Hydrotechnical Facilities Research Articles

Radionuclides in Surface Waters, Bottom Sediments, and Hydrobionts in the Neman River

The specific/volumetric activity of radionuclides has been determined at global background levels in surface waters, bottom sediments, and hydrobionts at the site of the planned hydrotechnical facilities of the Baltic nuclear power plant (NPP). The presence of Sr90 and Csl37 in the water medium due to global processes of the formation of radioactivity in the natural environment and the content of 3H have been studied. It is established that the background values of the specific/volumetric activity of radionuclides are significantly lower than the admissible values according to NRB-99/2009, being at the level of the previous years (2009–2014). The results of these studies will serve as a basis for precision instrumental estimates of the effect of the Baltic NPP operation on the environment and will also be used to establish the background values of environmental parameters in the nuclear power site.

Напрямки оптимізації природокористування в інвайронментальному менеджменті те-риторій локального рівня організації довкілля

Landscape planning (LP) theory is widely used in many countries. However, there are various problems, associated with its application in Ukraine. Based on analysis of such problems, the model for landscape-environmental planning (LEP) was proposed as an alternative option to LP. The aim is to develop cartographical model on optimization of natural resource use on local areas (LA) for successful implementation of environmental management system. Methods: researches were carried out in LA with application of LEP, for evaluation of spatial distribution for various LA within a pilot site we used methodology for patchiness calculation, digital cartographic model was developed by using GIS-tools. Results: LEP is considered as a set of measures directed at sustainable nature management within LA. As LA we can consider urban landscapes, agro-landscapes, forests and water bodies, protected areas, etc. Based on approbation of author’s LEP methodology on a pilot site (area of forest-steppe zone within Kharkiv Oblast) and data collected on previous stage, now we have enough information and tools for the final LEP stage – development of ways and actions for nature management optimization. For spatial visualization of research results, cartographical model for pilot site was developed. It includes categories of LA with a list of directions/actions for further environmental management. Taking into account that various LEP users and initiators can have various (in some cases, even antipodal) aims and concepts, for each separate case the model shows, a list of appropriate directions and actions for environmental management according to the organizational profile. Recommendations, given in the article, were based on the following target concepts of LA:- nature protected landscapes – to conserve, develop and improve landscape;- forest landscapes – to support environmental balance in forest ecosystem for provision of their sustainability and to meet forest management needs of users;- forest sites within protected landscapes – to protect and conserve forest landscapes characteristic for various regions;- water management landscapes – either to meet needs of users in case of sustainable use of water body (for water bodies with hydrotechnical facilities) or to support environmental balance in water ecosystem for meeting norms for catching of bio-resources (for water bodies used for fishery).In environmental management for urban landscapes, we have developed actions for optimization of industrial, water management, road, protected-recreational and residential types of urban landscapes. Conclusions. Developed cartographical model for LA within pilot site give us a possibility to select most promising directions/actions for nature resource use based on LEP for environmental management on specific territory.

Assessment of the pollution degree of the dnepr river and development of measures for its decrease

The basin of the Dnepr river (Ukraine) has more than 350 ponds for industrial waste water and sludge, which, in the absence of environmental protection measures, have a significant negative impact on the environment. The results of studies to determine the degree of the negative impact of ponds for industrial waste water and sludge on the water basin of the Dnepr river were given. It is revealed that the average annual concentrations of main pollutants exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations. The connection of pollution of the water basin with the flow of filtrates and surface flows from the territory of ponds for industrial waste water and sludges was defined. The migration path of filtrates with soluble compounds of heavy metals in soil was studied. The obtained data were used to develop the scheme of entry of heavy metal ions from industrial waste water into surface and ground waters, the volume of the pond for industrial waste water and sludge. The analysis of measures to improve the water quality in the Dnepr river in the area of location of one of the largest metallurgical enterprises in Ukraine – “Zaporizhstal” – was carried out. It is shown that to reduce the negative impact of waste water and sludges from the main processes of “Zaporizhstal” on the water basin of the Dnepr river, it is expedient to modernize the gas cleaning equipment of the sinter plant and hydrotechnical facilities of recirculating water supply cycle for wet gas cleaning of blast furnaces. The necessity of performing a set of research works for studying the properties of accumulated deposits of scale in the areas of its discharge into the sludge pond with the purpose of its further utilization is proven.

THE LAWS OF CAVITATION EROSION OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

Objectives . The aim of the research is to find ways to use cavitation effects in the creation of new technologies and means of applying unique opportunities arising under conditions of developed bubble cavitation. Erosive destruction of concrete caused by a submerged cavitation jet is experimentally investigated in the present work in order to reveal the regularities of the extent of damage under different flow regimes. Methods. The tests were carried out using an specially constructed experimental bench, containing a receiving tank from which water was supplied to the plunger pump with an electric motor and pumped through a high-pressure hose into the cavitator. The criteria for assessing the intensity of cavitation impact were the dependence of the erosion zone depth on the test time and the relative distance to the cavitator's cut-off e for different values of the inlet pressure Po. Results. Experimental dependences and the analytical function of erosion penetration rate over time, as well as the relative distance between the sample and the cavitator's cut-off, obtained using the regression analysis method, are presented. For the selected parameters of jet flow, the optimum distance from the surface to be destroyed to the cavitator lies across the range of (10-40) e and reaches maximum effect across the pressure interval of 2.5-12.5 MPa on the average for 30 seconds. The relationship between the depth and the erosion penetration rate for given pressure parameters P0, the back pressure Pto, the distance from the cavitator's cut-off to the surface, as well as the cavitator's diameter, correspond to the maximum erosive effect of cavitation. Conclusion. The study of cavitation erosion opens up wide possibilities for estimating the service life of hydrotechnical facilities under the active influence of submerged cavitation jets. By varying the parameters of jet flow, it is possible to obtain a different intensity of erosive destruction of material for the application of this phenomenon in the purification and crushing of concrete.

Modern Management Challenges of Floating Housing Development

Abstract The aim of the article is to identify factors that determine the development and management models of floating housing development in the analyzed countries. The author indicates factors determining the possibility of settling on bodies of water in Poland, and restrictions connected with this type of development, as well as the need for specialized persons and companies ready to meet the challenges of the modern management of hydro-technical facilities, including floating housing development. In Western Europe, living on water is gaining in popularity. People have begun to dwell on water because of rising land prices, congestion in cities and work related to the use of rivers for the transport of goods. The popularity of housing on water in the Netherlands results from environmental conditions. About 60% of the Netherlands is below the sea level. For hundreds of years, the population of the Netherlands has been battling with the elements, while being exposed to continuously rising sea levels, which has been a consequence of the greenhouse effect. Environmental changes have caused a change in government policy, which began to support construction activity on water, adapted regulations and changed office holders. In North America, especially in the United States, the identification of residents with their neighborhoods of houses on water is so high that it has resulted in the formation of communities uniting owners of residential watercrafts, who have succeeded in homes on water becoming recognized as real estate and, consequently, now have the same rights as residents of houses on land. In Poland, housing estates on water are slowly gaining popularity but no factors determining the development of this type of settlement have been established. An analysis of the situation in Poland reveals many factors limiting the functional use of houses on water and a lack of specialists in the management of hydro-technical facilities. Therefore, on the basis of examples of countries in Western Europe and North America given in this article, the author tries to define the responsibilities of managers and an appropriate management model for housing estates on water in Poland, as well as indicate problems with the development of housing on water and their possible solutions.

The strength сalculation of energy systems pipelines with bends by finite element method

In this article the tube system classification, destination and structure analysis were discussed. The decision of applied problems with using the numerical methods is based by reducing this problem to a finite-dimensional. Finite element method and ANSYS complex were used to calculate stress concentration.As the construction loses its stability at first, then it loses strength, therefore, the determination of the absolute value of the critical load is an important problem in the design of pipelines.All elements of hydrotechnical facilities and pipelines that are loaded by external pressure or inner pressure of which is much small are require the verification calculation of the the loss of stability.As a result of numerical experiment for rectilinear steel pipeofrelatively infinite length, was obtained the dependence of critical external pressure, under action of which the construction loses stability, from the thickness of wall. Also was shown real tube system element's with real working condition.

Ecological Risk Assessment of Ballast Water

This paper identifies ballast water from vessels in Szczecin harbor to be of the highest risk category as far as transmitting living alien species is concerned. The species when encountering similar environmental conditions become a risk to the local species as food competitors treating the local species as food and expand in an invasive way, spreading formerly unknown diseases to the local environment.Moreover, they become dangerous to human health as well as hindering economy development by reducing fish resources and growing on hydro-technical facilities.

The role of anthropogenic water reservoirs within the landscapes of mining areas – a case study from the western part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin

Abstract A few thousand anthropogenic water reservoirs can be found in the area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basis (USCB) located in southern Poland. In this paper the role of such anthropogenic lakes in the landscape of the western part of the USCB was presented and illustrated with the example of Knurów, a mining city, and its immediate surrounding area. The study of landscape changes in this area was carried out on the basis of archival and contemporary cartographic materials, historical sources, and interviews with inhabitants and direct field observations. It was found that the origin of the majority of the water reservoirs is related to hard coal, clay and sand mining. They were created primarily as a result of filling subsidence basins and post-mining excavations with water, as well as being the result of the construction of various hydro-technical facilities (settling ponds, fire protection water reservoirs, etc.) In the study area the anthropogenic water reservoirs are of different sizes, shapes and durability and play different roles in the environment. Between 1884 and 2001 their number increased 25-fold, while at the same time their total surface area increased more than 8-fold. The role of the newly created water reservoirs in the landscape primarily involves the transformation of the existing terrestrial ecosystems into wetland ecosystems. The agro-forestry landscape of the late 19th century was transformed into a typically anthropogenic landscape with a dominant share of water reservoirs, settlement ponds and mining waste heaps. The most common species of plants around the water reservoirs are Phragmites australis, Typha latifolia, Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadensis, Potamogeton natans, Lemna sp., Acorus calamus, Myriophyllum verticillatum, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Alisma plantago-aquatica and Glyceria aquatica. The most valuable elements of the flora include Trapa natans and Ruppia maritima, species recognized in Poland as threatened with extinction. Changes in the vegetation cover can be considered favourable since the analysed area is currently characterised by greater biodiversity. Reservoirs are in general positively perceived by residents and used for recreational purposes.

The impact of hydrotechnical facilities on island avifauna: a case study of the middle Vistula River

The study was conducted in the years 1994-2006 in the middle of the Vistula River between Wróble and Kochów (416th – 418th km of the waterway). The presence of islands and steep banks makes it a key place for nesting avifauna, including a number of endangered species. The aim of this paper is to present the impact of hydro-technical facilities (a diversion weir) on habitat changes, and consequently on the abundance and distribution of birds that inhabit this part of the river. A cross-divider in the riverbed (weir) connecting the bank of the river with one of the islands increased the flow rate and pushed the current to the middle of the river, directing it towards the islands. The result of these changes was a sudden erosion of the sandy, the high slope at the top of the island II, a partition of this island into two parts, and a slow erosion of the island located near the left bank (island IV, Fig. 1B). Lack of fixed, steady flow along the right bank resulted also in a considerably faster succession of vegetation on the island I and slow shallowing of the channel between the island and the bank. As a result, the area of sandy habitats, most valuable to nesting birds, decreased disproportionately faster than the area of the whole islands (Table 1). In the years 2001-2002, when the island I was completely united with the right bank and the islands 0 and I were connected to each other, a width of the riverbed at this point decreased from 870 m to 710 m, i.e. by more than 20 % (Fig. 1).

A Buoy for Continuous Monitoring of Suspended Sediment Dynamics

Knowledge of Suspended Sediments Dynamics (SSD) across spatial scales is relevant for several fields of hydrology, such as eco-hydrological processes, the operation of hydrotechnical facilities and research on varved lake sediments as geoarchives. Understanding the connectivity of sediment flux between source areas in a catchment and sink areas in lakes or reservoirs is of primary importance to these fields. Lacustrine sediments may serve as a valuable expansion of instrumental hydrological records for flood frequencies and magnitudes, but depositional processes and detrital layer formation in lakes are not yet fully understood. This study presents a novel buoy system designed to continuously measure suspended sediment concentration and relevant boundary conditions at a high spatial and temporal resolution in surface water bodies. The buoy sensors continuously record turbidity as an indirect measure of suspended sediment concentrations, water temperature and electrical conductivity at up to nine different water depths. Acoustic Doppler current meters and profilers measure current velocities along a vertical profile from the water surface to the lake bottom. Meteorological sensors capture the atmospheric boundary conditions as main drivers of lake dynamics. It is the high spatial resolution of multi-point turbidity measurements, the dual-sensor velocity measurements and the temporally synchronous recording of all sensors along the water column that sets the system apart from existing buoy systems. Buoy data collected during a 4-month field campaign in Lake Mondsee demonstrate the potential and effectiveness of the system in monitoring suspended sediment dynamics. Observations were related to stratification and mixing processes in the lake and increased turbidity close to a catchment outlet during flood events. The rugged buoy design assures continuous operation in terms of stability, energy management and sensor logging throughout the study period. We conclude that the buoy is a suitable tool for continuous monitoring of suspended sediment concentrations and general dynamics in fresh water bodies.

Effects of surface gravity waveson coastal ocean structures

For reliable and long-term exploitation of ocean-technical facilities, such as towers and platforms, it is necessary to have the estimates of parameters of extreme influences from storm surface waves at their approaching the near coastal zone. Non-linear surface waves, occurring at severe storms, are mainly associated with the coastal zone of the Azov-Black sea basin, where the interaction of moving waves with the braking surface of the bed takes place. As a result of friction on the bed, the nearest to it part of the wave is braked, and the wave profile starts changing that is revealed in the increase of height of the wave, reduction of its length, the emergence of a moving crest and the breaking of the wave. Non-linear effects of the surface gravity waves appear at the interaction of the moving wave with the bed surface. Preliminary calculations of wave parameters for the range of depths, where the interaction with the bed is shown slightly, are determined by numerical methods based on the application package ‘’SWAN’’. The calculations of wave parameters are carried out on the basis of the empirical and half-empirical relations, given in the paper. The transformation of the system of storm waves, which have spread during the storm on November 08, 2007 eastwards to the coast of theWestern Crimea, is considered as a specific example. Within the unified technique and the concrete example, the whole complex of calculations, connected with the transformation of storm waves at their entering the shallow depths and the formation of impact loads during the breaking of such waves was determined. The obtained results should be viewed as preliminary estimates with a significant amount of assumptions. Nevertheless, because of insufficient study of the problem and, considering the compliance of results with independent sources, they can be used in the problems related to the evaluation of the impact of storm waves on coastal ocean-technical and hydro-technical facilities and installations.

Problems of induced seismicity and engineering geological protection of reservoirs of the Baikal-Angara cascade

The paper presents results of analysis of induced seismicity and changes in processes related to engineering geology in coastal zones of reservoirs of the BaikalAngara cascade. It is proposed to establish a system for monitoring of geological and geophysical processes in order to avoid disturbances in the modes of operation of large hydrotechnical facilities and waterside structures.

Determination of the Level of Superstructure Bottom of Oil-and-Gas Field Hydrotechnical Facilities

An important problem in designing sea oil-and-gas field hydrotechnical structures is the assignment of the level of the bottom of superstructure. Overestimation of this parameter leads to unwarranted expenses, whereas underestimation results in undesirable situations in the period of storms, when wind-induced waves produce a force effect on the superstructure in the form of vertical and horizontal components of the wave load. In winter too little distance between the maximum design water level and the bottom of the deck can lead to direct action on the deck of fragments of even ice fields piling in front of the bearing part of the structure. The intensity of the piling depends on the width of the bearing part and on the water depth at the site. In Russia recommendations on the assignment of the level of the bottom of superstructure of ice-resistant platforms were formulated for the first time in the VSN 41.88 departmental standard [1]. The dependence used for the calculation has been derived under the assumption that at the highest annual sea level of 0.1% frequency in the region of future construction the maximum height of wave crest of 0.1% frequency in the system of design storm at a cylindrical obstruction with structural clearance 0.1h should not touch the bottom of the deck of the designed structure (Fig. 1). In accordance with this standard the level of the bottom of superstructure of an ice-resistant platform is determined from design dependence

Hydrotechnical facilities within the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exclusion zone: impacts on hydrologic regime and plant growth patterns of floodplain water bodies of the Pripyat River

As result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident the territory of the left-bank flood-lands of the Pripyat River have undergone intensive radionuclide contamination. With the purpose of preventing the washing away of radioactive substances, a complex of flood protection dams was constructed. This construction changed the hydrological regime of these territories and caused overgrowth by higher aquatic plants. Absence of a flowing mode of reservoirs, the stagnant phenomena during spring and seasonal high waters on the embank site have caused amplification of eutrophication processes, swamping and, connected with it, increase of water-marsh floristic complex in the structure of the vegetative cover.

DETERMINATION OF SAFETY CRITERIA OF HYDROTECHNICAL INSTALLATIONS

ramal86_86@mail.ru Abstract. Hydrotechnical devices are complex engineering tools that use natural water resources for various purposes and are applied to eliminate the harmful and destructive effects of water. Although the hydrotechnical facilities built on and outside water bodies are used to protect the environment from the harmful effects of water, if their protection is not properly organized, the groundwork for the occurrence of more serious consequences - submergence and destructive floods is created. Natural water bodies - rivers, lakes, sea, etc. Being an integral element of the environment, it occupies one of the special places among natural resources due to its importance and areas of use. The water demand of people, production and all economic sectors is met at the expense of natural water bodies, that is, surface and underground water sources. Keywords: Hydrotechnical devices, safety criterion, durability, reservoirs, emergency situations

Toxicity of calcium salts to aqueous microorganisms

This article investigates the toxicity of calcium to aqueous microogranisms by means of a procedure developed by VNII VODGEO (All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Water Supply, Sewer Systems, Hydrotechnical Facilities, and Engineering Hydrogeology), with certain changes in the preparation of the culture water. Proposes that with this method, calcium toxicity can be determined for groups of microorganisms that are among the most important in biochemical wastewater treatment and self-purification of water bodies (saprophytes, phase I and II nitrifiers). Finds that calcium in the form of the hydroxide and chloride is nontoxic under the following conditions: for protozoa in concentrations up to 2 g/liter, for saprophytic bacteria up to 3 g/liter, for phase I nitrifiers up to 1 g/liter, and for phase II nitrifiers up to 0.1 g/liter.