop of the long inlet duct is higher. Meanwhile, under the same operating conditions, both the separation efficiency and the pressure drop of the cyclone are higher when the cyclone is connected with the long inlet duct. Figs 11, Tabs 4 and refs 10.

The use of Na-22 as a tracer for long-term bone mineral turnover studies.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palmer, H. E.; Rieksts, G. A.; Palmer, R. F.; Gillis, M. F.

1979-01-01

Sodium-22 has been studied as a tracer for bone mineral metabolism in rats and dogs. When incorporated into bone during growth from birth to adulthood, the bone becomes uniformly tagged with Na-22, which is released through the metabolic turnover of the bone. The Na-22 not incorporated in the bone matrix is rapidly excreted within a few days when animals are fed high, but nontoxic levels of NaCl. The Na-22 tracer can be used to measure bone mineral loss in animals during space flight and in research on bone disease.

Mitigation of methane emissions in a pilot-scale biocover system at the AV Miljø Landfill, Denmark: 1. System design and gas distribution.

PubMed

Cassini, Filippo; Scheutz, Charlotte; Skov, Bent H; Mou, Zishen; Kjeldsen, Peter

2017-05-01

Greenhouse gas mitigation at landfills by methane oxidation in engineered biocover systems is believed to be a cost effective technology, but so far a full quantitative evaluation of the efficiency of the technology in full scale has only been carried out in a few cases. A third generation semi-passive biocover system was constructed at the AV Miljø Landfill, Denmark. The biocover system was fed by landfill gas pumped out of three leachate collection wells. An innovative gas distribution system was used to overcome the commonly observed surface emission hot spot areas resulting from an uneven gas distribution to the active methane oxidation layer, leading to areas with methane overloading. Performed screening of methane and carbon dioxide surface concentrations, as well as flux measurement using a flux chamber at the surface of the biocover, showed homogenous distributions indicating an even gas distribution. This was supported by results from a tracer gas test where the compound HFC-134a was added to the gas inlet over an adequately long time period to obtain tracer gas stationarity in the whole biocover system. Studies of the tracer gas movement within the biocover system showed a very even gas distribution in gas probes installed in the gas distribution layer. Also the flux of tracer gas out of the biocover surface, as measured by flux chamber technique, showed a spatially even distribution. Installed probes logging the temperature and moisture content of the methane oxidation layer at different depths showed elevated temperatures in the layer with temperature differences to the ambient temperature in the range of 25-50°C at the deepest measuring point due to the microbial processes occurring in the layer. The moisture measurements showed that infiltrating precipitation was efficiently drained away from the methane oxidation layer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measurement of LNAPL flow using single-well tracer dilution techniques.

PubMed

Sale, Tom; Taylor, Geoffrey Ryan; Iltis, Gabriel; Lyverse, Mark

2007-01-01

This paper describes the use of single-well tracer dilution techniques to resolve the rate of light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) flow through wells and the adjacent geologic formation. Laboratory studies are presented in which a fluorescing tracer is added to LNAPL in wells. An in-well mixer keeps the tracer well mixed in the LNAPL. Tracer concentrations in LNAPL are measured through time using a fiber optic cable and a spectrometer. Results indicate that the rate of tracer depletion is proportional to the rate of LNAPL flow through the well and the adjacent formation. Tracer dilution methods are demonstrated for vertically averaged LNAPL Darcy velocities of 0.00048 to 0.11 m/d and LNAPL thicknesses of 9 to 24 cm. Over the range of conditions studied, results agree closely with steady-state LNAPL flow rates imposed by pumping. A key parameter for estimating LNAPL flow rates in the formation is the flow convergence factor alpha. Measured convergence factors for 0.030-inch wire wrap, 0.030-inch-slotted polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and 0.010-inch-slotted PVC are 1.7, 0.91, and 0.79, respectively. In addition, methods for using tracer dilution data to determine formation transmissivity to LNAPL are presented. Results suggest that single-well tracer dilution techniques are a viable approach for measuring in situ LNAPL flow and formation transmissivity to LNAPL.

Non-universal tracer diffusion in crowded media of non-inert obstacles.

PubMed

Ghosh, Surya K; Cherstvy, Andrey G; Metzler, Ralf

2015-01-21

We study the diffusion of a tracer particle, which moves in continuum space between a lattice of excluded volume, immobile non-inert obstacles. In particular, we analyse how the strength of the tracer-obstacle interactions and the volume occupancy of the crowders alter the diffusive motion of the tracer. From the details of partitioning of the tracer diffusion modes between trapping states when bound to obstacles and bulk diffusion, we examine the degree of localisation of the tracer in the lattice of crowders. We study the properties of the tracer diffusion in terms of the ensemble and time averaged mean squared displacements, the trapping time distributions, the amplitude variation of the time averaged mean squared displacements, and the non-Gaussianity parameter of the diffusing tracer. We conclude that tracer-obstacle adsorption and binding triggers a transient anomalous diffusion. From a very narrow spread of recorded individual time averaged trajectories we exclude continuous type random walk processes as the underlying physical model of the tracer diffusion in our system. For moderate tracer-crowder attraction the motion is found to be fully ergodic, while at stronger attraction strength a transient disparity between ensemble and time averaged mean squared displacements occurs. We also put our results into perspective with findings from experimental single-particle tracking and simulations of the diffusion of tagged tracers in dense crowded suspensions. Our results have implications for the diffusion, transport, and spreading of chemical components in highly crowded environments inside living cells and other structured liquids.

Sinks for nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems: a meta-analysis of 15N tracer field studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Templer, P.H.; Mack, M.C.; Chapin, F. S.; Christenson, L.M.; Compton, J.E.; Crook, H.D.; Currie, W.S.; Curtis, C.J.; Dail, D.B.; D'Antonio, C. M.; Emmett, B.A.; Epstein, H.E.; Goodale, C.L.; Gundersen, P.; Hobbie, S.E.; Holland, K.; Hooper, D.U.; Hungate, B.A.; Lamontagne, S.; Nadelhoffer, K.J.; Osenberg, C.W.; Perakis, S.S.; Schleppi, P.; Schimel, J.; Schmidt, I.K.; Sommerkorn, M.; Spoelstra, J.; Tietema, A.; Wessel, W.W.; Zak, D.R.

2012-01-01

Effects of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to store carbon (C) depend in part on the amount of N retained in the system and its partitioning among plant and soil pools. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies at 48 sites across four continents that used enriched 15N isotope tracers in order to synthesize information about total ecosystem N retention (i.e., total ecosystem 15N recovery in plant and soil pools) across natural systems and N partitioning among ecosystem pools. The greatest recoveries of ecosystem 15N tracer occurred in shrublands (mean, 89.5%) and wetlands (84.8%) followed by forests (74.9%) and grasslands (51.8%). In the short term (15N tracer application), total ecosystem 15N recovery was negatively correlated with fine-root and soil 15N natural abundance, and organic soil C and N concentration but was positively correlated with mean annual temperature and mineral soil C:N. In the longer term (3–18 months after 15N tracer application), total ecosystem 15N retention was negatively correlated with foliar natural-abundance 15N but was positively correlated with mineral soil C and N concentration and C: N, showing that plant and soil natural-abundance 15N and soil C:N are good indicators of total ecosystem N retention. Foliar N concentration was not significantly related to ecosystem 15N tracer recovery, suggesting that plant N status is not a good predictor of total ecosystem N retention. Because the largest ecosystem sinks for 15N tracer were below ground in forests, shrublands, and grasslands, we conclude that growth enhancement and potential for increased C storage in aboveground biomass from atmospheric N deposition is likely to be modest in these ecosystems. Total ecosystem 15N recovery decreased with N fertilization, with an apparent threshold fertilization rate of 46 kg N·ha-1·yr-1 above which most ecosystems showed net losses of applied 15N tracer in response to N fertilizer addition.

Sinks for nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems: a meta-analysis of 15N tracer field studies.

PubMed

Templer, P H; Mack, M C; Chapin, F S; Christenson, L M; Compton, J E; Crook, H D; Currie, W S; Curtis, C J; Dail, D B; D'Antonio, C M; Emmett, B A; Epstein, H E; Goodale, C L; Gundersen, P; Hobbie, S E; Holland, K; Hooper, D U; Hungate, B A; Lamontagne, S; Nadelhoffer, K J; Osenberg, C W; Perakis, S S; Schleppi, P; Schimel, J; Schmidt, I K; Sommerkorn, M; Spoelstra, J; Tietema, A; Wessel, W W; Zak, D R

2012-08-01

Effects of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to store carbon (C) depend in part on the amount of N retained in the system and its partitioning among plant and soil pools. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies at 48 sites across four continents that used enriched 15N isotope tracers in order to synthesize information about total ecosystem N retention (i.e., total ecosystem 15N recovery in plant and soil pools) across natural systems and N partitioning among ecosystem pools. The greatest recoveries of ecosystem 15N tracer occurred in shrublands (mean, 89.5%) and wetlands (84.8%) followed by forests (74.9%) and grasslands (51.8%). In the short term (< 1 week after 15N tracer application), total ecosystem 15N recovery was negatively correlated with fine-root and soil 15N natural abundance, and organic soil C and N concentration but was positively correlated with mean annual temperature and mineral soil C:N. In the longer term (3-18 months after 15N tracer application), total ecosystem 15N retention was negatively correlated with foliar natural-abundance 15N but was positively correlated with mineral soil C and N concentration and C:N, showing that plant and soil natural-abundance 15N and soil C:N are good indicators of total ecosystem N retention. Foliar N concentration was not significantly related to ecosystem 15N tracer recovery, suggesting that plant N status is not a good predictor of total ecosystem N retention. Because the largest ecosystem sinks for 15N tracer were below ground in forests, shrublands, and grasslands, we conclude that growth enhancement and potential for increased C storage in aboveground biomass from atmospheric N deposition is likely to be modest in these ecosystems. Total ecosystem 15N recovery decreased with N fertilization, with an apparent threshold fertilization rate of 46 kg N x ha(-1) x yr(-1) above which most ecosystems showed net losses of applied 15N tracer in response to N fertilizer

Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourgault, Daniel; Cyr, Frédéric; Dumont, Dany; Carter, Angela

2014-05-01

The Gulf of St Lawrence is under immediate pressure for oil and gas exploration, particularly at the Old Harry prospect. A synthesis of the regulatory process that has taken place over the last few years indicates that important societal decisions soon to be made by various ministries and environmental groups are going to be based on numerous disagreements between the private sector and government agencies. The review also shows that the regulatory process has taken place with a complete lack of independent oceanographic research. Yet, the Gulf of St Lawrence is a complex environment that has never been specifically studied for oil and gas exploitation. Motivated by this knowledge gap, preliminary numerical experiments are carried out where the spreading of a passive floating tracer released at Old Harry is examined. Results indicate that the tracer released at Old Harry may follow preferentially two main paths. The first path is northward along the French Shore of Newfoundland, and the second path is along the main axis of the Laurentian Channel. The most probable coastlines to be touched by water flowing through Old Harry are Cape Breton and the southern portion of the French Shore, especially Cape Anguille and the Port au Port Peninsula. The Magdalen Islands are less susceptible to being affected than those regions but the probability is not negligible. These preliminary results provide guidance for future more in-depth and complete multidisciplinary studies from which informed decision-making scenarios could eventually be made regarding the exploration and development of oil and gas at the Old Harry prospect in particular and, more generally, in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Radiocarbon tracer measurements of atmospheric hydroxyl radical concentrations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, M. J.; Farmer, J. C.; Fitzner, C. A.; Henry, M. N.; Sheppard, J. C.

1986-01-01

The usefulness of the C-14 tracer in measurements of atmospheric hydroxyl radical concentration is discussed. The apparatus and the experimental conditions of three variations of a radiochemical method of atmosphere analysis are described and analyzed: the Teflon bag static reactor, the flow reactor (used in the Wallops Island tests), and the aircraft OH titration reactor. The procedure for reduction of the aircraft reactor instrument data is outlined. The problems connected with the measurement of hydroxyl radicals are discussed. It is suggested that the gas-phase radioisotope methods have considerable potential in measuring tropospheric impurities present in very low concentrations.

Transport of Passive Tracers in Baroclinic Wave Life Cycles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Elizabeth M.; Randel, William J.; Stanford, John L.

1999-01-01

The transport of passive tracers in idealized baroclinic wave life cycles is studied using output from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model (CCM2). Two life cycles, LCn and LCs, are simulated, starting with baroclinically unstable initial conditions similar to those used by Thorncroft et al. in their study of two life cycle paradigms. The two life cycles LCn and LCs have different initial horizontal wind shear structures that result in distinctive nonlinear development. In terms of potential vorticity-potential temperature (PV-theta) diagnostics, the LCn case is characterized by thinning troughs that are advected anti-cyclonically and equatorward, while the LCs case has broadening troughs that wrap up cyclonically and poleward. Four idealized passive tracers are included in the model to be advected by the semi-Lagrangian transport scheme of the CCM2, and their evolutions are investigated throughout the life cycles. Tracer budgets are analyzed in terms of the transformed Eulerian mean constituent transport formalism in pressure coordinates and also in isentropic coordinates. Results for both LCn and LCs show transport that is downgradient with respect to the background structure of the tracer field, but with a characteristic spatial structure that maximizes in the middle to high latitudes. For the idealized tropospheric tracers in this study, this represents a net upward and poleward transport that enhances concentrations at high latitudes. These results vary little with the initial distribution of the constituent field. The time tendency of the tracer is influenced most strongly by the eddy flux term. with the largest transport occurring during the nonlinear growth stage of the life cycle. The authors also study the transport of a lower-stratospheric tracer, to examine stratosphere-troposphere exchange for baroclinic waves.

Using Neural Networks to Describe Tracer Correlations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lary, D. J.; Mueller, M. D.; Mussa, H. Y.

2003-01-01

Neural networks are ideally suited to describe the spatial and temporal dependence of tracer-tracer correlations. The neural network performs well even in regions where the correlations are less compact and normally a family of correlation curves would be required. For example, the CH4-N2O correlation can be well described using a neural network trained with the latitude, pressure, time of year, and CH4 volume mixing ratio (v.m.r.). In this study a neural network using Quickprop learning and one hidden layer with eight nodes was able to reproduce the CH4-N2O correlation with a correlation co- efficient of 0.9995. Such an accurate representation of tracer-tracer correlations allows more use to be made of long-term datasets to constrain chemical models. Such as the dataset from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) which has continuously observed CH4, (but not N2O) from 1991 till the present. The neural network Fortran code used is available for download.

Tracer attenuation in groundwater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cvetkovic, Vladimir

2011-12-01

The self-purifying capacity of aquifers strongly depends on the attenuation of waterborne contaminants, i.e., irreversible loss of contaminant mass on a given scale as a result of coupled transport and transformation processes. A general formulation of tracer attenuation in groundwater is presented. Basic sensitivities of attenuation to macrodispersion and retention are illustrated for a few typical retention mechanisms. Tracer recovery is suggested as an experimental proxy for attenuation. Unique experimental data of tracer recovery in crystalline rock compare favorably with the theoretical model that is based on diffusion-controlled retention. Non-Fickian hydrodynamic transport has potentially a large impact on field-scale attenuation of dissolved contaminants.

Formaldehyde in Absorption: Tracing Molecular Gas in Early-Type Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dollhopf, Niklaus M.; Donovan Meyer, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Early-Type Galaxies (ETGs) have been long-classified as the red, ellipsoidal branch of the classic Hubble tuning fork diagram of galactic structure. In part with this classification, ETGs are thought to be molecular and atomic gas-poor with little to no recent star formation. However, recent efforts have questioned this ingrained classification. Most notably, the ATLAS3D survey of 260 ETGs within ~40 Mpc found 22% contain CO, a common tracer for molecular gas. The presence of cold molecular gas also implies the possibility for current star formation within these galaxies. Simulations do not accurately predict the recent observations and further studies are necessary to understand the mechanisms of ETGs.CO traces molecular gas starting at densities of ~102 cm-3, which makes it a good tracer of bulk molecular gas, but does little to constrain the possible locations of star formation within the cores of dense molecular gas clouds. Formaldehyde (H2CO) traces molecular gas on the order of ~104 cm-3, providing a further constraint on the location of star-forming gas, while being simple enough to possibly be abundant in gas-poor ETGs. In cold molecular clouds at or above ~104 cm-3 densities, the structure of formaldehyde enables a phenomenon in which rotational transitions have excitation temperatures driven below the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), ~2.7 K. Because the CMB radiates isotropically, formaldehyde can be observed in absorption, independent of distance, as a tracer of moderately-dense molecular clouds and star formation.This novel observation technique of formaldehyde was incorporated for observations of twelve CO-detected ETGs from the ATLAS3D sample, including NGC 4710 and PGC 8815, to investigate the presence of cold molecular gas, and possible star formation, in ETGs. We present images from the Very Large Array, used in its C-array configuration, of the J = 11,0 - 11,1 transition of formaldehyde towards these sources. We report our

CO2CRC's Otway Residual Saturation and Dissolution Test: Using Reactive Ester Tracers to Determine Residual CO2 Saturation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myers, M.; Stalker, L.; LaForce, T.; Pejcic, B.; Dyt, C.; Ho, K.; Ennis-King, J.

2013-12-01

Residual trapping, that is CO2 held in the rock pore space due to capillarity, is an important storage mechanism in geo-sequestration of over the short to medium term (up to 1000 years). As such residual CO2 saturation is a critical reservoir parameter for assessing the storage capacity and security of carbon capture and storage (CCS). As a component of the CO2CRC's Residual Gas Saturation and Dissolution Test at the CO2CRC Otway Project site in Victoria (Australia), we have recently tested a suite of reactive esters (triacetin, tripropionin and propylene glycol diacetate) in a single well chemical tracer test to determine residual CO2 saturation. The goal of this project was to assess and validate a suite of possible tests that could be implemented to determine residual CO2 saturation. For this test, the chemical tracers were injected with a saturated CO2/water mixture into the formation (that is already at residual CO2 saturation) where they were allowed to 'soak' for approximately 10 days allowing for the partial hydrolysis of the esters to their corresponding carboxylic acids and alcohols. Water containing the tracers was then produced from the well resulting in over 600 tracer samples over a period of 12 hours. A selection of these samples were analysed for tracer content and to establish tracer breakthrough curves. To understand the behaviour of these chemical tracers in the downhole environment containing residually trapped supercritical CO2 and formation water, it is necessary to determine the supercritical CO2/water partition coefficients. We have previously determined these in the laboratory (Myers et al., 2012) and they are used here to model the tracer behaviour and provide an estimate of the residual CO2 saturation. Two different computational simulators were used to analyse the tracer breakthrough profiles. The first is based on simple chromatographic retardation and has been used extensively in single well chemical tracer tests to determine residual

Interpreting tracer breakthrough tailing from different forced-gradient tracer experiment configurations in fractured bedrock

USGS Publications Warehouse

Becker, M.W.; Shapiro, A.M.

2003-01-01

Conceptual and mathematical models are presented that explain tracer breakthrough tailing in the absence of significant matrix diffusion. Model predictions are compared to field results from radially convergent, weak-dipole, and push-pull tracer experiments conducted in a saturated crystalline bedrock. The models are based upon the assumption that flow is highly channelized, that the mass of tracer in a channel is proportional to the cube of the mean channel aperture, and the mean transport time in the channel is related to the square of the mean channel aperture. These models predict the consistent -2 straight line power law slope observed in breakthrough from radially convergent and weak-dipole tracer experiments and the variable straight line power law slope observed in push-pull tracer experiments with varying injection volumes. The power law breakthrough slope is predicted in the absence of matrix diffusion. A comparison of tracer experiments in which the flow field was reversed to those in which it was not indicates that the apparent dispersion in the breakthrough curve is partially reversible. We hypothesize that the observed breakthrough tailing is due to a combination of local hydrodynamic dispersion, which always increases in the direction of fluid velocity, and heterogeneous advection, which is partially reversed when the flow field is reversed. In spite of our attempt to account for heterogeneous advection using a multipath approach, a much smaller estimate of hydrodynamic dispersivity was obtained from push-pull experiments than from radially convergent or weak dipole experiments. These results suggest that although we can explain breakthrough tailing as an advective phenomenon, we cannot ignore the relationship between hydrodynamic dispersion and flow field geometry at this site. The design of the tracer experiment can severely impact the estimation of hydrodynamic dispersion and matrix diffusion in highly heterogeneous geologic media.

Reconstructing the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak incident

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duren, R. M.; Yadav, V.; Verhulst, K. R.; Thorpe, A. K.; Hopkins, F. M.; Prasad, K.; Kuai, L.; Thompson, D. R.; Wong, C.; Sander, S. P.; Mueller, K. L.; Nehrkorn, T.; Lee, M.; Hulley, G. C.; Johnson, W. R.; Aubrey, A. D.; Whetstone, J. R.; Miller, C. E.

2016-12-01

Natural gas is a key energy source and presents significant policy challenges including energy reliability and the potential for fugitive methane emissions. The well blowout reported in October 2015 at the Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility near Porter Ranch, California and subsequent uncontrolled venting was the largest single anthropogenic methane source known to date. Multiple independent estimates indicate that this super-emitter source rivaled the normal methane flux of the entire South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) for several months until the well was plugged. The complexity of the event and logistical challenges - particularly in the initial weeks - presented significant barriers to estimating methane losses. Additionally, accounting for total gas lost is necessary but not sufficient for understanding the sequence of events and the controlling physical processes. We used a tiered system of observations to assess methane emissions from the Aliso Canyon incident. To generate a complete flux time-series, we applied tracer-transport models and tracer-tracer techniques to persistent, multi-year atmospheric methane observations from a network of surface in-situ and remote-sensing instruments. To study the fine spatio-temporal structure of methane plumes and understand the changing source morphology, we conducted intensive mobile surface campaigns, deployed airborne imaging spectrometers, requested special observations from two satellites, and employed large eddy simulations. Through a synthesis analysis we assessed methane fluxes from Aliso Canyon before, during and after the reported incident. We compared our fine scale spatial data with bottom-up data and reports of activity at the facility to better understand the controlling processes. We coordinated with California stakeholder agencies to validate and interpret these results and to consider the potential broader implications on underground gas storage and future priorities for methane monitoring.

The Postshock Chemical Lifetimes of Outflow Tracers and a Possible New Mechanism to Produce Water Ice Mantles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bergin, Edwin A.; Melnick, Gary J.; Neufeld, David A.

1998-01-01

We have used a coupled time-dependent chemical and dynamical model to investigate the lifetime of the chemical legacy in the wake of C-type shocks. We concentrate this study on the chemistry of H2O and O2, two molecules which are predicted to have abundances that are significantly affected in shock-heated gas. Two models are presented: (1) a three-stage model of preshock, shocked, and postshock gas; and (2) a Monte Carlo cloud simulation where we explore the effects of stochastic shock activity on molecular gas over a cloud lifetime. For both models we separately examine the pure gas-phase chemistry as well as the chemistry including the interactions of molecules with grain surfaces. In agreement with previous studies, we find that shock velocities in excess of 10 km/s are required to convert all of the oxygen not locked in CO into H2O before the gas has an opportunity to cool. For pure gas phase models the lifetime of the high water abundances, or "H2O legacy," in the postshock gas is approximately (4-7) x 10(exp 5) yr, independent of the gas density. A density dependence for the lifetime of H2O is found in gas-grain models as the water molecules deplete onto grains at the depletion timescale. Through the Monte Carlo cloud simulation we demonstrate that the time-average abundance of H2O, the weighted average of the amount of time gas spends in preshock, shock, and postshock stages, is a sensitive function of the frequency of shocks. Thus we predict that the abundance of H2O, and to a lesser extent O2, can be used to trace the history of shock activity in molecular gas. We use previous large-scale surveys of molecular outflows to constrain the frequency of 10 km/s shocks in regions with varying star formation properties and discuss the observations required to test these results. We discuss the postshock lifetimes for other possible outflow tracers (e.g., SiO and CH3OH) and show that the differences between the lifetimes for various tracers can produce potentially

Wanted: Scalable Tracers for Diffusion Measurements

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Scalable tracers are potentially a useful tool to examine diffusion mechanisms and to predict diffusion coefficients, particularly for hindered diffusion in complex, heterogeneous, or crowded systems. Scalable tracers are defined as a series of tracers varying in size but with the same shape, structure, surface chemistry, deformability, and diffusion mechanism. Both chemical homology and constant dynamics are required. In particular, branching must not vary with size, and there must be no transition between ordinary diffusion and reptation. Measurements using scalable tracers yield the mean diffusion coefficient as a function of size alone; measurements using nonscalable tracers yield the variation due to differences in the other properties. Candidate scalable tracers are discussed for two-dimensional (2D) diffusion in membranes and three-dimensional diffusion in aqueous solutions. Correlations to predict the mean diffusion coefficient of globular biomolecules from molecular mass are reviewed briefly. Specific suggestions for the 3D case include the use of synthetic dendrimers or random hyperbranched polymers instead of dextran and the use of core–shell quantum dots. Another useful tool would be a series of scalable tracers varying in deformability alone, prepared by varying the density of crosslinking in a polymer to make say “reinforced Ficoll” or “reinforced hyperbranched polyglycerol.” PMID:25319586

Effect of gas type on foam film permeability and its implications for foam flow in porous media.

PubMed

Farajzadeh, R; Muruganathan, R M; Rossen, W R; Krastev, R

2011-10-14

The aim of this paper is to provide a perspective on the effect of gas type on the permeability of foam films stabilized by different types of surfactant and to present a critical overview of the tracer gas experiments, which is the common approach to determine the trapped fraction of foam in porous media. In these experiments some part of the gas is replaced by a "tracer gas" during the steady-state stage of the experiments and trapped fraction of foam is determined by fitting the effluent data to a capacitance mass-transfer model. We present the experimental results on the measurement of the gas permeability of foam films stabilized with five surfactants (non-ionic, anionic and cationic) and different salt concentrations. The salt concentrations assure formation of either common black (CBF) or Newton black films (NBF). The experiments are performed with different single gasses. The permeability of the CBF is in general higher than that of the NBF. This behavior is explained by the higher density of the surfactant molecules in the NBF compared to that of CBF. It is also observed that the permeability coefficient, K(cm/s), of CBF and NBF for non-ionic and cationic surfactants are similar and K is insensitive to film thickness. Compared to anionic surfactants, the films made by the non-ionic surfactant have much lower permeability while the films made by the cationic surfactant have larger permeability. This conclusion is valid for all gasses. For all types of surfactant the gas permeability of foam film is largely dependent on the dissolution of gas in the surfactant solution and increases with increasing gas solubility in the bulk liquid. The measured values of K are consistent with rapid diffusion of tracer gasses through trapped gas adjacent to flowing gas in porous media, and difficulties in interpreting the results of tracer-foam experiments with conventional capacitance models. The implications of the results for foam flow in porous media and factors leading

Redesigning TRACER trial after TRITON.

PubMed

Serebruany, Victor L

2015-10-15

Designing of smart clinical trials is critical for regulatory approval and future drug utilization. Importantly, trial design should be reconsidered if the interim analyses suggest unexpected harm, or conflicting results were yielded from the other trials within the same therapeutic area. With regard to antiplatelet agents, the perfect example is redesigning of the ongoing PRoFESS trial by eliminating aspirin from clopidogrel arm after the earlier MATCH trial results became available. The goal was to aseess the unchanged TRACER trial design in light of the evidence yielded from the earlier completed TRITON trial. TRACER was designed as a triple versus dual antiplatelet trial in NSTEMI patients with no previous long-term outcome data supporting such aggressive strategy. TRITON data represented dual versus dual antiplatelet therapy, and became available before TRACER enrollment starts revealing prasugrel front-loaded early vascular benefit predominantly in STEMI patients with the growing over time bleeding and cancer risks. Moreover, large prasugrel NSTEMI TRITON cohort exhibited trend towards excess mortality in experimental arm warning against aggressive TRACER design. The long-term TRITON results in general, and especially in the NSTEMI patients challenge unchanged TRACER trial design. Applying dual, rather than triple antiplatelet therapy protocol modification should be considered in TRACER to minimize bleeding, cancer, and non-cardiovascular death risks. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Assessment of a Geothermal Doublet in the Malm Aquifer Using a Push-Pull Tracer Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lafogler, Mark; Somogyi, Gabriella; Nießner, Reinhard; Baumann, Thomas

2013-04-01

Geothermal exploration of the Malm aquifer in Bavaria is highly successful. Data about the long-term operation, however, is still scarce, although detailed knowledge about the processes occurring in the aquifer is a key requirement to run geothermal facilities efficiently and economically. While there usually is a constant flow of data from the production well (temperatures, hydraulic data, hydrochemical conditions, gas composition) not even the temperatures in the immediate surrounding of the reinjection well are accessible or known. In 2011 the geothermal facility in Pullach was extended with a third geothermal well reaching into the Malm aquifer which is now used as a reinjection well. The former reinjection well was converted to a production well after 5 years of operation. This setting offers a unique opportunity to study the processes in the vicinity of a reinjection well and provides the data base to describe the hydraulic, thermal and hydrochemical performance of the reservoir. The viscosity of the reinjected cold water is increasing by 60% compared to the production well, thus one would expect an increase of the reinjection pressure as the cold water plume spreads around the reinjection well. Measurements, however, show a significant decrease of the reinjection pressure, suggesting processes in the aquifer which positively change the hydraulic properties and overcompensate the viscosity effects. Hydrochemical data and modeling indicate that a dissolution of the matrix along the flow pathways is responsible for the decreasing reinjection pressures. The change of the flow direction from reinjection to production was used to conduct a push-pull tracer test. Here, a series of fluorescent dye pulses was added to the reinjected water before the former reinjection well was shut down (push phase). These tracers included a conservative tracer (Fluorescein), surface-sensitive tracers (Eosin/Sulforhodamin B), and a NAPL-sensitive tracer (Na-Naphthionate). After

A volatile tracer-assisted headspace analytical technique for determining the swelling capacity of superabsorbent polymers.

PubMed

Zhang, Shu-Xin; Jiang, Ran; Chai, Xin-Sheng

2017-09-01

This paper reports on a new method for the determination of swelling capacity of superabsorbent polymers by a volatile tracer-assisted headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC). Toluene was used as a tracer and added to the solution for polymers swelling test. Based on the differences of the tracer partitioned between the vapor and hydrogel phase before and after the polymer's swelling capacity, a transition point (corresponding to the material swelling capacity) can be observed when plotting the GC signal of toluene vs. the ratio of solution added to polymers. The present method has good precision (RSD<2.1%) and good accuracy, in which the relative deference between the data measured by the HS-GC method and the reference method were within 8.0%. The present method is very suitable to be used for testing the swelling capacity of polymers at the elevated temperatures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Long residence times - bad tracer tests?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghergut, Julia; Behrens, Horst; Sauter, Martin

2015-04-01

Tracer tests conducted at geothermal well doublets or triplets in the Upper Rhine Rift Valley [1] all face, with very few exceptions so far, one common issue: lack of conclusive tracer test results, or tracer signals still undetectable for longer than one or two years after tracer injection. While the reasons for this surely differ from site to site (Riehen, Landau, Insheim, Bruchsal, ...), its effects on how the usefulness of tracer tests is perceived by the non-tracer community are pretty much the same. The 'poor-signal' frustration keeps nourishing two major 'alternative' endeavours : (I) design and execute tracer tests in single-well injection-withdrawal (push-pull), 'instead of' inter-well flow-path tracing configurations; (II) use 'novel' tracer substances instead of the 'old' ones which have 'obviously failed'. Frustration experienced with most inter-well tracer tests in the Upper Rhine Rift Valley has also made them be regarded as 'maybe useful for EGS' ('enhanced', or 'engineered' geothermal systems, whose fluid RTD typically include a major share of values below one year), but 'no longer worthwhile a follow-up sampling' in natural, large-scale hydrothermal reservoirs. We illustrate some of these arguments with the ongoing Bruchsal case [2]. The inter-well tracer test conducted at Bruchsal was (and still is!) aimed at assessing inter-well connectivity, fluid residence times, and characterizing the reservoir structure [3]. Fluid samples taken at the geothermal production well after reaching a fluid turnover of about 700,000 m3 showed tracer concentrations in the range of 10-8 Minj per m3, in the liquid phase of each sample (Minj being the total quantity of tracer injected as a short pulse at the geothermal re-injection well). Tracer signals might actually be higher, owing to tracer amounts co-precipitated and/or adsorbed onto the solid phase whose accumulation in the samples was unavoidable (due to pressure relief and degassing during the very sampling

Properties of an ideal PET perfusion tracer: new PET tracer cases and data.

PubMed

Maddahi, Jamshid

2012-02-01

An ideal positron emission tomography (PET) tracer should be highly extractable by the myocardium and able to provide high-resolution images, should enable quantification of absolute myocardial blood flow (MBF), should be compatible with both pharmacologically induced and exercise-induced stress imaging, and should not require an on-site cyclotron. The PET radionuclides nitrogen-13 ammonia and oxygen-15 water require an on-site cyclotron. Rubidium-82 may be available locally due to the generator source, but greater utilization is limited because of its relatively low myocardial extraction fraction, long positron range, and generator cost. Flurpiridaz F 18, a novel PET tracer in development, has a high-extraction fraction, short positron range, and relatively long half-life (as compared to currently available tracers), and may be produced at regional cyclotrons. Results of early clinical trials suggest that both pharmacologically and exercise-induced stress PET imaging protocols can be completed more rapidly and with lower patient radiation exposure than with single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) tracers. As compared to SPECT images in the same patients, flurpiridaz F 18 PET images showed better defect contrast. Flurpiridaz F 18 is a potentially promising tracer for assessment of myocardial perfusion, measurement of absolute MBF, calculation of coronary flow reserves, and assessment of cardiac function at the peak of the stress response.

A Lagrangian View of Stratospheric Trace Gas Distributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoeberl, M. R.; Sparling, L.; Dessler, A.; Jackman, C. H.; Fleming, E. L.

1998-01-01

As a result of photochemistry, some relationship between the stratospheric age-of-air and the amount of tracer contained within an air sample is expected. The existence of such a relationship allows inferences about transport history to be made from observations of chemical tracers. This paper lays down the conceptual foundations for the relationship between age and tracer amount, developed within a Lagrangian framework. In general, the photochemical loss depends not only on the age of the parcel but also on its path. We show that under the "average path approximation" that the path variations are less important than parcel age. The average path approximation then allows us to develop a formal relationship between the age spectrum and the tracer spectrum. Using the relation between the tracer and age spectra, tracer-tracer correlations can be interpreted as resulting from mixing which connects parts of the single path photochemistry curve, which is formed purely from the action of photochemistry on an irreducible parcel. This geometric interpretation of mixing gives rise to constraints on trace gas correlations, and explains why some observations are do not fall on rapid mixing curves. This effect is seen in the ATMOS observations.

Measurement of the reaeration coefficients of the North Fork Licking River at Utica, Ohio by radioactive tracers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hren, Janet

1983-01-01

Reaeration coefficients of the North Fork Licking River at Utica, Ohio were measured by the radioactive-tracer method. The tests were conducted on a 2.1-mile reach on September 23 and October 7, 1981, during low-flow conditions. Krypton-85 gas and tritium were the radioopactive tracers, which were used in conjunction with rhodamine-WT dye. The reaertion coefficients determined on September 23 were 3.09 days-1 (subreach 1-2) and 3.32 days-1 (subreach 2-3). On October 7, the values were 2.04 days -1 and 2.23 days-1 respectively.

Estimating the Spatial Distribution of Groundwater Age Using Synoptic Surveys of Environmental Tracers in Streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gardner, W. P.

2017-12-01

A model which simulates tracer concentration in surface water as a function the age distribution of groundwater discharge is used to characterize groundwater flow systems at a variety of spatial scales. We develop the theory behind the model and demonstrate its application in several groundwater systems of local to regional scale. A 1-D stream transport model, which includes: advection, dispersion, gas exchange, first-order decay and groundwater inflow is coupled a lumped parameter model that calculates the concentration of environmental tracers in discharging groundwater as a function of the groundwater residence time distribution. The lumped parameters, which describe the residence time distribution, are allowed to vary spatially, and multiple environmental tracers can be simulated. This model allows us to calculate the longitudinal profile of tracer concentration in streams as a function of the spatially variable groundwater age distribution. By fitting model results to observations of stream chemistry and discharge, we can then estimate the spatial distribution of groundwater age. The volume of groundwater discharge to streams can be estimated using a subset of environmental tracers, applied tracers, synoptic stream gauging or other methods, and the age of groundwater then estimated using the previously calculated groundwater discharge and observed environmental tracer concentrations. Synoptic surveys of SF6, CFC's, 3H and 222Rn, along with measured stream discharge are used to estimate the groundwater inflow distribution and mean age for regional scale surveys of the Berland River in west-central Alberta. We find that groundwater entering the Berland has observable age, and that the age estimated using our stream survey is of similar order to limited samples from groundwater wells in the region. Our results show that the stream can be used as an easily accessible location to constrain the regional scale spatial distribution of groundwater age.

Zinc isotope ratio imaging of rat brain thin sections from stable isotope tracer studies by LA-MC-ICP-MS.

PubMed

Urgast, Dagmar S; Hill, Sarah; Kwun, In-Sook; Beattie, John H; Goenaga-Infante, Heidi; Feldmann, Jörg

2012-10-01

Zinc stable isotope tracers (⁶⁷Zn and ⁷⁰Zn) were injected into rats at two different time points to investigate the feasibility of using tracers to study zinc kinetics at the microscale within distinct tissue features. Laser ablation coupled to multi-collector ICP-MS was used to analyse average isotope ratios in liver thin sections and to generate bio-images showing zinc isotope ratio distribution in brain thin sections. Average isotope ratios of all samples from treated animals were found to be statistically different (P < 0.05) from samples from untreated control animals. Furthermore, differing isotope ratios in physiological features of the brain, namely hippocampus, amygdala, cortex and hypothalamus, were identified. This indicates that these regions differ in their zinc metabolism kinetics. While cortex and hypothalamus contain more tracer two days after injection than 14 days after injection, the opposite is true for hippocampus and amygdala. This study showed that stable isotope tracer experiments can be combined with laser ablation MC-ICP-MS to measure trace element kinetics in tissues at a microscale level.

Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vaughn, Timothy L.; Bell, Clay S.; Yacovitch, Tara I.

Coordinated dual-tracer, aircraft-based, and direct component-level measurements were made at midstream natural gas gathering and boosting stations in the Fayetteville shale (Arkansas, USA). On-site component-level measurements were combined with engineering estimates to generate comprehensive facility-level methane emission rate estimates ('study on-site estimates (SOE)') comparable to tracer and aircraft measurements. Combustion slip (unburned fuel entrained in compressor engine exhaust), which was calculated based on 111 recent measurements of representative compressor engines, accounts for an estimated 75% of cumulative SOEs at gathering stations included in comparisons. Measured methane emissions from regenerator vents on glycol dehydrator units were substantially larger than predicted bymore » modelling software; the contribution of dehydrator regenerator vents to the cumulative SOE would increase from 1% to 10% if based on direct measurements. Concurrent measurements at 14 normally-operating facilities show relative agreement between tracer and SOE, but indicate that tracer measurements estimate lower emissions (regression of tracer to SOE = 0.91 (95% CI = 0.83-0.99), R2 = 0.89). Tracer and SOE 95% confidence intervals overlap at 11/14 facilities. Contemporaneous measurements at six facilities suggest that aircraft measurements estimate higher emissions than SOE. Aircraft and study on-site estimate 95% confidence intervals overlap at 3/6 facilities. The average facility level emission rate (FLER) estimated by tracer measurements in this study is 17-73% higher than a prior national study by Marchese et al.« less

Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations

DOE PAGES

Vaughn, Timothy L.; Bell, Clay S.; Yacovitch, Tara I.; ...

2017-02-09

Coordinated dual-tracer, aircraft-based, and direct component-level measurements were made at midstream natural gas gathering and boosting stations in the Fayetteville shale (Arkansas, USA). On-site component-level measurements were combined with engineering estimates to generate comprehensive facility-level methane emission rate estimates ('study on-site estimates (SOE)') comparable to tracer and aircraft measurements. Combustion slip (unburned fuel entrained in compressor engine exhaust), which was calculated based on 111 recent measurements of representative compressor engines, accounts for an estimated 75% of cumulative SOEs at gathering stations included in comparisons. Measured methane emissions from regenerator vents on glycol dehydrator units were substantially larger than predicted bymore » modelling software; the contribution of dehydrator regenerator vents to the cumulative SOE would increase from 1% to 10% if based on direct measurements. Concurrent measurements at 14 normally-operating facilities show relative agreement between tracer and SOE, but indicate that tracer measurements estimate lower emissions (regression of tracer to SOE = 0.91 (95% CI = 0.83-0.99), R2 = 0.89). Tracer and SOE 95% confidence intervals overlap at 11/14 facilities. Contemporaneous measurements at six facilities suggest that aircraft measurements estimate higher emissions than SOE. Aircraft and study on-site estimate 95% confidence intervals overlap at 3/6 facilities. The average facility level emission rate (FLER) estimated by tracer measurements in this study is 17-73% higher than a prior national study by Marchese et al.« less

Nested Tracer Studies In Catchment Hydrology: Towards A Multiscale Understanding of Runoff Generation and Catchment Funtioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soulsby, C.; Rodgers, P.; Malcolm, I. A.; Dunn, S.

Geochemical and isotopic tracers have been shown to have widespread utility in catch- ment hydrology in terms of identifying hydrological source areas and characterising residence time distributions. In many cases application of tracer techniques has pro- vided insights into catchment functioning that could not be obtained from hydromet- ric and/or modelling studies alone. This paper will show how the use of tracers has contributed to an evolving perceptual model of hydrological pathways and runoff gen- eration processes in catchments in the Scottish highlands. In particular the paper will focus on the different insights that are gained at three different scales of analysis; (a) nested sub-catchments within a mesoscale (ca. 200 square kilometers) experimen- tal catchment; (b) hillslope-riparian interactions and (c) stream bed fluxes. Nested hydrometric and hydrochemical monitoring within the mesoscale Feugh catchment identified three main hydrological response units: (i) plateau peatlands which gener- ated saturation overland flow in the catchment headwaters, (ii) steep valley hillslopes which drain from the plateaux into (iii) alluvial and drift aquifers in the valley bottoms. End Member Mixing Analysis (EMMA) in 8 nested sub-catchments indicated that that stream water tracer concentrations can be modelled in terms of 2 dominant runoff pro- cesses; overland flow from the peat and groundwater from the drift aquifers. Ground- water contributions generally increased with catchment size, though this was moder- ated by the characteristics of individual sub-basins, with drift cover being particularly important. Hillslope riparian interactions were also examined using tracers, hydromet- ric data and a semi-distributed hydrological model. This revealed that in the glaciated, drift covered terrain of the Scottish highlands, extensive valley bottom aquifers effec- tively de-couple hillslope waters from the river channel. Thus, riparian groundwater appears to significantly

Tracer element for indoor PM2.5 in China migrated from outdoor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Wenjing; Li, Hongyu; Zhao, Bin; Deng, Furong

2018-03-01

Sulfur and nickel have been widely used as tracers of outdoor PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) in the United States and Europe; however, their feasibility as tracers has not been verified yet in China. We aim to verify whether sulfur or nickel could be used as a tracer element and, if not, to identify a suitable tracer element for outdoor PM2.5 in China. We conduct two types of experiments, namely, preliminary and main-study experiments. We analyze 102 pairs of indoor and outdoor PM2.5 samples in Beijing. The correlation between the I/O (indoor/outdoor) ratio of an element and the I/O ratio of total PM2.5 is one of the criteria used to test whether this element can be used as a tracer element. The average concentrations of nickel are found to be below the detection limits in both preliminary and main-study tests. Thus, nickel cannot be used as a tracer element in China. Based on the correlations of elemental I/O ratios and the I/O ratio of total PM2.5 in the preliminary and main-study tests, sulfur also cannot be used as a tracer element; however, it should be feasible to use iron as a tracer element in Beijing according to the test results. The estimated infiltration factor obtained by using iron as tracer is extremely consistent with the calculations based on the mass balance model. In summary, iron is found to be more suitable as a tracer for outdoor PM2.5 in Beijing than sulfur or nickel.

Tracer Lamination in the Stratosphere: A Global Climatology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Appenzeller, Christof; Holton, James R.

1997-01-01

Vertical soundings of stratospheric ozone often exhibit laminated tracer structures characterized by strong vertical tracer gradients. The change in time of these gradients is used to define a tracer lamination rate. It is shown that this quantity can be calculated by the cross product of the horizontal temperature and horizontal tracer gradients. A climatology based on UARS satellite-borne ozone data and on ozone-like pseudotracer data is presented. Three stratospheric regions with high lamination rates were found: the part of the stratospheric overworld which is influenced by the polar vortex, the part of the lowermost stratosphere which is influenced by the tropopause and a third region in the subtropical lower stratosphere mainly characterized with strong vertical shear. High lamination rates in the stratospheric overworld were absent during summer, whereas in the lowermost stratosphere high lamination rates were found year-round. This is consistent with the occurrence and seasonal variation of the horizontal tracer gradient and vertical shear necessary for tilting the tracer surfaces. During winter, high lamination rates associated with the stratospheric polar vortex are present down to approximately 100 hPa. Several features of the derived climatology are roughly consistent with earlier balloon-borne studies. The patterns in the southern and northern hemisphere are comparable, but details differ as anticipated from a less disturbed and more symmetric southern polar vortex.

Atmospheric emission characterization of Marcellus shale natural gas development sites.

PubMed

Goetz, J Douglas; Floerchinger, Cody; Fortner, Edward C; Wormhoudt, Joda; Massoli, Paola; Knighton, W Berk; Herndon, Scott C; Kolb, Charles E; Knipping, Eladio; Shaw, Stephanie L; DeCarlo, Peter F

2015-06-02

Limited direct measurements of criteria pollutants emissions and precursors, as well as natural gas constituents, from Marcellus shale gas development activities contribute to uncertainty about their atmospheric impact. Real-time measurements were made with the Aerodyne Research Inc. Mobile Laboratory to characterize emission rates of atmospheric pollutants. Sites investigated include production well pads, a well pad with a drill rig, a well completion, and compressor stations. Tracer release ratio methods were used to estimate emission rates. A first-order correction factor was developed to account for errors introduced by fenceline tracer release. In contrast to observations from other shale plays, elevated volatile organic compounds, other than CH4 and C2H6, were generally not observed at the investigated sites. Elevated submicrometer particle mass concentrations were also generally not observed. Emission rates from compressor stations ranged from 0.006 to 0.162 tons per day (tpd) for NOx, 0.029 to 0.426 tpd for CO, and 67.9 to 371 tpd for CO2. CH4 and C2H6 emission rates from compressor stations ranged from 0.411 to 4.936 tpd and 0.023 to 0.062 tpd, respectively. Although limited in sample size, this study provides emission rate estimates for some processes in a newly developed natural gas resource and contributes valuable comparisons to other shale gas studies.

Quantifying the Contribution of Grape Hexoses to Wine Volatiles by High-Precision [U13C]-Glucose Tracer Studies

PubMed Central

Nisbet, Mark A.; Tobias, Herbert J.; Brenna, J. Thomas; Sacks, Gavin L.; Mansfield, Anna Katharine

2016-01-01

Many fermentation volatiles important to wine aroma potentially arise from yeast metabolism of hexose sugars, but assessing the relative importance of these pathways is challenging due to high endogenous hexose substrate concentrations. To overcome this problem, gas chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) was used to measure high-precision 13C/12C isotope ratios of volatiles in wines produced from juices spiked with tracer levels (0.01–1 APE) of uniformly labeled [U-13C]-glucose. The contribution of hexose to individual volatiles was determined from the degree of 13C enrichment. As expected, straight-chain fatty acids and their corresponding ethyl esters were derived almost exclusively from hexoses. Most fusel alcohols and their acetate esters were also majority hexose-derived, indicating the importance of anabolic pathways for their formation. Only two compounds were not derived primarily from hexoses (hexanol and isobutyric acid). This approach can be extended to other food systems or substrates for studying precursor–product relationships. PMID:24960193

Quantifying the contribution of grape hexoses to wine volatiles by high-precision [U¹³C]-glucose tracer studies.

PubMed

Nisbet, Mark A; Tobias, Herbert J; Brenna, J Thomas; Sacks, Gavin L; Mansfield, Anna Katharine

2014-07-16

Many fermentation volatiles important to wine aroma potentially arise from yeast metabolism of hexose sugars, but assessing the relative importance of these pathways is challenging due to high endogenous hexose substrate concentrations. To overcome this problem, gas chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) was used to measure high-precision (13)C/(12)C isotope ratios of volatiles in wines produced from juices spiked with tracer levels (0.01-1 APE) of uniformly labeled [U-(13)C]-glucose. The contribution of hexose to individual volatiles was determined from the degree of (13)C enrichment. As expected, straight-chain fatty acids and their corresponding ethyl esters were derived almost exclusively from hexoses. Most fusel alcohols and their acetate esters were also majority hexose-derived, indicating the importance of anabolic pathways for their formation. Only two compounds were not derived primarily from hexoses (hexanol and isobutyric acid). This approach can be extended to other food systems or substrates for studying precursor-product relationships.

Towards tracer dose reduction in PET studies: Simulation of dose reduction by retrospective randomized undersampling of list-mode data.

PubMed

Gatidis, Sergios; Würslin, Christian; Seith, Ferdinand; Schäfer, Jürgen F; la Fougère, Christian; Nikolaou, Konstantin; Schwenzer, Nina F; Schmidt, Holger

2016-01-01

Optimization of tracer dose regimes in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a trade-off between diagnostic image quality and radiation exposure. The challenge lies in defining minimal tracer doses that still result in sufficient diagnostic image quality. In order to find such minimal doses, it would be useful to simulate tracer dose reduction as this would enable to study the effects of tracer dose reduction on image quality in single patients without repeated injections of different amounts of tracer. The aim of our study was to introduce and validate a method for simulation of low-dose PET images enabling direct comparison of different tracer doses in single patients and under constant influencing factors. (18)F-fluoride PET data were acquired on a combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. PET data were stored together with the temporal information of the occurrence of single events (list-mode format). A predefined proportion of PET events were then randomly deleted resulting in undersampled PET data. These data sets were subsequently reconstructed resulting in simulated low-dose PET images (retrospective undersampling of list-mode data). This approach was validated in phantom experiments by visual inspection and by comparison of PET quality metrics contrast recovery coefficient (CRC), background-variability (BV) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of measured and simulated PET images for different activity concentrations. In addition, reduced-dose PET images of a clinical (18)F-FDG PET dataset were simulated using the proposed approach. (18)F-PET image quality degraded with decreasing activity concentrations with comparable visual image characteristics in measured and in corresponding simulated PET images. This result was confirmed by quantification of image quality metrics. CRC, SNR and BV showed concordant behavior with decreasing activity concentrations for measured and for corresponding simulated PET images. Simulation of dose

Lattice-Boltzmann simulations of microswimmer-tracer interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Graaf, Joost; Stenhammar, Joakim

2017-02-01

Hydrodynamic interactions in systems composed of self-propelled particles, such as swimming microorganisms and passive tracers, have a significant impact on the tracer dynamics compared to the equivalent "dry" sample. However, such interactions are often difficult to take into account in simulations due to their computational cost. Here, we perform a systematic investigation of swimmer-tracer interaction using an efficient force-counterforce-based lattice-Boltzmann (LB) algorithm [De Graaf et al., J. Chem. Phys. 144, 134106 (2016), 10.1063/1.4944962] in order to validate its ability to capture the relevant low-Reynolds-number physics. We show that the LB algorithm reproduces far-field theoretical results well, both in a system with periodic boundary conditions and in a spherical cavity with no-slip walls, for which we derive expressions here. The force-lattice coupling of the LB algorithm leads to a "smearing out" of the flow field, which strongly perturbs the tracer trajectories at close swimmer-tracer separations, and we analyze how this effect can be accurately captured using a simple renormalized hydrodynamic theory. Finally, we show that care must be taken when using LB algorithms to simulate systems of self-propelled particles, since its finite momentum transport time can lead to significant deviations from theoretical predictions based on Stokes flow. These insights should prove relevant to the future study of large-scale microswimmer suspensions using these methods.

Determination of microstickies in recycled whitewater by headspace gas chromatography

Treesearch

X.-S. Chai; J.C. Samp; Q.F. Yang; H.N. Song; J.Y. Zhu

2007-01-01

This study proposed a novel headspace gas chromatographic (HS-GC) method for determination of adhesive contaminants (microstickies) in recycled whitewater, a fiber containing process stream, in the paper mill. It is based on the adsorption behavior of toluene (as a tracer) on the hydrophobic surface of microstickies, which affects the apparent vapor-liquid...

A DNA Tracer System for Hydrological Environment Investigations.

PubMed

Liao, Renkuan; Yang, Peiling; Wu, Wenyong; Luo, Dan; Yang, Dayong

2018-02-20

To monitor and manage hydrological pollution effectively, tracing sources of pollutants is of great importance and also is in urgent need. A variety of tracers have been developed such as isotopes, silica, bromide, and dyes; however, practical limitations of these traditional tracers still exist such as lack of multiplexed, multipoint tracing and interference of background noise. To overcome these limitations, a new tracing system based on DNA nanomaterials, namely DNA tracer, has already been developed. DNA tracers possess remarkable advantages including sufficient species, specificity, environmental friendly, stable migration, and high sensitivity as well as allowing for multipoints tracing. In this review article, we introduce the molecular design, synthesis, protection and signal readout strategies of DNA tracers, compare the advantages and disadvantages of DNA tracer with traditional tracers, and summarize the-state-of-art applications in hydrological environment investigations. In the end, we provide our perspective on the future development of DNA tracers.

Effects of Submesoscale Turbulence on Reactive Tracers in the Upper Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Katherine Margaret

In this dissertation, Large Eddy Simulations (LES) are used to model the coupled turbulence-reactive tracer dynamics within the upper mixed layer of the ocean. Prior work has shown that LES works well over the spatial and time scales relevant to both turbulence and reactive biogeochemistry. Additionally, the code intended for use is able to carry an arbitrary number of tracer equations, allowing for easy expansion of the species reactions. Research in this dissertation includes a study of 15 idealized non-reactive tracers within an evolving large-scale temperature front in order determine and understand the fundamental dynamics underlying turbulence-tracer interaction in the absence of reactions. The focus of this study, in particular, was on understanding the evolution of biogeochemically-relevant, non-reactive tracers in the presence of both large ( 5 km) submesoscale eddies and smallscale ( 100 m) wave-driven Langmuir turbulence. The 15 tracers studied have different initial, boundary, and source conditions and significant differences are seen in their distributions depending on these conditions. Differences are also seen between regions where submesoscale eddies and small-scale Langmuir turbulence are both present, and in regions with only Langmuir turbulence. A second study focuses on the examination of Langmuir turbulence effects on upper ocean carbonate chemistry. Langmuir mixing time scales are similar to those of chemical reactions, resulting in potentially strong tracer-flow coupling effects. The strength of the Langmuir turbulence is varied, from no wave-driven turbulence (i.e., only shear-driven turbulence), to Langmuir turbulence that is much stronger than that found in typical upper ocean conditions. Three different carbonate chemistry models are also used in this study: time-dependent chemistry, equilibrium chemistry, and no-chemistry (i.e., non-reactive tracers). The third and final study described in this dissertation details the development of a

Measurements of HFC-134a and HCFC-22 in groundwater and unsaturated-zone air: implications for HFCs and HCFCs as dating tracers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haase, Karl B.; Busenberg, Eurybiades; Plummer, Niel; Casile, Gerolamo; Sanford, Ward E.

2014-01-01

A new analytical method using gas chromatography with an atomic emission detector (GC–AED) was developed for measurement of ambient concentrations of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in soil, air, and groundwater, with the goal of determining their utility as groundwater age tracers. The analytical detection limits of HCFC-22 (difluorochloromethane, CHClF2) and HFC-134a (1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethane, C2H2F4) in 1 L groundwater samples are 4.3 × 10− 1 and 2.1 × 10− 1 pmol kg− 1, respectively, corresponding to equilibrium gas-phase mixing ratios of approximately 5–6 parts per trillion by volume (pptv). Under optimal conditions, post-1960 (HCFC-22) and post-1995 (HFC-134a) recharge could be identified using these tracers in stable, unmixed groundwater samples. Ambient concentrations of HCFC-22 and HFC-134a were measured in 50 groundwater samples from 27 locations in northern and western parts of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina (USA), and 3 unsaturated-zone profiles were collected in northern Virginia. Mixing ratios of both HCFC-22 and HFC-134a decrease with depth in unsaturated-zone gas profiles with an accompanying increase in CO2 and loss of O2. Apparently, ambient concentrations of HCFC-22 and HFC-134a are readily consumed by methanotrophic bacteria under aerobic conditions in the unsaturated zone. The results of this study indicate that soils are a sink for these two greenhouse gases. These observations contradict the previously reported results from microcosm experiments that found that degradation was limited above-ambient HFC-134a. The groundwater HFC and HCFC concentrations were compared with concentrations of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs, CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Nearly all samples had measured HCFC-22 or HFC-134a that were below concentrations predicted by the CFCs and SF6, with many samples showing a complete loss of HCFC-22 and HFC-134a. This study indicates that HCFC-22 and HFC-134

OH megamasers: dense gas & the infrared radiation field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yong; Zhang, JiangShui; Liu, Wei; Xu, Jie

2018-06-01

To investigate possible factors related to OH megamaser formation (OH MM, L_{H2O}>10L_{⊙}), we compiled a large HCN sample from all well-sampled HCN measurements so far in local galaxies and identified with the OH MM, OH kilomasers (L_{H2O}<10L_{⊙}, OH kMs), OH absorbers and OH non-detections (non-OH MM). Through comparative analysis on their infrared emission, CO and HCN luminosities (good tracers for the low-density gas and the dense gas, respectively), we found that OH MM galaxies tend to have stronger HCN emission and no obvious difference on CO luminosity exists between OH MM and non-OH MM. This implies that OH MM formation should be related to the dense molecular gas, instead of the low-density molecular gas. It can be also supported by other facts: (1) OH MMs are confirmed to have higher mean molecular gas density and higher dense gas fraction (L_{HCN}/L_{CO}) than non-OH MMs. (2) After taking the distance effect into account, the apparent maser luminosity is still correlated with the HCN luminosity, while no significant correlation can be found at all between the maser luminosity and the CO luminosity. (3) The OH kMs tend to have lower values than those of OH MMs, including the dense gas luminosity and the dense gas fraction. (4) From analysis of known data of another dense gas tracer HCO^+, similar results can also be obtained. However, from our analysis, the infrared radiation field can not be ruled out for the OH MM trigger, which was proposed by previous works on one small sample (Darling in ApJ 669:L9, 2007). On the contrary, the infrared radiation field should play one more important role. The dense gas (good tracers of the star formation) and its surrounding dust are heated by the ultra-violet (UV) radiation generated by the star formation and the heating of the high-density gas raises the emission of the molecules. The infrared radiation field produced by the re-radiation of the heated dust in turn serves for the pumping of the OH MM.

Solute movement in drained fen peat: a field tracer study in a Somerset (UK) wetland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baird, Andrew J.; Gaffney, Simon W.

2000-10-01

Little is known about solute transport in peats, despite the obvious importance of solute transport on eco-hydrological processes in both managed and natural peatlands. To address this lack of knowledge, we investigated solute transport processes in an agricultural fen peat using a conservative KBr tracer. The main aim of the study was to elucidate solute transport behaviour in general in this peat, with a more specific aim of investigating whether preferential or bypassing flow occurred. The tracer moved through the peat more rapidly than expected, and the pattern of movement showed clear evidence of plot-scale bypassing flow. The data also provide evidence that bypassing flow occurs in pores at smaller scales. The implications of this study for management of wetland pastures in the Somerset Moors in south-west England are discussed.

Use of argon to measure gas exchange in turbulent mountain streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Robert O., Jr.; Madinger, Hilary L.

2018-05-01

Gas exchange is a parameter needed in stream metabolism and trace gas emissions models. One way to estimate gas exchange is via measuring the decline of added tracer gases such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Estimates of oxygen (O2) gas exchange derived from SF6 additions require scaling via Schmidt number (Sc) ratio, but this scaling is uncertain under conditions of high gas exchange via bubbles because scaling depends on gas solubility as well as Sc. Because argon (Ar) and O2 have nearly identical Schmidt numbers and solubility, Ar may be a useful tracer gas for estimating stream O2 exchange. Here we compared rates of gas exchange measured via Ar and SF6 for turbulent mountain streams in Wyoming, USA. We measured Ar as the ratio of Ar : N2 using a membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS). Normalizing to N2 confers higher precision than simply measuring [Ar] alone. We consistently enriched streams with Ar from 1 to 18 % of ambient Ar concentration and could estimate gas exchange rate using an exponential decline model. The mean ratio of gas exchange of Ar relative to SF6 was 1.8 (credible interval 1.1 to 2.5) compared to the theoretical estimate 1.35, showing that using SF6 would have underestimated exchange of Ar. Steep streams (slopes 11-12 %) had high rates of gas exchange velocity normalized to Sc = 600 (k600, 57-210 m d-1), and slope strongly predicted variation in k600 among all streams. We suggest that Ar is a useful tracer because it is easily measured, requires no scaling assumptions to estimate rates of O2 exchange, and is not an intense greenhouse gas as is SF6. We caution that scaling from rates of either Ar or SF6 gas exchange to CO2 is uncertain due to solubility effects in conditions of bubble-mediated gas transfer.

Elucidating Water Contamination by Fracturing Fluids and Formation Waters from Gas Wells: Integrating Isotopic and Geochemical Tracers

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The objective of this presentation is to evaluate the potential and applicability of different geochemical and isotopic tracers for tracing the impacts of fracturing fluids and co-produced waters on water resources.

Tidal volume single breath washout of two tracer gases--a practical and promising lung function test.

PubMed

Singer, Florian; Stern, Georgette; Thamrin, Cindy; Fuchs, Oliver; Riedel, Thomas; Gustafsson, Per; Frey, Urs; Latzin, Philipp

2011-03-10

Small airway disease frequently occurs in chronic lung diseases and may cause ventilation inhomogeneity (VI), which can be assessed by washout tests of inert tracer gas. Using two tracer gases with unequal molar mass (MM) and diffusivity increases specificity for VI in different lung zones. Currently washout tests are underutilised due to the time and effort required for measurements. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple technique for a new tidal single breath washout test (SBW) of sulfur hexafluoride (SF(6)) and helium (He) using an ultrasonic flowmeter (USFM). The tracer gas mixture contained 5% SF(6) and 26.3% He, had similar total MM as air, and was applied for a single tidal breath in 13 healthy adults. The USFM measured MM, which was then plotted against expired volume. USFM and mass spectrometer signals were compared in six subjects performing three SBW. Repeatability and reproducibility of SBW, i.e., area under the MM curve (AUC), were determined in seven subjects performing three SBW 24 hours apart. USFM reliably measured MM during all SBW tests (n = 60). MM from USFM reflected SF(6) and He washout patterns measured by mass spectrometer. USFM signals were highly associated with mass spectrometer signals, e.g., for MM, linear regression r-squared was 0.98. Intra-subject coefficient of variation of AUC was 6.8%, and coefficient of repeatability was 11.8%. The USFM accurately measured relative changes in SF(6) and He washout. SBW tests were repeatable and reproducible in healthy adults. We have developed a fast, reliable, and straightforward USFM based SBW method, which provides valid information on SF(6) and He washout patterns during tidal breathing.

Tidal Volume Single Breath Washout of Two Tracer Gases - A Practical and Promising Lung Function Test

PubMed Central

Singer, Florian; Stern, Georgette; Thamrin, Cindy; Fuchs, Oliver; Riedel, Thomas; Gustafsson, Per; Frey, Urs; Latzin, Philipp

2011-01-01

Background Small airway disease frequently occurs in chronic lung diseases and may cause ventilation inhomogeneity (VI), which can be assessed by washout tests of inert tracer gas. Using two tracer gases with unequal molar mass (MM) and diffusivity increases specificity for VI in different lung zones. Currently washout tests are underutilised due to the time and effort required for measurements. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple technique for a new tidal single breath washout test (SBW) of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and helium (He) using an ultrasonic flowmeter (USFM). Methods The tracer gas mixture contained 5% SF6 and 26.3% He, had similar total MM as air, and was applied for a single tidal breath in 13 healthy adults. The USFM measured MM, which was then plotted against expired volume. USFM and mass spectrometer signals were compared in six subjects performing three SBW. Repeatability and reproducibility of SBW, i.e., area under the MM curve (AUC), were determined in seven subjects performing three SBW 24 hours apart. Results USFM reliably measured MM during all SBW tests (n = 60). MM from USFM reflected SF6 and He washout patterns measured by mass spectrometer. USFM signals were highly associated with mass spectrometer signals, e.g., for MM, linear regression r-squared was 0.98. Intra-subject coefficient of variation of AUC was 6.8%, and coefficient of repeatability was 11.8%. Conclusion The USFM accurately measured relative changes in SF6 and He washout. SBW tests were repeatable and reproducible in healthy adults. We have developed a fast, reliable, and straightforward USFM based SBW method, which provides valid information on SF6 and He washout patterns during tidal breathing. PMID:21423739

OT1_dlis_2: Ammonia as a Tracer of the Earliest Stages of Star Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lis, D.

2010-07-01

Stars form in molecular cloud cores, cold and dense regions enshrouded by dust. The initiation of this process is among the least understood steps of star formation. Highresolution heterodyne spectroscopy provides invaluable information about the physical conditions (density, temperature), kinematics (infall, outflows), and chemistry of these regions. Classical molecular tracers, such CO, CS, and many other abundant gasphase species, have been shown to freeze out onto dust grain mantles in prestellar cores. However, Nbearing species, in particular ammonia, are much less affected by depletion and are observed to stay in the gas phase at densities in excess of 1e6 cm3. The molecular freezeout has important consequences for the chemistry of dense gas. In particular, the depletion of abundant gasphase species with heavy atoms drives up abundances of deuterated H3+ isotopologues, which in turn results in spectacular deuteration levels of molecules that do remain in the gas phase. Consequently, lines of deuterated Nbearing species, in particular the fundamental lines of ammonia isotopologues, having very high critical densities, are optimum tracers of innermost regions of dense cores. We propose to study the morphology, density structure and kinematics of cold and dense cloud cores, by mapping the spatial distribution of ammonia isotopologues in isolated dense prestellar cores using Herschel/HIFI. These observations provide optimum probes of the onset of star formation, as well as the physical processes that control gasgrain interaction, freezeout, mantle ejection and deuteration. The sensitive, highresolution spectra acquired within this program will be analyzed using sophisticated radiative transfer models and compared with outputs of stateoftheart 3D MHD simulations and chemical models developed by the members of our team.

Reducing errors in aircraft atmospheric inversion estimates of point-source emissions: the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak as a natural tracer experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gourdji, S. M.; Yadav, V.; Karion, A.; Mueller, K. L.; Conley, S.; Ryerson, T.; Nehrkorn, T.; Kort, E. A.

2018-04-01

Urban greenhouse gas (GHG) flux estimation with atmospheric measurements and modeling, i.e. the ‘top-down’ approach, can potentially support GHG emission reduction policies by assessing trends in surface fluxes and detecting anomalies from bottom-up inventories. Aircraft-collected GHG observations also have the potential to help quantify point-source emissions that may not be adequately sampled by fixed surface tower-based atmospheric observing systems. Here, we estimate CH4 emissions from a known point source, the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak in Los Angeles, CA from October 2015–February 2016, using atmospheric inverse models with airborne CH4 observations from twelve flights ≈4 km downwind of the leak and surface sensitivities from a mesoscale atmospheric transport model. This leak event has been well-quantified previously using various methods by the California Air Resources Board, thereby providing high confidence in the mass-balance leak rate estimates of (Conley et al 2016), used here for comparison to inversion results. Inversions with an optimal setup are shown to provide estimates of the leak magnitude, on average, within a third of the mass balance values, with remaining errors in estimated leak rates predominantly explained by modeled wind speed errors of up to 10 m s‑1, quantified by comparing airborne meteorological observations with modeled values along the flight track. An inversion setup using scaled observational wind speed errors in the model-data mismatch covariance matrix is shown to significantly reduce the influence of transport model errors on spatial patterns and estimated leak rates from the inversions. In sum, this study takes advantage of a natural tracer release experiment (i.e. the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak) to identify effective approaches for reducing the influence of transport model error on atmospheric inversions of point-source emissions, while suggesting future potential for integrating surface tower and

Field studies of transport and dispersion of atmospheric tracers in nocturnal drainage flows

Treesearch

Paul H. Gudiksen; Gilbert J. Ferber; Malcolm M. Fowler; Wynn L. Eberhard; Michael A. Fosberg; William R. Knuth

1984-01-01

A series of tracer experiments were carried out as part of the Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain (ASCOT) program to evaluate pollutant transport and dispersion characteristics of nocturnal drainage flows within a valley in northern California. The results indicate that the degree of interaction of the drainage flows with the larger scale regional flows are...

An Ultra-Trace Analysis Technique for SF6 Using Gas Chromatography with Negative Ion Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Jong, Edmund C; Macek, Paul V; Perera, Inoka E; Luxbacher, Kray D; McNair, Harold M

2015-07-01

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is widely used as a tracer gas because of its detectability at low concentrations. This attribute of SF6 allows the quantification of both small-scale flows, such as leakage, and large-scale flows, such as atmospheric currents. SF6's high detection sensitivity also facilitates greater usage efficiency and lower operating cost for tracer deployments by reducing quantity requirements. The detectability of SF6 is produced by its high molecular electronegativity. This property provides a high potential for negative ion formation through electron capture thus naturally translating to selective detection using negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry (NCI-MS). This paper investigates the potential of using gas chromatography (GC) with NCI-MS for the detection of SF6. The experimental parameters for an ultra-trace SF6 detection method utilizing minimal customizations of the analytical instrument are detailed. A method for the detection of parts per trillion (ppt) level concentrations of SF6 for the purpose of underground ventilation tracer gas analysis was successfully developed in this study. The method utilized a Shimadzu gas chromatography with negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry system equipped with an Agilent J&W HP-porous layer open tubular column coated with an alumina oxide (Al2O3) S column. The method detection limit (MDL) analysis as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency of the tracer data showed the method MDL to be 5.2 ppt. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

TracerLPM (Version 1): An Excel® workbook for interpreting groundwater age distributions from environmental tracer data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jurgens, Bryant C.; Böhlke, J.K.; Eberts, Sandra M.

2012-01-01

TracerLPM is an interactive Excel® (2007 or later) workbook program for evaluating groundwater age distributions from environmental tracer data by using lumped parameter models (LPMs). Lumped parameter models are mathematical models of transport based on simplified aquifer geometry and flow configurations that account for effects of hydrodynamic dispersion or mixing within the aquifer, well bore, or discharge area. Five primary LPMs are included in the workbook: piston-flow model (PFM), exponential mixing model (EMM), exponential piston-flow model (EPM), partial exponential model (PEM), and dispersion model (DM). Binary mixing models (BMM) can be created by combining primary LPMs in various combinations. Travel time through the unsaturated zone can be included as an additional parameter. TracerLPM also allows users to enter age distributions determined from other methods, such as particle tracking results from numerical groundwater-flow models or from other LPMs not included in this program. Tracers of both young groundwater (anthropogenic atmospheric gases and isotopic substances indicating post-1940s recharge) and much older groundwater (carbon-14 and helium-4) can be interpreted simultaneously so that estimates of the groundwater age distribution for samples with a wide range of ages can be constrained. TracerLPM is organized to permit a comprehensive interpretive approach consisting of hydrogeologic conceptualization, visual examination of data and models, and best-fit parameter estimation. Groundwater age distributions can be evaluated by comparing measured and modeled tracer concentrations in two ways: (1) multiple tracers analyzed simultaneously can be evaluated against each other for concordance with modeled concentrations (tracer-tracer application) or (2) tracer time-series data can be evaluated for concordance with modeled trends (tracer-time application). Groundwater-age estimates can also be obtained for samples with a single tracer measurement at one

Quantitative Visualization of Dynamic Tracer Transportation in the Extracellular Space of Deep Brain Regions Using Tracer-Based Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

PubMed

Hou, Jin; Wang, Wei; Quan, Xianyue; Liang, Wen; Li, Zhiming; Chen, Deji; Han, Hongbin

2017-09-03

BACKGROUND This study assessed an innovative tracer-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to visualize the dynamic transportation of tracers in regions of deep brain extracellular space (ECS) and to measure transportation ability and ECS structure. MATERIAL AND METHODS Gadolinium-diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) was the chosen tracer and was injected into the caudate nucleus and thalamus. Real-time dynamic transportation of Gd-DTPA in ECS was observed and the results were verified by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Using Transwell assay across the blood-brain barrier, a modified diffusion equation was further simplified. Effective diffusion coefficient D* and tortuosity λ were calculated. Immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis were used to investigate the extracellular matrix contributing to ECS structure. RESULTS Tracers injected into the caudate nucleus were transported to the ipsilateral frontal and temporal cortices away from the injection points, while both of them injected into the thalamus were only distributed on site. Although the caudate nucleus was closely adjacent to the thalamus, tracer transportation between partitions was not observed. In addition, D* and the λ showed statistically significant differences between partitions. ECS was shown to be a physiologically partitioned system, and its division is characterized by the unique distribution territory and transportation ability of substances located in it. Versican and Tenascin R are possible contributors to the tortuosity of ECS. CONCLUSIONS Tracer-based MRI will improve our understanding of the brain microenvironment, improve the techniques for local delivery of drugs, and highlight brain tissue engineering fields in the future.

Identification and characterization of conservative organic tracers for use as hydrologic tracers for the Yucca Mountain Site characterization study; Progress report, April 1, 1993--June 30, 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dombrowski, T.; Stetzenbach, K.

1993-08-01

This report is in two parts one for the fluorinated benzoic acids and one for the fluorinated aliphatic acids. The assumptions made in the report regarding the amount of tracer that will be used, dilution of the tracer during the test and the length of exposure (if any) to individuals drinking the water were made by the authors. These assumptions must really come from the USGS hydrologists in charge of the c-well tracer testing program. Accurate estimates of dilution of the tracer during the test are also important because of solubility limitations of some of the tracers. Three of themore » difluorobenzoic acids have relatively low solubilities and may not be usable if the dilution estimates are large. The toxicologist that reviewed the document agreed with our conclusion that the fluorinated benzoic and toluic acids do not represent a health hazard if used under the conditions as outlined in the report. We are currently testing 15 of these compounds, and if even if three difluorobenzoic acids cannot be used because of solubility limitations we will still have 12 tracers. The toxicologist felt that the aliphatic fluorinated acids potentially present more of a health risk than the aromatic. This assessment was based on the fact of a known allergic response to halothane anesthetic. This risk, although minimal, is known and he felt that was enough reason to recommend against their use. The authors feel that the toxicologists interpretation of this risk was overly conservative, however, we will not go against his recommendation at this time for the following reasons. First, without the aliphatic compounds we still have 12 to 15 fluorinated aromatic acids which, should be enough for the c-well tests. Second, to get a permit to use aliphatic compounds would undoubtedly require a hearing which could be quite lengthy.« less

On the linearity of tracer bias around voids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollina, Giorgia; Hamaus, Nico; Dolag, Klaus; Weller, Jochen; Baldi, Marco; Moscardini, Lauro

2017-07-01

The large-scale structure of the Universe can be observed only via luminous tracers of the dark matter. However, the clustering statistics of tracers are biased and depend on various properties, such as their host-halo mass and assembly history. On very large scales, this tracer bias results in a constant offset in the clustering amplitude, known as linear bias. Towards smaller non-linear scales, this is no longer the case and tracer bias becomes a complicated function of scale and time. We focus on tracer bias centred on cosmic voids, I.e. depressions of the density field that spatially dominate the Universe. We consider three types of tracers: galaxies, galaxy clusters and active galactic nuclei, extracted from the hydrodynamical simulation Magneticum Pathfinder. In contrast to common clustering statistics that focus on auto-correlations of tracers, we find that void-tracer cross-correlations are successfully described by a linear bias relation. The tracer-density profile of voids can thus be related to their matter-density profile by a single number. We show that it coincides with the linear tracer bias extracted from the large-scale auto-correlation function and expectations from theory, if sufficiently large voids are considered. For smaller voids we observe a shift towards higher values. This has important consequences on cosmological parameter inference, as the problem of unknown tracer bias is alleviated up to a constant number. The smallest scales in existing data sets become accessible to simpler models, providing numerous modes of the density field that have been disregarded so far, but may help to further reduce statistical errors in constraining cosmology.

Thermal OH Emission, A New Tracer for Galaxy Structure: Z-Thickness and Rolling Motion of the Perseus Arm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engelke, Philip; Allen, Ronald J.; Hogg, David E.

2016-06-01

Recent observations with the Green Bank Telescope (Allen et al. 2015) have shown that high-sensitivity measurements of OH 18-cm emission can be a useful alternative tracer for the large-scale distribution of molecular gas in the Galactic ISM. This component of the ISM is not well traced by 3-mm CO(1-0) emission. In the quiescent regions examined so far, fewer than half of the OH spectral features found show corresponding CO emission in the CfA survey (Dame el al. 2001). The intensities of the two main-line OH transitions at 1665 and 1667 MHz are in the “thermal” or LTE ratio of 5:9 and emanate from low-opacity gas with a wide spatial distribution similar to the HI. This morphology resembles that of the “dark gas” (or “dark neutral medium”) postulated by Grenier et al. (2005) as the possible source of target nucleii required to explain the excess gamma ray emission from the Galactic ISM. OH 18-cm emission provides a new tool for studies of the quantity, distance, and kinematics of this new CO-dark molecular component of the ISM. As a demonstration of the utility of this new tool, we apply it to two questions about the molecular structure of the Perseus Arm: the thickness in the z-direction, and the rolling motions of the arm discovered in the earliest HI maps of the Galaxy (e.g. Oort 1962, Rougoor 1964). Using OH emission as a molecular tracer, we find that the molecular component of gas in the Perseus Arm has a comparable z-thickness to that measured using HI, although it appears to be clumpier. OH also shows that the molecular component experiences the “rolling motions” known from the HI data. As a molecular tracer, OH allows more regions to be observed than can be observed using CO(1-0), and as an optically-thin emission line, OH can provide direct column density measurements.

Evaluation of a Eulerian and Lagrangian air quality model using perfluorocarbon tracers released in Texas for the BRAVO haze study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schichtel, Bret A.; Barna, Michael G.; Gebhart, Kristi A.; Malm, William C.

The Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational (BRAVO) study was designed to determine the sources of haze at Big Bend National Park, Texas, using a combination of source and receptor models. BRAVO included an intensive monitoring campaign from July to October 1999 that included the release of perfluorocarbon tracers from four locations at distances 230-750 km from Big Bend and measured at 24 sites. The tracer measurements near Big Bend were used to evaluate the dispersion mechanisms in the REMSAD Eulerian model and the CAPITA Monte Carlo (CMC) Lagrangian model used in BRAVO. Both models used 36 km MM5 wind fields as input. The CMC model also used a combination of routinely available 80 and 190 km wind fields from the National Weather Service's National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) as input. A model's performance is limited by inherent uncertainties due to errors in the tracer concentrations and a model's inability to simulate sub-resolution variability. A range in the inherent uncertainty was estimated by comparing tracer data at nearby monitoring sites. It was found that the REMSAD and CMC models, using the MM5 wind field, produced performance statistics generally within this inherent uncertainty. The CMC simulation using the NCEP wind fields could reproduce the timing of tracer impacts at Big Bend, but not the concentration values, due to a systematic underestimation. It appears that the underestimation was partly due to excessive vertical dilution from high mixing depths. The model simulations were more sensitive to the input wind fields than the models' different dispersion mechanisms. Comparisons of REMSAD to CMC tracer simulations using the MM5 wind fields had correlations between 0.75 and 0.82, depending on the tracer, but the tracer simulations using the two wind fields in the CMC model had correlations between 0.37 and 0.5.

Heat and solute tracers: how do they compare in heterogeneous aquifers?

PubMed

Irvine, Dylan J; Simmons, Craig T; Werner, Adrian D; Graf, Thomas

2015-04-01

A comparison of groundwater velocity in heterogeneous aquifers estimated from hydraulic methods, heat and solute tracers was made using numerical simulations. Aquifer heterogeneity was described by geostatistical properties of the Borden, Cape Cod, North Bay, and MADE aquifers. Both heat and solute tracers displayed little systematic under- or over-estimation in velocity relative to a hydraulic control. The worst cases were under-estimates of 6.63% for solute and 2.13% for the heat tracer. Both under- and over-estimation of velocity from the heat tracer relative to the solute tracer occurred. Differences between the estimates from the tracer methods increased as the mean velocity decreased, owing to differences in rates of molecular diffusion and thermal conduction. The variance in estimated velocity using all methods increased as the variance in log-hydraulic conductivity (K) and correlation length scales increased. The variance in velocity for each scenario was remarkably small when compared to σ2 ln(K) for all methods tested. The largest variability identified was for the solute tracer where 95% of velocity estimates ranged by a factor of 19 in simulations where 95% of the K values varied by almost four orders of magnitude. For the same K-fields, this range was a factor of 11 for the heat tracer. The variance in estimated velocity was always lowest when using heat as a tracer. The study results suggest that a solute tracer will provide more understanding about the variance in velocity caused by aquifer heterogeneity and a heat tracer provides a better approximation of the mean velocity. © 2013, National Ground Water Association.

Tracer-monitored flow titrations.

PubMed

Sasaki, Milton K; Rocha, Diogo L; Rocha, Fábio R P; Zagatto, Elias A G

2016-01-01

The feasibility of implementing tracer-monitored titrations in a flow system is demonstrated. A dye tracer is used to estimate the instant sample and titrant volumetric fractions without the need for volume, mass or peak width measurements. The approach was applied to spectrophotometric flow titrations involving variations of sample and titrant flow-rates (i.e. triangle programmed technique) or concentration gradients established along the sample zone (i.e. flow injection system). Both strategies required simultaneous monitoring of two absorbing species, namely the titration indicator and the dye tracer. Mixing conditions were improved by placing a chamber with mechanical stirring in the analytical path aiming at to minimize diffusional effects. Unlike most of flow-based titrations, the innovation is considered as a true titration, as it does not require a calibration curve thus complying with IUPAC definition. As an application, acidity evaluation in vinegars involving titration with sodium hydroxide was selected. Phenolphthalein and brilliant blue FCF were used as indicator and dye tracer, respectively. Effects of sample volume, titrand/titrant concentrations and flow rates were investigated aiming at improved accuracy and precision. Results were reliable and in agreement with those obtained by a reference titration procedure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urban Pollutant Transport and Infiltration into Buildings Using Perfluorocarbon Tracers.

PubMed

Matthews, James C; Bacak, Asan; Khan, M Anwar H; Wright, Matthew D; Priestley, Michael; Martin, Damien; Percival, Carl J; Shallcross, Dudley E

2017-02-21

People spend the majority of their time indoors and therefore the quality of indoor air is worthy of investigation; indoor air quality is affected by indoor sources of pollutants and from pollutants entering buildings from outdoors. In this study, unique perfluorocarbon tracers were released in five experiments at a 100 m and ~2 km distance from a large university building in Manchester, UK and tracer was also released inside the building to measure the amount of outdoor material penetrating into buildings and the flow of material within the building itself. Air samples of the tracer were taken in several rooms within the building, and a CO₂ tracer was used within the building to estimate air-exchange rates. Air-exchange rates were found to vary between 0.57 and 10.90 per hour. Indoor perfluorocarbon tracer concentrations were paired to outdoor tracer concentrations, and in-out ratios were found to vary between 0.01 and 3.6. The largest room with the lowest air-exchange rate exhibited elevated tracer concentrations for over 60 min after the release had finished, but generally had the lowest concentrations, the room with the highest ventilation rates had the highest concentration over 30 min, but the peak decayed more rapidly. Tracer concentrations indoors compared to outdoors imply that pollutants remain within buildings after they have cleared outside, which must be considered when evaluating human exposure to outdoor pollutants.

Urban Pollutant Transport and Infiltration into Buildings Using Perfluorocarbon Tracers

PubMed Central

Matthews, James C.; Bacak, Asan; Khan, M. Anwar H.; Wright, Matthew D.; Priestley, Michael; Martin, Damien; Percival, Carl J.; Shallcross, Dudley E.

2017-01-01

People spend the majority of their time indoors and therefore the quality of indoor air is worthy of investigation; indoor air quality is affected by indoor sources of pollutants and from pollutants entering buildings from outdoors. In this study, unique perfluorocarbon tracers were released in five experiments at a 100 m and ~2 km distance from a large university building in Manchester, UK and tracer was also released inside the building to measure the amount of outdoor material penetrating into buildings and the flow of material within the building itself. Air samples of the tracer were taken in several rooms within the building, and a CO2 tracer was used within the building to estimate air-exchange rates. Air-exchange rates were found to vary between 0.57 and 10.90 per hour. Indoor perfluorocarbon tracer concentrations were paired to outdoor tracer concentrations, and in-out ratios were found to vary between 0.01 and 3.6. The largest room with the lowest air-exchange rate exhibited elevated tracer concentrations for over 60 min after the release had finished, but generally had the lowest concentrations, the room with the highest ventilation rates had the highest concentration over 30 min, but the peak decayed more rapidly. Tracer concentrations indoors compared to outdoors imply that pollutants remain within buildings after they have cleared outside, which must be considered when evaluating human exposure to outdoor pollutants. PMID:28230812

The fluorescent tracer experiment on Holiday Beach near Mugu Canyon, Southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kinsman, Nicole; Xu, J. P.

2012-01-01

After revisiting sand tracer techniques originally developed in the 1960s, a range of fluorescent coating formulations were tested in the laboratory. Explicit steps are presented for the preparation of the formulation evaluated to have superior attributes, a thermoplastic pigment/dye in a colloidal mixture with a vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymer. In September 2010, 0.59 cubic meters of fluorescent tracer material was injected into the littoral zone about 4 kilometers upcoast of Mugu submarine canyon in California. The movement of tracer was monitored in three dimensions over the course of 4 days using manual and automated techniques. Detailed observations of the tracer's behavior in the coastal zone indicate that this tracer successfully mimicked the native beach sand and similar methods could be used to validate models of tracer movement in this type of environment. Recommendations including how to time successful tracer studies and how to scale the field of view of automated camera systems are presented along with the advantages and disadvantages of the described tracer methodology.

Cosmological constraints from multiple tracers in spectroscopic surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alarcon, Alex; Eriksen, Martin; Gaztanaga, Enrique

2018-01-01

We use the Fisher matrix formalism to study the expansion and growth history of the Universe using galaxy clustering with 2D angular cross-correlation tomography in spectroscopic or high-resolution photometric redshift surveys. The radial information is contained in the cross-correlations between narrow redshift bins. We show how multiple tracers with redshift space distortions cancel sample variance and arbitrarily improve the constraints on the dark energy equation of state ω(z) and the growth parameter γ in the noiseless limit. The improvement for multiple tracers quickly increases with the bias difference between the tracers, up to a factor ∼4 in FoMγω. We model a magnitude limited survey with realistic density and bias using a conditional luminosity function, finding a factor 1.3-9.0 improvement in FoMγω - depending on global density - with a split in a halo mass proxy. Partly overlapping redshift bins improve the constraints in multiple tracer surveys a factor ∼1.3 in FoMγω. This finding also applies to photometric surveys, where the effect of using multiple tracers is magnified. We also show large improvement on the FoM with increasing density, which could be used as a trade-off to compensate some possible loss with radial resolution.

Estimating gas exchange of CO2 and CH4 between headwater systems and the atmosphere in Southwest Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somlai, Celia; Natchimuthu, Sivakiruthika; Bastviken, David; Lorke, Andreas

2015-04-01

Quantifying the role of inland water systems in terms of carbon sinks and sources and their connection to the terrestrial ecosystems and landscapes is fundamental for improving the balance approach of regional and global carbon budgets. Recent research showed that freshwater bodies emit significant amounts of CO2 and CH4 into the atmosphere. The extent of the emissions from small streams and headwaters, however, remains uncertain due to a limited availability of data. Studies have shown that headwater systems receive most of the terrestrial organic carbon, have the highest dissolved CO2 concentration and the highest gas exchange velocities and cover the largest fractional surface area within fluvial networks. The gas exchange between inland waters and the atmosphere is controlled by two factors: the difference between the dissolved gas concentration and its atmospheric equilibrium concentration, and the gas exchange velocity. The direct measurement of the dissolved gas concentration of greenhouse gases can be measured straightforwardly, for example, by gas chromatography from headspace extraction of water sample. In contrast, direct measurement of gas exchange velocity is more complex and time consuming, as simultaneous measurements with a volatile and nonvolatile inert tracer gas are needed. Here we analyze measurements of gas exchange velocities, concentrations and fluxes of dissolved CO2 and CH4, as well as loads of total organic and inorganic carbon in 10 reaches in headwater streams in Southwest Sweden. We compare the gas exchange velocities measured directly through tracer injections with those estimated through various empirical approaches, which are based on modelled and measured current velocity, stream depth and slope. Furthermore, we estimate the resulting uncertainties of the flux estimates. We also present different time series of dissolved CO2, CH4 and O2 concentration, water temperature, barometric pressure, electro conductivity, and pH values

The Numerical Simulation of a Tracer-Release Field Project to Study Motion within the Nocturnal Boundary Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werth, D. W.; Leclerc, M. Y.; Buckley, R.; Parker, M.; Kurzeja, R.; Duarte, H. F.; Zhang, G.; Durden, D.

2009-12-01

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the University of Georgia (UGA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conducted a regional tracer experiment to study the nocturnal behavior of CO2 in the vicinity of an instrumented tall tower during two nights on May 11th and 12th, 2009. The experiment consisted of a release of five perfluorocarbon tracer (PFTs) compounds in twelve unique locations in Aiken County, South Carolina. Intensive meteorological measurements including in-situ turbulence were made in conjunction with the release and sampling of the PFTs. A 300m tower was also used to collect data from higher levels, allowing us to determine the extent to which the tracer was mixed vertically. Lagrangian plume simulations performed during the experiment demonstrated transport over distances of >8 km, and correlated well with in situ sampling. The area was characterized by heavy vegetation cover, and carbon dioxide concentrations were also monitored in an effort to determine how respiration and advection affect CO2 levels in the stable layer. Tracer release locations were carefully selected via a fine-scale mesoscale modeling study of similar nights. The purpose of these experiments was to provide data that will be used to increase the understanding of the terrestrial carbon budget, especially with respect to nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) phenomena such as low level jets and breaking gravity waves. Using these data, a simulation of the motion of the tracer within the boundary layer was developed using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) mesoscale model coupled to a tracer model. The RAMS model was also coupled to the Simple Biosphere (SiB) vegetation model, which allowed for the simulation of the release of carbon dioxide into the NBL. The simulation results are used to validate the NBL hypothesis of CO2 monitoring, by which the release of CO2 can be correlated with the accumulation

Quantifying Surface Water, Porewater, and Groundwater Interactions Using Tracers: Tracer Fluxes, Water Fluxes, and End-member Concentrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Peter G.; Rodellas, Valentí; Stieglitz, Thomas C.

2018-03-01

Tracer approaches to estimate both porewater exchange (the cycling of water between surface water and sediments, with zero net water flux) and groundwater inflow (the net flow of terrestrially derived groundwater into surface water) are commonly based on solute mass balances. However, this requires appropriate characterization of tracer end-member concentrations in exchanging or discharging water. Where either porewater exchange or groundwater inflow to surface water occur in isolation, then the water flux is easily estimated from the net tracer flux if the end-member is appropriately chosen. However, in most natural systems porewater exchange and groundwater inflow will occur concurrently. Our analysis shows that if groundwater inflow (Qg) and porewater exchange (Qp) mix completely before discharging to surface water, then the combined water flux (Qg + Qp) can be approximated by dividing the combined tracer flux by the difference between the porewater and surface water concentrations, (cp - c). If Qg and Qp do not mix prior to discharge, then (Qg + Qp) can only be constrained by minimum and maximum values. The minimum value is obtained by dividing the net tracer flux by the groundwater concentration, and the maximum is obtained by dividing by (cp - c). Dividing by the groundwater concentration gives a maximum value for Qg. If porewater exchange and groundwater outflow occur concurrently, then dividing the net tracer flux by (cp - c) will provide a minimum value for Qp. Use of multiple tracers, and spatial and temporal replication should provide a more complete picture of exchange processes and the extent of subsurface mixing.

Transient tracer applications in the Southern Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stöven, T.; Tanhua, T.; Hoppema, M.

2014-10-01

Transient tracers can be used to constrain the Inverse-Gaussian transit time distribution (IG-TTD) and thus provide information about ocean ventilation. Individual transient tracers have different time and application ranges which are defined by their atmospheric history (chronological transient tracers) or their decay rate (radioactive transient tracers). The classification ranges from tracers for highly ventilated water masses, e.g. sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), the decay of Tritium (δ3H) and to some extent also dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12) to tracers for less ventilated deep ocean basins, e.g. CFC-12, Argon-39 (39Ar) and radiocarbon (14C). The IG-TTD can be empirically constrained by using transient tracer couples with sufficiently different input functions. Each tracer couple has specific characteristics which influence the application limit of the IG-TTD. Here we provide an overview of commonly used transient tracer couples and their validity areas within the IG-TTD by using the concept of tracer age differences (TAD). New measured CFC-12 and SF6 data from a section along 10° E in the Southern Ocean in 2012 are presented. These are combined with a similar data set of 1998 along 6° E in the Southern Ocean as well as with 39Ar data from the early 1980s in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Weddell Sea for investigating the application limit of the IG-TTD and to analyze changes in ventilation in the Southern Ocean. We found that the IG-TTD can be constrained south to 46° S which corresponds to the Subantarctic Front (SAF) denoting the application limit. The constrained IG-TTD north of the SAF shows a slight increase in mean ages between 1998 and 2012 in the upper 1200 m between 42-46° S. The absence of SF6 inhibits ventilation analyses below this depth. The time lag analysis between the 1998 and 2012 data shows an increase in ventilation down to 1000 m and a steady ventilation between 2000 m-bottom south of the SAF between 51-55° S.

Sediment tracers in water erosion studies: Current approaches and challenges

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The interest in the use of sediment tracers as a complementary tool to traditional water soil erosion or deposition measurements or assessment has increased due to the additional information they may provide such as sediment source identification and tracking of sediment movement over the landscape ...

Methodology for quantitative rapid multi-tracer PET tumor characterizations.

PubMed

Kadrmas, Dan J; Hoffman, John M

2013-10-04

Positron emission tomography (PET) can image a wide variety of functional and physiological parameters in vivo using different radiotracers. As more is learned about the molecular basis for disease and treatment, the potential value of molecular imaging for characterizing and monitoring disease status has increased. Characterizing multiple aspects of tumor physiology by imaging multiple PET tracers in a single patient provides additional complementary information, and there is a significant body of literature supporting the potential value of multi-tracer PET imaging in oncology. However, imaging multiple PET tracers in a single patient presents a number of challenges. A number of techniques are under development for rapidly imaging multiple PET tracers in a single scan, where signal-recovery processing algorithms are employed to recover various imaging endpoints for each tracer. Dynamic imaging is generally used with tracer injections staggered in time, and kinetic constraints are utilized to estimate each tracers' contribution to the multi-tracer imaging signal. This article summarizes past and ongoing work in multi-tracer PET tumor imaging, and then organizes and describes the main algorithmic approaches for achieving multi-tracer PET signal-recovery. While significant advances have been made, the complexity of the approach necessitates protocol design, optimization, and testing for each particular tracer combination and application. Rapid multi-tracer PET techniques have great potential for both research and clinical cancer imaging applications, and continued research in this area is warranted.

Methodology for Quantitative Rapid Multi-Tracer PET Tumor Characterizations

PubMed Central

Kadrmas, Dan J.; Hoffman, John M.

2013-01-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) can image a wide variety of functional and physiological parameters in vivo using different radiotracers. As more is learned about the molecular basis for disease and treatment, the potential value of molecular imaging for characterizing and monitoring disease status has increased. Characterizing multiple aspects of tumor physiology by imaging multiple PET tracers in a single patient provides additional complementary information, and there is a significant body of literature supporting the potential value of multi-tracer PET imaging in oncology. However, imaging multiple PET tracers in a single patient presents a number of challenges. A number of techniques are under development for rapidly imaging multiple PET tracers in a single scan, where signal-recovery processing algorithms are employed to recover various imaging endpoints for each tracer. Dynamic imaging is generally used with tracer injections staggered in time, and kinetic constraints are utilized to estimate each tracers' contribution to the multi-tracer imaging signal. This article summarizes past and ongoing work in multi-tracer PET tumor imaging, and then organizes and describes the main algorithmic approaches for achieving multi-tracer PET signal-recovery. While significant advances have been made, the complexity of the approach necessitates protocol design, optimization, and testing for each particular tracer combination and application. Rapid multi-tracer PET techniques have great potential for both research and clinical cancer imaging applications, and continued research in this area is warranted. PMID:24312149

Gas geochemistry studies at the gas hydrate occurrence in the permafrost environment of Mallik (NWT, Canada)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiersberg, T.; Erzinger, J.; Zimmer, M.; Schicks, J.; Dahms, E.; Mallik Working Group

2003-04-01

We present real-time mud gas monitoring data as well as results of noble gas and isotope investigations from the Mallik 2002 Production Research Well Program, an international research project on Gas Hydrates in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The program participants include 8 partners; The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), The Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC), GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), United States Geological Survey (USGS), United States Department of the Energy (USDOE), India Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG)/Gas Authority of India (GAIL) and the Chevron-BP-Burlington joint venture group. Mud gas monitoring (extraction of gas dissolved in the drill mud followed by real-time analysis) revealed more or less complete gas depth profiles of Mallik 4L-38 and Mallik 5L-38 wells for N_2, O_2, Ar, He, CO_2, H_2, CH_4, C_2H_6, C_3H_8, C_4H10, and 222Rn; both wells are approx. 1150 m deep. Based on the molecular and and isotopic composition, hydrocarbons occurring at shallow depth (down to ˜400 m) are mostly of microbial origin. Below 400 m, the gas wetness parameter (CH_4/(C_2H_6 + C_3H_8)) and isotopes indicate mixing with thermogenic gas. Gas accumulation at the base of permafrost (˜650 m) as well as δ13C and helium isotopic data implies that the permafrost inhibits gas flux from below. Gas hydrate occurrence at Mallik is known in a depth between ˜890 m and 1100 m. The upper section of the hydrate bearing zone (890 m--920 m) consists predominantly of methane bearing gas hydrates. Between 920 m and 1050 m, concentration of C_2H_6, C_3H_8, and C_4H10 increases due to the occurrence of organic rich sediment layers. Below that interval, the gas composition is similar to the upper section of the hydrate zone. At the base of the hydrate bearing zone (˜1100 m), elevated helium and methane concentrations and their isotopic composition leads to the assumption that gas hydrates act as a barrier for gas migration from below. In mud gas

Modeling of CBM production, CO2 injection, and tracer movement at a field CO2 sequestration site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Siriwardane, Hema J.; Bowes, Benjamin D.; Bromhal, Grant S.

2012-07-01

Sequestration of carbon dioxide in unmineable coal seams is a potential technology mainly because of the potential for simultaneous enhanced coalbed methane production (ECBM). Several pilot tests have been performed around the globe leading to mixed results. Numerous modeling efforts have been carried out successfully to model methane production and carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) injection. Sensitivity analyses and history matching along with several optimization tools were used to estimate reservoir properties and to investigate reservoir performance. Geological and geophysical techniques have also been used to characterize field sequestration sites and to inspect reservoir heterogeneity. The fate and movement of injectedmore » CO{sub 2} can be determined by using several monitoring techniques. Monitoring of perfluorocarbon (PFC) tracers is one of these monitoring technologies. As a part of this monitoring technique, a small fraction of a traceable fluid is added to the injection wellhead along with the CO{sub 2} stream at different times to monitor the timing and location of the breakthrough in nearby monitoring wells or offset production wells. A reservoir modeling study was performed to simulate a pilot sequestration site located in the San Juan coal basin of northern New Mexico. Several unknown reservoir properties at the field site were estimated by modeling the coal seam as a dual porosity formation and by history matching the methane production and CO{sub 2} injection. In addition to reservoir modeling of methane production and CO{sub 2} injection, tracer injection was modeled. Tracers serve as a surrogate for determining potential leakage of CO{sub 2}. The tracer was modeled as a non-reactive gas and was injected into the reservoir as a mixture along with CO{sub 2}. Geologic and geometric details of the field site, numerical modeling details of methane production, CO{sub 2} injection, and tracer injection are presented in this paper. Moreover, the numerical

Neonatal Respiratory Diseases in the Newborn Infant: Novel Insights from Stable Isotope Tracer Studies.

PubMed

Carnielli, Virgilio P; Giorgetti, Chiara; Simonato, Manuela; Vedovelli, Luca; Cogo, Paola

2016-01-01

Respiratory distress syndrome is a common problem in preterm infants and the etiology is multifactorial. Lung underdevelopment, lung hypoplasia, abnormal lung water metabolism, inflammation, and pulmonary surfactant deficiency or disfunction play a variable role in the pathogenesis of respiratory distress syndrome. High-quality exogenous surfactant replacement studies and studies on surfactant metabolism are available; however, the contribution of surfactant deficiency, alteration or dysfunction in selected neonatal lung conditions is not fully understood. In this article, we describe a series of studies made by applying stable isotope tracers to the study of surfactant metabolism and lung water. In a first set of studies, which we call 'endogenous studies', using stable isotope-labelled intravenous surfactant precursors, we showed the feasibility of measuring surfactant synthesis and kinetics in infants using several metabolic precursors including plasma glucose, plasma fatty acids and body water. In a second set of studies, named 'exogenous studies', using stable isotope-labelled phosphatidylcholine tracer given endotracheally, we could estimate surfactant disaturated phosphatidylcholine pool size and half-life. Very recent studies are focusing on lung water and on the endogenous biosynthesis of the surfactant-specific proteins. Information obtained from these studies in infants will help to better tailor exogenous surfactant treatment in neonatal lung diseases. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Quantifying solute transport processes: are chemically "conservative" tracers electrically conservative?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Singha, Kamini; Li, Li; Day-Lewis, Frederick D.; Regberg, Aaron B.

2012-01-01

The concept of a nonreactive or conservative tracer, commonly invoked in investigations of solute transport, requires additional study in the context of electrical geophysical monitoring. Tracers that are commonly considered conservative may undergo reactive processes, such as ion exchange, thus changing the aqueous composition of the system. As a result, the measured electrical conductivity may reflect not only solute transport but also reactive processes. We have evaluated the impacts of ion exchange reactions, rate-limited mass transfer, and surface conduction on quantifying tracer mass, mean arrival time, and temporal variance in laboratory-scale column experiments. Numerical examples showed that (1) ion exchange can lead to resistivity-estimated tracer mass, velocity, and dispersivity that may be inaccurate; (2) mass transfer leads to an overestimate in the mobile tracer mass and an underestimate in velocity when using electrical methods; and (3) surface conductance does not notably affect estimated moments when high-concentration tracers are used, although this phenomenon may be important at low concentrations or in sediments with high and/or spatially variable cation-exchange capacity. In all cases, colocated groundwater concentration measurements are of high importance for interpreting geophysical data with respect to the controlling transport processes of interest.

Direct Parametric Image Reconstruction in Reduced Parameter Space for Rapid Multi-Tracer PET Imaging.

PubMed

Cheng, Xiaoyin; Li, Zhoulei; Liu, Zhen; Navab, Nassir; Huang, Sung-Cheng; Keller, Ulrich; Ziegler, Sibylle; Shi, Kuangyu

2015-02-12

The separation of multiple PET tracers within an overlapping scan based on intrinsic differences of tracer pharmacokinetics is challenging, due to limited signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of PET measurements and high complexity of fitting models. In this study, we developed a direct parametric image reconstruction (DPIR) method for estimating kinetic parameters and recovering single tracer information from rapid multi-tracer PET measurements. This is achieved by integrating a multi-tracer model in a reduced parameter space (RPS) into dynamic image reconstruction. This new RPS model is reformulated from an existing multi-tracer model and contains fewer parameters for kinetic fitting. Ordered-subsets expectation-maximization (OSEM) was employed to approximate log-likelihood function with respect to kinetic parameters. To incorporate the multi-tracer model, an iterative weighted nonlinear least square (WNLS) method was employed. The proposed multi-tracer DPIR (MTDPIR) algorithm was evaluated on dual-tracer PET simulations ([18F]FDG and [11C]MET) as well as on preclinical PET measurements ([18F]FLT and [18F]FDG). The performance of the proposed algorithm was compared to the indirect parameter estimation method with the original dual-tracer model. The respective contributions of the RPS technique and the DPIR method to the performance of the new algorithm were analyzed in detail. For the preclinical evaluation, the tracer separation results were compared with single [18F]FDG scans of the same subjects measured 2 days before the dual-tracer scan. The results of the simulation and preclinical studies demonstrate that the proposed MT-DPIR method can improve the separation of multiple tracers for PET image quantification and kinetic parameter estimations.

Stable isotope tracers and exercise physiology: past, present and future.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Daniel J; Brook, Matthew S; Smith, Kenneth; Atherton, Philip J

2017-05-01

Stable isotope tracers have been invaluable assets in physiological research for over 80 years. The application of substrate-specific stable isotope tracers has permitted exquisite insight into amino acid, fatty-acid and carbohydrate metabolic regulation (i.e. incorporation, flux, and oxidation, in a tissue-specific and whole-body fashion) in health, disease and response to acute and chronic exercise. Yet, despite many breakthroughs, there are limitations to 'substrate-specific' stable isotope tracers, which limit physiological insight, e.g. the need for intravenous infusions and restriction to short-term studies (hours) in controlled laboratory settings. In recent years significant interest has developed in alternative stable isotope tracer techniques that overcome these limitations, in particular deuterium oxide (D 2 O or heavy water). The unique properties of this tracer mean that through oral administration, the turnover and flux through a number of different substrates (muscle proteins, lipids, glucose, DNA (satellite cells)) can be monitored simultaneously and flexibly (hours/weeks/months) without the need for restrictive experimental control. This makes it uniquely suited for the study of 'real world' human exercise physiology (amongst many other applications). Moreover, using D 2 O permits evaluation of turnover of plasma and muscle proteins (e.g. dynamic proteomics) in addition to metabolomics (e.g. fluxomics) to seek molecular underpinnings, e.g. of exercise adaptation. Here, we provide insight into the role of stable isotope tracers, from substrate-specific to novel D 2 O approaches, in facilitating our understanding of metabolism. Further novel potential applications of stable isotope tracers are also discussed in the context of integration with the snowballing field of 'omic' technologies. © 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2016 The Physiological Society.

STRATEGIES FOR QUANTIFYING PET IMAGING DATA FROM TRACER STUDIES OF BRAIN RECEPTORS AND ENZYMES.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Logan, J.

2001-04-02

A description of some of the methods used in neuroreceptor imaging to distinguish changes in receptor availability has been presented in this chapter. It is necessary to look beyond regional uptake of the tracer since uptake generally is affected by factors other than the number of receptors for which the tracer has affinity. An exception is the infusion method producing an equilibrium state. The techniques vary in complexity some requiring arterial blood measurements of unmetabolized tracer and multiple time uptake data. Others require only a few plasma and uptake measurements and those based on a reference region require no plasmamore » measurements. We have outlined some of the limitations of the different methods. Laruelle (1999) has pointed out that test/retest studies to which various methods can be applied are crucial in determining the optimal method for a particular study. The choice of method will also depend upon the application. In a clinical setting, methods not involving arterial blood sampling are generally preferred. In the future techniques for externally measuring arterial plasma radioactivity with only a few blood samples for metabolite correction will extend the modeling options of clinical PET. Also since parametric images can provide information beyond that of ROI analysis, improved techniques for generating such images will be important, particularly for ligands requiring more than a one-compartment model. Techniques such as the wavelet transform proposed by Turkheimer et al. (2000) may prove to be important in reducing noise and improving quantitation.« less

LARGE-SCALE NATURAL GRADIENT TRACER TEST IN SAND AND GRAVEL, CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS - 1. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND OBSERVED TRACER MOVEMENT

EPA Science Inventory

A large-scale natural gradient tracer experiment was conducted on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to examine the transport and dispersion of solutes in a sand and gravel aquifer. The nonreactive tracer, bromide, and the reactive tracers, lithium and molybdate, were injected as a pulse i...

Microfluidics: a groundbreaking technology for PET tracer production?

PubMed

Rensch, Christian; Jackson, Alexander; Lindner, Simon; Salvamoser, Ruben; Samper, Victor; Riese, Stefan; Bartenstein, Peter; Wängler, Carmen; Wängler, Björn

2013-07-05

Application of microfluidics to Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer synthesis has attracted increasing interest within the last decade. The technical advantages of microfluidics, in particular the high surface to volume ratio and resulting fast thermal heating and cooling rates of reagents can lead to reduced reaction times, increased synthesis yields and reduced by-products. In addition automated reaction optimization, reduced consumption of expensive reagents and a path towards a reduced system footprint have been successfully demonstrated. The processing of radioactivity levels required for routine production, use of microfluidic-produced PET tracer doses in preclinical and clinical imaging as well as feasibility studies on autoradiolytic decomposition have all given promising results. However, the number of microfluidic synthesizers utilized for commercial routine production of PET tracers is very limited. This study reviews the state of the art in microfluidic PET tracer synthesis, highlighting critical design aspects, strengths, weaknesses and presenting several characteristics of the diverse PET market space which are thought to have a significant impact on research, development and engineering of microfluidic devices in this field. Furthermore, the topics of batch- and single-dose production, cyclotron to quality control integration as well as centralized versus de-centralized market distribution models are addressed.

Measurements of Methane Emissions and Volatile Organic Compounds from Shale Gas Operations in the Marcellus Shale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omara, M.; Subramanian, R.; Sullivan, M.; Robinson, A. L.; Presto, A. A.

2014-12-01

The Marcellus Shale is the most expansive shale gas reserve in play in the United States, representing an estimated 17 to 29 % of the total domestic shale gas reserves. The rapid and extensive development of this shale gas reserve in the past decade has stimulated significant interest and debate over the climate and environmental impacts associated with fugitive releases of methane and other pollutants, including volatile organic compounds. However, the nature and magnitude of these pollutant emissions remain poorly characterized. This study utilizes the tracer release technique to characterize total fugitive methane release rates from natural gas facilities in southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia that are at different stages of development, including well completion flowbacks and active production. Real-time downwind concentrations of methane and two tracer gases (acetylene and nitrous oxide) released onsite at known flow rates were measured using a quantum cascade tunable infrared laser differential absorption spectrometer (QC-TILDAS, Aerodyne, Billerica, MA) and a cavity ring down spectrometer (Model G2203, Picarro, Santa Clara, CA). Evacuated Silonite canisters were used to sample ambient air during downwind transects of methane and tracer plumes to assess volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector was used to quantify VOCs following the EPA Method TO-14A. A preliminary assessment of fugitive emissions from actively producing sites indicated that methane leak rates ranged from approximately 1.8 to 6.2 SCFM, possibly reflecting differences in facility age and installed emissions control technology. A detailed comparison of methane leak rates and VOCs emissions with recent published literature for other US shale gas plays will also be discussed.

A Lagrangian model for the age of tracer in surface water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Yu; Liu, Haifei; Yi, Yujun

The age of tracer is a spatio-temporal scale, indicating the transition time of solute particles, which is helpful to monitor and manage the pollutant leakage accidents. In this study, an effective Lagrangian model for the age of tracer is developed based on the lattice Boltzmann method in D2Q5 lattices. A tracer age problem in an asymmetrical circular reservoir is then employed as a benchmark test to verify this method. Then it is applied to computing the age of tracers under two different reservoir operation schemes in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, the drinking water source for the Middle Route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project.

Across North America tracer experiment (ANATEX): Sampling and analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Draxler, R. R.; Dietz, R.; Lagomarsino, R. J.; Start, G.

Between 5 January 1987 and 29 March 1987, there were 33 releases of different tracers from each of two sites: Glasgow, MT and St. Cloud, MN. The perfluorocarbon tracers were routinely released in a 3-h period every 2.5 days, alternating between daytime and night-time tracer releases. Ground-level air samples of 24-h duration were taken at 77 sites mostly located near rawinsonde stations east of 105°W and between 26°N and 55°N. Weekly air samples were taken at 12 remote sites between San Diego, CA and Pt. Barrow, AK and between Norway and the Canary Islands. Short-term 6-h samples were collected at ground level and 200 m AGL along an arc of five towers between Tulsa, OK and Green Bay, WI. Aircraft sampling within several hundred kilometers of both tracer release sites was used to establish the initial tracer path. Experimental design required improved sampler performance, new tracers with lower atmospheric backgrounds, and improvements in analytic precision. The advances to the perfluorocarbon tracer system are discussed in detail. Results from the tracer sampling showed that the average and peak concentrations measured over the daily ground-level sampling network were consistent with what would be calculated using mass conservative approaches. however, ground-level samples from individual tracer patterns showed considerable complexity due to vertical stability or the interaction of the tracer plumes with low pressure and frontal systems. These systems could pass right through the tracer plume without appreciable effect. Aircraft tracer measurements are used to confirm the initial tracer trajectory when the narrow plume may miss the coarser spaced ground-level sampling network. Tower tracer measurements showed a more complex temporal structure than evident from the longer duration ground-level sampling sites. Few above background plume measurements were evident in the more distant remote sampling network due to larger than expected uncertainties in the ambient

Trace Gas Trends in the Stratosphere: 1991-2005

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elkins, J. W.; Moore, F. L.; Dutton, G. S.; Hurst, D. F.; Ray, E. A.; Montzka, S. A.; Butler, J. H.; Fahey, D. W.; Hall, B. H.; Atlas, E.; Wofsy, S. C.; Romashkin, P. A.

2005-05-01

The first NOAA airborne gas chromatograph measured chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) and CFC-113 during the Arctic Airborne Stratospheric Experiment in 1991-1992. In 1994, we added nitrous oxide (N2O), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), CFC-12, halon-1211, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, methane, and hydrogen. NOAA scientists have since operated five airborne gas chromatographs on NASA airborne platforms, including the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) balloon gondola and ER-2, WB-57F, DC-8, and NASA Altair Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) aircraft. Using these in situ measurements and tracer-tracer correlations from flask observations for the unmeasured halogen species (HCFCs and methyl halides including methyl chloride and bromide), we have estimated trends of total chlorine and bromine in the stratosphere. The determination of inorganic equivalent chlorine (Cl + 45*Br) requires the trend of tropospheric equivalent chlorine and the mean age of the parcel of stratospheric air. In general, there is good agreement between the mean age of the air mass calculations using carbon dioxide and SF6, except for regions of extreme down welling of mesospheric air where SF6 is consumed. Tropospheric trends of the methyl halides have been compiled against stable standards. We operated a airborne gas chromatograph on the Sage 3 Ozone Loss Validation Experiment (SOLVE-II) mission from Kiruna, Sweden during 2002. It measured the major HCFCs and methyl halides, so that these compounds do not have to be estimated from tracer-tracer correlations in the future. In 2005, we have added a new lightweight airborne instrument (<25 kg) that can measure CFC-11, CFC-12, halon-1211, SF6, N2O, and ozone. This instrument can operate on small or UAV aircraft and will be used for Aura satellite validation. This presentation will show trends for selected trace gases and our estimates of total equivalent chlorine stratospheric trends since 1991.

An Advanced Reservoir Simulator for Tracer Transport in Multicomponent Multiphase Compositional Flow and Applications to the Cranfield CO2 Sequestration Site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moortgat, J.

2015-12-01

Reservoir simulators are widely used to constrain uncertainty in the petrophysical properties of subsurface formations by matching the history of injection and production data. However, such measurements may be insufficient to uniquely characterize a reservoir's properties. Monitoring of natural (isotopic) and introduced tracers is a developing technology to further interrogate the subsurface for applications such as enhanced oil recovery from conventional and unconventional resources, and CO2 sequestration. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been piloting this tracer technology during and following CO2 injection at the Cranfield, Mississippi, CO2 sequestration test site. Two campaigns of multiple perfluorocarbon tracers were injected together with CO2 and monitored at two wells at 68 m and 112 m from the injection site. The tracer data suggest that multiple CO2 flow paths developed towards the monitoring wells, indicative of either channeling through high permeability pathways or of fingering. The results demonstrate that tracers provide an important complement to transient pressure data. Numerical modeling is essential to further explain and interpret the observations. To aid the development of tracer technology, we enhanced a compositional multiphase reservoir simulator to account for tracer transport. Our research simulator uses higher-order finite element (FE) methods that can capture the small-scale onset of fingering on the coarse grids required for field-scale modeling, and allows for unstructured grids and anisotropic heterogeneous permeability fields. Mass transfer between fluid phases and phase behavior are modeled with rigorous equation-of-state based phase-split calculations. We present our tracer simulator and preliminary results related to the Cranfield experiments. Applications to noble gas tracers in unconventional resources are presented by Darrah et al.

Isotopic Tracers for Delineating Non-Point Source Pollutants in Surface Water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davisson, M L

2001-03-01

This study tested whether isotope measurements of surface water and dissolved constituents in surface water could be used as tracers of non-point source pollution. Oxygen-18 was used as a water tracer, while carbon-14, carbon-13, and deuterium were tested as tracers of DOC. Carbon-14 and carbon-13 were also used as tracers of dissolved inorganic carbon, and chlorine-36 and uranium isotopes were tested as tracers of other dissolved salts. In addition, large databases of water quality measurements were assembled for the Missouri River at St. Louis and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California to enhance interpretive results of the isotope measurements. Muchmore » of the water quality data has been under-interpreted and provides a valuable resource to investigative research, for which this report exploits and integrates with the isotope measurements.« less

Development and Validation of Water Vapor Tracers as Diagnostics for the Atmospheric Hydrologic Cycle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bosilovich, Michael G.; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Understanding of the local and remote sources of water vapor can be a valuable diagnostic in understanding the regional atmospheric hydrologic cycle. In the present study, we have implemented passive tracers as prognostic variables to follow water vapor evaporated in predetermined regions until the water tracer precipitates. The formulation of the sources and sinks of tracer water is generally proportional to the prognostic water vapor variable. Because all water has been accounted for in tracers, the water vapor variable provides the validation of the tracer water and the formulation of the sources and sinks. The tracers have been implemented in a GEOS General Circulation Model (GCM) simulation consisting of several summer periods to determine the source regions of precipitation for the United States and India. The recycling of water and interannual variability of the sources of water will be examined. Potential uses in GCM sensitivity studies, predictability studies and data assimilation will be discussed.

Technical Secondary Schools and the Labour Market: Some Results from a Tracer Study in Kenya.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Narman, Anders

1988-01-01

Reports tracer studies of Kenyan youths leaving technical school to determine their success at obtaining gainful employment. Almost 43% were neither in formal schooling nor training, nor employed a year after leaving, although technical skills were seen as useful, particularly in private life. (DP)

Reintegration of child soldiers in Burundi: a tracer study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Substantial attention and resources are aimed at the reintegration of child soldiers, yet rigorous evaluations are rare. Methods This tracer study was conducted among former child soldiers (N=452) and never-recruited peers (N=191) who participated in an economic support program in Burundi. Socio-economic outcome indicators were measured retrospectively for the period before receiving support (T1; 2005–06); immediately afterwards (T2; 2006–07); and at present (T3; 2010). Participants also rated present functional impairment and mental health indicators. Results Participants reported improvement on all indicators, especially economic opportunity and social integration. At present no difference existed between both groups on any of the outcome indicators. Socio-economic functioning was negatively related with depression- and, health complaints and positively with intervention satisfaction. Conclusion The present study demonstrates promising reintegration trajectories of former child soldiers after participating in a support program. PMID:23095403

Journal: Efficient Hydrologic Tracer-Test Design for Tracer-Mass Estimation and Sample Collection Frequency, 1 Method Development

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrological tracer testing is the most reliable diagnostic technique available for the determination of basic hydraulic and geometric parameters necessary for establishing operative solute-transport processes. Tracer-test design can be difficult because of a lack of prior knowl...

Drivers of Microbial Metabolic Activity, Biogeochemical Cycling and Associated Greenhouse Gas Production in Streambed Sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comer-Warner, S.; Krause, S.; Gooddy, D.; Blaen, P.; Brekenfeld, N.; Wexler, S.; Kaiser, J.

2017-12-01

Hotspots of enhanced biogeochemical reactivity are produced where groundwater and surface water mixes in streambed sediments. This enhanced reactivity is due to elevated residence times and nutrient concentrations found in these areas, leading to increased rates of microbial metabolic activity. Streambed sediments, therefore, may be important in reducing catchment-wide nutrient concentrations through increased cycling. However, they also have the potential to produce high concentrations of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O), as end-products of respiration and intermediate products of denitrification. The hydrological and biogeochemical drivers of streambed C and N cycling, are still insufficiently understood. Here we present results from biogeochemical sampling and tracer experiments in an agricultural sandstone stream in the UK. Nutrient, DOC and greenhouse gas concentrations, as well as d13CCO2, were measured in the streambed sediment in multilevel piezometers, and nutrient concentrations, as well as d15NNO3 and d18ONO3, were measured in Diffusive Equilibrium in Thin-film Gels. Tracer experiments using both conservative (Fluorescein and NaCl) and smart (Resazurin-Resorufin) tracers were performed to determine in-stream metabolism, transient storage and solute transport times in sub-reaches of the stream. Our results show large differences in nutrient and greenhouse gas concentrations between sub-reaches dominated by gravel sediments and those dominated by sandy sediments, as well as seasonally. This suggests temperature, sediment type and residence time are key controls on streambed nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas production. The results of this study have important implications for future greenhouse gas estimates from streams and rivers, particularly as the contribution of sediment greenhouse gas production is recognised as increasingly significant.

The CO Transition from Diffuse Molecular Gas to Dense Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, Johnathan S.; Federman, Steven

2017-06-01

The atomic to molecular transitions occurring in diffuse interstellar gas surrounding molecular clouds are affected by the local physical conditions (density and temperature) and the radiation field penetrating the material. Our optical observations of CH, CH^{+}, and CN absorption from McDonald Observatory and the European Southern Observatory are useful tracers of this gas and provide the velocity structure needed for analyzing lower resolution ultraviolet observations of CO and H_{2} absorption from Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. We explore the changing environment between diffuse and dense gas by using the column densities and excitation temperatures from CO and H_{2} to determine the gas density. The resulting gas densities from this method are compared to densities inferred from other methods such as C_{2} and CN chemistry. The densities allow us to interpret the trends from the combined set of tracers. Groupings of sight lines, such as those toward h and χ Persei or Chameleon provide a chance for further characterization of the environment. The Chameleon region in particular helps illuminate CO-dark gas, which is not associated with emission from H I at 21 cm or from CO at 2.6 mm. Expanding this analysis to include emission data from the GOT C+ survey allows the further characterization of neutral diffuse gas, including CO-dark gas.

Interpretation of environmental tracers in groundwater systems with stagnant water zones.

PubMed

Maloszewski, Piotr; Stichler, Willibald; Zuber, Andrzej

2004-03-01

influence of diffusion exchange between mobile water and stagnant or quasi-stagnant water is seldom considered, though it leads to large differences between tracer and water ages. Therefore, the article is focused on the transit time distribution functions of the most common lumped-parameter models, particularly those applicable for the interpretation of environmental tracer data in double-porosity aquifers, or aquifers in which aquitard diffusion may play an important role. A case study is recalled for a confined aquifer in which the diffusion exchange with aquitard most probably strongly influenced the transport of environmental tracers. Another case study presented is related to the interpretation of environmental tracer data obtained from lysimeters installed in the unsaturated zone with a fraction of stagnant water.

Slew-rate dependence of tracer magnetization response in magnetic particle imaging.

PubMed

Shah, Saqlain A; Ferguson, R M; Krishnan, K M

2014-10-28

Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a new biomedical imaging technique that produces real-time, high-resolution tomographic images of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle tracers. Currently, 25 kHz and 20 mT/μ 0 excitation fields are common in MPI, but lower field amplitudes may be necessary for patient safety in future designs. Here, we address fundamental questions about MPI tracer magnetization dynamics and predict tracer performance in future scanners that employ new combinations of excitation field amplitude ( H o ) and frequency ( ω ). Using an optimized, monodisperse MPI tracer, we studied how several combinations of drive field frequencies and amplitudes affect the tracer's response, using Magnetic Particle Spectrometry and AC hysteresis, for drive field conditions at 15.5, 26, and 40.2 kHz, with field amplitudes ranging from 7 to 52 mT/μ 0 . For both fluid and immobilized nanoparticle samples, we determined that magnetic response was dominated by Néel reversal. Furthermore, we observed that the peak slew-rate ( ωH o ) determined the tracer magnetic response. Smaller amplitudes provided correspondingly smaller field of view, sometimes resulting in excitation of minor hysteresis loops. Changing the drive field conditions but keeping the peak slew-rate constant kept the tracer response almost the same. Higher peak slew-rates led to reduced maximum signal intensity and greater coercivity in the tracer response. Our experimental results were in reasonable agreement with Stoner-Wohlfarth model based theories.

The effect of physical back-diffusion of 13CO2 tracer on the coupling between photosynthesis and soil CO2 efflux in grassland.

PubMed

Burri, Susanne; Sturm, Patrick; Baur, Thomas; Barthel, Matti; Knohl, Alexander; Buchmann, Nina

2014-01-01

Pulse labelling experiments provide a common tool to study short-term processes in the plant-soil system and investigate below-ground carbon allocation as well as the coupling of soil CO(2) efflux to photosynthesis. During the first hours after pulse labelling, the measured isotopic signal of soil CO(2) efflux is a combination of both physical tracer diffusion into and out of the soil as well as biological tracer release via root and microbial respiration. Neglecting physical back-diffusion can lead to misinterpretation regarding time lags between photosynthesis and soil CO(2) efflux in grassland or any ecosystem type where the above-ground plant parts cannot be labelled in gas-tight chambers separated from the soil. We studied the effects of physical (13)CO(2) tracer back-diffusion in pulse labelling experiments in grassland, focusing on the isotopic signature of soil CO(2) efflux. Having accounted for back-diffusion, the estimated time lag for first tracer appearance in soil CO(2) efflux changed from 0 to 1.81±0.56 h (mean±SD) and the time lag for maximum tracer appearance from 2.67±0.39 to 9.63±3.32 h (mean±SD). Thus, time lags were considerably longer when physical tracer diffusion was considered. Using these time lags after accounting for physical back-diffusion, high nocturnal soil CO(2) efflux rates could be related to daytime rates of gross primary productivity (R(2)=0.84). Moreover, pronounced diurnal patterns in the δ(13)C of soil CO(2) efflux were found during the decline of the tracer over 3 weeks. Possible mechanisms include diurnal changes in the relative contributions of autotrophic and heterotrophic soil respiration as well as their respective δ(13)C values. Thus, after accounting for physical back-diffusion, we were able to quantify biological time lags in the coupling of photosynthesis and soil CO(2) efflux in grassland at the diurnal time scale.

The Production of PET Tracers Utilizing Small Accelerators.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Votaw, John Ralph

The goal of positron emission tomographic (PET) studies is to utilize radiotracers to provide fundamental information that will lead to a better understanding of the physiology in both diseased and healthy tissue. In order for PET to become a viable clinical modality, these tracers must be produced reliably and efficiently. Work has concentrated on developing a cyclotron laboratory dedicated to the efficient production of the most commonly used PET tracers. Considerable effort has been directed towards understanding the subtleties of all of the subprocedures involved. As a result of this work, the success rate of delivering radiopharmaceuticals on demand to the nuclear medicine clinic is now above 95%. In order to further facilitate performing PET studies with minimal professional support, a time-of-flight detector system has been developed to noninvasively measure input functions that are required in applying compartmental models to the data. Its potential utility has been demonstrated with phantoms; testing and evaluation is currently being studied in human patients. The feasibility of producing PET tracers in a manner consistent with the operation of a clinical PET center has been demonstrated. Since FDG is the tracer in highest demand (over 50% of all studies), the effort has concentrated on the production of this model compound. As a result of this work, the amount of FDG that may be produced in a single synthesis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has increased by a factor of 25 in the last five years. During the same period, the number of man-hours needed to perform a FDG synthesis has decreased by a factor of 10 and the radiation dose received by the chemist per mCi of starting material has decreased by a factor of 100. In addition to these advances, the number of successful syntheses between failures has increased by a factor of 20. This improvement has been made possible by a thorough understanding of all aspects of the production of PET tracers and

USING TRACERS TO DESCRIBE NAPL HETEROGENEITY

EPA Science Inventory

Tracers are frequently used to estimate both the average travel time for water flow through the tracer swept volume and NAPL saturation. The same data can be used to develop a statistical distribution describing the hydraulic conductivity in the sept volume and a possible distri...

Improving Marine Ecosystem Models with Biochemical Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pethybridge, Heidi R.; Choy, C. Anela; Polovina, Jeffrey J.; Fulton, Elizabeth A.

2018-01-01

Empirical data on food web dynamics and predator-prey interactions underpin ecosystem models, which are increasingly used to support strategic management of marine resources. These data have traditionally derived from stomach content analysis, but new and complementary forms of ecological data are increasingly available from biochemical tracer techniques. Extensive opportunities exist to improve the empirical robustness of ecosystem models through the incorporation of biochemical tracer data and derived indices, an area that is rapidly expanding because of advances in analytical developments and sophisticated statistical techniques. Here, we explore the trophic information required by ecosystem model frameworks (species, individual, and size based) and match them to the most commonly used biochemical tracers (bulk tissue and compound-specific stable isotopes, fatty acids, and trace elements). Key quantitative parameters derived from biochemical tracers include estimates of diet composition, niche width, and trophic position. Biochemical tracers also provide powerful insight into the spatial and temporal variability of food web structure and the characterization of dominant basal and microbial food web groups. A major challenge in incorporating biochemical tracer data into ecosystem models is scale and data type mismatches, which can be overcome with greater knowledge exchange and numerical approaches that transform, integrate, and visualize data.

Using environmental tracer data to identify deep-aquifer, long-term flow patterns and recharge distributions in the Surat Basin, Queensland, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siade, A. J.; Suckow, A. O.; Morris, R.; Raiber, M.; Prommer, H.

2017-12-01

The calibration of regional groundwater flow models, including those investigating coal-seam gas (CSG) impacts in the Surat Basin, Australia, are not typically constrained using environmental tracers, although the use of such data can potentially provide significant reductions in predictive uncertainties. These additional sources of information can also improve the conceptualisation of flow systems and the quantification of groundwater fluxes. In this study, new multi-tracer data (14C, 39Ar, 81Kr, and 36Cl) were collected for the eastern recharge areas of the basin and within the deeper Hutton and Precipice Sandstone formations to complement existing environmental tracer data. These data were used to better understand the recharge mechanisms, recharge rates and the hydraulic properties associated with deep aquifer systems in the Surat Basin. Together with newly acquired pressure data documenting the response to the large-scale reinjection of highly treated CSG co-produced water, the environmental tracer data helped to improve the conceptualisation of the aquifer system, forming the basis for a more robust quantification of the long-term impacts of CSG-related activities. An existing regional scale MODFLOW-USG groundwater flow model of the area was used as the basis for our analysis of existing and new observation data. A variety of surrogate modelling approaches were used to develop simplified models that focussed on the flow and transport behaviour of the deep aquifer systems. These surrogate models were able to represent sub-system behaviour in terms of flow, multi-environmental tracer transport and the observed large-scale hydrogeochemical patterns. The incorporation of the environmental tracer data into the modelling framework provide an improved understanding of the flow regimes of the deeper aquifer systems as well as valuable information on how to reduce uncertainties in hydraulic properties where there is little or no historical observations of hydraulic

Use of hydrochemistry as a standalone and complementary groundwater age tracer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyer, Monique; Jackson, Bethanna; Daughney, Chris; Morgenstern, Uwe; Norton, Kevin

2016-12-01

Groundwater age or residence time is the time water has resided in the subsurface since recharge. This can provide information on groundwater mixing and flow, and volumes of groundwater and recharge, etc. Groundwater age can be inferred from environmental tracers, such as SF6 and tritium that have a known input to groundwater and/or undergo known alteration processes in groundwater. Multiple tracers are often applied complementarily in order to increase the robustness of age interpretations. To this end, it is desirable to develop cost-effective and easily applicable age tracers/techniques to supplement the existing ones. A number of hydrochemical parameters are spatially and temporally widely available due to national and regional groundwater monitoring programmes. Their determination is cost-effective and relatively simple compared to existing age tracers. Hydrochemistry has been used as an age proxy but its use as an independent age tracer has only been demonstrated for water recharged weeks to months ago (relying on seasonal changes). This study focuses on the Lower Hutt Groundwater Zone, New Zealand, and assesses whether hydrochemistry can be used as an independent indicator of groundwater age, or if not, whether hydrochemistry can be used to complement groundwater age measurements based on other tracers. This study also examines the use of hydrochemistry as an indicator for recharge sources and weathering processes. This study shows that, when used independently, hydrochemistry could only be used as an age proxy, but in combination with tritium measurements, hydrochemistry provided useful additional constraint on age of groundwater recharged days to ∼100 years ago.

A tracer study of ventilation in the Japan/East Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Postlethwaite, C. F.; Rohling, E. J.; Jenkins, W. J.; Walker, C. F.

2005-06-01

During the Circulation Research in East Asian Marginal Seas (CREAMS) summer cruises in 1999, a suite of samples was collected for tracer analysis. Oxygen isotopes combined with tritium-helium ventilation timescales and noble gas measurements give unique insights into the ventilation of water masses in the Japan/East Sea (JES). In particular, noble gases and oxygen isotopes are indicators of brine rejection, which may assist in explaining the recent changes observed in the ventilation of the JES. Oxygen isotope data presented here indicate that both thermally driven convection and brine rejection have played significant roles in deep-water formation but that brine rejection is unlikely to be a significant contributor at the moment. A 6-box ventilation model of the JES, calibrated with tritium and helium-3 measurements, performed better when a significant decrease of dense-water formation rates in the mid-1960s was incorporated. However, the model calculations suggest that Japan Sea Intermediate Water formation is still occurring. Subduction of sea-ice melt water may be a significant ventilation mechanism for this water mass, based on an argon saturation minimum at the recently ventilated salinity minimum in the northwestern sector of the JES. The salinity and oxygen isotope budgets imply a potential bottom-water formation rate of 3.97±0.89×10 12 m 3 yr -1 due to brine rejection, which could account for a time averaged fraction of between 25% and 35% of the ventilation of subsurface water formation in the JES.

Testing the universality of the star-formation efficiency in dense molecular gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimajiri, Y.; André, Ph.; Braine, J.; Könyves, V.; Schneider, N.; Bontemps, S.; Ladjelate, B.; Roy, A.; Gao, Y.; Chen, H.

2017-08-01

Context. Recent studies with, for example, Spitzer and Herschel have suggested that star formation in dense molecular gas may be governed by essentially the same "law" in Galactic clouds and external galaxies. This conclusion remains controversial, however, in large part because different tracers have been used to probe the mass of dense molecular gas in Galactic and extragalactic studies. Aims: We aimed to calibrate the HCN and HCO+ lines commonly used as dense gas tracers in extragalactic studies and to test the possible universality of the star-formation efficiency in dense gas (≳104 cm-3), SFEdense. Methods: We conducted wide-field mapping of the Aquila, Ophiuchus, and Orion B clouds at 0.04 pc resolution in the J = 1 - 0 transition of HCN, HCO+, and their isotopomers. For each cloud, we derived a reference estimate of the dense gas mass MHerschelAV > 8, as well as the strength of the local far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation field, using Herschel Gould Belt survey data products, and estimated the star-formation rate from direct counting of the number of Spitzer young stellar objects. Results: The H13CO+(1-0) and H13CN(1-0) lines were observed to be good tracers of the dense star-forming filaments detected with Herschel. Comparing the luminosities LHCN and LHCO+ measured in the HCN and HCO+ lines with the reference masses MHerschelAV > 8, the empirical conversion factors αHerschel - HCN (=MHerschelAV > 8/LHCN) and αHerschel - HCO+ (=MHerschelAV > 8/LHCO+) were found to be significantly anti-correlated with the local FUV strength. In agreement with a recent independent study of Orion B by Pety et al., the HCN and HCO+ lines were found to trace gas down to AV ≳ 2. As a result, published extragalactic HCN studies must be tracing all of the moderate density gas down to nH2 ≲ 103 cm-3. Estimating the contribution of this moderate density gas from the typical column density probability distribution functions in nearby clouds, we obtained the following G0

Dual-TRACER: High resolution fMRI with constrained evolution reconstruction.

PubMed

Li, Xuesong; Ma, Xiaodong; Li, Lyu; Zhang, Zhe; Zhang, Xue; Tong, Yan; Wang, Lihong; Sen Song; Guo, Hua

2018-01-01

fMRI with high spatial resolution is beneficial for studies in psychology and neuroscience, but is limited by various factors such as prolonged imaging time, low signal to noise ratio and scarcity of advanced facilities. Compressed Sensing (CS) based methods for accelerating fMRI data acquisition are promising. Other advanced algorithms like k-t FOCUSS or PICCS have been developed to improve performance. This study aims to investigate a new method, Dual-TRACER, based on Temporal Resolution Acceleration with Constrained Evolution Reconstruction (TRACER), for accelerating fMRI acquisitions using golden angle variable density spiral. Both numerical simulations and in vivo experiments at 3T were conducted to evaluate and characterize this method. Results show that Dual-TRACER can provide functional images with a high spatial resolution (1×1mm 2 ) under an acceleration factor of 20 while maintaining hemodynamic signals well. Compared with other investigated methods, dual-TRACER provides a better signal recovery, higher fMRI sensitivity and more reliable activation detection. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conducting a Surgical Site Infection Prevention Tracer.

PubMed

Padgette, Polly; Wood, Brittain

2018-05-01

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common health care-associated infections in patients. Approximately half of SSIs are preventable when using evidence-based strategies; however, deviations from evidence-based practice can occur over time. Infection preventionists and perioperative staff members can help prevent these deviations by observing staff member practices using tracer methodology. Tracer methodology uses clinical information to follow patient care, treatment, or services provided throughout the care delivery system. The goal of tracer methodology for SSI prevention is to validate that organizational processes are promoting safer patient care. Using tracers, perioperative and infection prevention staff members can develop strategies to eliminate deviations from evidence-based practice, thereby helping to prevent SSIs and improve patient outcomes. © AORN, Inc, 2018.

Ground-water age and atmospheric tracers: Simulation studies and analysis of field data from the Mirror Lake site, New Hampshire

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goode, Daniel J.

1998-01-01

The use of environmental tracers in characterization of ground-water systems is investigated through mathematical modeling of ground-water age and atmospheric tracer transport, and by a field study at the Mirror Lake site, New Hampshire. Theory is presented for modeling ground-water age using the advective-dispersive transport equation. The transport equation includes a zero-order source of unit strength, corresponding to the rate of aging, and can accommodate matrix diffusion and other exchange processes. The effect of temperature fluctuations and layered soils on transport of atmospheric gases to the water table is investigated using a one-dimensional numerical model of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC-11) transport. The nonlinear relation between temperature and Henry's Law coefficient (reflecting air/water phase partitioning) can cause the apparent recharge temperature to be elevated above the annual mean temperature where the water table is shallow. In addition, fine-grained soils can isolate the air phase in the unsaturated zone from the atmosphere. At the USGS' Mirror Lake, New Hampshire fractured-rock research site CFC concentrations near the water table are depleted where dissolved oxygen is low. CFC-11 and CFC-113 are completely absent under anaerobic conditions, while CFC-12 is as low as one-third of modern concentrations. Anaerobic biodegradation apparently consumes CFC's near the water table at this site. One area of active degradation appears to be associated with streamflow loss to ground water. Soil gas concentrations are generally close to atmospheric levels, although some spatial correlation is observed between depleted concentrations of CFC-11 and CFC-113 in soil gas and water-table samples. Results of unsaturated-zone monitoring indicate that recharge occurs throughout the year in the watershed, even during summer evapotranspiration periods, and that seasonal temperature fluctuations occur as much as 5 meters below land surface. Application of ground

Tracer-based characterization of hyporheic exchange and benthic biolayers in streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knapp, Julia L. A.; González-Pinzón, Ricardo; Drummond, Jennifer D.; Larsen, Laurel G.; Cirpka, Olaf A.; Harvey, Judson W.

2017-02-01

Shallow benthic biolayers at the top of the streambed are believed to be places of enhanced biogeochemical turnover within the hyporheic zone. They can be investigated by reactive stream tracer tests with tracer recordings in the streambed and in the stream channel. Common in-stream measurements of such reactive tracers cannot localize where the processing primarily takes place, whereas isolated vertical depth profiles of solutes within the hyporheic zone are usually not representative of the entire stream. We present results of a tracer test where we injected the conservative tracer bromide together with the reactive tracer resazurin into a third-order stream and combined the recording of in-stream breakthrough curves with multidepth sampling of the hyporheic zone at several locations. The transformation of resazurin was used as an indicator of metabolism, and high-reactivity zones were identified from depth profiles. The results from our subsurface analysis indicate that the potential for tracer transformation (i.e., the reaction rate constant) varied with depth in the hyporheic zone. This highlights the importance of the benthic biolayer, which we found to be on average 2 cm thick in this study, ranging from one third to one half of the full depth of the hyporheic zone. The reach-scale approach integrated the effects of processes along the reach length, isolating hyporheic processes relevant for whole-stream chemistry and estimating effective reaction rates.

Flow visualization in superfluid helium-4 using He2 molecular tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Wei

Flow visualization in superfluid helium is challenging, yet crucial for attaining a detailed understanding of quantum turbulence. Two problems have impeded progress: finding and introducing suitable tracers that are small yet visible; and unambiguous interpretation of the tracer motion. We show that metastable He2 triplet molecules are outstanding tracers compared with other particles used in helium. These molecular tracers have small size and relatively simple behavior in superfluid helium: they follow the normal fluid motion at above 1 K and will bind to quantized vortex lines below about 0.6 K. A laser-induced fluorescence technique has been developed for imaging the He2 tracers. We will present our recent experimental work on studying the normal-fluid motion by tracking thin lines of He2 tracers created via femtosecond laser-field ionization in helium. We will also discuss a newly launched experiment on visualizing vortex lines in a magnetically levitated superfluid helium drop by imaging the He2 tracers trapped on the vortex cores. This experiment will enable unprecedented insight into the behavior of a rotating superfluid drop and will untangle several key issues in quantum turbulence research. We acknowledge the support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-1507386 and the US Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02 96ER40952.

Tracer-based characterization of hyporheic exchange and benthic biolayers in streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knapp, Julia L.A.; González-Pinzón, Ricardo; Drummond, Jennifer D.; Larsen, Laurel G.; Cirpka, Olaf A.; Harvey, Judson W.

2017-01-01

Shallow benthic biolayers at the top of the streambed are believed to be places of enhanced biogeochemical turnover within the hyporheic zone. They can be investigated by reactive stream tracer tests with tracer recordings in the streambed and in the stream channel. Common in-stream measurements of such reactive tracers cannot localize where the processing primarily takes place, whereas isolated vertical depth profiles of solutes within the hyporheic zone are usually not representative of the entire stream. We present results of a tracer test where we injected the conservative tracer bromide together with the reactive tracer resazurin into a third-order stream and combined the recording of in-stream breakthrough curves with multidepth sampling of the hyporheic zone at several locations. The transformation of resazurin was used as an indicator of metabolism, and high-reactivity zones were identified from depth profiles. The results from our subsurface analysis indicate that the potential for tracer transformation (i.e., the reaction rate constant) varied with depth in the hyporheic zone. This highlights the importance of the benthic biolayer, which we found to be on average 2 cm thick in this study, ranging from one third to one half of the full depth of the hyporheic zone. The reach-scale approach integrated the effects of processes along the reach length, isolating hyporheic processes relevant for whole-stream chemistry and estimating effective reaction rates.

A forward analysis on the applicability of tracer breakthrough profiles in revealing the pore structure of tight gas sandstone and carbonate rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehmani, Ayaz; Mehmani, Yashar; Prodanović, Maša.; Balhoff, Matthew

2015-06-01

We explore tracer breakthrough profiles (TBP) as a macroscopic property to infer the pore-space topology of tight gas sandstone and carbonate rocks at the core scale. The following features were modeled via three-dimensional multiscale networks: microporosity within dissolved grains and pore-filling clay, cementation in the absence and presence of microporosity (each classified into uniform, pore-preferred, and throat-preferred modes), layering, vug, and microcrack inclusion. A priori knowledge of the extent and location of each process was assumed to be known. With the exception of an equal importance of macropores and pore-filling micropores, TBPs show little sensitivity to the fraction of micropores present. In general, significant sensitivity of the TBPs was observed for uniform and throat-preferred cementation. Layering parallel to the fluid flow direction had a considerable impact on TBPs whereas layering perpendicular to flow did not. Microcrack orientations seemed of minor importance in affecting TBPs. This article was corrected on 9 Nov 2015. See the end of the full text for details.

Slew-rate dependence of tracer magnetization response in magnetic particle imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shah, Saqlain A.; Krishnan, K. M., E-mail: kannanmk@uw.edu; Ferguson, R. M.

2014-10-28

Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a new biomedical imaging technique that produces real-time, high-resolution tomographic images of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle tracers. Currently, 25 kHz and 20 mT/μ{sub 0} excitation fields are common in MPI, but lower field amplitudes may be necessary for patient safety in future designs. Here, we address fundamental questions about MPI tracer magnetization dynamics and predict tracer performance in future scanners that employ new combinations of excitation field amplitude (H{sub o}) and frequency (ω). Using an optimized, monodisperse MPI tracer, we studied how several combinations of drive field frequencies and amplitudes affect the tracer's response, using Magnetic Particlemore » Spectrometry and AC hysteresis, for drive field conditions at 15.5, 26, and 40.2 kHz, with field amplitudes ranging from 7 to 52 mT/μ{sub 0}. For both fluid and immobilized nanoparticle samples, we determined that magnetic response was dominated by Néel reversal. Furthermore, we observed that the peak slew-rate (ωH{sub o}) determined the tracer magnetic response. Smaller amplitudes provided correspondingly smaller field of view, sometimes resulting in excitation of minor hysteresis loops. Changing the drive field conditions but keeping the peak slew-rate constant kept the tracer response almost the same. Higher peak slew-rates led to reduced maximum signal intensity and greater coercivity in the tracer response. Our experimental results were in reasonable agreement with Stoner-Wohlfarth model based theories.« less

National Biomedical Tracer Facility: Project definition study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heaton, R.; Peterson, E.; Smith, P.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is an ideal institution and New Mexico is an ideal location for siting the National Biomedical Tracer Facility (NBTF). The essence of the Los Alamos proposal is the development of two complementary irradiation facilities that combined with our existing radiochemical processing hot cell facilities and waste handling and disposal facilities provide a low cost alternative to other proposals that seek to satisfy the objectives of the NBTF. We propose the construction of a 30 MeV cyclotron facility at the site of the radiochemical facilities, and the construction of a 100 MeV target station at LAMPFmore » to satisfy the requirements and objectives of the NBTF. We do not require any modifications to our existing radiochemical processing hot cell facilities or our waste treatment and disposal facilities to accomplish the objectives of the NBTF. The total capital cost for the facility defined by the project definition study is $15.2 M. This cost estimate includes $9.9 M for the cyclotron and associated facility, $2.0 M for the 100 MeV target station at LAMPF, and $3.3 M for design.« less

Dispersion of Perfluorocarbon Tracers within the Salt Lake Valley during VTMX 2000

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fast, Jerome D.; Allwine, K. Jerry; Dietz, Russell N.; Clawson, Kirk L.; Torcolini, Joel C.

2006-06-01

Six perfluorocarbon tracer experiments were conducted in Salt Lake City, Utah, during October 2000 as part of the Vertical Transport and Mixing (VTMX) field campaign. Four tracers were released at different sites to obtain information on dispersion during stable conditions within down-valley flow, canyon outflow, and interacting circulations in the downtown area. Some of the extensive tracer data that were collected are presented in the context of the meteorological field campaign measurements. Tracer measurements at building-top sites in the downtown area and along the lower slopes of the Wasatch Front indicated that vertical mixing processes transported material up to at least 180 m above the valley floor, although model simulations suggest that tracers were transported upward to much higher elevations. Tracer data provided evidence of downward mixing of canyon outflow, upward mixing within down-valley flow, horizontal transport above the surface stable layer, and transport within horizontal eddies produced by the interaction of canyon and down-valley flows. Although point meteorological measurements are useful in evaluating the forecasts produced by mesoscale models, the tracer data provide valuable information on how the time-varying three-dimensional mean and turbulent motions over urban and valley spatial scales affect dispersion. Although the mean tracer transport predicted by the modeling system employed in this study was qualitatively similar to the measurements, improvements are needed in the treatment of turbulent vertical mixing.

A Multiple-Tracer Approach for Identifying Sewage Sources to an Urban Stream System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hyer, Kenneth Edward

2007-01-01

The presence of human-derived fecal coliform bacteria (sewage) in streams and rivers is recognized as a human health hazard. The source of these human-derived bacteria, however, is often difficult to identify and eliminate, because sewage can be delivered to streams through a variety of mechanisms, such as leaking sanitary sewers or private lateral lines, cross-connected pipes, straight pipes, sewer-line overflows, illicit dumping of septic waste, and vagrancy. A multiple-tracer study was conducted to identify site-specific sources of sewage in Accotink Creek, an urban stream in Fairfax County, Virginia, that is listed on the Commonwealth's priority list of impaired streams for violations of the fecal coliform bacteria standard. Beyond developing this multiple-tracer approach for locating sources of sewage inputs to Accotink Creek, the second objective of the study was to demonstrate how the multiple-tracer approach can be applied to other streams affected by sewage sources. The tracers used in this study were separated into indicator tracers, which are relatively simple and inexpensive to apply, and confirmatory tracers, which are relatively difficult and expensive to analyze. Indicator tracers include fecal coliform bacteria, surfactants, boron, chloride, chloride/bromide ratio, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and water temperature. Confirmatory tracers include 13 organic compounds that are associated with human waste, including caffeine, cotinine, triclosan, a number of detergent metabolites, several fragrances, and several plasticizers. To identify sources of sewage to Accotink Creek, a detailed investigation of the Accotink Creek main channel, tributaries, and flowing storm drains was undertaken from 2001 to 2004. Sampling was conducted in a series of eight synoptic sampling events, each of which began at the most downstream site and extended upstream through the watershed and into the headwaters of each tributary. Using the synoptic

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for stable isotope metabolic tracer studies of living systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Luong, Elise

1999-05-10

This dissertation focuses on the development of methods for stable isotope metabolic tracer studies in living systems using inductively coupled plasma single and dual quadrupole mass spectrometers. Sub-nanogram per gram levels of molybdenum (Mo) from human blood plasma are isolated by the use of anion exchange alumina microcolumns. Million-fold more concentrated spectral and matrix interferences such as sodium, chloride, sulfate, phosphate, etc. in the blood constituents are removed from the analyte. The recovery of Mo from the alumina column is 82 ± 5% (n = 5). Isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS) is utilized for the quantitative ultra-tracemore » concentration determination of Mo in bovine and human blood samples. The average Mo concentration in reference bovine serum determined by this method is 10.2 ± 0.4 ng/g, while the certified value is 11.5 ± 1.1 ng/g (95% confidence interval). The Mo concentration of one pool of human blood plasma from two healthy male donors is 0.5 ± 0.1 ng/g. The inductively coupled plasma twin quadrupole mass spectrometer (ICP-TQMS) is used to measure the carbon isotope ratio from non-volatile organic compounds and bio-organic molecules to assess the ability as an alternative analytical method to gas chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-combustion-IRMS). Trytophan, myoglobin, and β-cyclodextrin are chosen for the study, initial observation of spectral interference of 13C + with 12C 1H + comes from the incomplete dissociation of myoglobin and/or β-cyclodextrin.« less

Tuning structure and mobility of solvation shells surrounding tracer additives.

PubMed

Carmer, James; Jain, Avni; Bollinger, Jonathan A; van Swol, Frank; Truskett, Thomas M

2015-03-28

Molecular dynamics simulations and a stochastic Fokker-Planck equation based approach are used to illuminate how position-dependent solvent mobility near one or more tracer particle(s) is affected when tracer-solvent interactions are rationally modified to affect corresponding solvation structure. For tracers in a dense hard-sphere fluid, we compare two types of tracer-solvent interactions: (1) a hard-sphere-like interaction, and (2) a soft repulsion extending beyond the hard core designed via statistical mechanical theory to enhance tracer mobility at infinite dilution by suppressing coordination-shell structure [Carmer et al., Soft Matter 8, 4083-4089 (2012)]. For the latter case, we show that the mobility of surrounding solvent particles is also increased by addition of the soft repulsive interaction, which helps to rationalize the mechanism underlying the tracer's enhanced diffusivity. However, if multiple tracer surfaces are in closer proximity (as at higher tracer concentrations), similar interactions that disrupt local solvation structure instead suppress the position-dependent solvent dynamics.

How Does Dense Molecular Gas Contribute to Star Formation in the Starburst Galaxy NGC 2146?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wofford, Alia

2017-01-01

The starburst galaxy NGC 2146 is believed to have been formed approximately 800 Myr ago, when two galaxies collided with each other possibly leading to a burst of star formation. NGC 2146 is known as a starburst galaxy for the high frequency of star formation going on in its molecular clouds. These clouds serve as nurseries for star formation to occur. Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) and Carbon monoxide (CO) are molecules found in molecular gas clouds. HCN molecules are tracers for high density star forming gas. Whereas, CO molecules are tracers for low density star forming gas. In this project, we are observing these two molecules and their proximity to where the stars are forming in the galaxy to determine if the star formation is occurring in the same area as the high and low density molecular gas areas in starburst galaxy NGC 2146.

Tracer transport by the diabatic circulation deduced from satellite observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solomon, S.; Kiehl, J. T.; Garcia, R. R.; Grose, W.

1986-01-01

Nimbus-7 sensor data were used to track the diabatic circulation in the stratosphere to study the advective transport of CH4 and N2O as tracer species. Advective transport by the mean circulation was found to be a function of the temperature field and associated deviations from radiative equilibrium. A photochemical model was applied to account for the disappearance of the tracer species from the stratosphere. Comparisons between the SAMS data and modeling on the basis of the chemical loss rates of the tracers and the LIMS circulation data showed that the model predictions underestimated the resident abundances, although the global distributions and circulations exhibited a good match.

Salt marsh ecosystem biogeochemical responses to nutrient enrichment: a paired 15N tracer study.

PubMed

Drake, D C; Peterson, Bruce J; Galván, Kari A; Deegan, Linda A; Hopkinson, Charles; Johnson, J Michael; Koop-Jakobsen, K; Lemay, Lynsey E; Picard, Christian

2009-09-01

We compared processing and fate of dissolved NO3- in two New England salt marsh ecosystems, one receiving natural flood tide concentrations of approximately 1-4 micromol NO3-/ L and the other receiving experimentally fertilized flood tides containing approximately 70-100 micromol NO3-/ L. We conducted simultaneous 15NO3- (isotope) tracer additions from 23 to 28 July 2005 in the reference (8.4 ha) and fertilized (12.4 ha) systems to compare N dynamics and fate. Two full tidal cycles were intensively studied during the paired tracer additions. Resulting mass balances showed that essentially 100% (0.48-0.61 mol NO3-N.ha(-1).h(-1)) of incoming NO3- was assimilated, dissimilated, sorbed, or sedimented (processed) within a few hours in the reference system when NO3- concentrations were 1.3-1.8 micromol/L. In contrast, only 50-60% of incoming NO3- was processed in the fertilized system when NO3- concentrations were 84-96 micromol/L; the remainder was exported in ebb tidewater. Gross NO3- processing was approximately 40 times higher in the fertilized system at 19.34-24.67 mol NO3-N.ha(-1).h(-1). Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium was evident in both systems during the first 48 h of the tracer additions but <1% of incoming 15NO3- was exported as 15NH4+. Nitrification rates calculated by 15NO3- dilution were 6.05 and 4.46 mol.ha(-1).h(-1) in the fertilized system but could not be accurately calculated in the reference system due to rapid (<4 h) NO3- turnover. Over the five-day paired tracer addition, sediments sequestered a small fraction of incoming NO3-, although the efficiency of sequestration was 3.8% in the reference system and 0.7% in the fertilized system. Gross sediment N sequestration rates were similar at 13.5 and 12.6 mol.ha(-1).d(-1), respectively. Macrophyte NO3- uptake efficiency, based on tracer incorporation in aboveground tissues, was considerably higher in the reference system (16.8%) than the fertilized system (2.6%), although bulk uptake of NO3

Efficiency gains in tracer identification for nuclear imaging: can in vivo LC-MS/MS evaluation of small molecules screen for successful PET tracers?

PubMed

Joshi, Elizabeth M; Need, Anne; Schaus, John; Chen, Zhaogen; Benesh, Dana; Mitch, Charles; Morton, Stuart; Raub, Thomas J; Phebus, Lee; Barth, Vanessa

2014-12-17

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has become a useful noninvasive technique to explore molecular biology within living systems; however, the utility of this method is limited by the availability of suitable radiotracers to probe specific targets and disease biology. Methods to identify potential areas of improvement in the ability to predict small molecule performance as tracers prior to radiolabeling would speed the discovery of novel tracers. In this retrospective analysis, we characterized the brain penetration or peak SUV (standardized uptake value), binding potential (BP), and brain exposure kinetics across a series of known, nonradiolabeled PET ligands using in vivo LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry) and correlated these parameters with the reported PET ligand performance in nonhuman primates and humans available in the literature. The PET tracers studied included those reported to label G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), intracellular enzymes, and transporters. Additionally, data for each tracer was obtained from a mouse brain uptake assay (MBUA), previously published, where blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration and clearance parameters were assessed and compared against similar data collected on a broad compound set of central nervous system (CNS) therapeutic compounds. The BP and SUV identified via nonradiolabeled LC-MS/MS, while different from the published values observed in the literature PET tracer data, allowed for an identification of initial criteria values we sought to facilitate increased potential for success from our early discovery screening paradigm. Our analysis showed that successful, as well as novel, clinical PET tracers exhibited BP of greater than 1.5 and peak SUVs greater than approximately 150% at 5 min post dose in rodents. The brain kinetics appeared similar between both techniques despite differences in tracer dose, suggesting linearity across these dose ranges. The assessment of tracers in a

Broad [C II] Line Wings as Tracer of Molecular and Multi-phase Outflows in Infrared Bright Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janssen, A. W.; Christopher, N.; Sturm, E.; Veilleux, S.; Contursi, A.; González-Alfonso, E.; Fischer, J.; Davies, R.; Verma, A.; Graciá-Carpio, J.; Genzel, R.; Lutz, D.; Sternberg, A.; Tacconi, L.; Burtscher, L.; Poglitsch, A.

2016-05-01

We report a tentative correlation between the outflow characteristics derived from OH absorption at 119 μm and [C II] emission at 158 μm in a sample of 22 local and bright ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). For this sample, we investigate whether [C II] broad wings are a good tracer of molecular outflows, and how the two tracers are connected. Fourteen objects in our sample have a broad wing component as traced by [C II], and all of these also show OH119 absorption indicative of an outflow (in one case an inflow). The other eight cases, where no broad [C II] component was found, are predominantly objects with no OH outflow or a low-velocity (≤100 km s-1) OH outflow. The FWHM of the broad [C II] component shows a trend with the OH119 blueshifted velocity, although with significant scatter. Moreover, and despite large uncertainties, the outflow masses derived from OH and broad [C II] show a 1:1 relation. The main conclusion is therefore that broad [C II] wings can be used to trace molecular outflows. This may be particularly relevant at high redshift, where the usual tracers of molecular gas (like low-J CO lines) become hard to observe. Additionally, observations of blueshifted Na I D λλ 5890, 5896 absorption are available for 10 of our sources. Outflow velocities of Na I D show a trend with OH velocity and broad [C II] FWHM. These observations suggest that the atomic and molecular gas phases of the outflow are connected.

Quantification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastewater treatment plants using a ground-based remote sensing approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delre, Antonio; Mønster, Jacob; Scheutz, Charlotte

2016-04-01

The direct release of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is important because it contributes to the global greenhouse gases (GHGs) release and strongly effects the WWTP carbon footprint. Biological nitrogen removal technologies could increase the direct emission of N2O (IPCC, 2006), while CH4 losses are of environmental, economic and safety concern. Currently, reporting of N2O and CH4 emissions from WWTPs are performed mainly using methods suggested by IPCC which are not site specific (IPCC, 2006). The dynamic tracer dispersion method (TDM), a ground based remote sensing approach implemented at DTU Environment, was demonstrated to be a novel and successful tool for full-scale CH4 and N2O quantification from WWTPs. The method combines a controlled release of tracer gas from the facility with concentration measurements downwind of the plant (Mønster et al., 2014; Yoshida et al., 2014). TDM in general is based on the assumption that a tracer gas released at an emission source, in this case a WWTP, disperses into the atmosphere in the same way as the GHG emitted from process units. Since the ratio of their concentrations remains constant along their atmospheric dispersion, the GHG emission rate can be calculated using the following expression when the tracer gas release rate is known: EGHG=Qtr*(CGHG/Ctr)*(MWGHG/MWtr) EGHG is the GHG emission in mass per time, Qtr is the tracer release in mass per time, CGHG and Ctr are the concentrations measured downwind in parts per billion subtracted of their background values and integrated over the whole plume, and MWGHG and MWtr are the molar weights of GHG and tracer gas respectively (Mønster et al. 2014). In this study, acetylene (C2H2) was used as tracer. Downwind plume concentrations were measured driving along transects with two cavity ring down spectrometers (Yoshida et al., 2014). TDM was successfully applied in different seasons at several Scandinavian WWTPs characterized by

Noble Gases as tracers of fluid migration in the Haynesville shale and overlying strata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, D. J.; Barry, P. H.; Lawson, M.; Ballentine, C. J.

2017-12-01

Noble gases are ideal tracers of physical processes and fluid provenance in crustal systems. Due to their inert nature, they are unaffected by chemical alteration, redox, or biological phenomena that fractionate other geochemical tracers. Noble gas analysis has been used to quantify fluid provenance, interactions, and ages in petroleum systems [1,2], but the effects of hydrocarbon migration on noble gas signatures have not been directly observed. The Haynesville Shale (East Texas & Louisiana), is exploited commercially for unconventional shale gas, but also acts as the source-rock for overlying conventional reservoirs. We present noble gas isotope and abundance data in samples collected from 9 natural gas wells sourced from the Haynesville Shale, as well as 21 from reservoirs in the overlying Cotton Valley (n=7), Travis Peak (n=9), and James (n=5) groups. Using a stratigraphic model, we observe systematic changes in the noble gas signatures as the fluids migrate from the Haynesville source rock to the overlying conventional accumulations. Helium isotope ratios (3He/4He) are strongly radiogenic in the Haynesville and stratigraphically older conventional reservoirs, with the younger reservoirs showing evidence of a mantle helium input. Argon isotope ratios (40Ar/36Ar) are strongly correlated with high 3He/4He, suggesting a similar provenance for radiogenic 40Ar and mantle 3He. Concentrations of groundwater-derived 36Ar are consistently higher in the conventional reservoirs than in the Haynesville shale, reflecting the greater interaction with groundwater during migration. However, 20Ne/36Ar ratios are not significantly different, suggesting that solubility-dependent partitioning is not simply dependent on vertical or horizontal migration distance. Krypton and xenon abundances are higher than expected for groundwater in all samples, a phenomenon that has been observed in many other hydrocarbon accumulations [3]. The excess Xe/Kr ratio is highest in the Haynesville

Comparison of Kinetic Models for Dual-Tracer Receptor Concentration Imaging in Tumors

PubMed Central

Hamzei, Nazanin; Samkoe, Kimberley S; Elliott, Jonathan T; Holt, Robert W; Gunn, Jason R; Hasan, Tayyaba; Pogue, Brian W; Tichauer, Kenneth M

2014-01-01

Molecular differences between cancerous and healthy tissue have become key targets for novel therapeutics specific to tumor receptors. However, cancer cell receptor expression can vary within and amongst different tumors, making strategies that can quantify receptor concentration in vivo critical for the progression of targeted therapies. Recently a dual-tracer imaging approach capable of providing quantitative measures of receptor concentration in vivo was developed. It relies on the simultaneous injection and imaging of receptor-targeted tracer and an untargeted tracer (to account for non-specific uptake of the targeted tracer). Early implementations of this approach have been structured on existing “reference tissue” imaging methods that have not been optimized for or validated in dual-tracer imaging. Using simulations and mouse tumor model experimental data, the salient findings in this study were that all widely used reference tissue kinetic models can be used for dual-tracer imaging, with the linearized simplified reference tissue model offering a good balance of accuracy and computational efficiency. Moreover, an alternate version of the full two-compartment reference tissue model can be employed accurately by assuming that the K1s of the targeted and untargeted tracers are similar to avoid assuming an instantaneous equilibrium between bound and free states (made by all other models). PMID:25414912

Journal: A Review of Some Tracer-Test Design Equations for ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Determination of necessary tracer mass, initial sample-collection time, and subsequent sample-collection frequency are the three most difficult aspects to estimate for a proposed tracer test prior to conducting the tracer test. To facilitate tracer-mass estimation, 33 mass-estimation equations are reviewed here, 32 of which were evaluated using previously published tracer-test design examination parameters. Comparison of the results produced a wide range of estimated tracer mass, but no means is available by which one equation may be reasonably selected over the others. Each equation produces a simple approximation for tracer mass. Most of the equations are based primarily on estimates or measurements of discharge, transport distance, and suspected transport times. Although the basic field parameters commonly employed are appropriate for estimating tracer mass, the 33 equations are problematic in that they were all probably based on the original developers' experience in a particular field area and not necessarily on measured hydraulic parameters or solute-transport theory. Suggested sampling frequencies are typically based primarily on probable transport distance, but with little regard to expected travel times. This too is problematic in that tends to result in false negatives or data aliasing. Simulations from the recently developed efficient hydrologic tracer-test design methodology (EHTD) were compared with those obtained from 32 of the 33 published tracer-

Impact of solvent granularity and layering on tracer hydrodynamics in confinement.

PubMed

Bollinger, Jonathan A; Carmer, James; Jain, Avni; Truskett, Thomas M

2016-11-28

Classic hydrodynamic arguments establish that when a spherical tracer particle is suspended between parallel walls, tracer-wall coupling mediated by the solvent will cause the tracer to exhibit position-dependent diffusivity. We investigate how the diffusivity profiles of confined tracers are impacted by the diameter size-ratio of the tracer to solvent: starting from the classic limit of infinite size-ratio (i.e., continuum solvent), we consider size-ratios of four or less to examine how hydrodynamic predictions are disrupted for systems where the tracer and solvent are of similar scale. We use computer simulations and techniques based on the Fokker-Planck formalism to calculate the diffusivity profiles of hard-sphere tracer particles in hard-sphere solvents, focusing on the dynamics perpendicular to the walls. Given wall separations of several tracer diameters, we first consider confinement between hard walls, where anisotropic structuring at the solvent lengthscale generates inhomogeneity in the tracer free-energy landscape and undermines hydrodynamic predictions locally. We then introduce confining planes that we term transparent walls, which restrict tracer and solvent center-accessibilities while completely eliminating static anisotropy, and reveal position-dependent signatures in tracer diffusivity solely attributable to confinement. With or without suppressing static heterogeneity, we find that tracer diffusivity increasingly deviates on a local basis from hydrodynamic predictions at smaller size-ratios. However, hydrodynamic theory still approximately captures spatially-averaged dynamics across the pores even for very small tracer-solvent size-ratios over a wide range of solvent densities and wall separations.

TRACER - TRACING AND CONTROL OF ENGINEERING REQUIREMENTS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, P. R.

1994-01-01

TRACER (Tracing and Control of Engineering Requirements) is a database/word processing system created to document and maintain the order of both requirements and descriptive material associated with an engineering project. A set of hierarchical documents are normally generated for a project whereby the requirements of the higher level documents levy requirements on the same level or lower level documents. Traditionally, the requirements are handled almost entirely by manual paper methods. The problem with a typical paper system, however, is that requirements written and changed continuously in different areas lead to misunderstandings and noncompliance. The purpose of TRACER is to automate the capture, tracing, reviewing, and managing of requirements for an engineering project. The engineering project still requires communications, negotiations, interactions, and iterations among people and organizations, but TRACER promotes succinct and precise identification and treatment of real requirements separate from the descriptive prose in a document. TRACER permits the documentation of an engineering project's requirements and progress in a logical, controllable, traceable manner. TRACER's attributes include the presentation of current requirements and status from any linked computer terminal and the ability to differentiate headers and descriptive material from the requirements. Related requirements can be linked and traced. The program also enables portions of documents to be printed, individual approval and release of requirements, and the tracing of requirements down into the equipment specification. Requirement "links" can be made "pending" and invisible to others until the pending link is made "binding". Individuals affected by linked requirements can be notified of significant changes with acknowledgement of the changes required. An unlimited number of documents can be created for a project and an ASCII import feature permits existing documents to be incorporated

Effectiveness of purging on preventing gas emission buildup in wood pellet storage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yazdanpanah, Fahimeh; Sokhansanj, Shahab; Lim, Choon Jim

Storage of wood pellets has resulted in deadly accidents in connection with off-gassing and self-heating. A forced ventilation system should be in place to sweep the off-gases and control the thermal conditions. In this study, multiple purging tests were conducted in a pilot scale silo to evaluate the effectiveness of a purging system and quantify the time and volume of the gas needed to sweep the off-gases. To identify the degree of mixing, residence time distribution of the tracer gas was also studied experimentally. Large deviations from plug flow suggested strong gas mixing for all superficial velocities. As the velocitymore » increased, the system dispersion number became smaller, which indicated less degree of mixing with increased volume of the purging gas. Finally, one-dimensional modelling and numerical simulation of the off-gas concentration profile gave the best agreement with the measured gas concentration at the bottom and middle of the silo.« less

Effectiveness of purging on preventing gas emission buildup in wood pellet storage

DOE PAGES

Yazdanpanah, Fahimeh; Sokhansanj, Shahab; Lim, Choon Jim; ...

2015-04-24

Storage of wood pellets has resulted in deadly accidents in connection with off-gassing and self-heating. A forced ventilation system should be in place to sweep the off-gases and control the thermal conditions. In this study, multiple purging tests were conducted in a pilot scale silo to evaluate the effectiveness of a purging system and quantify the time and volume of the gas needed to sweep the off-gases. To identify the degree of mixing, residence time distribution of the tracer gas was also studied experimentally. Large deviations from plug flow suggested strong gas mixing for all superficial velocities. As the velocitymore » increased, the system dispersion number became smaller, which indicated less degree of mixing with increased volume of the purging gas. Finally, one-dimensional modelling and numerical simulation of the off-gas concentration profile gave the best agreement with the measured gas concentration at the bottom and middle of the silo.« less

Vertical Diffusivities of Active and Passive Tracers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Canuto, V. M.; Cheng, Y.; Howard, A. M.

2010-01-01

The climate models that include a carbon-cycle need the vertical diffusivity of a passive tracer. Since an expression for the latter is not available, it has been common practice to identify it with that of salt. The identification is questionable since T, S are active, not passive tracers. We present the first derivation of the diffusivity of a passive tracer in terms of Ri (Richardson number) and Rq (density ratio, ratio of salinity over temperature z-gradients). The following results have emerged: (a) The passive tracer diffusivity is an algebraic function of Ri, Rq. (b) In doubly stable regimes (DS, partial derivative of T with respect to z > 0, partial derivative of S with respect to z < 0), the passive scalar diffusivity is nearly the same as that of salt/heat for any values of Rq < 0 and Ri > 0. (c) In DC regimes (diffusive convection, partial derivative of T with respect to z < 0, partial derivative of S with respect to z < 0, Rq > 1), the passive scalar diffusivity is larger than that of salt. At Ri = O(1), it can be more than twice as large. (d) In SF regimes (salt fingers, partial derivative of T with respect to z > 0, partial derivative of S with respect to z > 0, Rq < 1), the passive scalar diffusivity is smaller than that of salt. At Ri = O(1), it can be less than half of it. (e) The passive tracer diffusivity predicted at the location of NATRE (North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment) is discussed. (f) Perhaps the most relevant conclusion is that the common identification of the tracer diffusivity with that of salt is valid only in DS regimes. In the Southern Ocean, where there is the largest CO2 absorption, the dominant regime is diffusive convection discussed in (c) above.

Fractured-rock hydrogeophysics with electrically conductive and neutrally buoyant tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shakas, A.; Linde, N.; Baron, L.; Le Borgne, T.; Bour, O.; Lavenant, N.; Gerard, M. F.

2016-12-01

Artificial tracer tests help to characterize and understand the dynamics of groundwater systems. This remains a challenging task, especially when dealing with highly heterogeneous formations in which flow can be very localized and the interpretation of tracer breakthrough curves may be ambiguous. As a complement to tracer tests, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography can map the space-time migration of electrically conductive tracers. In hydrogeophysics, the most common tracer is dissolved table salt in water. However, conventional salt tracers lead to density effects that are often ignored. Even less than 1% density variations can have a dramatic effect on transport behavior and affect tracer tests in complex ways. Such effects have been demonstrated in our previous experiments that used single-hole GPR to monitor saline push-pull tests in fractured granite. It is possible to model density effects, but this leads to computational complexity and field dynamics that are not necessarily representative of the natural responses of the system. To minimize density effects, we performed a new set of push-pull tests using a neutrally buoyant and electrically conductive tracer at the same test site located close to Ploemeur, France. This novel tracer consists of a mixture of salt (NaCl), water and pure ethanol. Ethanol has a density of 789 g/L at 20° C and is used to counter-act the salt-induced density increase. Our GPR time-lapse images and tracer breakthrough data indicate a largely reversible transport process that confirms the neutral buoyancy of the tracer. Ethanol is biodegradable and does not pose significant environmental issues. Furthermore, calibration of the neutral-buoyant mixture is straightforward to perform in the field using Archimedes principle. Based on these results, we argue that neutrally buoyant ethanol-salt-water mixtures are ideal for a wide variety of hydrogeophysical tracer tests in porous or fractured media.

Dynamic dual-tracer MRI-guided fluorescence tomography to quantify receptor density in vivo

PubMed Central

Davis, Scott C.; Samkoe, Kimberley S.; Tichauer, Kenneth M.; Sexton, Kristian J.; Gunn, Jason R.; Deharvengt, Sophie J.; Hasan, Tayyaba; Pogue, Brian W.

2013-01-01

The up-regulation of cell surface receptors has become a central focus in personalized cancer treatment; however, because of the complex nature of contrast agent pharmacokinetics in tumor tissue, methods to quantify receptor binding in vivo remain elusive. Here, we present a dual-tracer optical technique for noninvasive estimation of specific receptor binding in cancer. A multispectral MRI-coupled fluorescence molecular tomography system was used to image the uptake kinetics of two fluorescent tracers injected simultaneously, one tracer targeted to the receptor of interest and the other tracer a nontargeted reference. These dynamic tracer data were then fit to a dual-tracer compartmental model to estimate the density of receptors available for binding in the tissue. Applying this approach to mice with deep-seated gliomas that overexpress the EGF receptor produced an estimate of available receptor density of 2.3 ± 0.5 nM (n = 5), consistent with values estimated in comparative invasive imaging and ex vivo studies. PMID:23671066

Estimates of tracer-based piston-flow ages of groundwater from selected sites-National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 1992-2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hinkle, Stephen R.; Shapiro, Stephanie D.; Plummer, Niel; Busenberg, Eurybiades; Widman, Peggy K.; Casile, Gerolamo C.; Wayland, Julian E.

2011-01-01

This report documents selected age data interpreted from measured concentrations of environmental tracers in groundwater from 1,399 National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program groundwater sites across the United States. The tracers of interest were chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and tritium/helium-3 (3H/3He). Tracer data compiled for this analysis primarily were from wells representing two types of NAWQA groundwater studies - Land-Use Studies (shallow wells, usually monitoring wells, in recharge areas under dominant land-use settings) and Major-Aquifer Studies (wells, usually domestic supply wells, in principal aquifers and representing the shallow, used resource). Reference wells (wells representing groundwater minimally impacted by anthropogenic activities) associated with Land-Use Studies also were included. Tracer samples were collected between 1992 and 2005, although two networks sampled from 2006 to 2007 were included because of network-specific needs. Tracer data from other NAWQA Program components (Flow System Studies, which are assessments of processes and trends along groundwater flow paths, and various topical studies) were not compiled herein. Tracer data from NAWQA Land-Use Studies and Major-Aquifer Studies that previously had been interpreted and published are compiled herein (as piston-flow ages), but have not been reinterpreted. Tracer data that previously had not been interpreted and published are evaluated using documented methods and compiled with aqueous concentrations, equivalent atmospheric concentrations (for CFCs and SF6), estimates of tracer-based piston-flow ages, and selected ancillary data, such as redox indicators, well construction, and major dissolved gases (N2, O2, Ar, CH4, and CO2). Tracer-based piston-flow ages documented in this report are simplistic representations of the tracer data. Tracer-based piston-flow ages are a convenient means of conceptualizing groundwater age. However, the piston

One year of tracer dispersion measurements over Washington, D.C.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Draxler, Roland R.

Two perfluorocarbon tracers were released for 6 h from several locations about 20 km outside of Washington, D.C. at 36-h intervals for over 1 year. Continuous air samples were collected at 8-h intervals at one urban and two suburban sites, and at monthly intervals at 93 sites all over the region. Over 50 % of the 8-h samples showed no tracer concentration. However, about 20% of the samples had significant amounts of tracer, so that about 600 values under a variety of meteorological conditions are available for analysis. Although the Potomac River is only 100 m below the surrounding terrain, the tracer releases from within the river valley indicated that the tracer flow was channeled along the river valley. For tracer released away from the river valley, the tracer tended to pass aloft and not mix down into the river valley. Sequential concentration measurements frequently showed high values for extended periods after the tracer release terminated, decreasing exponentially with a half life of about 3 h. This suggests that the finite tracer plume may have a rather long upwind trailing edge toward the release point. The average rate of change in the vertical dispersion during summer and winter was found to be proportional to the 0.6 power of distance.

Fluorescence tracers as a reference for pesticide transport in wetland systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, Jens; Passeport, Elodie; Tournebize, Julien

2010-05-01

Two different fluorescent tracers, Uranine (UR) and Sulforhodamine (SRB), were injected as a pulse into surface flow wetlands. Tracer breakthrough curves were used to document hydraulic efficiencies, peak attenuation and retention capacities of completely different wetland systems. The tracers were used as a reference to mimic photolytic decay (UR) and sorption (SRB) of contaminants, since a real herbicide (Isoproturon, IPU) was injected in parallel to UR and SRB. Analysis costs limited IPU sampling frequency and single samples deviated from the tracer breakthrough curves. Still, a parallel behavior of IPU and SRB could be observed in totally different wetland systems, including underground passage through drainage lines. Similar recovery rates for IPU and SRB confirmed this observation. Hence, SRB was found to be an appropriate reference tracer to mimic the behavior of mobile pesticides (low KOC, without degradation) in wetland systems and the obtained wetland characteristics for SRB may serve as an indication for contaminant retention. Owing to the properties of IPU, the obtained results should be treated as worst case scenarios for highly mobile pesticides. A comparison of six different wetland types suggested that non-steady wetland systems with large variation in water level may temporally store relatively large amounts of tracers (contaminants), partly in areas that are not continuously saturated. This may lead to an efficient attenuation of peak concentrations. However, when large parts of these systems are flushed by natural storm events, tracers (contaminants) may be re-mobilized. In steady systems vegetation density and water depth were found to be the most important factors for tracer/contaminant retention. Illustrated by SRB, sorption on sediments and vegetation was a quick, almost instantaneous process which lead to considerable tracer losses even at high flow velocities and short contact times. Shallow systems with dense vegetation appeared to be the

Waterflow visualized by tracer transport in root-soil-systems using MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haber-Pohlmeier, S.; van Dusschoten, D.; Stapf, S.

2009-04-01

Water supply for root and plant growth is one of the most important soil functions, which is mainly controlled by water fluxes in this unsaturated porous medium. Here, the rhizosphere i.e. the region directly between the rhizoplane and bulk soil is of special interest, since in this area the immediate root water uptake takes place. Using MRI as a powerful non-invasive method the water content can be visualized, but the water flow velocities themselves are too slow to be monitored directly by MRI flow imaging. Therefore indirect methods like monitoring the flux of paramagnetic tracers must be applied. Using infiltration experiments we have investigated for the first time the behaviour of a Gd-DTPA tracer solution in an unsaturated, heterogenous model soil that held maize and lupin plants, respectively. The tracer content was imaged by a fast spin echo sequence over a period of 60 minutes and a resolution of 0.4 mm. The infiltration process can be divided in several stages: i) While the plume moves homogeneously into the bulk soil, the tracer does not get into the im-mediate surrounding of the roots during the first three minutes. ii) After this initial period a con-tinuously increasing enrichment of tracer in this region is observed for about 12 minutes. This means that the tracer moves from the environment towards the root-soil interface. iii) However, there are no hints that tracer is taken up by the root-system. So we can conclude that this nega-tively charged paramagnetic Gd-complex behaves conservatively. The studies show that Gd-DTPA is a very convenient tracer for monitoring flow processes in soil - root systems and the investigations will be extended in future to natural soil cores.

Determination of reaeration-rate coefficients of the Wabash River, Indiana, by the modified tracer technique

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crawford, Charles G.

1985-01-01

The modified tracer technique was used to determine reaeration-rate coefficients in the Wabash River in reaches near Lafayette and Terre Haute, Indiana, at streamflows ranging from 2,310 to 7,400 cu ft/sec. Chemically pure (CP grade) ethylene was used as the tracer gas, and rhodamine-WT dye was used as the dispersion-dilution tracer. Reaeration coefficients determined for a 13.5-mi reach near Terre Haute, Indiana, at streamflows of 3,360 and 7,400 cu ft/sec (71% and 43% flow duration) were 1.4/day and 1.1/day at 20 C, respectively. Reaeration-rate coefficients determined for a 18.4-mile reach near Lafayette, Indiana, at streamflows of 2,310 and 3,420 cu ft/sec (70% and 53 % flow duration), were 1.2/day and 0.8/day at 20 C, respectively. None of the commonly used equations found in the literature predicted reaeration-rate coefficients similar to those measured for reaches of the Wabash River near Lafayette and Terre Haute. The average absolute prediction error for 10 commonly used reaeration equations ranged from 22% to 154%. Prediction error was much smaller in the reach near Terre Haute than in the reach near Lafayette. The overall average of the absolute prediction error for all 10 equations was 22% for the reach near Terre Haute and 128% for the reach near Lafayette. Confidence limits of results obtained from the modified tracer technique were smaller than those obtained from the equations in the literature. 

3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid: An atmospheric tracer for terpene secondary organic aerosol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szmigielski, Rafal; Surratt, Jason D.; Gómez-González, Yadian; Van der Veken, Pieter; Kourtchev, Ivan; Vermeylen, Reinhilde; Blockhuys, Frank; Jaoui, Mohammed; Kleindienst, Tadeusz E.; Lewandowski, Michael; Offenberg, John H.; Edney, Edward O.; Seinfeld, John H.; Maenhaut, Willy; Claeys, Magda

2007-12-01

Highly oxygenated compounds assigned to be oxidation products of α-pinene have recently been observed in substantial concentrations in ambient aerosols. Here, we confirm the unknown α-pinene tracer compound with molecular weight (MW) 204 as the C8-tricarboxylic acid 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid. Its gas and liquid chromatographic behaviors and its mass spectral characteristics in electron ionization and negative ion electrospray ionization perfectly agree with those of a synthesized reference compound. The formation of this compound is explained by further reaction of cis-pinonic acid involving participation of the OH radical. This study illustrates that complex, multi-generation chemistry holds for the photooxidation of α-pinene in the presence of NOx.

Simulation of soluble waste transport and buildup in surface waters using tracers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kilpatrick, F.A.

1993-01-01

Soluble tracers can be used to simulate the transport and dispersion of soluble wastes that might have been introduced or are planned for introduction into surface waters. Measured tracer-response curves produced from the injection of a known quantity of soluble tracer can be used in conjunction with the superposition principle to simulate potential waste buildup in streams, lakes, and estuaries. Such information is particularly valuable to environmental and water-resource planners in determining the effects of proposed waste discharges. The theory, techniques, analysis, and presentation of results of tracer-waste simulation tests in rivers, lakes, and estuaries are described. This manual builds on other manuals dealing with dye tracing by emphasizing the expanded use of data from time-of-travel studies.

Optical depth estimates and effective critical densities of dense gas tracers in the inner parts of nearby galaxy discs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez-Donaire, M. J.; Bigiel, F.; Leroy, A. K.; Cormier, D.; Gallagher, M.; Usero, A.; Bolatto, A.; Colombo, D.; García-Burillo, S.; Hughes, A.; Kramer, C.; Krumholz, M. R.; Meier, D. S.; Murphy, E.; Pety, J.; Rosolowsky, E.; Schinnerer, E.; Schruba, A.; Tomičić, N.; Zschaechner, L.

2017-04-01

High critical density molecular lines like HCN (1-0) or HCO+ (1-0) represent our best tool to study currently star-forming, dense molecular gas at extragalactic distances. The optical depth of these lines is a key ingredient to estimate the effective density required to excite emission. However, constraints on this quantity are even scarcer in the literature than measurements of the high-density tracers themselves. Here, we combine new observations of HCN, HCO+ and HNC (1-0) and their optically thin isotopologues H13CN, H13CO+ and HN13C (1-0) to measure isotopologue line ratios. We use IRAM 30-m observations from the large programme EMPIRE and new Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array observations, which together target six nearby star-forming galaxies. Using spectral stacking techniques, we calculate or place strong upper limits on the HCN/H13CN, HCO+/H13CO+ and HNC/HN13C line ratios in the inner parts of these galaxies. Under simple assumptions, we use these to estimate the optical depths of HCN (1-0) and HCO+ (1-0) to be τ ˜ 2-11 in the active, inner regions of our targets. The critical densities are consequently lowered to values between 5 and 20 × 105 cm-3, 1 and 3 × 105 cm-3 and 9 × 104 cm-3 for HCN, HCO+ and HNC, respectively. We study the impact of having different beam-filling factors, η, on these estimates and find that the effective critical densities decrease by a factor of η _{12}/η _{13} τ_{12}. A comparison to existing work in NGC 5194 and NGC 253 shows the HCN/H13CN and HCO+/H13CO+ ratios in agreement with our measurements within the uncertainties. The same is true for studies in other environments such as the Galactic Centre or nuclear regions of active galactic nucleus dominated nearby galaxies.

Using the tracer-dilution discharge method to develop streamflow records for ice-affected streams in Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Capesius, Joseph P.; Sullivan, Joseph R.; O'Neill, Gregory B.; Williams, Cory A.

2005-01-01

Accurate ice-affected streamflow records are difficult to obtain for several reasons, which makes the management of instream-flow water rights in the wintertime a challenging endeavor. This report documents a method to improve ice-affected streamflow records for two gaging stations in Colorado. In January and February 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, conducted an experiment using a sodium chloride tracer to measure streamflow under ice cover by the tracer-dilution discharge method. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of obtaining accurate ice-affected streamflow records by using a sodium chloride tracer that was injected into the stream. The tracer was injected at two gaging stations once per day for approximately 20 minutes for 25 days. Multiple-parameter water-quality sensors at the two gaging stations monitored background and peak chloride concentrations. These data were used to determine discharge at each site. A comparison of the current-meter streamflow record to the tracer-dilution streamflow record shows different levels of accuracy and precision of the tracer-dilution streamflow record at the two sites. At the lower elevation and warmer site, Brandon Ditch near Whitewater, the tracer-dilution method overestimated flow by an average of 14 percent, but this average is strongly biased by outliers. At the higher elevation and colder site, Keystone Gulch near Dillon, the tracer-dilution method experienced problems with the tracer solution partially freezing in the injection line. The partial freezing of the tracer contributed to the tracer-dilution method underestimating flow by 52 percent at Keystone Gulch. In addition, a tracer-pump-reliability test was conducted to test how accurately the tracer pumps can discharge the tracer solution in conditions similar to those used at the gaging stations. Although the pumps were reliable and consistent throughout the 25-day study period

Development and application of a modified wireless tracer for disaster prevention

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung Yang, Han; Su, Chih Chiang

2016-04-01

Typhoon-induced flooding causes water overflow in a river channel, which results in general and bridge scour and soil erosion, thus leading to bridge failure, debris flow and landslide collapse. Therefore, dynamic measurement technology should be developed to assess scour in channels and landslide as a disaster-prevention measure against bridge failure and debris flow. This paper presents a wireless tracer that enables monitoring general scour in river channels and soil erosion in hillsides. The wireless tracer comprises a wireless high-power radio modem, various electronic components, and a self-designed printed circuit board that are all combined with a 9-V battery pack and an auto switch. The entire device is sealed in a jar by silicon. After it was modified, the wireless tracer underwent the following tests for practical applications: power continuation and durability, water penetration, and signal transmission during floating. A regression correlation between the wireless tracer's transmission signal and distance was also established. This device can be embedded at any location where scouring is monitored, and, in contrast to its counterparts that detect scour depth by identifying and analyzing received signals, it enables real-time observation of the scouring process. In summary, the wireless tracer developed in this study provides a dynamic technology for real-time monitoring of scouring (or erosion) and forecasting of landslide hazards. Keywords: wireless tracer; scour; real-time monitoring; landslide hazard.

Characterization of an alluvial aquifer with thermal tracer tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somogyvári, Márk; Bayer, Peter

2017-04-01

In the summer of 2015, a series of thermal tracer tests was performed at the Widen field site in northeast Switzerland. At this site numerous hydraulic, tracer, geophysical and hydrogeophysical field tests have been conducted in the past to investigate a shallow alluvial aquifer. The goals of the campaign in 2015 were to design a cost-effective thermal tracer tomography setup and to validate the concept of travel time-based thermal tracer tomography under field conditions. Thermal tracer tomography uses repeated thermal tracer injections with different injection depths and distributed temperature measurements to map the hydraulic conductivity distribution of a heterogeneous aquifer. The tracer application was designed with minimal experimental time and cost. Water was heated in inflatable swimming pools using direct sunlight of the warm summer days, and it was injected as low temperature pulses in a well. Because of the small amount of injected heat, no long recovery times were required between the repeated heat tracer injections and every test started from natural thermal conditions. At Widen, four thermal tracer tests were performed during a period of three days. Temperatures were measured in one downgradient well using a distributed temperature measurement system installed at seven depth points. Totally 12 temperature breakthrough curves were collected. Travel time based tomographic inversion assumes that thermal transport is dominated by advection and the travel time of the thermal tracer can be related to the hydraulic conductivities of the aquifer. This assumption is valid in many shallow porous aquifers where the groundwater flow is fast. In our application, the travel time problem was treated by a tomographic solver, analogous to seismic tomography, to derive the hydraulic conductivity distribution. At the test site, a two-dimensional cross-well hydraulic conductivity profile was reconstructed with the travel time based inversion. The reconstructed profile

Observational Tracers of Hot and Cold Gas in Isolated Galaxy Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brzycki, Bryan; Silvia, Devin

2018-01-01

We present results from an analysis comparing simulations of isolated spiral galaxies with recent observations of the circumgalactic medium (CGM). As the interface containing inflows and outflows between the interstellar and intergalactic media, the CGM plays an important role in the composition and evolution of galaxies. Using a set of isolated galaxy simulations over different initial conditions and star formation and feedback parameters, we investigate the evolution of CGM gas. Specifically, in light of recent observational studies, we compute the radial column density profiles and covering fractions of various observable ion species (H I, C IV, O VI, Mg II, Si III) for each simulated galaxy. Taking uniformly random sightlines through the CGM of each simulated galaxy, we find the abundance of gas absorbers and analyze their contribution to the overall column density along each sightline. By identifying the prevalence of high column density absorbers, we seek to characterize the distribution and evolution of observable ion species in the CGM. We also highlight a subset of our isolated galaxy simulations that produce and maintain a stable precipitating CGM that fuels high rates of sustained star formation. This project was supported in part by the NSF REU grant AST-1358980 and by the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.

A method to investigate inter-aquifer leakage using hydraulics and multiple environmental tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Priestley, Stacey; Love, Andrew; Wohling, Daniel; Post, Vincent; Shand, Paul; Kipfer, Rolf; Tyroller, Lina

2016-04-01

Informed aquifer management decisions regarding sustainable yields or potential exploitation require an understanding of the groundwater system (Alley et al. 2002, Cherry and Parker 2004). Recently, the increase in coal seam gas (CSG) or shale gas production has highlighted the need for a better understanding of inter-aquifer leakage and contaminant migration. In most groundwater systems, the quantity or location of inter-aquifer leakage is unknown. Not taking into account leakage rates in the analysis of large scale flow systems can also lead to significant errors in the estimates of groundwater flow rates in aquifers (Love et al. 1993, Toth 2009). There is an urgent need for robust methods to investigate inter-aquifer leakage at a regional scale. This study builds on previous groundwater flow and inter-aquifer leakage studies to provide a methodology to investigate inter-aquifer leakage in a regional sedimentary basin using hydraulics and a multi-tracer approach. The methodology incorporates geological, hydrogeological and hydrochemical information in the basin to determine the likelihood and location of inter-aquifer leakage. Of particular benefit is the analysis of hydraulic heads and environmental tracers at nested piezometers, or where these are unavailable bore couplets comprising bores above and below the aquitard of interest within a localised geographical area. The proposed methodology has been successful in investigating inter-aquifer leakage in the Arckaringa Basin, South Australia. The suite of environmental tracers and isotopes used to analyse inter-aquifer leakage included the stable isotopes of water, radiocarbon, chloride-36, 87Sr/86Sr and helium isotopes. There is evidence for inter-aquifer leakage in the centre of the basin ~40 km along the regional flow path. This inter-aquifer leakage has been identified by a slight draw-down in the upper aquifer during pumping in the lower aquifer, overlap in Sr isotopes, δ2H, δ18O and chloride

A multi-tracer study in the Hutton Sandstone aquifer, Australia: How "wrong ages" give us deeper insights into aquifer structure and effective deep recharge to a double porosity system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suckow, Axel; Taylor, Andrew; Davies, Phil; Leaney, Fred

2017-04-01

Depressurisation of coal seams in the Walloon Coal Measures in Queensland, Australia, may influence aquifers both over- and underlying the formation. The Gubberamunda Sandstone aquifer, which overlies the Walloon Coal Measures, is the starting point of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) flow system and has been the focus of numerous recharge studies. In comparison, the Hutton Sandstone aquifer, which underlies the Walloon Coal Measures, has received much less attention. This aquifer however, is the main supply of stock water for the beef industry in the area. A multi-environmental tracer study of the Hutton Sandstone aquifer was undertaken at the Mimosa Syncline and was complemented by a few samples taken from the underlying Precipice Sandstone aquifer. This multi-tracer study (comprising 18O, 2H, 3H, CFCs, SF6, 14C, 36Cl, and 4He) demonstrated that the Hutton Sandstone aquifer behaves as a double porosity system. At the regional scale, the system features a relatively small fraction of conductive rock within a fairly large fraction of low permeability rock. Tracer migration therefore occurs mainly by advection in the conductive fraction and mainly by diffusion in the low-permeability fraction of the aquifer. Groundwater flow velocities, derived from exponential decrease of 14C and 36Cl concentrations with distance, differ by a factor of ten and therefore do not indicate the real groundwater flow velocity. However, accounting for a double porosity interpretation of the tracer data leads to a single groundwater flow velocity that is consistent with all observed data. Advective velocity in this double porosity model differs from face value flow velocities derived from 14C and 36Cl by a factor of 4 and 40 respectively. As a consequence of this interpretation, the deeper groundwater flow system of the Hutton Sandstone aquifer is estimated to receive only 3% of the recharge previously estimated using the Chloride Mass Balance approach at the intake beds. The other 97% is

A novel in-situ method for real-time monitoring of gas transport in soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laemmel, Thomas; Maier, Martin; Schack-Kirchner, Helmer; Lang, Friederike

2017-04-01

Gas exchange between soil and atmosphere is important for the biogeochemistry of soils. Gas transport in soil is commonly assumed to be governed by molecular diffusion and is usually described by the soil gas diffusion coefficient DS characterizing the ability of the soil to "transport passively" gas through the soil. One way to determine DS is sampling soil cores in the field and measuring DS in the lab. Unfortunately this method is destructive and laborious. Moreover, a few previous field studies identified other gas transport processes in soil to significantly enhance the diffusive gas transport. However, until now, no method is available to measure gas transport in situ in the soil. We developed a novel method to monitor gas transport in soil in situ. The method includes a custom made gas sampling device, the continuous injection of an inert tracer gas and inverse gas transport modelling in the soil. The gas sampling device has several sampling depths and can be easily installed into a vertical hole drilled by an auger, which allows for fast installation of the system. Helium (He) as inert tracer gas was injected continuously at the lower end of the device. The resulting steady state distribution of He was used to deduce the depth profile of DS. Gas transport in the soil surrounding the gas-sampling-device/soil system was modeled using the Finite Element Modeling program COMSOL . We tested our new method both in the lab and during two short field studies and compared the results with a reference method using soil cores. DS profiles obtained by our in-situ method were consistent with DS profiles determined based on soil core analyses. During a longer monitoring field campaign, typical soil-moisture effects upon gas diffusivity such as an increase during a drying period or a decrease after rain could be observed consistently. Under windy conditions we additionally measured for the first time the direct enhancement of gas transport in soil due to wind

A stream-based methane monitoring approach for evaluating groundwater impacts associated with unconventional gas development.

PubMed

Heilweil, Victor M; Stolp, Bert J; Kimball, Briant A; Susong, David D; Marston, Thomas M; Gardner, Philip M

2013-01-01

Gaining streams can provide an integrated signal of relatively large groundwater capture areas. In contrast to the point-specific nature of monitoring wells, gaining streams coalesce multiple flow paths. Impacts on groundwater quality from unconventional gas development may be evaluated at the watershed scale by the sampling of dissolved methane (CH4 ) along such streams. This paper describes a method for using stream CH4 concentrations, along with measurements of groundwater inflow and gas transfer velocity interpreted by 1-D stream transport modeling, to determine groundwater methane fluxes. While dissolved ionic tracers remain in the stream for long distances, the persistence of methane is not well documented. To test this method and evaluate CH4 persistence in a stream, a combined bromide (Br) and CH4 tracer injection was conducted on Nine-Mile Creek, a gaining stream in a gas development area in central Utah. A 35% gain in streamflow was determined from dilution of the Br tracer. The injected CH4 resulted in a fivefold increase in stream CH4 immediately below the injection site. CH4 and δ(13) CCH4 sampling showed it was not immediately lost to the atmosphere, but remained in the stream for more than 2000 m. A 1-D stream transport model simulating the decline in CH4 yielded an apparent gas transfer velocity of 4.5 m/d, describing the rate of loss to the atmosphere (possibly including some microbial consumption). The transport model was then calibrated to background stream CH4 in Nine-Mile Creek (prior to CH4 injection) in order to evaluate groundwater CH4 contributions. The total estimated CH4 load discharging to the stream along the study reach was 190 g/d, although using geochemical fingerprinting to determine its source was beyond the scope of the current study. This demonstrates the utility of stream-gas sampling as a reconnaissance tool for evaluating both natural and anthropogenic CH4 leakage from gas reservoirs into groundwater and surface water

Preservation of commonly applied fluorescent tracers in complex water samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Viet; Schaffer, Mario; Jin, Yulan; Licha, Tobias

2017-06-01

Water sample preservation and pre-treatment are important steps for achieving accurate and reproductive results from tracer tests. However, this is particularly challenging for complex water mixtures prior to fluorescence analysis. In this study, the interference of iron and calcium precipitation with nine commonly applied conservative tracers, uranine, eosin, 1-naphthalene sulfonate, 1,5-naphthalene disulfonate, 2,6-naphthalene disulfonate, 4-amino-1-naphthalene sulfonate, 6-hydroxy-2-naphthalene sulfonate, 1,3,6-naphthalene trisulfonate, and 1,3,6,8-pyrene tetrasulfonate, was investigated in batch experiments. In general, the observed results are influenced by precipitates. A technique consisting of pH adjustment and centrifugation is described for preserving samples and avoiding the impact of these precipitates on the tracer test results.

Determination of radionuclides and radiochemical impurities produced by in-house cyclotron irradiation and subsequent radiosynthesis of PET tracers.

PubMed

Ishiwata, Kiichi; Hayashi, Kunpei; Sakai, Masanari; Kawauchi, Sugio; Hasegawa, Hideaki; Toyohara, Jun

2017-01-01

To elucidate the radionuclides and radiochemical impurities included in radiosynthesis processes of positron emission tomography (PET) tracers. Target materials and PET tracers were produced using a cyclotron/synthesis system from Sumitomo Heavy Industry. Positron and γ-ray emitting radionuclides were quantified by measuring radioactivity decay and using the high-purity Ge detector, respectively. Radiochemical species in gaseous and aqueous target materials were analyzed by gas and ion chromatography, respectively. Target materials had considerable levels of several positron emitters in addition to the positron of interest, and in the case of aqueous target materials extremely low levels of many γ-emitters. Five 11 C-, 15 O-, or 18 F-labeled tracers produced from gaseous materials via chemical reactions had no radionuclidic impurities, whereas 18 F-FDG, 18 F-NaF, and 13 N-NH 3 produced from aqueous materials had several γ-emitters as well as impure positron emitters. 15 O-Labeled CO 2 , O 2 , and CO had a radionuclidic impurity 13 N-N 2 (0.5-0.7 %). Target materials had several positron emitters other than the positron of interest, and extremely low level γ-emitters in the case of aqueous materials. PET tracers produced from gaseous materials except for 15 O-labeled gases had no impure radionuclides, whereas those derived from aqueous materials contained acceptable levels of impure positron emitters and extremely low levels of several γ-emitters.

Comparison of thermal, salt and dye tracing to estimate shallow flow velocities: Novel triple-tracer approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abrantes, João R. C. B.; Moruzzi, Rodrigo B.; Silveira, Alexandre; de Lima, João L. M. P.

2018-02-01

The accurate measurement of shallow flow velocities is crucial to understand and model the dynamics of sediment and pollutant transport by overland flow. In this study, a novel triple-tracer approach was used to re-evaluate and compare the traditional and well established dye and salt tracer techniques with the more recent thermal tracer technique in estimating shallow flow velocities. For this purpose a triple tracer (i.e. dyed-salted-heated water) was used. Optical and infrared video cameras and an electrical conductivity sensor were used to detect the tracers in the flow. Leading edge and centroid velocities of the tracers were measured and the correction factors used to determine the actual mean flow velocities from tracer measured velocities were compared and investigated. Experiments were carried out for different flow discharges (32-1813 ml s-1) on smooth acrylic, sand, stones and synthetic grass bed surfaces with 0.8, 4.4 and 13.2% slopes. The results showed that thermal tracers can be used to estimate shallow flow velocities, since the three techniques yielded very similar results without significant differences between them. The main advantages of the thermal tracer were that the movement of the tracer along the measuring section was more easily visible than it was in the real image videos and that it was possible to measure space-averaged flow velocities instead of only one velocity value, with the salt tracer. The correction factors used to determine the actual mean velocity of overland flow varied directly with Reynolds and Froude numbers, flow velocity and slope and inversely with flow depth and bed roughness. In shallow flows, velocity estimation using tracers entails considerable uncertainty and caution must be taken with these measurements, especially in field studies where these variables vary appreciably in space and time.

The properties of the gas around beta Pictoris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberge, A.

2014-09-01

Debris disks are often described as gas-free. Compared to protoplanetary disks, they do in general have low gas abundances, as evidenced by the very few detections of sub-mm CO emission from bona fide debris disks to date. However, some debris disks do contain low levels of detectable gas, typically seen in absorption against the stellar spectrum at UV and optical wavelengths. Of all debris disks, the gas in the Beta Pic disk is the best characterized and understood. Here, I describe those characteristics and explain our current understanding of the nature of the gas. Like the dust, the gas is secondary material coming from planetesimal destruction, and provides opportunities for sensitive probes of the bulk composition of young planetary bodies. The gas can also be a sensitive tracer of disk asymmetries and dynamical interactions, as shown by new ALMA observations of CO emission from Beta Pic (see attached infographic and YouTube video explaining the discovery). Very likely, every debris disk contains its due portion of gas, but how much that is, we do not yet know. We are poised to answer this question with the advent of ALMA. With its unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution, ALMA may usher in a golden age for general studies of debris gas.

Tuning structure and mobility of solvation shells surrounding tracer additives

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carmer, James; Jain, Avni; Bollinger, Jonathan A.

2015-03-28

Molecular dynamics simulations and a stochastic Fokker-Planck equation based approach are used to illuminate how position-dependent solvent mobility near one or more tracer particle(s) is affected when tracer-solvent interactions are rationally modified to affect corresponding solvation structure. For tracers in a dense hard-sphere fluid, we compare two types of tracer-solvent interactions: (1) a hard-sphere-like interaction, and (2) a soft repulsion extending beyond the hard core designed via statistical mechanical theory to enhance tracer mobility at infinite dilution by suppressing coordination-shell structure [Carmer et al., Soft Matter 8, 4083–4089 (2012)]. For the latter case, we show that the mobility of surroundingmore » solvent particles is also increased by addition of the soft repulsive interaction, which helps to rationalize the mechanism underlying the tracer’s enhanced diffusivity. However, if multiple tracer surfaces are in closer proximity (as at higher tracer concentrations), similar interactions that disrupt local solvation structure instead suppress the position-dependent solvent dynamics.« less

Fractal continuum model for tracer transport in a porous medium.

PubMed

Herrera-Hernández, E C; Coronado, M; Hernández-Coronado, H

2013-12-01

A model based on the fractal continuum approach is proposed to describe tracer transport in fractal porous media. The original approach has been extended to treat tracer transport and to include systems with radial and uniform flow, which are cases of interest in geoscience. The models involve advection due to the fluid motion in the fractal continuum and dispersion whose mathematical expression is taken from percolation theory. The resulting advective-dispersive equations are numerically solved for continuous and for pulse tracer injection. The tracer profile and the tracer breakthrough curve are evaluated and analyzed in terms of the fractal parameters. It has been found in this work that anomalous transport frequently appears, and a condition on the fractal parameter values to predict when sub- or superdiffusion might be expected has been obtained. The fingerprints of fractality on the tracer breakthrough curve in the explored parameter window consist of an early tracer breakthrough and long tail curves for the spherical and uniform flow cases, and symmetric short tailed curves for the radial flow case.

Photoacoustic Detection of Perfluorocarbon Tracers in Air for Application to Leak Detection in Oil-Filled Cables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zajarevich, N.; Slezak, V.; Peuriot, A.; Villa, G.; Láttero, A.; Crivicich, R.

2013-09-01

The underground oil-filled cable consists of a hollow copper conductor surrounded by oiled paper which acts as electrical insulation. The oil flows along the conductor and diffuses through it to the insulating paper. A lead sheath is used as the outer retaining wall. As the deterioration of this cover may cause a loss of insulation fluid, its detection is very important since this high voltage and power cable is used in cities even under sidewalks. The method of perfluorocarbon vapor tracers, based on the injection and subsequent detection of these volatile chemical substances in the vicinity of the cable, is one of the most promising methods, so far used in combination with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. In this study, the possibility of detecting two different tracers, and , by means of resonant photoacoustic spectroscopy is studied. The beam from a tunable amplitude-modulated laser goes through an aluminum cell with quarter wave filters at both ends of an open resonator and an electret microphone in its center, attached to the walls. The calibration of the system for either substance diluted in chromatographic air showed a higher sensitivity for , so the experiment was completed checking the behavior of this substance in samples prepared with ambient air in order to analyze the application of the system to field studies.

Three-Dimensional Bayesian Geostatistical Aquifer Characterization at the Hanford 300 Area using Tracer Test Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Xingyuan; Murakami, Haruko; Hahn, Melanie S.

2012-06-01

Tracer testing under natural or forced gradient flow holds the potential to provide useful information for characterizing subsurface properties, through monitoring, modeling and interpretation of the tracer plume migration in an aquifer. Non-reactive tracer experiments were conducted at the Hanford 300 Area, along with constant-rate injection tests and electromagnetic borehole flowmeter (EBF) profiling. A Bayesian data assimilation technique, the method of anchored distributions (MAD) [Rubin et al., 2010], was applied to assimilate the experimental tracer test data with the other types of data and to infer the three-dimensional heterogeneous structure of the hydraulic conductivity in the saturated zone of themore » Hanford formation. In this study, the Bayesian prior information on the underlying random hydraulic conductivity field was obtained from previous field characterization efforts using the constant-rate injection tests and the EBF data. The posterior distribution of the conductivity field was obtained by further conditioning the field on the temporal moments of tracer breakthrough curves at various observation wells. MAD was implemented with the massively-parallel three-dimensional flow and transport code PFLOTRAN to cope with the highly transient flow boundary conditions at the site and to meet the computational demands of MAD. A synthetic study proved that the proposed method could effectively invert tracer test data to capture the essential spatial heterogeneity of the three-dimensional hydraulic conductivity field. Application of MAD to actual field data shows that the hydrogeological model, when conditioned on the tracer test data, can reproduce the tracer transport behavior better than the field characterized without the tracer test data. This study successfully demonstrates that MAD can sequentially assimilate multi-scale multi-type field data through a consistent Bayesian framework.« less

Three-Dimensional Bayesian Geostatistical Aquifer Characterization at the Hanford 300 Area using Tracer Test Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, X.; Murakami, H.; Hahn, M. S.; Hammond, G. E.; Rockhold, M. L.; Rubin, Y.

2010-12-01

Tracer testing under natural or forced gradient flow provides useful information for characterizing subsurface properties, by monitoring and modeling the tracer plume migration in a heterogeneous aquifer. At the Hanford 300 Area, non-reactive tracer experiments, in addition to constant-rate injection tests and electromagnetic borehole flowmeter (EBF) profiling, were conducted to characterize the heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity field. A Bayesian data assimilation technique, method of anchored distributions (MAD), is applied to assimilate the experimental tracer test data and to infer the three-dimensional heterogeneous structure of the hydraulic conductivity in the saturated zone of the Hanford formation. In this study, the prior information of the underlying random hydraulic conductivity field was obtained from previous field characterization efforts using the constant-rate injection tests and the EBF data. The posterior distribution of the random field is obtained by further conditioning the field on the temporal moments of tracer breakthrough curves at various observation wells. The parallel three-dimensional flow and transport code PFLOTRAN is implemented to cope with the highly transient flow boundary conditions at the site and to meet the computational demand of the proposed method. The validation results show that the field conditioned on the tracer test data better reproduces the tracer transport behavior compared to the field characterized previously without the tracer test data. A synthetic study proves that the proposed method can effectively assimilate tracer test data to capture the essential spatial heterogeneity of the three-dimensional hydraulic conductivity field. These characterization results will improve conceptual models developed for the site, including reactive transport models. The study successfully demonstrates the capability of MAD to assimilate multi-scale multi-type field data within a consistent Bayesian framework. The MAD

Ambient changes in tracer concentrations from a multilevel monitoring system in Basalt

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bartholomay, Roy C.; Twining, Brian V.; Rose, Peter E.

2014-01-01

Starting in 2008, a 4-year tracer study was conducted to evaluate ambient changes in groundwater concentrations of a 1,3,6-naphthalene trisulfonate tracer that was added to drill water. Samples were collected under open borehole conditions and after installing a multilevel groundwater monitoring system completed with 11 discrete monitoring zones within dense and fractured basalt and sediment layers in the eastern Snake River aquifer. The study was done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy to test whether ambient fracture flow conditions were sufficient to remove the effects of injected drill water prior to sample collection. Results from thief samples indicated that the tracer was present in minor concentrations 28 days after coring, but was not present 6 months after coring or 7 days after reaming the borehole. Results from sampling the multilevel monitoring system indicated that small concentrations of the tracer remained in 5 of 10 zones during some period after installation. All concentrations were several orders of magnitude lower than the initial concentrations in the drill water. The ports that had remnant concentrations of the tracer were either located near sediment layers or were located in dense basalt, which suggests limited groundwater flow near these ports. The ports completed in well-fractured and vesicular basalt had no detectable concentrations.

Tracer Tests in the Fractured Rock to Investigate Preferential Groundwater Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, W.; Chung, L.; Lee, T.; Liu, C.; Chia, Y.; Teng, M.

2012-12-01

Hydraulic tests are often used to obtain hydraulic conductivity in the aquifer. Test results usually reflect the average hydraulic conductivity in the surrounding strat. However, in fractured rock, groundwater flows primarily through a few fractures. Saltwater tracer test can be used to detect the direction of groundwater flow, but it was difficult to know the hydraulic connectivity between fractures. In this study, we use a variety of field tests, including tracer test, hydraulic test, and heat-pulse flowmeter test, to locate the permeable fractures and detect the hydraulic connections between boreholes. There are eight test wells and two observation wells on field experimental site in central Taiwan. Geological survey results show that there are at least three sets of joint planes. In order to realize the location of the preferential pathway of groundwater flow, heat-pulse flowmeter measurement was adopted to identify the depth of permeable fractures. Multi-well pumping test was also performed to investigate the hydraulic connectivity between these wells. Tracer tests were then used to detect the hydraulic connectivity of permeable fractures between two wells. Injection of nano zero valent iron in one well and and collection of iron tracer with a magnet array in the other well can specifically locate the permeable fracture and determine the connectivity. Saltwater tracer test result can be used to support that of nano-iron tracer test, and verify the relationship between well water conductivity increases and rock fracture location. The results show that tracer test is a useful tool to investigate the preferential groundwater flow in the fractured rock, but it is essential to flush the mud in fractures prior to the test.

Tracer and hydrometric study of preferential flow in large undisturbed soil cores from the Georgia Piedmont, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

McIntosh, Janice; McDonnell, Jeffrey J.; Peters, Norman E.

1999-01-01

We studied the temporal patterns of tracer throughput in the outflow of large (30 cm diameter by 38 cm long) undisturbed cores from the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, Georgia. Tracer breakthrough was affected by soil structure and rainfall intensity. Two rainfall intensities (20 and 40 mm hr-1) for separate Cl- and Br- amended solutions were applied to two cores (one extracted from a hillslope soil and one extracted from a residual clay soil on the ridge). For both low and high rainfall intensity experiments, preferential flow occurred in the clay core, but not in the hillslope core. The preferential flow is attributed to well-developed interpedal macrochannels that are commonly found in structured clay soils, characteristic of the ridge site. However, each rainfall intensity exceeded the matrix infiltration capacity at the top of the hillslope core, but did not exceed the matrix infiltration capacity at the middle and bottom of the hillslope core and at all levels in the clay core. Localized zones of saturation created when rainfall intensity exceeds the matrix infiltration capacity may cause water and tracer to overflow from the matrix into macrochannels, where preferential flow occurs to depth in otherwise unsaturated soil. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Compartmental Modeling and Dosimetry of in Vivo Metabolic Studies of Leucine and Three Secretory Proteins in Humans Using Radioactive Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venkatakrishnan, Vaidehi

1995-01-01

Physical and mathematical models provide a systematic means of looking at biological systems. Radioactive tracer kinetic studies open a unique window to study complex tracee systems such as protein metabolism in humans. This research deals with compartmental modeling of tracer kinetic data on leucine and apolipoprotein metabolism obtained using an endogenous tritiated leucine tracer administered as a bolus, and application of compartmental modeling techniques for dosimetric evaluation of metabolic studies of radioiodinated apolipoproteins. Dr. Waldo R. Fisher, Department of Medicine, was the coordinating research supervisor and the work was carried out in his laboratory. A compartmental model for leucine kinetics in humans has been developed that emphasizes its recycling pathways which were examined over two weeks. This model builds on a previously published model of Cobelli et al, that analyzed leucine kinetic data up to only eight hours. The proposed model includes different routes for re-entry of leucine from protein breakdown into plasma accounting for proteins which turn over at different rates. This new model successfully incorporates published models of three secretory proteins: albumin, apoA-I, and VLDL apoB, in toto thus increasing its validity and utility. The published model of apoA-I, based on an exogenous radioiodinated tracer, was examined with data obtained using an endogenous leucine tracer using compartmental techniques. The analysis concludes that the major portion of apoA-I enters plasma by a fast pathway but the major fraction of apoA-I in plasma resides with a second slow pathway; further the study is suggestive of a precursor-product relationship between the two plasma apoA-I pools. The possible relevance of the latter suggestion to the aberrant kinetics of apoA-I in Tangier disease is discussed. The analysis of apoA-II data resulted in similar conclusions. A methodology for evaluating the dosimetry of radioiodinated apolipoproteins by