Pumping

La empresa Servihidráulicos Lara SAS, una empresa Colombiana dedicada a ofrecer servicios de mantenimiento a empresas del sector de la construcción que usan equipos de bombeo de concreto en las obras civiles, fue sometida a un diagnóstico utilizando la metodología de análisis de brecha (GAP) realizado por un grupo de estudiantes de la especialización en gestión de la calidad de la Universidad del Atlántico quienes realizaron la identificación el grado de cumplimiento de los criterios a la luz de la norma ISO 9001:2015. PALABRAS CLAVE: ISO 9001, diagnóstico, metodología, análisis, GAP, equipos de bombeo, mantenimiento.

Microfluidics is a promising technology that is increasingly attracting the attention of researchers due to its high efficiency and low-cost features. Micropumps, micromixers, and microvalves have been widely applied in various biomedical applications due to their compact size and precise dosage controllability. Nevertheless, despite the vast amount of research reported in this research area, the ability to implement these devices in portable and implantable applications is still limited. To date, such devices are constricted to the use of wires, or on-board power supplies, such as batteries. This thesis presents novel techniques that allow wireless control of passive microfluidic devices using an external radiofrequency magnetic field utilizing thermopneumatic principle. Three microfluidic devices are designed and developed to perform within the range of implantable drug-delivery devices. To demonstrate the wireless control of microfluidic devices, a wireless implantable thermopneumatic micropump is presented. Thermopneumatic pumping with a maximum flow rate of 2.86 μL/min is realized using a planar wirelessly-controlled passive inductor-capacitor heater. Then, this principle was extended in order to demonstrate the selective wireless control of multiple passive heaters. A passive wirelessly-controlled thermopneumatic zigzag micromixer is developed as a mean of a multiple drug delivery device. A maximum mixing efficiency of 96.1% is achieved by selectively activating two passive wireless planar inductor-capacitor heaters that have different resonant frequency values. To eliminate the heat associated with aforementioned wireless devices, a wireless piezoelectric normally-closed microvalve for drug delivery applications is developed. A piezoelectric diaphragm is operated wirelessly using the wireless power that is transferred from an external magnetic field. Valving is achieved with a percentage error as low as 3.11% in a 3 days long-term functionality test. The developed devices present a promising implementation of the reported wireless actuation principles in various portable and implantable biomedical applications, such as drug delivery, analytical assays, and cell lysis devices.

Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) is a flowable concrete that exerts high pressure on formwork. SCC is the most commonly used concrete worldwide for construction applications due to its cost-effectiveness. The high flow of SCC reduces both the number of workers and the casting time required. It also eliminates vibration and removes noise pollution. This study is a review of previous investigations into the pressure exerted by fresh-state SCC on formwork. The paper discussed various factors that affect lateral pressure on formwork. These factors are included theoretical predictions, the effect of temperature, casting rate, rheology, types of pressure sensors, geometry and workability. Considering these various factors, the paper discussed major factors related to lateral pressure of SCC at early ages. However, internal temperature measurement of concrete effects at fresh state appears to be an important factor.

Este manual presenta en forma detallada los diferentes temas necesarios para emprender el estudio sistemático del curso "Principios de Bombeo Mecánico".

Se analiza el comportamiento de producción de los pozos, describe los diferentes componentes que conforman el sistema de bombeo mecánico, muestra desde el punto de vista conceptual y práctico las técnicas utilizadas para el diagnóstico de las condiciones de bombeo (Cartas Dinagráficas, Medidas de Producción, Registros Sónicos y de Presión). Luego presenta la forma de realizar programas de máquinas de servicio a pozos, para corregir anormalidades detectadas con las técnicas antes descritas.

Finalmente, se estudian los diferentes métodos para diseño de equipos de bombeo mecánico y se describe la utilización del sistema móvil computarizado Delta IV en la simulación, diseño y predicción de comportamiento de pozos con fines de optimización.

Las figuras, tablas y ejemplos de aplicación han sido especialmente escogidos para cada parte del curso. La inclusión de los análisis y resultados computarizados contribuye a reforzar el carácter práctico de este manual como trabajo didáctico.

This paper reports a novel wireless control of a normally-closed piezoelectric microvalve activated by a wireless inductor-capacitor (LC) resonant circuit, and enabled by an external magnetic field. The LC circuit is formed by connecting a multilayer coil to a piezoelectric actuator (PEA) that behaves as a capacitor and a resistor in parallel. The LC circuit is activated by modulating the field frequency to its resonant frequency (fr) of 10 kHz, which matches the optimal operating frequency of the device, while considering the resonant frequency of the PEA. The working fluid is stored in an 88.9 μL polydimethylsiloxane balloon reservoir that pumps the liquid due to the difference in pressure, which eliminates the need for a pump. The design of the device was optimized using several analytical and experimental approaches. This device was fabricated using a time and cost-effective out-of-clean-room fabrication process. The valving performance was initially characterized in air, then in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution to mimic the drug release kinetics into human interstitial body fluids. Maximum flow rate values of 8.91 and 7.42 μL/min are achieved in air and PBS solution respectively, at a maximum input pressure value of ∼13 kPa. A programmed short-term delivery of desired liquid volumes in separate batches shows that the volumes are delivered into air and PBS solution with maximum percentage errors of 7.49% and 7.91%, respectively. Additionally, a programmed 3-day long-term reliability test shows that the device was able to achieve desired flow rate values between 160 and 320 μL/day in air and PBS solution with a maximum percentage error of 3.11% and 4.39%, respectively. The results show that the developed device has high potential to be used in drug delivery applications.

This paper reports a novel, wirelessly powered micropump based on thermo-pneumatic actuation using a frequency-controlled heater. The micropump operates wirelessly through the energy transfer to a frequency-dependent heater, which was placed underneath the heating chamber of the pump. Heat is generated at the wireless heater when the external magnetic field is tuned to the resonant frequency of the heater. The enclosed air in the chamber expands and forces the liquid to flow out from the reservoir. The developed device is able to pump a total volume of 4 ml in a single stroke when the external field frequency is tuned to the resonant frequency of the heater at the output power of 0.22 W. Multiple strokes pumping are feasible to be performed with the volume variation of ∼2.8% between each stroke. Flow rate performance of the micropump ranges from 1.01 μL/min to 5.24 μL/min by manipulating the heating power from 0.07 W to 0.89 W. In addition, numerical simulation was performed to study the influence of the heat transfer to the sample liquid. The presented micropump exclusively offers a promising solution in biomedical implantation devices due to its remotely powered functionality, free from bubble trapping and biocompatible feature.

In Belgium, it is planned to dispose of long-lived and high-level waste in an underground facility. After disposal of the waste, the galleries will be back¬filled to provide stability to the galleries and to limit the amount of voids in the repository. To achieve those goals, the backfill material has to have a good flowability, a negligible bleeding, and a limited shrinkage. A limited grain size is also required to allow the injection of the backfill material. Despite the fact that the backfill supports the gallery lining, its strength must be low enough to enable the retrieval of the waste packages. The backfill material has to be chemically compatible with the Boom Clay and the waste packages. This means that it should not unduly perturb the clay or disposal packages. The thermal conductivity of the backfill material in the galleries containing high-level and thus heat-generating waste must be high enough to allow sufficient dissipation of the decay heat into the surrounding clay.

Based on these objectives, material requirements were specified and the development of a backfill mixture was carried out. Initially, the mix composition was optimized in the laboratory. Thereafter, the backfill process of a gallery section was simulated. The investigations illustrate that this mixture can be transported via pipelines through the shaft and drifts and would fill completely the backfill sections in the galleries. Measurements of the porosity, the pore solution composition, the thermal material properties, and the strength illustrate the compliances with the requirements and the feasibility of backfilling the disposal galleries.
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The Belgian National Agency for Radioactive Waste and enriched Fissile Material ONDRAF/NIRAS is studying the disposal of low and medium activity level, long-lived waste (category B) and high activity, heat-generating waste (category C) in an underground facility. The repository is built at a reference depth of approximately 230 m in the Boom Clay host rock. Two shafts are built for personnel and material transfer and to provide ventilation during the construction and operation of the repository. A third shaft will be constructed for the waste transport. The shafts are connected via horizontal access galleries. The disposal galleries are constructed perpendicular to the access galleries. They are blind or dead-end galleries with a diameter of approx. 3.0 m and a length of 1,000 m. Fig. 1 shows an overview of the repository layout.
The galleries in the clay will be lined with concrete wedge blocks. In the order to transport and to support the waste packages after disposal, the galleries are outfitted with a concrete floor. It is planned to backfill the galleries section by section with a cement-based material, because grout injection is assumed to offer better opportunities for achieving the industrial performance that is required to backfill such volumes in a relatively short period of time. The current planning assumes a volume of the sections of approximately 85 m³, which will be backfilled in three and a half hours. Seals will be placed at the front-end of the disposal galleries.

The main functions of the backfill mortar are (1) isolating the waste by forming an extra barrier to the waste, (2) providing the galleries with stability and thus avoiding a gallery collapse and (3) reducing the voids in the repository which is a regulatory requirement.

As the backfill needs to realize a high filling degree, it has to show good flowability, negligible bleeding, and limited shrinkage. The grain size is limited to allow the injection of the backfill material. Another important requirement for the backfill follows from the potential requirement for waste retrievability. This means that the strength of the backfill has to be sufficient low so that the backfill can be removed at a later stage. In addition, a high porous backfill might be envisaged as it can provide a storage volume for gas generated in the repository and consequently limit the gas pressure build-up. This is in particular important for the category B waste for which the gas generation is expected to be more significant than for the category C waste.
The backfill material has to be chemically compatible with the Boom Clay host formation and any other component of the disposal system like the gallery lining and the waste disposal packages. This means that it should not unduly perturb the clay or disposal packages. Finally, the thermal conductivity of the backfill material in the category C waste disposal galleries must be high enough to allow sufficient dissipation of the heat from the category C waste into the surrounding clay. Furthermore, it has to be thermally stable under the maximum temperature that will occur in the backfill material.

Abstract Reviving the Ganges Water Machine (GWM), coined 40 years ago, is the most opportune solution for mitigating the impacts of recurrent droughts and floods in the Ganges River Basin in South Asia. GWM create subsurface storage (SSS) by pumping more groundwater from the aquifers before the monsoon for irrigation and other uses and recharge it during the monsoon. The present study uses fully processed and physically based numerical models, MODFLOW and SWAT, in a semi-coupled modelling framework to examine the technical feasibility of recharging the SSS. The aquifer was simulated as a two-layer system using hydrogeological and groundwater data, model was calibrated from 1999 to 2005 and validated from 2006 to 2010. It assesses the impacts of gradual increase of SSS in 10 years from the base year 2010 under two scenarios (increased rainfall or controlled pumping and recharge) to meet a potential unmet demand of 1.68 billion cubic meters (Bm 3 ) in the Ramganga sub-basin with an area of 18,668 km 2 . The results show that 3–4 m of subsurface storage can be created by groundwater pumping of 0.25 Bm 3 /year by 2020. Under the controlled pumping and recharge scenario, groundwater recharge and river seepage could increase by 14% (4.21–4.80 Bm 3 ) and 31% (1.10–1.44 Bm 3 ), respectively. However, baseflow will decrease by 30% (0.18–0.12 Bm 3 ) over the same time period. The results also show that recharge increased 44% (4.21–6.05 Bm 3 ) under an increased rainfall scenario. Simultaneously, river seepage and baseflows would increase 36% (1.10–1.14 Bm 3 ) and 11% (0.18–0.20 Bm 3 ), respectively. A well-designed managed aquifer recharge program is required to eliminate the negative impact of river flows in the low flow season.

The irrigation services are often state-subsidized in agrarian economies for the enhancement of agricultural productivity while they also target poverty alleviation. The agriculture-dependent states of India offer representative examples of undervalued irrigation services mainly sourced by canal networks. However, canal irrigation is nowadays lagging behind private groundwater initiatives but with significant costs which question the concept of low water pricing in agriculture. This paper assesses irrigation water costs in representative backward clusters of Bihar state in eastern India while the effects on different landholding groups are analysed. The results indicate that marginal landholders heavily rely on purchased water from unofficial markets while they pay the highest amount for irrigation. This is due to limited access in the canal network, possession of inefficient pumping systems and cultivation of crops with a high demand for water. However, acute policy reforms could d...

This paper reports a novel wireless control of a normally-closed piezoelectric microvalve activated by a wireless inductor-capacitor (LC) resonant circuit, and enabled by an external magnetic field. The LC circuit is formed by connecting a multilayer coil to a piezoelectric actuator (PEA) that behaves as a capacitor and a resistor in parallel. The LC circuit is activated by modulating the field frequency to its resonant frequency (fr) of 10 kHz, which matches the optimal operating frequency of the device, while considering the resonant frequency of the PEA. The working fluid is stored in an 88.9 μL polydimethylsiloxane balloon reservoir that pumps the liquid due to the difference in pressure, which eliminates the need for a pump. The design of the device was optimized using several analytical and experimental approaches. This device was fabricated using a time and cost-effective out-of-clean-room fabrication process. The valving performance was initially characterized in air, then i...

This paper studies the thermal behavior of a wireless powered micropump operated using thermo-pneumatic actuation. Numerical analysis was performed to investigate the temporal conduction of the planar inductor-capacitor (LC) wireless heater and the heating chamber. The result shows that the temperature at the heating chamber reaches steady state temperature of 46.7°C within 40 seconds. The finding was further verified with experimental works through the fabrication of the planar LC heater (RF sensitive actuator) and micropump device using MEMS fabrication technique. The fabricated device delivers a minimum volume of 0.096 μL at the temperature of 29°C after being thermally activated for 10 s. The volume dispensed from the micropump device can precisely controlled by an increase of the electrical heating power within the cut-off input power of 0.22 W. Beyond the power, the heat transfer to the heating chamber exhibits non-linear behavior. In addition, wireless operation of the fabricated device shows successful release of color dye when the micropump is immersed in DI-water containing dish and excited by tuning the RF power.