Williams, Wesley James (2014) Numerical simulations of water surfaces for improved evaporation prediction. [USQ Project]
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Abstract
Water is normally stored in open reservoirs such as dams. A key consideration and challenge that water resource managers are currently facing for improved water management is the evaporation rate in such storage facilities. The impacts that the changing climate has on communities currently and into the future will prove a considerable task for water resource managers to meet the demands for a national population which is growing at a fast pace. Being able to satisfactorily quantify the rate of evaporation from open water storage reservoirs within Australia will enable the correct implementation of measures to mitigate losses that are expected in the coming decades due to a rising climate, estimated changes in precipitation rates and
currently experienced changes in wind patterns. Not only is the increased pressure on the distribution of water to maintain public health but agricultural practices and
a large number of other varied industries are also suffering.
The consequential effects of evaporation losses are numerous and may prove to be linked to decreased productivity and efficiencies within many sectors of industry. This brings the value of maintaining important and valuable water supplies to the top of the list for many industrial sectors. This has increased the need for further
understanding to be gained via research into the effects and prevention of losing so much of a precious resource every year.
Currently, research is being undertaken at the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture (NCEA) at the University of Southern Queensland that investigates methods of reducing the evaporation rate in a cost-effective fashion. Recent findings suggest that the aqueous thermal boundary layer is a key component contributing to the evaporation rate. This is the small region close to the surface of the water where temperature gradients are important.
It the intended purpose of this dissertation to provide insight into current research whilst also adding new research that provides results by performing simulations of
the thermal boundary layer. This is in order to characterise the conditions under which the temperature gradient promotes or retards evaporation.
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| Item Type: | USQ Project |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) project. |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Civil Engineering and Surveying (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Wandel, Andrew |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Sep 2015 05:18 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Mar 2016 02:03 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | water storage management; water resources management; water evaporation; evaporation losses; open water storage; reservoirs; dams; thermal boundary layer; computational fluid dynamics |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 05 Environmental Sciences > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050209 Natural Resource Management 09 Engineering > 0905 Civil Engineering > 090509 Water Resources Engineering |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410406 Natural resource management 40 ENGINEERING > 4005 Civil engineering > 400513 Water resources engineering |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/27263 |
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