Print Email Facebook Twitter Temperature Based Water Content Measurement in Mud (Soil) With Fiber Optics Title Temperature Based Water Content Measurement in Mud (Soil) With Fiber Optics Author Van Ballaer, Frederik (TU Delft Civil Engineering & Geosciences) Contributor Meshkati, Ebi (mentor) Vardon, P.J. (graduation committee) Doornenbal, Pieter (graduation committee) Draganov, D.S. (graduation committee) Klitsch, Norbert (graduation committee) Degree granting institution Delft University of TechnologyRheinisch-Westfälische Technische HochschuleETH Zürich Programme Applied Earth Sciences Date 2020-08-28 Abstract This research has demonstrated the applicability of a DTS system to estimate the volumetric water content in saturated mud material. 2 samples of synthetically generated mud and 1 sample of natural mud from the port of Rotterdam were investigated, first by conventional methods and subsequently also with DTS. The system set-up and heating strategy were optimized by testing with different media (air, water) and with different FO coil diameters. A step-by-step approach was then designed to translate the thermal response recorded in the muds into volumetric water contents. Early- and late- time cutoffs were applied to the slope selection procedure (∆T vs ln(t)), and a mud dependent correction factor was applied to obtain the effective heat flux. The average VWC’s (ϴ) subsequently derived from the DTS data were in good agreement with those obtained by conventional methods (core sampling); the standard deviation in the VWC’s (ϴ) of all three tested muds was between 0.030 and 0.040 m3/m3. For saturated conditions, Sayde et al. (2010) and Striegl and Loheide (2012) published larger standard deviations of 0.046 m3/m3 and >0.050 m3/m3 respectively. The approach detailed in this investigation has enabled DTS to perform as a guideline on the continuous volumetric water content profile in saturated muds. Subject Distributed Temperature SensingVolumetric water contentThermal Conductivity To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:087da2de-62c1-4489-b943-7c44c40f3fb3 Part of collection Student theses Document type master thesis Rights © 2020 Frederik Van Ballaer Files PDF Thesis_Submission_Frederi ... allaer.pdf 2.3 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:087da2de-62c1-4489-b943-7c44c40f3fb3/datastream/OBJ/view