Effects of electric utility generating stations and steel mills on physical quality of Lake Michigan are considered. Study is based on extension of heat exchange model developed by Edinger and Geyer for small lakes and cooling ponds

Asbury, J. G.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

1972
	 B72-10004 
AEC-NASA TECH BRIEF	
-4r 
NASA Tech Briefs announce new technology derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
Service, Springfield; Virginia 22151. Requests for individual copies or questions relating to the. Tech Brief program may 
be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Effect Of Thermal Discharges 
On The Mass Energy Balance Of Lake Michigan 
A report analyzing the impact of man made, 
thermal discharges on the mass energy balance of Lake 
Michigan considers the effects of electric utility gener-
ating stations and steel mills on the physical quality of 
the lake. The study was based on an extension of the 
heat exchange model developed by Edinger and Geyer 
for small lakes and cooling ponds. The Edinger and 
•
Geyer model was generalized by incorporating the ef-
fect of "atmospheric feedback". The feedback term is 
needed because the over-lake dew point and over-lake 
temperature are affected by the temperature of the water 
surface of a large lake. The generalized model is appli-
cable to all bodies of water. 
The study predicts that a thermal discharge in-
crease of one gigawatt into Lake Michigan will increase 
the surface temperature by .8 ± .2 x 10 -3'00	 C and in-
crease the water loss due to surface evaporation by 
.25 ± .06 cubic meters per second. The lake wide ef-
fects of man made discharge are negligible and will re-
main negligible for the rest of this century. 
The report also presents the results obtained when 
the generalized model was applied to the other four 
Great Lakes. 
The information contained in this report should 
be of interest to environmental and water resource 
engineers, designers of electrical power facilities and 
pollution control agencies.
Note:
Requests for further information may be directed 
to:
Technology Utilization Officer 
Division of Technical Information 
U. S Atomic Energy Commission 
Washington, D. C. 20545 
Reference: TSP72-1 0004 
Patent status: 
Inquiries concerning rights for commercial use of 
this information may be made to: 
Mr. George H. Lee, Chief 
Chicago Patent Group 
U. S. Atomic Energy Commission 
Chicago Operations Office 
9800 South Cass Avenue 
Argonne, Illinois 60439 
Source: J. G. Asbury
Argonne National Laboratories 
under contract to
Atomic Energy Commission 
(AEC-10013) 
Category 03 
This documeft was prepared under the sponsorship of the National 	 Government assumes any liability resulting from the use of the 
Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither the United States 	 information contained in this document, or warrants that such use 
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States	 will be free from privately owned rights.
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Effect of thermal discharges on the mass energy balance of Lake Michigan

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