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In the environment, we are not dealing only with local processes, such as
chemical reactions; we are mostly dealing with interconnected systems,
implying that any sub-system is connected to other sub-systems through
fluxes in and out.
We must therefore reckon with material balances in the presence of open
systems.
Inflow
Water
example:
Exchange
with the
atmosphere
Outflow
Inside:
Chemical reactions
Biological processes
Physical settling
plume
section
urban airshed
entire lake
Distinction
(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, Section 5.A)
Accumulation
= imports exports
+ sources sinks
amount at (t dt ) amount at (t )
Accumulation
duration dt
out
V C (t dt ) V C (t ) d (VC )
dC
V
dt
dt
dt
mass volume of carrying fluid
Cin Qin
imports inlets
volume
time
inlets
mass volume of carrying fluid
Cout Qout
exports outlets
volume
time
outlets
Qin Qin
Qin , Cin
Particular cases
dC
0
dt
Cin Qin C
inlets
Qout S K V C 0 C
outlets
C
Q
in
Qin S
inlets
out
KV
outlets
dC
dC
S
S Kt
S KVC C (t )
Cinitial
e (if S is constant over time)
dt
KV
KV
Qupstream
Qevaporation
Take volume V of the entire lake as
the control volume.
V K
Qdownstream
dC
QupCup QevapCevap Qdown Cdown KVC
dt
0 Qup Cup (Qdown KV ) C
Solution is:
Budget is:
Qup Cup
Qdown KV
(Cdown C )
(9 10 4 m 3 /yr)(6.0 mg/L)
5.19 mg/L
(8 10 4 m 3 /yr) (0.12/yr)(2 105 m 3 )
Suppose that the source of pollution in the upstream river has now been eliminated.
The entering concentration in the lake has thus fallen to zero. Slowly, the concentration
of the pollutant decays in the lake because of its chemical decay (K term) and flushing
(Q term).
The equation becomes:
dC
QupCup QevapCevap Qdown Cdown KVC
dt
dC
Q
down K C
dt
V
Qin Qin
out
The formulation below holds in the case of a gradual removal of the substance, modeled
as a first-order reaction.
The material budget is most easily established if one takes the control volume as a little
piece dV of the moving material (thus containing C dV amount of the substance).
Following this little piece of material, there is no addition or removal from it; it is a mini
closed system, with the balance for the embedded substance reducing to:
dV
dC
K (dV ) C
dt
C (t ) C (0) e Kt
Connecting the end concentration Cout = C(t=) to the entrance concentration Cin = C(t=0) ,
we write:
Cout Cin e K
Cout
Q
V
Q Cin Q Cout KV C
Cout
1
Cin 1 K
PFR
Cout Cin e K
V
Q
Cout
e K
Cin
Residence time
(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, page 212)
V
Q
While the standard unit is the second, typical residence times in the environment
are measured in days, weeks, months or even years, depending on the size of the
containing volume (ex. small pond to large lake).
Volume
(x 109 m3)
Outflow
(x 109 m3/yr)
Residence
time (years)
Superior
12,000
67
179
Huron
3,500
161
21.7
468
182
2.57
Erie
Total:
203.4