Dissolved Oxygen Downstream of an Effluent Outfall in an Ice-Covered River: Natural and Artificial Aeration
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 11
Abstract
In ice-covered rivers, dissolved oxygen (DO) might fall below critical levels for aquatic biota in the absence of surface aeration, combined with low winter flow conditions and reduced photosynthesis rates. Open-water zones, however, can be created downstream of a diffuser by warm effluent discharges, resulting in an increase in surface aeration. In this study, we modeled the behavior of the effluent plume and the resulting open-water lead development in the Athabasca River, Alberta, Canada downstream of a pulp mill diffuser. The DO was found to increase by due to surface aeration of an open-water lead of . We also evaluated oxygen injection into the effluent pipeline to increase the DO in the river. At an injection rate of 3,500 and of liquid oxygen, the DO was increased by 0.16 and , which corresponded to an absorption efficiency of about 50%. The artificial aeration technique evaluated here appears to be an effective alternative to increase DO levels in ice-covered rivers. The results of this study are important in developing accurate DO models for ice-covered rivers and in evaluating oxygen injection systems.
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Acknowledgments
The first writer is supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel Foundation (CAPES), Ministry of Education, Brazil.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 11 • November 2007
Pages: 1051 - 1060
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 12, 2005
Accepted: May 25, 2007
Published online: Nov 1, 2007
Published in print: Nov 2007
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