Geography
Thermal Pollution
Thermal pollution refers to the degradation of water quality due to changes in water temperature caused by human activities. This can occur when industrial processes or power plants release heated water into natural water bodies, disrupting aquatic ecosystems and harming aquatic life. Thermal pollution can lead to reduced oxygen levels in water, affecting the balance of aquatic ecosystems.
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7 Key excerpts on "Thermal Pollution"
eBook - PDF- Thomas Waite(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Chapter 7 Thermal Effects on Water Quality I. INTRODUCTION The term Thermal Pollution is used to describe water quality deterioration caused by inputs of heated water, mostly from industrial cooling processes. As the natural temperature regime of a water system changes because of Thermal Pollution, environmental systems become stressed. Although some members of aquatic ecosystems can adapt to the heated water, many are incapable of doing so and either die or are forced to relocate. However, the temperature range that can be tolerated by aquatic organisms is nar-row. Therefore, when large volumes of heated effluent are introduced to a water system, at least some degree of stress quickly develops. Many industries use water as a coolant. The principal user is the thermoelectric power industry, which consumes approximately 70% of all the water used for industrial cooling. Owing to the inefficiency of thermo-electric power generation, a large amount of energy (heat) is wasted, and this waste heat is absorbed by the cooling water. Each kilowatt hour of energy produced in a highly efficient coal-fired plant generates approximately 6000 Btu's, or two-thirds of the heat, as waste that must be removed by the cooling 160 Sources of Heated Effluents 161 water. Nuclear power plants are even more wasteful (less efficient) because of the lower steam temperature in the throttle. Some nuclear facilities, in fact, waste 40% more heat than fossil fuel plants; the average nuclear plant transfers 10,000 Btu's of heat to the cooling water per kilowatt hour of electricity produced. Because of the high standard of living in the United States, the demand for electric power is great. As the demand for electricity continues to increase, the number and size of thermoelectric power plants will also increase. It is estimated that in the near future the power industry will be using a large portion of the nation's total available freshwater runoff for cooling.
eBook - PDF- Peter Krenkel(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
14 Thermal Pollution INTRODUCTION Considerable time has elapsed since the scientific community and regu-latory agencies officially recognized that the addition of large quantities of heat to a receiving water possesses the potential for causing ecological harm. It is interesting to note that a ''comprehensive water pollution survey conducted by the United States Public Health Service in 1962 (USDHEW, 1963) did not even include a significant power plant in the study, while today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has dem-onstrated inclinations toward precluding the use of once-through cooling. It is obvious that the Thermal Pollution problem must be placed in its proper perspective in order to prevent the imposition of unnecessary and pointless costs to the American consumer/taxpayer. For example, it has been shown by the Utility Water Act Group (UWAG), which is composed of the majority of electrical power generating industry in the United States, that should the EPA be successful in enforcing its requirements for cooling devices, the average cost to each American household would be on the order of $250 per year—$125 through increases in the residen-tial electrical bill and $125 through increased costs of goods and services provided by industrial and commercial consumers of electricity (Edison Electric Institute, 1974). 554 Overflow versus Mixed Heated Discharges 555 The temperature of receiving waters is considered and measured as a physical quantity. However, temperature levels are quite significant in water quality management. Probably the single most important water quality parameter affecting aquatic life is temperature. All biochemical and most physical-chemical reactions are temperature dependent, inas-much as most reaction rates, whether physical, chemical, or biological in nature, are approximately doubled for each 10°C increase in temperature. Thus, the modeling of temperature in receiving waters is of great import.
eBook - ePubWaste
A Handbook for Management
- Trevor Letcher, Daniel A. Vallero, Trevor M. Letcher(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Chapter 28. Thermal PollutionDaniel A. Vallero
Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, N. Carolina, USAOutline1. Introduction4252. Cumulative Effects of Thermal Pollution4263. Thermochemical Pollution4323.1. Thermochemical Formation of Carbon Compounds 4333.2. Thermochemical Formation of Sulfur and Nitrogen Compounds 4363.3. Toxic Byproducts 4384. Conclusions4431. IntroductionFrom a waste management perspective, heat is both a friend and foe. When properly designed and operated, incinerators and other thermal technologies reduce municipal and industrial wastes in volume and change their physical and chemical properties to make these wastes less toxic and more easily manageable. However, if not operated properly, these same technologies can form very toxic chemical compounds. In addition, most industrial processes make ample use of chemical reactions at high temperatures, which not only release excess heat to the environment but also often generate chemical pollutants.Organisms and ecosystems survive within a finite range of environmental conditions. One of the key factors in these conditions is the temperature range. Anthropogenic activities can alter the heat balances within the environment. Thus, heat can be considered a pollutant in situations where its release into an environmental system adversely affects the optimal temperature ranges or indirectly changes other conditions that harm organisms, including humans. Such input can occur at any environmental scale, from cellular (e.g., small-scale changes to a portion of an aquatic system that interferes with microbial metabolism) to planetary (e.g., large-scale changes in global heat balances that increase seasonal ambient temperatures, leading to increased incidences of heat stress or indirect climate changes that adversely impact ecosystems).Thermal pollutants can affect the environment in every phase and environmental media. Heat may be a water pollutant if its addition directly or indirectly harms the biota living in surface wards. The raised temperatures in water, for example, can alter the biodiversity of an ecosystem in two ways. Increased temperature may not be tolerable for aquatic biota and/or the increased temperature increases microbial growth, which in turn decreases dissolved oxygen (DO), makes metals more bioavailable, or in other ways increases the harm from nutrients and toxins.
eBook - ePubWaste
A Handbook for Management
- Trevor Letcher, Daniel A. Vallero, Trevor M. Letcher(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
These changes affect the most sensitive species first, but the effects are compounded given the food-prey relationships. Loss of or diminished food species harms the next trophic level if a substitute is not available, and even the substitute were available this could alter other species dependent on this as their principal or exclusive food source. Thus even small changes in heat can induce substantial changes in biological organization and trophic state [6, 7]. Thermal pollutants can affect the environment in every phase and environmental media. Heat may be a water pollutant if its addition directly or indirectly harms the biota living in surface wards. The raised temperatures in water, for example, can alter the biodiversity of an ecosystem in two ways. The increased temperature may not be tolerable for aquatic biota and/or the increased temperature increases microbial growth, which in turn decreases dissolved oxygen, makes metals more bioavailable, or in other ways increases the harm from nutrients and toxins. 2 Cumulative Effects of Thermal Pollution Direct heating of substrates, for example, water, air, and soil, can cause environmental harm. Microclimatological changes can occur due to the release of heated plumes from combustion facilities and vehicles. Even soil that receives added heat can be polluted if it changes the habitat (e.g., changes to freeze-thaw cycles, seasonal variations, and selectivity) of certain soil biota (e.g., bacteria, plant root systems and fauna like earthworms, burrowing and nesting animals). Such pollutants need to be treated, such as by cooling towers before heated water reaches surface water and other sensitive habitat. Heat can initiate cumulative environmental impacts, such as the heat exchange and changing conditions of receiving water bodies [8]
eBook - PDF- E.J. Ferguson Wood, R.E. Johannes(Authors)
- 1975(Publication Date)
- Elsevier Science(Publisher)
CHAPTER 5 EFFECTS OF Thermal Pollution ON TROPICAL-TYPE ESTUARIES, WITH EMPHASIS ON BISCAYNE BAY, FLORIDA J.C. ZIEMAN and E.J. FERGUSON WOOD t Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. (U.S.A.) GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Tropical estuarine regions are beginning to undergo the rapid development and industrialization which has damaged estuarine and neritic ecosystems of the temperate zone. Nearly all Thermal Pollution studies have been made in temperate waters and the body of quantitative information on the ecology of tropical marine and estuarine environments is still quite small. The problem of thermal additions to the tropical oceans is similar qualita- tively to that in temperate water. Any additions are potentially more harm- ful in the tropics, however, since tropical organisms live closer to their upper thermal limits. Usually, even in the tropics, the effluent will be warmer than the surface ocean water, and, if the intake is from an estuary, the salinity will normally be lower, so the heated water will tend to lie on the surface until mixed. Here it is subject to maximal evaporation, and mixing by wave and wind. Only in areas where there is a continual, onshore wind over long periods, is there likely to be any extensive heat damage to sedentary animal and plant communities, or near a high temperature-high salinity outfall from a combination power generation-desalination plant, where the effluent will sink to the bottom. Each ocean outfall will have its own properties, and should be the subject of a separate study; consideration will have to be given to wind, tide, and current patterns, distance from shore, relations of sandy beach and rocky headland, depth of water and the presence or absence of submarine canyons and upwelling.
eBook - ePub- Roger Park(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
First is the massive increase in industrial pollution and energy conversion in recent decades, which lead to very large flows of materials and energy from concentrated states in nature to degraded and diluted states in the environment. These have led in particular to changes in the physical, chemical and biological status of the atmosphere and the hydrosphere (both of which are of basic importance to the overall stability of the biosphere – see Chapter 2). The second factor is the increasing introduction of exotic materials into the environment. These are materials to which natural systems cannot adapt (or at least they cannot adapt quickly), or adaption may occur in some species but not in others. The balance between species can thus be affected, which can in turn trigger off latent instability in the ecosystems affected by the materials. 7.1b Definitions of pollution Because of the differing viewpoints on pollution, there are a variety of ways in which pollution can be defined. Thus, for example, the economist might adopt Cottrell's (1978) definition of pollution as 'the consumption of environmental quality', whilst the scientist might favour the definition offered by the Natural Environmental Research Council (1976) that it is the 'release of substances and energy as waste products of human activities which results in changes, usually harmful, within the natural environment'. Lee and Wood (1972) have isolated three criteria to be used in defining pollution. One is that it must result from a particular form of human activity - the disposal of wastes. A second is that it occurs where the disposal of wastes leads to damage (whether direct or indirect, and over the short or long terms). They maintain that it is also restricted to those circumstances where the effect of the damage is met by third parties (it is not self-inflicted, or inflicted on employees)
eBook - PDF- Jurex Cuenca Gallo(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Delve Publishing(Publisher)
Dumping these types of materials in water bodies not only creates water pollution but also proves to be harmful to aquatic flora and fauna. Water Reclamation and Sustainability 12 1.3.6. The Burning of Fossil Fuels When fossil fuels like oils and coal are burnt, a huge amount of ash is released in the atmosphere. These particles constitute of harmful toxic chemicals and when get mixed with water vapor, acid rain happens. The acid rain is very dangerous for living beings, crops, and livestock. Further, the burning of fossil fuels produces a substantial amount of carbon dioxide that further contributes in rising levels of global warming. 1.3.7. Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides Chemical pesticides and fertilizers are extensively used by farmers around the globe to save their crops from bacteria and insects. Though the chemical-based pesticides and fertilizers are useful in growth of plants, when these pesticides and fertilizers are mixed with water, it become poisonous in nature and is harmful for plants, animals, and human beings. Also, at times of rain, these chemicals easy mix with rainwater and flow down to canals and then into rivers, posing serious threat to the aquatic flora and fauna. 1.3.8. Leakage from Sewer Lines Even a minute leakage in the sewer lines can pollute and contaminate the underground water, making it unsuitable to use and drink for people. Further, if the leak is not taken care at the right time, it can come on to the surface and insects and mosquitoes will breed on it causing various lethal diseases in the nearby localities. 1.3.9. Global Warming Global warming is a global threat and it increases the earth’s temperature due to greenhouse effect that is due to the increasing level of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. Increase in earth’s temperature also raises the temperature of water bodies and that result in death of aquatic species and marine animals, which further causes water pollution (Figure 1.5).
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