At DOE sites, significant amounts of Job Control Waste (JCW) need to be disposed. This JCW is generated and contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during clean-up operations. A commercial, plant-based absorbent material, “Toxi-dry”, is used extensively for decontamination and decommissioning of DOE waste sites and is classified a hazardous JCW after use. In this investigation, 1,2,4...

An ac electric field is applied to induce particle and fluid motion in a wedge-shaped microchannel. Micron-resolution particle image velocimetry (l-PIV) is used to determine spatially resolved particle velocity and fluid velocity fields. Under steady-state conditions, the particles experience a balance between dielectrophoretic forces induced by the nonuniform electric field and Stokes’ drag fo...

We use a variational principle to derive a mathematical model for a nematic electrolyte in which the liquid crystalline component is described in terms of a second-rank order tensor. The model extends the previously developed director-based theory and accounts for presence of disclinations and possible biaxiality. We verify the model by considering a simple but illustrative example of liquid cr...

The conversion between seismic and electromagnetic energies was discovered in a fluidfilled porous formation. When seismic waves propagate through a fluid-saturated porous formation, relative motion between the pore fluid and the solid matrix is generated and cation motion in the fluid is formed. The streaming electric current induces electromagnetic waves in the formation. There is an opposite...

Particles suspended in fluid exhibit motion when subjected to ac electric fields. The applied field results in forces on both the particles and the fluid, the study of which is referred to as ac electrokinetics. The ac electrokinetic techniques can be used for the controlled manipulation and characterization of particles, and the separation of mixtures. For sub-micrometre particles, Brownian mo...