Residual Acceleration Research Articles

Adaptation of a 2-D Clinostat for Simulated Microgravity Experiments with Adherent Cells

The fast-rotating 2-D clinostat, a ground-based facility for investigations in simulated microgravity, is mainly used for experiments with cell suspensions. Here, we describe the adaptation of a 2-D clinostat for adherent cell investigations using commercially available slide flasks. As a gradient of residual accelerations is present in the slide flasks during clinorotation, the range of maximal g-values has to be adjusted to the investigated cells and type of analysis. For gene expression analysis, a harvesting slide chamber was constructed, allowing collection of cells exposed to defined g-values. Using this slide chamber, human 1F6 melanoma cell line, exposed in the ranges of ≤0.012 g, ≤0.024 g, or ≤0.036 g for 24 h, was harvested and the respective mRNA levels of guanylyl cyclase A (GC-A), an enzyme catalyzing cyclic GMP synthesis, were determined by real-time quantitative PCR analysis. Our results show that the down-regulation of GC-A mRNA levels in 1F6 melanoma cells depends on the residual acceleration values with a maximal reduction at ≤0.012 g. We further used the slide flasks by the clinorotation of murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line for f-actin analysis. The laser scanning microscopy images of cells exposed to g-values of ≤0.006 g for 1 h show an increase in the cell size of clinorotated cells, but no rearrangement in the f-actin filament system compared to static 1-g controls. Thus, 2-D clinostats equipped with slide flasks can be used for adherent cell experiments, however, the maximal g-values have to be carefully considered.

Dual crosslinking of carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber latex employing the thiol‐ene photoreaction

AbstractAt present, the most common used crosslinking process for carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber (XNBR) latex is an accelerated sulfur curing system with zinc oxide. To avoid allergenic reactions related to residual accelerator levels in dipped XNBR latex articles such as medical gloves, a dual curing process has been developed combining thermal and photochemical crosslinking reactions. The two‐step procedure involves the formation of covalent and ionic bonds to ensure good mechanical properties of the final products. The photochemical thiol‐ene reaction is used to generate covalent crosslinks between the remaining CC double bonds of the butadiene units whereas the carboxylic moieties are conventionally cured with divalent metal oxides (ZnO) under elevated temperature (formation of ionic crosslinks). The photochemical curing step is carried out both in the latex phase using a falling film photoreactor (prevulcanization) as well as in the solid phase by UV irradiation of dried XNBR films (postvulcanization). The mechanical properties and crosslink densities of the cured XNBR films are determined and the influence of selected curing parameters is assessed. The results give evidence that a combined approach of thermal prevulcanization and photochemical postvulcanization makes the production of latex articles (e.g., gloves) with tailored properties and good skin compatibility feasible. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013

Adaptation of the CPR Preconditioner for Efficient Solution of the Adjoint Equation

Summary It is well known that the adjoint approach is the most efficient approach for gradient calculation, and it can be used with gradient-based optimization techniques to solve various optimization problems, such as the production-optimization problem and the history-matching problem. The adjoint equation to be solved in the approach is a linear equation formed with the “transpose” of the Jacobian matrix from a fully implicit reservoir simulator. For a large and/or complex reservoir model, generalized preconditioners often prove impractical for solving the adjoint equation. Preconditioners specialized for reservoir simulation, such as constrained pressure residual (CPR), exploit properties of the Jacobian matrix to accelerate convergence, so they cannot be applied directly to the adjoint equation. To overcome this challenge, we have developed a new two-stage preconditioner for efficient solution of the adjoint equation by adaptation of the CPR preconditioner (named CPRA: CPR preconditioner for adjoint equation). The CPRA preconditioner has been coupled with an algebraic multigrid (AMG) linear solver and implemented in Chevron's extended applications reservoir simulator (CHEARS®). The AMG solver is well known for its outstanding capability to solve the pressure equation of complex reservoir models; solving the linear system with the “transpose” of the pressure matrix is one of the two stages of construction of the CPRA preconditioner. Through test cases, we have confirmed that the CPRA/AMG solver with generalized minimal residual (GMRES) acceleration solves the adjoint equation very efficiently with a reasonable number of linear-solver iterations. Adjoint simulations to calculate the gradients with the CPRA/AMG solver take approximately the same amount of time (at most) as do the corresponding CPR/AMG forward simulations. Accuracy of the solutions has also been confirmed by verifying the gradients against solutions with a direct solver. A production-optimization case study for a real field using the CPRA/AMG solver has further validated its accuracy, efficiency, and the capability to perform long-term optimization for large, complex reservoir models at low computational cost.

Closed solution of the Hill differential equation for short arcs and a local mass anomaly in the central body

The Hill differential equation describes the relative motion of a satellite w.r.t. a circular reference orbit. The deviations in the orbit are caused by a residual acceleration, which is small compared to the effect of the central gravitational field. In this paper, the acceleration of a local mass anomaly in the central body is considered, which rotates w.r.t. the inertial frame with a constant angular velocity. The mass anomaly is modeled by a superposition of radial base functions. The potential and the gradient of each base function are represented in the orbit by the Keplerian elements, the rotation rate of the central body and the parameters of the base function, i.e. the position of its center, the shape and a scaling factor. The inhomogeneous solution of the Hill differential equation for short arcs is found by means of the Laplace transform. A few lower orders of the solution require an additional Laplace transform, to consider the so-called resonance cases. The final deviations are described in a closed and differentiable formula of the Keplerian elements and the parameters of the base function.

Kinematics and Flare Properties of Radio-Loud CMEs

A detailed analysis of the characteristics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flares associated with decameter-hectometer wavelength type-II radio bursts (hereafter DH-type-II radio bursts, DH-CMEs or radio-loud CMEs) observed in the period 1997 – 2008 is presented. A sample of 61 limb events is divided into two populations based on the residual acceleration: accelerating CMEs (a r>0) and decelerating CMEs (a r<0). We found that average speed (residual acceleration) of all limb DH-CMEs (called radio-loud CMEs) is nearly three (two) times greater than the average speed of the general population CMEs (radio-quiet CMEs). While the initial acceleration (a i) of the accelerating DH-CMEs is smaller than that of decelerating DH-CMEs (0.79 and 1.62 km s−2, respectively), the average speed and magnitude of residual acceleration of the accelerating and decelerating DH-CMEs are similar (〈V CME〉: 1254 km s−1 and 1303 km s−1; 〈a r〉: 0.026 km s−2 and 0.028 km s−2, respectively). The accelerating DH-CMEs attain their peak speed at larger heights than decelerating DH-CMEs. A good positive and negative linear correlation for accelerating and decelerating DH-CMEs (R a=0.74 and R d=−0.77, respectively) is found. The flares associated with accelerating DH-CME events have longer rise times and decay times than flares of decelerating DH-CME. The accelerating and decelerating DH-CMEs events associated with DH-type-II bursts have similar ending frequencies. The analysis of time lags between DH-type-II start and the flare onset shows that the delays are longer in accelerating DH-CMEs than decelerating DH-CMEs (P∼7 %). However, the time lags between the DH-type-II start and the CMEs onset are similar.

A relativistic model of the topological acceleration effect

It has previously been shown heuristically that the topology of the Universe affects gravity, in the sense that a test particle near a massive object in a multiply connected universe is subject to a topologically induced acceleration that opposes the local attraction to the massive object. It is necessary to check if this effect occurs in a fully relativistic solution of the Einstein equations that has a multiply connected spatial section. A Schwarzschild-like exact solution that is multiply connected in one spatial direction is checked for analytical and numerical consistency with the heuristic result. The T1 (slab-space) heuristic result is found to be relativistically correct. For a fundamental domain size of L, a slow-moving, negligible-mass test particle lying at distance x along the axis from the object of mass M to its nearest multiple image, where GM/c2 ≪ x ≪ L/2, has a residual acceleration away from the massive object of 4ζ(3)G(M/L3) x, where ζ(3) is Apéry's constant. For M ∼ 1014M⊙ and L ∼ 10–20h−1 Gpc, this linear expression is accurate to ±10% over . Thus, at least in a simple example of a multiply connected universe, the topological acceleration effect is not an artefact of Newtonian-like reasoning, and its linear derivation is accurate over about three orders of magnitude in x.

Impact of stochastic accelerations on dopant segregation in microgravity semiconductor crystal growth

The residual accelerations that are typically present in microgravity environments (g-jitters) contain a broad spectrum of frequencies and may be modeled as stochastic processes. Their effects on the quality of the semiconductor crystals are analyzed here quantitatively with direct numerical simulation. In particular we focus on the dopant segregation effects due to thermosolutal convection as a function of the parameters characterizing the statistics of the stochastic force. The numerical simulation is specified for material parameters of two doped semiconductors (Ge:Ga and GaAs:Se) in realistic conditions of actual microgravity environments. As a general result, we show that the segregation response is strongly dominated by the low-frequency part of the g-jitter spectrum. In addition, we develop a simplified model of the problem based on linear response theory that projects the dynamics into very few effective modes. The model captures remarkably well the segregation effects for an arbitrary time-dependent acceleration of small amplitude, while it implies an enormous reduction of computer demands. This model could be helpful to analyze results from real accelerometric signals and also as a predictive tool for experimental design.

Desaturation manoeuvres and precise orbit determination for the BepiColombo mission

The purpose of this work is the analysis of the consequences that desaturation maneuvers can have in the precise orbit determination corresponding to the Radio Science Experiment (MORE) of the BepiColombo mission to Mercury. This mission is an ESA/JAXA joint project with very challenging objectives regarding geodesy, geophysics and fundamental physics. In the neighborhood of Mercury, the s/c will experience strong solar radiation pressure torques; the s/c attitude is controlled by inertial wheels that after some time reach their maximum rotation state. Then they have to be slowed down by means of thruster pulses, inducing a residual acceleration on the s/c, with a desaturation (or off-loading) maneuver. In this paper, we will show how such maneuvers affect the orbit of the s/c and the radio science measurements and, also, how to include them in the orbit determination and parameter estimation procedure. The non linear least squares fit we consider is applied on a set of observational arcs separated by intervals of time where the probe is not visible. With the current baseline of two ground stations, two maneuvers are performed per day, one during the observing session, the other in the dark. To reach the scientific goals of the mission, they have to be treated as "solve for quantities". We have developed a specific methodology based on the deterministic propagation of the orbit, which is able to deal with these variables, by connecting subsequent observational arcs in a smooth way. The numerical simulations we will show demonstrate that this constrained multi-arc strategy is able to determine the maneuvers, including the ones in the dark, together with the other parameters of interest at a high level of accuracy. The future development consists in including accelerometer readings and calibrations in the method.

ACCELERATION OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS FROM THREE-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OFSTEREOIMAGES

We employ a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technique, for the first time to study the kinematics of six coronal mass ejections (CMEs), using images obtained from the COR1 and COR2 coronagraphs on board the twin STEREO spacecraft, as also the eruptive prominences (EPs) associated with three of them using images from the Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI). A feature in the EPs and leading edges (LEs) of all the CMEs was identified and tracked in images from the two spacecraft, and a stereoscopic reconstruction technique was used to determine the 3D coordinates of these features. True velocity and acceleration were determined from the temporal evolution of the true height of the CME features. Our study of kinematics of the CMEs in 3D reveals that the CME leading edge undergoes maximum acceleration typically below 2R$_\{odot}$. The acceleration profiles of CMEs associated with flares and prominences exhibit different behaviour. While the CMEs not associated with prominences show a bimodal acceleration profile, those associated with prominences do not. Two of the three associated prominences in the study show a high and rising value of acceleration up to a distance of almost 4R$_\{odot}$ but acceleration of the corresponding CME LE does not show the same behaviour, suggesting that the two may not be always driven by the same mechanism. One of the CMEs, although associated with a C-class flare showed unusually high acceleration of over 1500 m s$^{-2}$. Our results therefore suggest that only the flare-associated CMEs undergo residual acceleration, which indicates that the flux injection theoretical model holds good for the flare-associated CMEs, but a different mechanism should be considered for EP-associated CMEs.

A model for electrical degradation of insulators due to ionic bombardment

Insulator materials required for ITER and beyond must operate in a significant radiation field, extending well beyond the first wall. As a result, these materials will be subjected not only to neutron and gamma irradiation, but also to particle bombardment, due mainly to ionization of the residual gas and acceleration of the resulting ions by local electric fields. A systematic study was carried out on the main insulating candidate materials for ITER (Al2O3, SiO2, BeO, and AlN), in order to assess this potential surface degradation issue, and clarify possible mechanisms. Severe surface optical and electrical degradation has previously been reported for these materials bombarded with H+, D+, and He+ ions, at different energies, temperatures, and dose rates, as well as for electron irradiation. In all cases, dramatic degradation has been found and related to loss of oxygen (nitrogen) from the implanted/irradiated zone due to preferential radiolytic anion sputtering. In the work reported here, a model to explain the surface electrical degradation under ion bombardment will be presented. A mathematical expression for the evolution of the surface conductivity with dose of an insulator or extrinsic semiconductor, in which the temperature effect is taken into account is given. This model allows one to obtain the diffusion activation energy of the anion in an interstitial position under an electronic excitation environment. Experimental data for both silica and alumina bombarded with He ions at different temperatures have been fitted. In both cases, the fits obtained from theoretical predictions are in very good agreement with the experimental observations.

Drop Tower Microgravity Improvement Towards the Nano-g Level for the MICROSCOPE Payload Tests

The Bremen drop tower at the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) provides high quality micro-g condition needed for many high precision tests. This is even more improved by the development of a free flyer technology. This new technology is used for a free fall test of the MICROSCOPE differential accelerometers which only can work with a residual acceleration disturbance level below 25 nano-g in the high resolution mode. The French MICROSCOPE space mission for testing the Weak Equivalence Principle is scheduled for 2012/2013. The free fall accelerometer test campaign at ZARM is an important part of the pre-mission test program. In this article the new free flyer technology, its performance as well as the accelerometer tests are described.

Design of Monolithic Rectangular Cavity of 30-cm Length

A design of a horizontal cavity with a cavity length of 30 cm is proposed. The cavity monolithically includes its supports and base plate, avoiding unequal space-dependent restoring forces against vibrations. Critical dimensions of the cavity to enhance vibration immunity were optimized by finite element modeling (FEM). An uncertainty of 0.5 mm in aligning the mirrors with the cavity symmetry axis has resulted in a residual acceleration sensitivity of 6×10-12/ms-2, which is comparable to that of the state-of-the-art cavities.

A slow gravity compensated atom laser

We report on a slow guided atom laser beam outcoupled from a Bose-Einstein condensate of 87Rb atoms in a hybrid trap. The acceleration of the atom laser beam can be controlled by compensating the gravitational acceleration and we reach residual accelerations as low as 0.0027 g. The outcoupling mechanism allows for the production of a constant flux of 4.5x10^6 atoms per second and due to transverse guiding we obtain an upper limit for the mean beam width of 4.6 \mu\m. The transverse velocity spread is only 0.2 mm/s and thus an upper limit for the beam quality parameter is M^2=2.5. We demonstrate the potential of the long interrogation times available with this atom laser beam by measuring the trap frequency in a single measurement. The small beam width together with the long evolution and interrogation time makes this atom laser beam a promising tool for continuous interferometric measurements.

GSFC DORIS contribution to ITRF2008

The NASA GSFC DORIS analysis center has provided weekly DORIS solutions from November 1992 to January 2009 (839 SINEX files) of station positions and Earth Orientation Parameters for inclusion in the DORIS contribution to ITRF2008. The NASA GSFC GEODYN orbit determination software was used to process the orbits and produce the normal equations. The weekly SINEX gscwd10 submissions included DORIS data from Envisat, TOPEX/Poseidon, SPOT-2, SPOT-3, SPOT-4, SPOT-5. The orbits were mostly seven days in length (except for weeks with data gaps or maneuvers). The processing used the GRACE-derived EIGEN-GL04S1 gravity model, updated modeling for time-variable gravity, the GOT4.7 ocean tide model and tuned satellite-specific macromodels for SPOT-2, SPOT-3, SPOT-4, SPOT-5 and TOPEX/Poseidon. The University College London (UCL) radiation pressure model for Envisat improves nonconservative force modeling for this satellite, reducing the median residual empirical daily along-track accelerations from 3.75 × 10 −9 m/s 2 with the a priori macromodel to 0.99 × 10 −9 m/s 2 with the UCL model. For the SPOT and Envisat DORIS satellite orbits from 2003 to 2008, we obtain average RMS overlaps of 0.8–0.9 cm in the radial direction, 2.1–3.4 cm cross-track, and 1.7–2.3 cm along-track. The RMS orbit differences between Envisat DORIS-only and SLR & DORIS orbits are 1.1 cm radially, 6.4 cm along-track and 3.7 cm cross-track and are characterized by systematic along-track mean offsets due to the Envisat DORIS system time bias of ±5–10 μs. We obtain a good agreement between the geometrically-determined geocenter parameters and geocenter parameters determined dynamically from analysis of the degree one terms of the geopotential. The intrinsic RMS weekly position repeatability with respect to the IDS-3 combination ranges from 2.5 to 3.0 cm in 1993–1994 to 1.5 cm in 2007–2008.

DOES GRAVITY PREFER THE POINCARÉ DODECAHEDRAL SPACE?

The missing fluctuations problem in cosmic microwave background observations is naturally explained by well-proportioned small universe models. Among these models, the Poincaré dodecahedral space is empirically favored. Does gravity favor this space? The residual gravity effect is the residual acceleration induced by weak limit gravity from multiple topological images of a massive object on a nearby negligible mass test object. At the present epoch, the residual gravity effect is about a million times weaker in three of the well-proportioned spaces than in ill-proportioned spaces. However, in the Poincaré space, the effect is 10,000 times weaker still, i.e. the Poincaré space is about 10,000 times "better-balanced" than ill-proportioned spaces. Both observations and weak limit dynamics select the Poincaré space to be special.

Flow Rate Limitation of Steady Convective Dominated Open Capillary Channel Flows Through a Groove

An open capillary channel is a structure that establishes a liquid flow path when the capillary pressure caused by surface tension forces dominates in comparison to the hydrostatic pressure induced by gravitational or residual accelerations. To maintain a steady flow through the channel the capillary pressure of the free surface has to balance the pressure difference between the liquid and the surrounding constant pressure gas phase. Due to convective and viscous momentum transport the pressure along the flow path of the liquid decreases and causes the free surface to bend inwards. The maximum flow rate through the channel is reached when the free surface collapses and gas ingestion occurs near the outlet. This stability limit depends on the geometry of the channel and the properties of the liquid. In this paper we present an experimental setup which is used in the low-gravity environment of the Bremen Drop Tower. Experiments with convective dominated systems have been performed where the flow rate was increased up to the maximum value. In comparison to this we present a one-dimensional theoretical model to determine important characteristics of the flow, such as the free surface shape and the limiting flow rate. Furthermore we present an explanation for the mechanism of flow rate limitation for these flow conditions which is similar to the choking problem for compressible gas flows.

The residual gravity acceleration effect in the Poincaré dodecahedral space

In a flat space, the global topology of comoving space can induce a weak acceleration effect similar to dark energy. Does a similar effect occur in the case of the Poincare dodecahedral space S^3/I^*? Does the effect distinguish the Poincare space from other well-proportioned spaces? The residual acceleration effect in the Poincare space is studied here using a massive particle and a nearby test particle of negligible mass, in S^3 embedded in R^4. The weak limit gravitational attraction on a test particle at distance r is set \propto [r_C \sin(r/r_C)]^{-2}, where r_C = curvature radius, in order to satisfy Stokes' theorem. A finite particle horizon large enough to include the adjacent topological images of the massive particle is assumed. The regular, flat, 3-torus T^3 is re-examined, and two other well-proportioned spaces, S^3/T^* and S^3/O^*, are also studied. The residual gravity effect occurs in all four cases. In a perfectly regular 3-torus of side length L_a, and in S^3/T^* and S^3/O^*, the highest order term in the residual acceleration is the third order term in the Taylor expansion of r/L_a (3-torus), or r/r_C, respectively. However, the Poincare dodecahedral space is unique among the four spaces. The third order cancels, leaving the fifth order term \sim \pm 300 (r/r_C)^5 as the most significant. Not only are three of the four perfectly regular well-proportioned spaces better balanced than most other multiply connected spaces in terms of the residual acceleration effect by a factor of about a million (setting r/L_a = r/r_C \sim 10^{-3}), but the fourth of these spaces is about 10^4 times better balanced than the other three. This is the Poincare dodecahedral space. Is this unique dynamical property of the Poincare space a clue towards a theory of cosmic topology?

Local dark matter searches with LISA

The drag-free satellites of LISA will maintain the test masses in geodesic motion over many years with residual accelerations at unprecedented small levels and time delay interferometry (TDI) will keep track of their differential positions at a level of picometers. This may allow investigations of fine details of the gravitational field in the solar system previously inaccessible. In this spirit, we present the concept of a method for measuring directly the gravitational effect of the density of diffuse local dark matter (LDM) with a constellation of a few drag-free satellites, by exploiting how peculiarly it would affect their relative motion. Using as a test-bed an idealized LISA with rigid arms, we find that the separation in time between the test masses is uniquely perturbed by the LDM, so that they acquire a differential breathing mode. Such an LDM signal is related to the LDM density within the orbits and has characteristic spectral components, with amplitudes increasing in time, at various frequencies of the dynamics of the constellation. This is the relevant result in that the LDM signal is brought to non-zero frequencies.

Electrical and optical surface degradation of silica due to superficial He implantation

Different oxides will be used in ITER and future fusion reactors for electrical insulation and optical components. The vacuum face of these materials will be subjected not only to neutron and gamma irradiation, but also to particle bombardment, due mainly to ionization of the residual gas and acceleration of the resulting ions by local electric fields. Previous work showed that silica suffers electrical and optical degradation when subjected to He bombardment with energies from 300 keV down to 27 keV. As the He ion energy may extend down to some few keV, or less, further work has been performed to study possible degradation for energies from 21 keV down to 5 keV. The results show that both surface and optical degradation occur at these low energies, more rapidly for the lowest energy (5 keV) ions. They also suggest that the superficial narrow implanted He profile plays an important role in the surface degradation.

AMG preconditioning for sedimentary basin simulations in Temis calculator

Basin modelling aims at reconstructing the time evolution of a sedimentary basin in order to make quantitative predictions of geological phenomena leading to hydrocarbon accumulations. It accounts for porous medium compaction, heat transfer, hydrocarbon generation and migration. These physical phenomena are modelled by partial differential equations [Schneider, F., Wolf, S., Faille, I., Pot, D. 2000. A 3D basin model for hydrocarbon potential evaluation: application to Congo offshore. Oil and Gas Science Technologie, Rev-IFP 55, 3–13] representing the mass balances of solid, fluids (water and oil) coupled with Darcy's law and a compaction law. These equations are discretized using a cell-centered Finite Volume method in space and an implicit Euler integration in time. At each time step, the resulting nonlinear system is solved using Newton's method ending up at each Newton iteration with the solution of a linear system which represents the most cpu-time-consuming part of the basin simulator. Solving these ill-conditioned linear systems by an iterative Krylov algorithm is a challenging task. It requires the design of efficient preconditioners which should be scalable with respect to the size of the mesh, the size of the heterogeneities, as well as the number of processors on distributed parallel computing architectures. They should in addition efficiently cope with the various types of unknowns and their coupling in the linear system, namely the pressure, the saturation, the hydrocarbon compositions, and the geostatic load. This paper focuses on the CPR-AMG preconditioner introduced in Lacroix, S., Vassilevski, Y., Wheeler M.F. [2001. Iterative solvers of the implicit parallel accurate reservoir simulator (IPARS). Numerical Linear Algebra with Applications, 537–549] based on the earlier works of Behie, A., Vinsome, P.K.W. [1982. Block iterative methods for fully implicite reservoir simulation. Society of Petroleum Engineers 22, 658–668]; Wallis, J. [1985. Constrained Residual Acceleration of Conjugate Residual Methods. 8 SPE paper 13536, Dallas, Texas], and successfully applied in reservoir simulation [Gratien, J.M., Magras, J.F., Quandalle, P., Ricois, O., 2004. Introducing a new generation of reservoir simulation software. In: ECMOR IX Proceedings, Cannes; Achdou, Y., Bonneau, P., Masson, R., Quandalle, P., 2006. Algebraic multigrid methods and block preconditioning for mixed elliptic hyperbolic linear systems. In: ECMOR X Proceedings, Amsterdam], as well as in basin modelling [Scheichl, R., Masson, R., Wendebourg, J., 2003. Decoupling and block preconditioning for sedimentary basin simulations. Computational Geosciences 7 (4), 295–318; Masson, R., Quandalle, P., Requena, S., Scheichl, R., 2004. Parallel preconditioning for sedimentary basin simulations. Lecture notes in computer science 2907. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Large Scale Scientific Computations. Springer, Sozopol, Bulgaria]. In this article, this approach is extended to compositional basin models, its performance is assessed on real challenging test cases on distributed parallel architectures, and compared with classical preconditioners.