A STOCHASTIC DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING MODEL FOR THE OPTIMUM OPERATION OF A MULTI-PURPOSE RESERVOIR1

ABSTRACT: The main objective of this paper is to present a stockastic dynamic programming model useful in determining the optimal operating policy of a single multipurpose surface reservoir. It is the unreliability of forecasting the amount of future streamflow which makes the problem of a reservoir operation a stochastic process. In this paper the stochastic nature of the streamflow is taken into account by considering the correlation between the streamflows of each pair of consecutive time intervals. This interdependence is used to calculate the probability of transition from a given state and stage to its succeeding ones. A dynamic programming model with a physical equation and a stochastic recursive equation is developed to find the optimum operational policy. For illustrative purposes, the model is applied to a real surface water reservoir system.     

CASING AND LEAK DEPTHS,AND SOLUTE TRAVEL TIMES TO WELLS1

ABSTRACT: A mathematical solution based on porous media flow is developed for solute travel time to a well as affected by a leak around the upper part of the casing. Consider a well of radius 0.2 meters (m) penetrating, fully, a semiconfined aquifer of thickness 6 m with impermeable casing length of 4.5 m, and screened casing length 1.5 m. Around the upper 1.5 m of the impermeable casing length, there is a highly permeable region (a leak). The radius of influence of the well is 10 m. The porous flow medium has a hydraulic conductivity of 10 m/day and a porosity of 0.25. Between the water table and the water level in the well, there is a steady state pumped down head difference of 0.3 m. Solute travel time from a point at the bottom of the leak to the well is 2.33 days. If the leak is sealed (grouted), the travel time is 6.24 days. Examples of six different geometries are given. Laboratory studies verify the theory. The computations should be useful in the design and protection of water wells from solutes, such as from agriculture, industry, strip mines, or sanitary landfills.     

RESISTANCE TO FLOW OVER RIPRAP IN STEEP CHANNELS1

ABSTRACT: A series of flume tests were conducted to determine the flow resistance of angular shaped riprap in steep channels. Flow resistance was expressed in terms of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor and the Manning's roughness coefficient. Prototype channels of 4 ft. (1.2 m) and 12 ft. (3.7 m) in width were constructed at slopes ranging from 0.01 to 0.20. The channel beds were comprised of angular riprap of median diameters of 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 inches (2.59, 5.59, 10.41, 12.95, and 15.75 cms). The Darcy-Weisbach and Manning's coefficients were determined for each test condition prior to bed failure. The resulting Darcy-Weisbach coefficients were related to the channel energy gradient and the bed relative submergence for highly turbulent flow. Also, Manning's roughness coefficients were related to the product of the median stone diameter and energy gradient. Because of the angular shape of the riprap and the wedging and/or packing of the bed materials, the resistance to flow was found to exceed the flow resistance values predicted by previous studies. Expressions were presented for estimating the resistance to flow for angular riprap in steep channels.     

Quality of drinking water in the Aligarh Muslim University Campus,Aligarh, U.P. (India) with respect to heavy metals

The physico-chemical characteristics of the drinking water in nine residential halls of the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P. (India), were studied. Nine samples each of running and standing water were taken four times over a period of one month at weekly intervals from all of the residential halls and were analysed for physico-chemical characteristics and heavy metal contents. The temperature, pH and electrical conductivity of water samples ranged between 20.0–26.0°C; 7.00–8.00 and 116.00–199.04 micromhos cm^–1 respectively whereas the values of total alkalinity, total hardness, Cl^–, SO ₄ ^– , F^–, NH₃–N, NO₂–N; NO₃–N were found between 261.00–396.00; 128.00–200.00; 8.00–69.00; 12.00–46.00; 0.90–1.35; 0.20–0.44; ND; 1.60–6.50 mg l^–1 respectively. The ranges of heavy metal concentrations in the running water samples were as follows: Cd (0.70–3.75); Cr (ND-5.00); Co (9.50–18.75); Cu (0.75–15.00); Fe (ND-13.50); Mn (3.50–51.00); Ni (7.00–17.50); Pb (0.50–2.50) and Zn (10.00–176.50) g l^–1. The heavy metal concentrations in standing water samples were found to be: Cd (1.20–4.90); Cr (ND-10.00); Co (10.25–19.00); Cu (1.75–20.00); Fe (ND-18.00); Mn (5.00–66.50); Ni (8.75–19.75); Pb (0.75–5.50) and Zn (28.60–364.00) g l^–1. The concentrations of heavy metals in drinking water supplies of the Aligarh Muslim University campus were well below the guidelines for drinking water quality as prescribed by World Health Organisation (1984). It is evident from the results that the drinking water may not cause any significant health hazard to water consumers due to heavy metals but these may be hazardous if they get accumulated in the body due to continuous consumption of water.     

A short review on hydrothermal liquefaction of livestock manure and a chance for Korea to advance swine manure to bio-oil technology

Due to the abundant supply and suitable physicochemical characteristics of livestock manure, it may be a useful biomass to produce biofuels, such as “bio-oil.” Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising method for converting such wet biomasses into a liquid fuels and has attracted attention worldwide. In this review, the current state of research on the hydrothermal liquefaction of livestock manure biomasses is summarized. The effect of operating parameters on the yield of bio-oil is also reviewed. The fundamental characteristics of raw manure biomasses and converted oils are outlined and discussed in the paper. To reduce the use of fossil fuel and nuclear energy, the South Korean government has pledged to increase renewable energy. Based on findings from a literature review, it can be concluded that there is a chance for Korea to advance bio-oil production from the abundant and tremendous energy potential of swine manure by a hydrothermal liquefaction process.     

Potential Impact of Climate Change on Residential Energy Consumption in Dhaka City

This study aimed to assess the impacts of climate change on residential energy consumption in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. The monthly electricity consumption data for the period 2011–2014 and long-term climate variables namely monthly rainfall and temperature records (1961–2010) were used in the study. An ensemble of six global circulation models (GCMs) of coupled model intercomparison project phase 5 (CMIP5) namely, BCCCSM1-1, CanESM2, MIROC5, MIROC-ESM, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, and NorESM1-M under four representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios were used to project future changes in rainfall and temperature. The regression models describing the relationship between historical energy consumption and climate variables were developed to project future changes in energy consumptions. The results revealed that daily energy consumption in Dhaka city increases in the range of 6.46–11.97 and 2.37–6.25 MkWh at 95% level of confidence for every increase of temperature by 1 °C and daily average rainfall by 1 mm, respectively. This study concluded that daily total residential energy demand and peak demand in Dhaka city can increase up to 5.9–15.6 and 5.1–16.7%, respectively, by the end of this century under different climate change scenarios.     

Simultaneous effect of shift work on blood pressure and lipid profile: a path analysis

The aim of this study was to assess the direct and indirect effects of shift work (SW) on the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and lipid profile of male workers. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was conducted involving 6539 male workers of Esfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company. From all of the participants, 3065 (46.8%) were day workers and the remainder were shift workers. The results of path analysis revealed that the most effective variables on SBP were body mass index, fasting blood sugar, triglycerides and SW with a total effect of 0.241, 0.095, 0.064 and 0.056, respectively.     

Association of benzene exposure with insulin resistance,SOD, and MDA as markers of oxidative stress in children and adolescents

Benzene is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant with various health effects. It is reported that benzene exposure might be associated with insulin resistance in elderly adults. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between urinary benzene metabolite, trans, trans-muconic acid (t,t-ma) and markers of oxidative stress and insulin resistance in children and adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 among 86 children and adolescents, aged 6–18 years, living in Isfahan, Iran. t,t-ma was measured as urinary benzene metabolite and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) was determined as an index of insulin resistance. Moreover, malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were assessed as oxidative stress markers. We found significant association between insulin resistance, fasting blood glucose, and fasting blood insulin with t,t-ma (p values?=?0.002, 0.03, and 0.001, respectively). Results of this study indicate that benzene metabolite in higher concentrations in comparison with lower concentrations is associated with increased risk of insulin resistance. Moreover, after adjustment for age, sex, and household passive smoking, statistically significant increase were documented in SOD and MDA (4.49- and 3.54-fold, respectively) in intermediate levels of t,t-ma vs. low levels of t,t-ma (p values?=?0.01 and 0.034, respectively). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in its kind in the pediatric age group. It showed that benzene exposures, even in environmental levels, might be associated with insulin resistance and oxidative stress in children and adolescents. Further longitudinal studies are necessary to assess the clinical impacts of this finding.     

Effect of PM2.5 chemical constituents on atmospheric visibility impairment

PM_2.5 sampling was conducted at a curbside location in Delhi city for summer and winter seasons, to evaluate the effect of PM_2.5 and its chemical components on the visibility impairment. The PM_2.5 concentrations were observed to be higher than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), indicating poor air quality. The chemical constituents of PM_2.5 (the water-soluble ionic species SO₄^2-, NO₃^?, Cl^?, and NH₄⁺, and carbonaceous species: organic carbon, elemental carbon) were analyzed to study their impact on visibility impairment by reconstructing the light extinction coefficient, b_ext. The visibility was found to be negatively correlated with PM_2.5 and its components. The reconstructed b_ext showed that organic matter was the largest contributor to b_ext in both the seasons which may be attributed to combustion sources. In summer season, it was followed by elemental carbon and ammonium sulfate; however, in winter, major contributions were from ammonium nitrate and elemental carbon. Higher elemental carbon in both seasons may be attributed to traffic sources, while lower concentrations of nitrate during summer, may be attributed to volatility because of higher atmospheric temperatures.

Implications: The chemical constituents of PM_2.5 that majorly effect the visibility impairment are organic matter and elemental carbon, both of which are products of combustion processes. Secondary formations that lead to ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate production also impair the visibility.     

Response curves of seventeen woody species to soil factors along a riparian forest in northern Iran

The aim of this study was to determine type of response curves for seventeen woody species (10 tree and 7 shrub species) to soil factors in an intact riparian forest in Safaroud River in northern Iran using HOF function. Data were collected along transects established perpendicular to the water flow on both sides of the river. Results indicated different responses for different woody species. The most common were symmetricunimodal response curves and curves showing an increase in occurrence probability after a certain value in form of a plateau. Bimodal curves were four times more frequent in riverside than forest interior area. It seems that river flow disturbances through frequent floods effect on species tolerance and optimum in riversides.