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Fate of methanol spills into rivers of varying geometry

Jamali, M ; Sharif University of Technology | 2002

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. Publisher: 2002
  3. Abstract:
  4. This paper describes the results of a study of potential environmental impacts of methanol releases into rivers. A number of hypothetical scenarios are defined, and dispersion of methanol in the selected rivers is investigated using a riverine dispersion-biodegradation model. The downstream variability of river flow and hydraulic geometry due to merging tributaries are included in the model. The model results are presented, and comparison is made with proposed allowable concentrations. An interesting finding is that the river variation has considerable effect on concentration distribution of methanol in the most critical scenario. A sensitivity analysis is made on the key modeling parameters such as the dispersion coefficient and the biodegradation rate. An analysis illustrating when water intake systems should potentially be shutdown in the event of a methanol release is also presented. In general, it is found the human health risks associated with the accidental release of methanol into riverine environments are low
  5. Keywords:
  6. Dispersion model ; Impact assessment ; Methanol ; Regime equations ; Varying rivers
  7. Source: Joint 2002 CSCE/ASCE International Conference on Environmetal Engineering - An International Perspective on Enviromental Engineering, Niagara Falls, Ont., 21 July 2002 through 24 July 2002 ; 2002 , Pages 1289-1304 ; 088955532X (ISBN)