Publications de Alessandro Brovelli

Control of groundwater pH during bioremediation: Improvement and validation of a geochemical model to assess the buffering potential of ground silicate minerals

Christof Holliger, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Elsa Marina Lacroix

Accurate control of groundwater pH is of critical importance for in situ biological treatment of chlorinated solvents. The use of ground silicate minerals mixed with groundwater is an appealing buffering strategy as silicate minerals may act as long-term s ...

Elsevier2014

Multilevel Correlations in the Biological Phosphorus Removal Process: from Bacterial Enrichment to Conductivity-Based Metabolic Batch Tests and Polyphosphatase Assays

Christof Holliger, Julien Maillard, David Gregory Weissbrodt, Alessandro Brovelli, Alexandre Chabrelie, Jonathan May

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) from wastewater relies on the preferential selection of active polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAO) in the underlying bacterial community continuum. Efficient management of the bacterial resource requires ...

Wiley-Blackwell2014

Use of silicate minerals for pH control during reductive dechlorination of chloroethenes in batch cultures of different microbial consortia

Christof Holliger, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Elsa Marina Lacroix

In chloroethene-contaminated sites undergoing in situ bioremediation, groundwater acidification is a frequent problem in the source zone, and buffering strategies have to be implemented to maintain the pH in the neutral range. An alternative to conventiona ...

American Society for Microbiology2014

Use of silicate minerals for long-term pH control during reductive dechlorination of high tetrachloroethene concentrations in continuous flow-through columns

Christof Holliger, Julien Maillard, Emmanuelle Rohrbach, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Elsa Marina Lacroix

The long-term buffering potential of three silicate minerals (diopside, fayalite and forsterite) present as fine particles in porous quartz sand medium was evaluated in flow-through column experiments over a period of 6.5 months. The columns were operated ...

Elsevier2014

Transport of variable-density solute plumes in beach aquifers in response to oceanic forcing

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Clare Robinson, Roham Bakhtyar

A comprehensive numerical study was undertaken to investigate transport of a variable-density, conservative solute plume in an unconfined coastal aquifer subject to high and low frequency oceanic forcing. The model combined variable-density saturated flow ...

Elsevier2013

Enhancement of micropollutant degradation at the outlet of small wastewater treatment plants

Luca Rossi, Jonas Margot, Pierre Claude Jean Queloz, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli

The aim of this work was to evaluate low-cost and easy-to-operate engineering solutions that can be added as a polishing step to small wastewater treatment plants to reduce the micropollutant load to water bodies. The proposed design combines a sand filter ...

Public Library of Science2013

Effect of antecedent conditions and fixed rock fragment coverage on soil erosion dynamics through multiple rainfall events

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Seifeddine Jomaa

The effect of antecedent conditions and specific rock fragment coverage on precipitation-driven soil erosion dynamics through multiple rainfall events was investigated using a pair of 6-m × 1-m flumes with 2.2% slope. Four sequential experiments – denoted ...

Elsevier Science Bv2013

Analysis of acidity production during enhanced reductive dechlorination using a simplified reactive transport model

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Clare Robinson

Build-up of fermentation products and hydrochloric acid at a contaminated site undergoing enhanced reductive dechlorination can result in groundwater acidification. Sub-optimal pH conditions can inhibit microbial activity and lead to reduced dechlorination ...

Elsevier2012

Numerical experiments on interactions between wave motion and variable-density coastal aquifers

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Roham Bakhtyar

A comprehensive two-dimensional (cross-shore) process-based numerical model of nearshore hydrodynamics (based on the Navier-Stokes equations, k-ε turbulence closure and the Volume-Of-Fluid method), beach morphology, and variable-density groundwater flow (S ...

Elsevier2012

Rain splash soil erosion estimation in the presence of rock fragments

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Seifeddine Jomaa

Rain splash soil erosion in the presence of rock fragments and different initial conditions was tested in laboratory flume experiments under controlled conditions. The aim of the experiments was to ascertain whether cumulative soil erosion is proportional ...

2012

Analysis of carbon and nitrogen dynamics in riparian soils: Model development

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Jordi Batlle-Aguilar

The quality of riparian soils and their ability to buffer contaminant releases to aquifers and streams are connected intimately to moisture content and nutrient dynamics, in particular of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). A multi-compartment model – named the R ...

Elsevier2012

Evaluation of silicate minerals for pH control during bioremediation: Application to chlorinated solvents

Christof Holliger, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Elsa Marina Lacroix

Accurate control of groundwater pH is of critical importance for in situ biological treatment of chlorinated solvents. This study evaluated a novel approach for buffering subsurface pH that relies on the use of silicate minerals as a long-term source of al ...

2012

Erosion of soils due to rainfall impact – An interpolation method

Marc Parlange, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Seifeddine Jomaa

An approximate analytical solution of the Hairsine-Rose model of erosion is obtained by interpolation of asymptotic expressions for large times and great distances. The solution, when erosion is initiated by rainfall impact, is both simple and accurate. Th ...

Wiley-Blackwell2012

Analysis of carbon and nitrogen dynamics in riparian soils: Model validation and sensitivity to environmental controls

Pascal Niklaus, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Jordi Batlle-Aguilar

The Riparian Soil Model (RSM) of Brovelli et al. (Sci. Total Environ., this issue) was applied to study nutrient turnover in a revitalized section of the Thur River, North-East Switzerland. The model was first calibrated on field experimental data. The mod ...

Elsevier2012

Influence of rock fragment coverage on soil erosion and hydrological response: Laboratory flume experiments and modeling

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Seifeddine Jomaa

Two laboratory flume experiments on the effect of surface rock fragments on precipitation-driven soil erosion yields were carried out. The total sediment concentration, the concentration of seven individual size classes and the flow discharge were measured ...

American Geophysical Union2012

Wave-induced watertable fluctuations, sediment transport and beach profile change: Modeling and comparison with large-scale laboratory experiments

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Roham Bakhtyar

Coastal groundwater systems can have a considerable impact on sediment transport and foreshore evolution in the surf and swash zones. Process-based modeling of wave motion on a permeable beach taking into account wave-aquifer interactions was conducted to ...

Elsevier2011

Modelling soil carbon and nitrogen cycles during land use change. A review

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Jordi Batlle-Aguilar

Forested soils are being increasingly transformed to agricultural fields in response to growing demands for food crop. This modification of the land use is known to result in deterioration of soil properties, in particular its fertility. To reduce the impa ...

EDP Sciences2011

Combined estimation of effective electrical conductivity and permittivity for soil monitoring

Alessandro Brovelli

The mapping of moisture content, composition and texture of soils is attracting a growing interest, in particular with the goal of evaluating threats to soil quality, such as soil salinization. Fast non-invasive geophysical surveys are often used in this c ...

American Geophysical Union2011

Design methodology accounting for the effects of porous medium heterogeneity on hydraulic residence time and biodegradation in horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands

Luca Rossi, David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Otoniel Carranza Diaz

Horizontal flow constructed wetlands are engineered systems capable of eliminating a wide range of pollutants from the aquatic environment. Nevertheless, poor hydrodynamic behavior is commonly found resulting in preferential pathways and variations in both ...

2011

Acidity production and buffer requirements for in-situ bioremediation of chlorinated solvents

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Clare Robinson

2010