Elsyca (Belgium)

Multi-species grassland mixtures are gaining popularity in managed grasslands, particularly as a strategy to improve soil functioning and subsequently soil health and climate regulation. However, mechanistic data on the relation between plant diversity and the greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of the soil are still sparse. We conducted a full-factorial mesocosm experiment to determine whether multi-species grassland mixtures can enhance the delivery of ecosystem services compared to traditional perennial ryegrass monocultures. Treatments included two plant communities, two soil types and three cutting frequencies - representing land use intensities under controlled conditions. We measured effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) effluxes (CO2, CH4 and N2O), above- and belowground productivity as well as functional catabolic diversity of soil microbes Linear Mixed Models (LMMs) revealed that plant community and soil type impacted all greenhouse gas effluxes, while cutting frequency only impacted CO2 efflux significantly. Multi-species grass mixtures significantly elevated primary productivity compared to perennial ryegrass monocultures, and influenced functional microbial diversity, even overriding soil type (and therefore legacy) effects on functional microbial diversity over a short timeframe. These improvements in soil functioning can improve the delivery of crucial ecosystem services such as climate regulation, food and feed production and soil habitat and nutrient cycling, which underlines the potential of species-rich grassland mixtures in multifunctional grassland farming systems. Future research should explore long-term field dynamics and validate these findings by making carbon budgets to support climate-smart management strategies.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019 PRESENTER: Christophe Baete, Elsyca HOST: Sylvain Fontaine, GTRgaz MODERATOR: Laurie Perry, PRCI CLICK BUY/DOWNLOAD TO ACCESS THE WEBINAR REGISTRATION LINK Join the PRCI Corrosion Technical Committee as they present research activities related to the development of a dynamic direct current (DC) stray current corrosion criteria by applying an advanced DC corrosion prediction model. Benefits of attending: - Learn the definition of a practical criterion to assess dynamic DC stray current influences - An understanding of evaluating and mitigating the dynamic DC stray currents affecting buried pipelines - How to optimize cathodic protection and other counter measures of the pipeline Who should attend? Pipeline corrosion and integrity personnel, engineers and management. Recommended pre-reading: PR-405-173610-R01 Development of New Criteria for DC Stray Current Interference

Evaluates the use of AC coupons for monitoring applications. AC coupons are aimed to take decisions on whether the subjected pipeline is at AC corrosion risk and if additional mitigative measures need to be undertaken to reduce the AC induced voltage on the pipeline. As a variety of coupons exist on the market with different dimensions, configuration and shape, the AC current density response of the coupons was investigated. A market search was performed to identify the commercial available coupons. A screening of the coupons was performed by: - simulating the AC current density response in a 3D computational model; - laboratory testing of retained coupons and probes under different soil moisture conditions; - field testing of AC coupon behavior The AC current density response of a total of 20 coupons/ probes from different vendors have been simulated and ordered according to increasing average current response and local peak current at the edges. Consequently 7 coupons/probes were retained for laboratory testing in sand and clay soil with different moisture content. Finally one commercial coupon and two new designs of ER probes were installed at two different sites along a pipeline for field testing and monitoring. This document has a related webinar.

This report refers to the activities performed in the frame of PRCI project on the refinement of the AC corrosion criteria by evaluating real-world pipeline AC corrosion cases and applying an improved AC corrosion prediction model. The diagrams of AC corrosion likelihood assessment in the standard ISO18086:2015 was used as a starting point. Correlations between field data (especially those provided through dig reports from AC corrosion anomalies) and the simulation results for different CP polarization levels, AC induced voltage, soil conditions (texture, soil resistivity and moisture) and coating defect properties (size and thickness) were investigated. The final goal is achieving a further refinement of the proposed AC corrosion criteria in previous project (EC-6-2) based on long-term AC corrosion behavior. This document has a related webinar.

Abstract Corrosion impacts the value, safety, and readiness of many assets in almost all industries. The cost of maintaining and repairing runs into astronomical numbers. The current approach to evaluate susceptibility to galvanic corrosion is by determining the relative position of metals in the galvanic series table valid for a given environment. However the potential difference between metals provides no information on the kinetics of galvanic or bimetallic corrosion. Additionally, there is a wide range of factors which affect the corrosion severity like surface area ratio, flow rate, temperature, dry-wetting cycle, inhibiting effects, etc. Moreover, in most mechanical assemblies the overall effect of multiple material components and the complexity of the geometry make corrosion prediction difficult. In this article a unique 3D simulation technology to predict galvanic corrosion will be presented. Potential distributions and corrosion rates are calculated based on electrochemical characterization of the different materials in lab conditions. Corroded areas are visualized by the software tool and are compared with real-life observations on assemblies. The examples show cases where engineers select different material combinations of complex assemblies in a virtual environment during the design process and assess the corrosion behavior of the complete system under various environmental conditions. The technology provides quantitative information on the corrosion risk as well as the corrosion rate. Thus, ensuring target performance and safe operation.