Assessing the effectiveness of airborne thermal technology for delineating environmental thermal effluent

Bruce Power Generating Station is located on the shores of Lake Huron and is responsible for generating 30% of the Province of Ontario’s electrical need on a daily basis. Lake Huron is the 5th largest freshwater lake by volume and provides cool lake water to cool the steam generated by the CANDU® reactors. The resulting thermal effluent is regulated and must be monitored to ensure the generating station does not exceed the values published in the operating certificate. Current monitoring is conducted through a series of surface temperature probes at strategic locations. Airborne thermal cameras provide a new dimension to thermal data acquisition and have been tested in smaller capacities on similar industrial complexes. This study compares data collected by surface probes, FireMapper 2.0 (a longwave frame-based thermal camera), longwave thermal data collected by Landsat 8 TIRS, and surface models generated using the CORMIX software suite. The results from this study suggest a strong correlation between the data collected by FireMapper 2.0 and Landsat 8 TIRS. The trend of the ground samples is similar to the data collected by FireMapper 2.0, but a large offset exists between the data sets. Furthermore, the CORMIX model is able to estimate the surface area occupied by thermal effluence, but the spatial bounds of the model require refinement. This study concludes that airborne thermal sensors are sensitive enough to collect useful thermal data for effluence delineation. Some further investigation is required on integrating navigation solutions to generate better accuracy within the FireMapper 2.0 frame-based solution. As well, the study area seemed to reach the extents of the capture abilities of FireMapper 2.0. Airborne thermal technology is worth considering for future effluent research

Modelling the thermal effluent of a near coast power plant (Sines, Portugal)

ABSTRACT The present work is focused on the dispersion of a thermal effluent, produced by the Sines power plant, Portugal, along coastal waters. This facility intakes a yearly average around 40 m 3 /s of seawater, for the required cooling process, which is subsequently discharged back to the ocean at a 10 ºC increase in temperature. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic local model was nested into a regional model and set up to simulate the transport of the thermal effluent during two distinct periods, August and October 2013, respectively featuring dominant north and south wind. The simulations were performed for both situations, with and without the thermal discharge, where the later provides baseline scenarios. Obtained model results closely followed the existing field data. The temperature increase is shown to decay from 10 ºC near the outlet vicinity to 2 ºC at a distance of 2 km from the outlet for both scenarios. Even though the main driving force of this phenomenon is the wind, tidal conditions also have additional influence on thermal plume dispersion near the discharge area. In the north wind scenario the plume extends away from the coast while under south wind dominance the plume is contained near the coast, extending towards the inlet. As a consequence there is a positive feedback under south wind dominance, which is caused by the intake of already warm water from the thermal plume itself. Consequently, south wind dominance is the most unfavorable scenario for both coastal environment and the operational efficiency of the power plant. Keywords: Thermal discharge; Three-dimensional model; Coastal hydrodynamics; Water temperature Submission: 8 JAN 2015; Peer review: 1 MAR 2015; Revised: 20 MAY 2015; Accepted: 26 JUN 2015; Available on-line: 29 JUN 2015 This article contains supporting information online at http://www.aprh.pt/rgci/pdf/rgci-577_Salgueiro_Supporting-Information.pdf Salgueiro et al. (2015) 534 RESUMO Modelação de um efluente térmico numa zona costeira (central termoelétrica de Sines, Portugal) Este artigo tem como objetivo estudar a dispersão do efluente térmico da central termoelétrica de Sines (Portuga

EFFECTS OF A REVERSE OSMOSIS-WATER TREATMENT PLANT BRINY CONCENTRATE DISCHARGED INTO AN OLIGOHALINE ESTUARY.

Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plants (RO-WTPs) create potable water and a briny concentrate that must be disposed; often it is discharged into nearby surface waters. Currently, there is no published research to examine effects of this discharge on the ambient environment or on resident and transient biota. One established RO-WTP discharge location was used as a model and compared with a control location within the same embayment and the locations of two RO-WTPs pre-construction. These two plants may discharge up to eight times more concentrate into the estuary. A one-year study used acoustic Doppler current profilers; Hydrolab sondes; a YSI meter; and biological and water collections to profile each location. Water movements at all locations were correlated with wind velocity measured at the USCG-EC weather station and the tide cycle at Mann's Harbor marina. Average velocity was lowest at the established RO-WTP and highest at the two proposed locations in fall 2005. Salinity varied significantly (p < 0.001) between the established RO-WTP and one of the proposed locations. From the four locations, we collected 21 species of macroinvertebrates. Location and date were not found to be significant. The effect of briny discharge on two species of macroinvertebrates dissipated beyond 5 m of the diffuser. The macrozooplankton (13 taxa) showed significant differences by date but not location while for the nekton (35 species) showed significant temporal differences (Spearman's Rho = 0.669) and moderate differences by location (Spearman's Rho = 0.237). There was no evidence that the RO-WTP has a significant impact on either the macrozooplankton or nekton collected. Overall, the biotic communities sampled from the four locations are typical for oligohaline to mesohaline estuaries. There were no significant differences in diversity for any biota collected. It is recommended that 1) data collection related to the discharge continue; 2) measurable indicators of biotic integrity from oligohaline to mesohaline environments be developed; and 3) post-construction samples at the two proposed RO-WTPs continue so as to investigate the effects of increased volume of brine on the local surface water as well as the resident and transient biota.  Ph.D

Effects of the thermal effluent from C.P. Crane Generating Station on submersed aquatic macrophyte communities in the Saltpeter-Dundee Creek system

While water quality is often cited as the main factor that controls the distribution of submersed aquatic macrophytes (SAM) in the Chesapeake Bay, additional factors associated with physical and/or biological disturbances also affect the distribution. At local scales, such as in Saltpeter Creek, a tributary to the Gunpowder River, the thermal effluent from C.P. Crane Power Plant may be an important environmental gradient. I mapped the temperature signature of the effluent in Saltpeter Creek and intensively sampled the plant community structure to investigate the ecological similarity of SAM communities within and across different thermal regimes. I also conducted growth chamber experiments to study how different species and populations sampled from different temperature regimes respond to a controlled temperature gradient. Analyses show that although significant differences in water temperature exist across the study site, differences in temperature do not appear to significantly drive the plant community composition of the system

Bacterial total maximum daily load (TMDL): development and evaluation of a new classification scheme for impaired waterbodies of Texas

Under the Clean Water Act (CWA) program the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) listed 110 stream segments with pathogenic bacteria impairment in 2000. The current study was conducted to characterize the watersheds associated with the impaired waterbodies. The main characteristics considered for the classification of waterbodies were designated use of the waterbody, land use distribution, density of stream network, average distance of a land of a particular use to the closest stream, household population, density of on-site sewage facilities (OSSF), bacterial loading due to the presence of different types of farm animals and wildlife, and average climatic conditions. The availability of observed in-stream fecal coliform bacteria concentration data was evaluated to obtain subgroups of data-rich and data-poor watersheds within a group. The climatic data and observed in-stream fecal coliform bacteria concentrations were analyzed to find out seasonal variability of the water quality. The watershed characteristics were analyzed using the multivariate statistical analysis techniques such as factor analysis/principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and discriminant analysis. Six groups of watersheds were formed as result of the statistical analysis. The main factors that differentiate the clusters were found to be bacterial contribution from farm animals and wildlife, density of OSSF, density of households connected to public sewers, and the land use distribution. Two watersheds were selected each from two groups of watersheds. Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) model was calibrated for one watershed within each group and tested for the other watershed in the same group to study the similarity in the parameter sets due to the similarity in watershed characteristics. The study showed that the watersheds within a given cluster formed during the multivariate statistical analysis showed similar watershed characteristics and yielded similar model results for similar model input parameters. The effect of parameter uncertainty on the in-stream bacterial concentration predictions by HSPF was evaluated for the watershed of Salado Creek, in Bexar County. The parameters that control the HSPF model hydrology contributed the most variance in the in-stream fecal coliform bacterial concentrations corresponding to a simulation period between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2000

The Mesaba Energy Project: Clean Coal Power Initiative, Round 2

The Mesaba Energy Project is a nominal 600 MW integrated gasification combine cycle power project located in Northeastern Minnesota. It was selected to receive financial assistance pursuant to code of federal regulations (?CFR?) 10 CFR 600 through a competitive solicitation under Round 2 of the Department of Energy?s Clean Coal Power Initiative, which had two stated goals: (1) to demonstrate advanced coal-based technologies that can be commercialized at electric utility scale, and (2) to accelerate the likelihood of deploying demonstrated technologies for widespread commercial use in the electric power sector. The Project was selected in 2004 to receive a total of $36 million. The DOE portion that was equally cost shared in Budget Period 1 amounted to about$22.5 million. Budget Period 1 activities focused on the Project Definition Phase and included: project development, preliminary engineering, environmental permitting, regulatory approvals and financing to reach financial close and start of construction. The Project is based on ConocoPhillips? E-Gas? Technology and is designed to be fuel flexible with the ability to process sub-bituminous coal, a blend of sub-bituminous coal and petroleum coke and Illinois # 6 bituminous coal. Major objectives include the establishment of a reference plant design for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (?IGCC?) technology featuring advanced full slurry quench, multiple train gasification, integration of the air separation unit, and the demonstration of 90% operational availability and improved thermal efficiency relative to previous demonstration projects. In addition, the Project would demonstrate substantial environmental benefits, as compared with conventional technology, through dramatically lower emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and mercury. Major milestones achieved in support of fulfilling the above goals include obtaining Site, High Voltage Transmission Line Route, and Natural Gas Pipeline Route Permits for a Large Electric Power Generating Plant to be located in Taconite, Minnesota. In addition, major pre-construction permit applications have been filed requesting authorization for the Project to i) appropriate water sufficient to accommodate its worst case needs, ii) operate a major stationary source in compliance with regulations established to protect public health and welfare, and iii) physically alter the geographical setting to accommodate its construction. As of the current date, the Water Appropriation Permits have been obtained