53 Search Results

Drinking water systems commonly use manual or grab sampling to monitor water quality, identify or confirm issues, and verify that corrective or emergency response actions have been effective. In this paper, the effectiveness of regulatory sampling locations for emergency response is explored. An optimization formulation based on the literature was used to identify manual sampling locations to maximize overall nodal coverage of the system. Results showed that sampling locations could be effective in confirming incidents for which they were not designed. When evaluating sampling locations optimized for emergency response against regulatory scenarios, the average performance was reduced by 3%–4%, while using optimized regulatory sampling locations for emergency response reduced performance by 7%–10%. Secondary constraints were also included in the formulation to ensure geographical and water age diversity with minimal impact on the performance. This work highlighted that regulatory sampling locations provide value in responding to an emergency for these networks.

A major outage in the electricity distribution system may affect the operation of water and natural gas supply systems, leading to an interruption of multiple services to critical customers. Therefore, enhancing resilience of critical infrastructures requires joint efforts of multiple sectors. In this paper, a distribution system service restoration method considering the electricity-water-gas interdependency is proposed. The objective is maximizing the supply of electricity, water, and gas to critical customers after an extreme event. The operational constraints of electricity, water, and natural gas networks are considered. Additionally, the characteristics of electricity-driven coupling components, including water pumps and gas compressors, are also modeled. Relaxation techniques are applied to non convex constraints posed by physical laws of those networks. Consequently, the restoration problem is formulated as a mixed-integer second-order cone program, which can readily be solved by the off-the-shelf solvers. The proposed method is validated by numerical simulations on an electricity-water-gas integrated system, developed based on benchmark models of the subsystems. The results indicate that considering the interdependency refines the allocation of limited generation resources and demonstrate the exactness of the proposed convex relaxation

This presentation discusses wind bidding in regulation markets accounting for forecast uncertainty.

This submission includes input and results data from analysis done as part of the Geothermal Technology Office's Geothermal Vision Study (GeoVision). The submission includes data for both analysis of the electricity sector and the heating and cooling sector. For the electricity sector, the submission includes geothermal resource potential and development cost inputs for the ReEDS model and ReEDS model results of projected installed capacity and generation of geothermal and other technologies under the GeoVision scenarios. It also includes results from environmental and social impacts analysis. For the cooling sector, the submission includes geothermal resource potential and development cost inputs for the dGeo model and dGeo model results of economic, market, and deployment potential.

Realistic representations of sectoral water withdrawals and consumptive demands and their allocation to surface and groundwater sources are important for improving modeling of the integrated water cycle. To inform future model development, in this work we enhance the representation of water management in a regional Earth system (ES) model with a spatially distributed allocation of sectoral water demands simulated by a regional integrated assessment (IA) model to surface and groundwater systems. The integrated modeling framework (IA-ES) is evaluated by analyzing the simulated regulated flow and sectoral supply deficit in major hydrologic regions of the conterminous U.S, which differ from ES studies looking at water storage variations. Decreases in historical supply deficit are used as metrics to evaluate IA-ES model improvement in representating the complex sectoral human activities for assessing future adaptation and mitigation strategies. We also assess the spatial changes in both regulated flow and unmet demands, for irrigation and nonirrigation sectors, resulting from the individual and combined additions of groundwater and return flow modules. Results show that groundwater use has a pronounced regional and sectoral effect by reducing water supply deficit. The effects of sectoral return flow exhibit a clear east-west contrast in the hydrologic patterns, so the return flow component combined with the IA sectoral demands is a major driver for spatial redistribution of water resources and water deficits in the US. Our analysis highlights the need for spatially distributed sectoral representation of water management to capture the regional differences in interbasin redistribution of water resources and deficits.

This two-page case study describes how the U.S. Department of Energy's Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, will save approximately $10 million in energy costs over the next 18 years, thanks to a DOE Super Energy Savings Performance Contract (Super ESPC) delivery order for energy efficiency improvements. The delivery order is the largest to date for a DOE facility. Primarily, the delivery order calls for a new, state-of-the-art energy management control system and a new water/steam piping system, which will be purchased and installed by the contracting energy services company (ESCO). The ESCO will then be repaid over the life of the contract out of the plant's resulting energy cost savings.

This report addresses the criticality concerns associated with process water handling in the Cold Vacuum Drying Facility. The controls and limitations on equipment design and operations to control potential criticality occurrences are identified.

Who would expect an odorless, invisible gas that occurs nearly everywhere on earth to cause such trouble Yet radon, the gas emitted by decay of uranium in the earth's crust, is one of America's most significant environmental risks, according to the EPA, which estimates that residential radon levels lead to approximately 13,600 lung cancer deaths each year. A new National Cancer Institute analysis of multiple studies of miners confirms early estimates, putting the number at 15,000. No other risk comes close, not even environmental tobacco smoke, which is estimates to cause some 3,000 deaths each year. Hot debate surrounds the assessment of risk from radon exposure to Americans via indoor air and water supplies. The primary culprit is not radon gas itself, but its decay products, including polonium-214 and polonium-218, which have long half-lives and emit alpha particles - positively charged particles - and lung cancer when inhaled. Radon seeps into homes from the ground or is present in water supplies. Waterborne radon may be inhaled as radon or its progeny during household use - cooking or showering - or it may be ingested. But the EPA estimates that water sources contribute only about 5% of total airborne radon exposure, leaving indoor air as the worst offender. While the EPA estimates that approximately 200 cancer cases per year result from exposure to radon from public groundwater systems, estimates of annual lung cancer deaths from indoor air radon range from 7,000 to 30,000.

Communities surrounding the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA), a Superfund site in Colorado, were studied in order to determine whether exposures to mercury were greater among persons who resided there than among residents of a comparison area 12-15 miles distant. From a census-based stratified random sample, 469 persons were interviewed and urine samples were obtained for biomonitoring. Mercury was detected in urine from 32 (6.8%) of the 469 persons sample at a detection limit of 5 ppb. Trace levels of mercury (detectable, but nonquantifiable) were found in 80 (17.1%) of the persons sampled. Neither the frequency of detection, the arithmetic mean, nor the geometric mean value for urine mercury was found to be statistically different when persons living near the site were compared to persons from the more distant comparison area. The risk of mercury exposure associated with demographic variables, residence, occupation, hobbies, dietary habits, water supply, housing, and activity patterns was evaluated. In the second stage of the evaluation, the Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB) is being used to assess individual functional deficits and nervous system disorders associated with exposure to mercury and other neurotoxic chemicals.

Electric, gas and water distribution systems can have an extremely long life when properly designed, installed and maintained. MLGW is proof positive that aging distribution systems can be managed in an effective manner. Customer satisfaction is a high priority with Division management. According to a recent survey, Memphians enjoy the lowest average monthly utility bills among the 25 largest cities in the United States. 3 tabs.