THE EFFECTS OF THERMAL POLLUTION ON RIVER ICE CONDITIONS. I. A GENERAL METHOD OF CALCULATION

Abstract

An attempt is made to calculate the length of the ice-free reach which develops during the winter below a thermal pollution site on a river. A differential equation for the steady state heat balance of a volume element of a river is developed. The two principal limitations in accurately calculating downstream temperature changes are related to difficulties in evaluating the degree of lateral mixing in natural rivers and the convective and evaporative heat losses under unstable atmospheric conditions. Observations of lengths of ice-free reaches on the Mississippi River are in good agreement with the calculated values. Significant portions of the St. Lawrence Seaway can be kept ice-free by the installation of nuclear reactors at appropriate locations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1967
Accession Number
AD0666205

Entities

People

  • S. L. Dingman
  • Wilford F. Weeks
  • Yinchao Yen

Organizations

  • Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Temperature
  • Cloud Cover
  • Cold Regions
  • Computer Programs
  • Convection
  • Energy
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Heat Balance
  • Heat Energy
  • Heat Of Fusion
  • Heat Transfer
  • Latent Heat
  • Measurement
  • Steady State
  • Vapor Pressure
  • Wind Velocity

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Polar and Arctic Studies
  • Riverine Ecology