DENSITY CURRENT INTRUSIONS IN AN ICE-COVERED URBAN LAKE1

ABSTRACT: Evidence is presented that snowmelt runoff from an urban watershed can produce density current intrusions (underflows) in a lake. Several episodes of density current intrusions are documented. Water temperatures and salinities measured near the bottom of a 10 m deep Minneapolis lake during the late winter warming periods in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1995 show significant rapid changes which are correlated with observed higher air temperatures and snowmelt runoff. The snowmelt runoff entering this particular lake (Ryan Lake) has increased electrical conductivity, salinity, and density. The source of the salinity is the salt spread on urban streets in the winter. Heating of littoral waters in spring may also contribute to the occurrence of the sinking flows, but is clearly not the only cause.     

HISTORICAL TRENDS IN SEDIMENTATION RATES AND SEDIMENT PROVENANCE,FAIRFIELD LAKE,WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA1

Sedimentation rates and sediment provenance were examined for lacustrine sediments deposited in Fairfield Lake, western North Carolina, during the past 111 years. Stratigraphic, radionuclide, and cartographic data indicate that sedimentation rates have increased several fold during the past three decades in response to localized development. The magnitude of increased sedimentation was surprising given limited development within the basin: 0.12 to 0.68 buildings/ha in 2000 in those parts directly delivering sediment to the dated cores. Thus, the analysis illustrates the potential sensitivity of watersheds in the southern Appalachians to changes in land cover. An approach that combined geochemical fingerprinting with sediment mixing models was subsequently evaluated to determine its ability to accurately estimate the contribution of sediment from (1) major bedrock formations that underlie the watershed and (2) potential sources associated with four land cover categories. Sediment sources in both analyses proved difficult to geochemically fingerprint to greater than 90 percent accuracy using data on acid‐soluble metals and selected isotopes of lead (Pb). The relative contributions of sediment from delineated sources, estimated by the mixing models, generally corresponded with known temporal and spatial patterns of land cover. However, the models were plagued by two significant problems — the chemical alteration of sediments as they were transported through upland streams to depositional sites within the lake and the loss of elemental mass. Thus, future investigations using the fingerprinting approach in this area of intense weathering, and presumably others, will need to modify the existing methods to more accurately elucidate changes in sediment provenance related to development.     

Some unusual case histories from personal experience

Is protection of equipment the only consideration when setting the relieving pressures of safety relief valves? I will show you a case where other factors should have been considered and suggest that you might give your safety valve set pressures a second thought.Do you have side-by-side pieces of identical equipment? If so, you must consider that operating or maintenance personnel may become confused, and the results maybe catastrophic. A PVC reactor incident will demonstrate this point.Does your process contain materials that could decompose? After thirty years of safe operation in butadiene units, there was a vinyl acetylene decomposition. Could it happen to you?It is my hope that these three unique and unusual cases will provide valuable information for operations and maintenance personnel, managers, safety professionals, and engineers.     

Piggery: from environmental pollution to a climate change solution

Pig farms are a vital component of rural economies in Australia. However, disposal of effluent leads to many environmental problems. This case study of the Berrybank Farm piggery waste management system in Victoria estimates greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits from three different activities. Analysis reveals that the capturing and combusting of methane from piggery effluent could save between 4859 and 5840 tCO2e yr(-1) of GHG emissions. Similarly, using methane for replacing fuels for electricity generation could save another 800 tCO2e yr(-1)of GHGs. Likewise, by utilizing the biogas wastes to replace inorganic fertilizers there could be a further saving of 1193 to 1375 tCO2e yr(-1) of GHG, depending on the type of fertilizers the waste replaces. Therefore, a well-managed piggery farm with 15,000 pigs could save 6,852 to 8,015 tCO2e yr(-1), which equates to the carbon sequestrated from 6,800 to 8,000 spotted gum trees (age=35 year) in their above plus below-ground biomass. Implementation of similar project in suitable areas in Australia could have significant environmental and financial benefits.     

Photochemical Smog Modelling Using the Air Pollution Chemical Transport Model (TAPM-CTM) in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - This paper describes the application of the air pollution model (TAPM-CTM) for photochemical airshed modelling in the Ho Chi Minh region. The model was...     

Using of “pseudo-second-order model” in adsorption

A research paper's contribution exists not only in its originality and creativity but also in its continuity and development for research that follows. However, the author easily ignores it. Citation error and quotation error occurred very frequently in a scientific paper. Numerous researchers use secondary references without knowing the original idea from authors. Sulaymon et al. (Environ Sci Pollut Res 20:3011–3023, 2013) and Spiridon et al. (Environ Sci Pollut Res 20:6367–6381, 2013) presented wrong pseudo-second-order models in Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 20. This comment pointed the errors of the kinetic models and offered information for citing original idea of pseudo-second-order kinetic expression. In order to stop the proliferation of the mistake, it is suggested to cite the original paper for the kinetic model which provided greater accuracy and more details about the kinetic expression.     

The implementation of a measurement system for brushless DC motor parameters

Most of the energy conversion in industrial devices and equipment is completed by the motor. The acquirement of motor parameters becomes very important for designing the motor drives. The aim of this paper is to design and implement a motor measurement system. Through the processing of an Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) microcontroller, the various parameters of motors such as input voltage, input current, input power, motor speed, and motor torque can be obtained. Consequently, the torque constant, load torque, viscous friction, and the inertia of the motor are calculated and achieved. The motor parameters can be commanded and displayed in the designed human interface of a PC via USB communication. The hardware system designed in this system includes an ARM microcontroller, an inverter, a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a torque sensor, and power supply. The software programming is developed under the Visual Studio 2012 environment development platform using the C language. Finally, the prototype of the motor measurement system is completed and verified. The experimental results for the motor parameters and torque/speed characteristic are demonstrated and show the feasibility of the complete designed system.     

A validated 2-D diffusion–advection model for prediction of drift from ground boom sprayers

Correct field drift prediction is a key element in environmental risk assessment of spraying applications. A reduced order drift prediction model based on the diffusion–advection equation is presented. It allows fast assessment of the drift potential of specific ground boom applications under specific environmental wind conditions that obey the logarithmic wind profile. The model was calibrated based on simulations with a validated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. Validation of both models against 38 carefully conducted field experiments is successfully performed for distances up to 20 m from the field edge, for spraying on flat pasture land. The reduced order model succeeded in correct drift predictions for different nozzle types, wind velocities, boom heights and spray pressures. It used 4 parameters representing the physical aspects of the drift cloud; the height of the cloud at the field edge, the mass flux crossing the field edge, the settling velocity of the droplets and the turbulence. For the parameter set and range considered, it is demonstrated for the first time that the effect of the droplet diameter distribution of the different nozzle types on the amount of deposition spray drift can be evaluated by a single parameter, i.e., the volume fraction of droplets with a diameter smaller than 191 μm. The reduced order model can be solved more than 4 orders of magnitude faster than the comprehensive CFD model.