Atmospheric field experiments for evaluating pollutant transport and dispersion in complex terrain

Conference · Thu Jun 09 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5779358

Gudiksen, P H; Dickerson, M H; Lange, R; Knox, J B

Three series of field experiments have been carried out in The Geysers geothermal area in northern California. The initial series, conducted during July 1979, in the Anderson Creek valley of The Geysers area were exploratory in nature and of limited scope to gain initial insight into the structure of the drainage flows. As a result of these experiments, a second series of experiments were conducted during September 1980 in the same valley to acquire more detailed information about the temporal and spatial characteristics of drainage flows and their interaction with the regional and synoptic scale flows. In contrast to these generic studies of the transport and dispersion of pollutants entrained in drainage flows, the third series of experiments, conducted during August 1981 in the Big Sulfur Creek valley of The Geysers, was designed to (1) acquire data needed to predict the impact of the hydrogen sulfide emissions from future geothermal power plant cooling tower plumes during nocturnal drainage flows, and (2) to perform nocturnal drainage flow studies in a new environmental setting and to test the general applicability of the methodologies developed from the experimental studies in the Anderson Creek valley. This report provides an overview of the experimental designs, highlights some of the results, and discusses the application of the results for improving a three-dimensional mass-consistent wind field model and particle-in-cell transport and diffusion model.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5779358
• Report Number(s): UCRL-88605; CONF-8309130-1; ON: DE83016365
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150600 -- Geothermal Energy-- Environmental Aspects
500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
CHALCOGENIDES
DIFFUSION
DRAINAGE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
GEOTHERMAL FIELDS
GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS
GEYSERS GEOTHERMAL FIELD
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN SULFIDES
MASS TRANSFER
NOCTURNAL VARIATIONS
POLLUTION
POWER PLANTS
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
TOPOGRAPHY
VARIATIONS
WIND