Real-Time Visualization of Infiltration and Retention of Microplastics with Different Shapes in Porous Media.

Infiltration and retention of microplastics in porous media are important for understanding their fate in environments and formulating treatment measures. Given porous media opacity, knowledge is usually obtained indirectly by monitoring microplastic concentration in the effluent and measuring microplastic distribution after removing grains in layers. In this study, real-time visualization of infiltration and retention of microplastics in porous media under vertical water flow is performed using an improved reflective index matching method, considering the different shapes and densities of microplastics and size ratios between microplastics and grains.

Experimental study of liquid drop impact on granular medium: Drop spreading/splashing and particle ejection.

The impact of a liquid drop on a granular medium is a common phenomenon in nature and engineering. The possible splashing droplets and ejected particles could pose a risk of pathogen transmission if the water source or granular medium is contaminated. This work studies the liquid drop impact on the granular medium using high-speed photography and considers the effects of liquid properties, drop impact characteristics, and granular medium properties.

Machine learning-based prediction for settling velocity of microplastics with various shapes.

Microplastics can easily enter the aquatic environment and be transported between water bodies. The terminal settling velocity of microplastics, which affects their transport and distribution in the aquatic environment, is mainly influenced by their size, density, and shape. Due to the difficulty in accurately predicting the terminal settling velocity of microplastics with various shapes, this study focuses on establishing high-performance prediction models and understanding the importance and effect of each feature parameter using machine learning.

Joint effects of gas bubbles and solid particles on sonochemical inhibition in sonicated aqueous solutions.

Wastewater is a multicomponent and multiphase mixture. Gas bubbles and solid particles in the dispersed phase influence sonochemical efficiency during ultrasonic treatment of wastewater, sometimes unfavorably; however, the influencing factors and mechanisms remain unclear. In this paper, the influence of argon gas bubbles (1.

Standing waves of the stepped dropshaft in a deep tunnel stormwater system.

The deep tunnel stormwater system, consisting of dropshafts and underground tunnels, is used to alleviate or prevent urban water problems associated with extreme rainfall events. The stepped dropshaft can transport surface runoff to the tunnels with high energy dissipation, low risk of cavitation and good exhaust performance, which well meets the requirement of the deep tunnel stormwater system. In the present study, the characteristics of the standing wave were investigated by experiments and numerical simulations, including the peak, trough and length of the standing wave.

Splashing generation by water jet impinging on a horizontal plate.

The report of COVID-19 virus in municipal wastewater raises the question of whether viruses can become airborne during wastewater transport in sewer systems. The present work experimentally investigates a water jet impinging vertically onto a horizontal plate and the behaviours of the generated tiny droplets. Depending on whether the jet breaks into primary drops before the impingement, three regimes can be defined: non-splashing, jet-splashing and drop-splashing regimes.

Pressure distribution of bottom rollers below the aerator device.

With regard to high water head and large flow velocity in the spillway tunnels of hydraulic projects in China, the aerator device has been introduced and is widely used to prevent cavitation damage. The bottom rollers in the nappe cavity below the aerator device are a serious concern in designing suitable cavity regimes; however, observation of roller size may be inaccurate due to high flow turbulence and de-aeration in the jet impact region. In this study, a novel approach is proposed to predict roller sizes using pressure distribution of the bottom rollers.