Anomalous snowfall caused by natural-draft cooling towers
Scattered reports of significant amounts of snow anomalously produced by cooling-tower plumes suggest that this process may be of importance. This conclusion is supported by study of high-resolution satellite images. Tabulation of a number of aerial observations of plumes at subfreezing temperatures indicates that a plume is likely to produce measurable snow if its temperature is colder than -13/sup 0/C and the saturation deficit of the ambient air is less than 0.5 g m/sup -3/. These factors are important because they affect the rates of nucleation and growth of ice particles. The rate of mixing between plume and ambient air is also important because it affects the rate of evaporation within the plume, which in turn determines the length of time available for snow particles to grow large enough to fall out. These empirically derived criteria were tested using a numerical model of cloud microphysics that simulates the most important processes of transfer of water substance between vapor, liquid, and ice, including nucleation and development of particle-size spectra. Dynamic processes were specified, not modeled. Among the many quantities computed is the flux density of snow at the base of the plume. From this, together with average fallspeed and horizontal wind speed, one can compute the amount and pattern of snowfall at the ground.
- Research Organization:
- RAND Corp., Santa Monica, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76EV01191
- OSTI ID:
- 5249059
- Report Number(s):
- RAND/N-1479-DOE; TRN: 80-012244
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COOLING TOWERS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
SNOW
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
CLOUDS
EVAPORATION
MIXING
PLUMES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
200201* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management- Thermal Effluents
500400 - Environment
Atmospheric- Thermal Effluents Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)