Research on underground water pollution caused by geological fault through radioactive stratum

Modeling the Simultaneous Effects of Particle Size and Porosity in Simulating Geo-Materials

The particle discrete element method (PDEM) is widely used to simulate rock and soil materials to obtain stress and strain. However, there are three shortcomings: (1) Single sphere or ellipsoids directly replace the soil particles; (2) it treats the diameters of spheres or ellipsoids as the soil particle size; (3) the overlapping particle volume is not deducted in calculating the porosity. Hence, it is difficult for the simulation of the geological body to agree with reality. This research found a rotation calculation model and a pixel counting method to make joint soil particles more accurately simulate geological materials to solve the three shortcomings. The model successfully obtained the gradation curve and porosity of the simulated geological body with joint particles. This research will further enrich and broaden the application prospects of PDEM and provide a reference for scientific research and engineering fields in geological engineering, geotechnical engineering, and petroleum engineering.

DETERMINATION AND DOSE CONTRIBUTION OF URANIUM ISOTOPES AND 210Po ACTIVITY CONCENTRATIONS OF NATURAL SPRING WATERS IN THE PROVINCE OF GRANADA, SPAIN

The activity concentrations of alpha-emitters comprising isotopes of uranium (238, 234, 235U) and polonium (210Po) were measured using alpha-particle spectrometry in natural spring waters in the province of Granada, Spain. These water are consumed by the population of the zone who live in villages. This is almost half of the population of the whole region. Mean values of activity concentrations found are 42.61 ± 2.66; 49.55 ± 3.03; 1.64 ± 0.28 and 1.74 ± 0.15 mBq L-1 for 238U, 234U, 235U and 210Po, respectively. Finally, the radiological impact of the analysed waters has been determined, in terms of the estimation of the committed annual effective dose due to the ingestion of the water. The assessment has been carried out for five age groups with the aim to cover all the population. The calculated annual effective doses are observed to be below the prescribed dose limit of 100 μSv y-1 recommended by WHO.

Transport model of underground sediment in soils

Studies about sediment erosion were mainly concentrated on the river channel sediment, the terrestrial sediment, and the underground sediment. The transport process of underground sediment is studied in the paper. The concept of the flush potential sediment is founded. The transport equation with stable saturated seepage is set up, and the relations between the flush potential sediment and water sediment are discussed. Flushing of underground sediment begins with small particles, and large particles will be taken away later. The pore ratio of the soil increases gradually. The flow ultimately becomes direct water seepage, and the sediment concentration at the same position in the water decreases over time. The concentration of maximal flushing potential sediment decreases along the path. The underground sediment flushing model reflects the flushing mechanism of underground sediment.