ESST 3001

Environmental Fate & Transport

Problem Set #6

For discussion in the week of: Monday 25th October, 2021

1. A tank rupture at an industrial facility results in the discharge of 400 kg of

methylene chloride into a river. The river is 10 m wide and 2 m deep with a
0.02% slope and a flow rate of 10 m3 /s. The intake of a local water supply is
located 500 m downstream from the plant.
(a) Which of the models is most appropriate for use in this scenario? Why?
River, pulse, one-time emission
𝑀0 (𝑥−𝑣𝑡)2
(− −𝑘𝑡)
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒 4𝐸𝑡
𝑤𝑑 √4𝜋𝐸𝑡

(b) What will be the concentration at the water intake 20 minutes after the spill?
Assume conservative transport of the methylene chloride
To start our calculations what do we have?
Q = 10m3/s w =10m d = 2m g = 9.81 m/s2 s = 0.02% = 0.0002
x = 500m
1000000 𝑚𝑔
Mo = 400kg (unit conflict) = 400 kg x 1 𝑘𝑔
= 4 x 108 mg
60 𝑠
t = 20 minutes (unit conflict) = 20 min. x = 1200 s
1 𝑚𝑖𝑛
we need to find u → 𝑢 = √𝑔𝑑𝑠 =
𝑚
𝑢 = √9.81 𝑥 2𝑚 𝑥 0.0002
𝑠2

= 0.06264 m/s
𝑣2𝑤2
we also need to find E → E = 𝐸 = 0.011 𝑑𝑢
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
we don’t have v 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
, do we have information to find it? Yes, Q and area

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑥 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑥 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ

Q= =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑥 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑥 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ 1

v= x
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑥 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ (𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎)
10𝑚3 1
= x
𝑠 10𝑚 𝑥 2 𝑚
= 0.5m/s

𝑚 2
(0.5 ) 𝑥 (10𝑚)2
𝑠
𝐸 = 0.011 𝑚
2𝑚 𝑥 0.06264
𝑠

ESST 3001 – Problem Set #6

Rachael Wyse-Mason
The
This study source was downloaded by 100000816260037 from CourseHero.com on University of GMT
10-23-2022 11:41:51 the -05:00
West Indies, St Augustine

https://www.coursehero.com/file/130113402/Problem-Set-7-2021-2022-Solutionpdf/
 𝑚4
0.275
= 𝑠2
𝑚2
0.12528 𝑠
𝑚2
= 2.195 𝑠

𝑚 2
(500𝑚−0.5 𝑥 1200𝑠)
(− 𝑠 )
4 𝑥 108 𝑚𝑔 4 𝑥 2.195
𝑚2
𝑥 1200𝑠
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒 𝑠
𝑚2
10𝑚 𝑥 2𝑚 √4𝜋 𝑥 2.195 𝑠 𝑥 1200𝑠
4 𝑥 108 𝑚𝑔 (−0.9491268)
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒
3638.67𝑚3

4 𝑥 108 𝑚𝑔
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑥 0.38342238
1000𝐿
3638.67𝑚3 𝑥
𝑚3
= 42.15 mg/L

2. Consider the derailment of a train with a tank car containing 1000 kg of a toxic
chemical. The contents leak from the car at a rate of 100 kg/h into an adjacent river
which has a cross-sectional area of 500 m2 and a flow rate of 1000 m3/s. A municipal
water intake is located 10 km downstream from the spill.

(a) Draw a fully labelled diagram to illustrate this scenario.

1000kg

W = 100kg/hr x = 10km

Q = 1000m3/s →

(b) Which of the models would be most appropriate to use in this scenario? Why?
Model for a river, constant source although content will only last for 10 hours
If there isn’t any E though, the simple model for constant source (d) would
work
(based on question (c) mass balance could have also been used)

(c) Estimate the concentration of the contaminant (in μg/L) at the water intake
for conservative transport of the contaminant. (Neglect dispersion, and think
carefully about the term in italics – what will that mean for your calculations?)

With so many options may be better to start with the most complex equation
that will be reduced to the simpler equations as unknown variables are
removed.

ESST 3001 – Problem Set #6

Rachael Wyse-Mason
The
This study source was downloaded by 100000816260037 from CourseHero.com on University of GMT
10-23-2022 11:41:51 the -05:00
West Indies, St Augustine

https://www.coursehero.com/file/130113402/Problem-Set-7-2021-2022-Solutionpdf/
 𝑣𝑥 4𝑘𝐸
( (1−√1+ 2 ))
𝑊 2𝐸 𝑣
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒
4𝑘𝐸
𝑄√1+ 2
𝑣

Assuming there is no E, conservative also means k = 0 then

𝑘𝑔 1ℎ 1000000000µ𝑔
𝑊 100 ℎ 𝑥 3600𝑠 𝑥 𝑘𝑔 27.78µ𝑔
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = = =
𝑄 𝑚3 1000𝐿 𝐿
1000 𝑥
𝑠 𝑚3

As we had discussed in class, this reduced to the mass balance equation

Where W (rate of contaminant g/s) = C (conc. in g/L) x Q (flow rate in L/s)

The pollutant wasn’t in its own stream (no data was provided for this), therefore to
use the mass balance equation, we had to assume that the flow of contaminant
into the river doesn’t affect the river’s flow rate so that flow rate upstream = flow
rate downstream. This was also done in the simplified river model for constant
source.

(d) If the contaminant undergoes first-order degradation in the river and the rate
constant is 5 × 10−4 s−1, estimate the concentration at the water intake.

We assume that there still isn’t dispersion, so the river model for constant source
cannot work.
Mass balanced can’t work since it’s no longer conservative transport
So we’ll go with the simple model for constant source

𝑊
𝐶(𝑡) = (1 − 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡 )
𝑉𝑘
Ct = ? W = 100 kg/hr k = 5 x 10–4 s-1 V=? t=?

Volume was not provided but could be derived from cross area and distance travelled
(10 km)
1000 𝑚
V = 500 m2 x 10 km x 1 𝑘𝑚 = 5, 000, 000 m3

Time was not provided, the question didn’t have steady state so we can’t assume
infinity, time could be derived from distance and velocity. We can get velocity from
flow rate and cross area
𝑚3
1000
Velocity = 500 𝑚2
𝑠
= 2 m/s

1000𝑚
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 10 𝑘𝑚 𝑥
Time = = 𝑚
1𝑘𝑚
= 5000 s
𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 2
𝑠

ESST 3001 – Problem Set #6

Rachael Wyse-Mason
The
This study source was downloaded by 100000816260037 from CourseHero.com on University of GMT
10-23-2022 11:41:51 the -05:00
West Indies, St Augustine

https://www.coursehero.com/file/130113402/Problem-Set-7-2021-2022-Solutionpdf/
 𝑊
𝐶(𝑡) = (1 − 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡 )
𝑉𝑘
𝑘𝑔 1ℎ𝑟 1000000000µ𝑔
100 𝑥 𝑥
ℎ𝑟 3600𝑠 1𝑘𝑔
𝐶(𝑡) = (1 − 𝑒 −(5 𝑥 10−4𝑠−1 𝑥 5000𝑠) )
3 1000𝐿
5000000 𝑚 𝑥 𝑥 5 𝑥 10 − 4 𝑠 − 1
𝑚3

= 10.2 µg/L

3. A pipe-break at a plastics manufacturing plant results in the sudden release of 2000

kg of vinyl chloride to a river. The river has a width of 40 m, a depth of 5 m, a velocity
of 0.6 m/s and a slope of 0.0003.
(a) Calculate and plot the vinyl chloride concentration (in mg/L) as a function of time
at a highway bridge located 3.7 km downstream and a water treatment plant located
18.1 km downstream.
Done only for the highway bridge at 3.7km:
v = 0.6m/s w =40m d = 5m g = 9.81 m/s2 s = 0.0003
1000𝑚
x = 3.7 km x = 3700m
1 𝑘𝑚
1000000 𝑚𝑔
Mo = 2000kg (unit conflict) = 2000 kg x = 2 x 109 mg
1 𝑘𝑔
t = ? interval? 1m (60s), 10m (600s), 30m (1800s), 60m (3600s), 120 (7200), 180m
(10800m), 300m (18000s)

we need to find u → 𝑢 = √𝑔𝑑𝑠 =

𝑚
𝑢 = √9.81 𝑠2
𝑥 5𝑚 𝑥 0.0003
= 0.1213054 m/s

𝑣2𝑤2
we also need to find E → E = 𝐸 = 0.011 𝑑𝑢

𝑚 2
(0.6 ) 𝑥 (40𝑚)2
𝑠
𝐸 = 0.011 𝑚
5𝑚 𝑥 0.1213054
𝑠

𝑚4
6.336
= 𝑠2
𝑚2
0.606527 𝑠
𝑚2
= 10.4464 𝑠

𝑀0 (𝑥−𝑣𝑡)2
(− −𝑘𝑡)
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒 4𝐸𝑡
𝑤𝑑 √4𝜋𝐸𝑡

ESST 3001 – Problem Set #6

Rachael Wyse-Mason
The
This study source was downloaded by 100000816260037 from CourseHero.com on University of GMT
10-23-2022 11:41:51 the -05:00
West Indies, St Augustine

https://www.coursehero.com/file/130113402/Problem-Set-7-2021-2022-Solutionpdf/
 𝑚 2
(3700−0.6𝑥 ?𝑠)
(− 𝑠 )
2 𝑥 109 𝑚𝑔 𝑚2
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒 4 𝑥 10.4464 𝑠 𝑥 ?𝑠
1000𝐿 √ 𝑚2
40𝑚 𝑥 5𝑚 𝑥 3 4𝜋 𝑥 10.4464 𝑥 ?𝑠
1𝑚 𝑠

𝑚 2
(3700−0.6 𝑥 ?𝑠)
(− 𝑠 )
10000 𝑚𝑔 𝑚2
4 𝑥 10.4464 𝑥 ?𝑠
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒 𝑠
𝐿√ 𝑚2
𝑚 131.273334 𝑠 𝑥 ?𝑠

Intervals of t = 1m (60s), 10m (600s), 30m (1800s), 60m (3600s), 120 (7200), 180m
(10800m), 300m (18000s) was insufficient, produced this graph:

From the graph: tmax is approximately 7200s or 120minutes

Cmax is approximately 2.9 mg/L

Wide gap between 3600s to 7200s and 7200s to 10500s as there are drastic
changes in concentrations from zero to max and then max to zero. We want a
graph with a more gradual change so we would add more time intervals.

Conconcentration (mg/L) versus Time (s)

3.5

2.5
Concentration (mg/L)

1.5

0.5

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000
-0.5
Time (s)

Included time intervals of every 5 minutes, generated a more accurate graph

See sample of Excel sheet below,

ESST 3001 – Problem Set #6

Rachael Wyse-Mason
The
This study source was downloaded by 100000816260037 from CourseHero.com on University of GMT
10-23-2022 11:41:51 the -05:00
West Indies, St Augustine

https://www.coursehero.com/file/130113402/Problem-Set-7-2021-2022-Solutionpdf/
 Conconcentration (mg/L versus Time (s)
12

10
Concentration (mg/L)

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000
-2
time (s)

(c) From your plot, estimate the tmax and Cmax at each location. Explain the
difference in the values.
From the graph: tmax is approximately 6000s or 100minutes
Cmax is approximately 11mg/L

ESST 3001 – Problem Set #6

Rachael Wyse-Mason
The
This study source was downloaded by 100000816260037 from CourseHero.com on University of GMT
10-23-2022 11:41:51 the -05:00
West Indies, St Augustine

https://www.coursehero.com/file/130113402/Problem-Set-7-2021-2022-Solutionpdf/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)