Cloud Transport

Chatfield, R., and P. Crutzen, Sulfur Dioxide in Remote Oceanic Air Cloud Transport of Reactive Precursors, . /. Geophys. Res., 89, 7111-7132(1984). 

Cloud Transport Processes and Chemical Interactions with Hydrometeors... 

Figure 4. Ratio of the average bubble-cloud transport coefficient to the transport coefficient evaluated at h/2 as a function of the aspect ratio for various ratios the maximum to minimum bubble diameter, r...

Gidel, L. T. (1983) Cumulus cloud transport of transient tracers, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 6587-6599. 

The chemical composition of river water is significantly different from that of seawater (Table 2.28). At first approximation, seawater is mainly a solution of Na" and Cr while river water is a solution of Ca " and HCOJ. Interestingly the ratio Na/Cl is the only one which is relatively similar for rivers and oceans, suggesting that both components are within a global cycle from seaspray through cloud transportation to continents and precipitation. Carbonate is approximately in equilibrium with atmospheric CO2 and the concentration difference between river water... 

Modeling of heavier-than-air clouds involve several processes e.g., gravity spreading, interaction with the surrounding atmosphere and the ground, cloud transport, the influence... 

Transport and Transformation. Once emitted into the atmosphere, the fate of a particular poUutant depends upon the stabihty of the atmosphere, which determines the concentration of the species, the stabihty of the poUutant in the atmosphere, which determines the persistence of the substance. Transport depends upon the stabUity of the atmosphere which, in turn, depends upon the ventilation. The stabUity of a poUutant depends on the presence or absence of clouds, fog, or precipitation the poUutant s solubUity in water and reactivity with other atmospheric constituents (which may be a function of temperature) the concentrations of other atmospheric constituents the poUutant s stabUity in the presence of sunlight and the deposition velocity of the poUutant. 

Davenport [1] has listed more than 60 major leaks of flammable materials, most of which resulted in serious fires or unconfined vapor cloud explosions. Table 9-1, derived from his data, classifies the leak by point of origin and shows that pipe failures accounted for half the failures— more than half if we exclude transport containers. It is therefore important to know why pipe failures occur. Following, a number of typical failures (or near failures) are discussed. These and other failures, summarized in References 2 and 3, show that by far the biggest single cause of pipe failures has been the failure of construction teams to follow instructions or to do well what was left to their discretion. The most effective way of reducing pipe failures is to ... 

It begins with the release of a large quantity of flammable vaporizing liquid or gas from a storage tank, process or transport vessel, or pipeline. Generally speaking, several features need to be present for a vapor cloud explosion with damaging overpressure to occur. 

A deflagration can best be described as a combustion mode in which the propagation rate is dominated by both molecular and turbulent transport processes. In the absence of turbulence (i.e., under laminar or near-laminar conditions), flame speeds for normal hydrocarbons are in the order of 5 to 30 meters per second. Such speeds are too low to produce any significant blast overpressure. Thus, under near-laminar-flow conditions, the vapor cloud will merely bum, and the event would simply be described as a large fiash fire. Therefore, turbulence is always present in vapor cloud explosions. Research tests have shown that turbulence will significantly enhance the combustion rate in defiagrations. 

Local partial confinement or obstruction in a vapor cloud may easily act as an initiator for detonation, which may propagate into the cloud as well. So far, however, only one possible unconfined vapor cloud detonation has been reported in the literature it occurred at Port Hudson, Missouri (National Transportation Safety Board Report 1972 Burgess and Zabetakis 1973). In most cases the nonhomogeneous structure of a cloud freely dispersing in the atmosphere probably prevents a detonation from propagating. 

Fire is more likely tlian an explosion where tliere is a loss of contaimiient of a flammable material from a railroad car, barge, ship tank, or from a pipeline. However, both unconfmed vapor cloud explosions (UVCES) and boiling liquid-e.xpanding vapor e.xplosions (BEEVES) can occur as a result of transport accidents, (see Section 7.5)... 

The bicycle s advantages as the world s most mechanically efficient means of transportation are clouded by the limitations of the human engine. To put it in power output terms, the human body can produce sustained power only at modest levels. For most people, 100 watts would be too much, and for an elite athlete, 400 watts is the approximate ceiling. (The athlete may manage a brief burst of 1.1 kilowatts.)... 

Similarly, all points within a metal, which consists of an ordered rigid lattice of metal cations surrounded by a cloud of free electrons, are electrically neutral. Transport of charge through a metal under the influence of a potential difference is due to the flow of free electrons, i.e. to electronic conduction. The simultaneous transport of electrons through a metal, transport of ions through a solution and the transfer of electrons at the metal/solution interfaces constitute an electrochemical reaction, in which the electrode at which positive current flows from the solution to the electrode is the cathode (e.g. M (aq.) + ze M) and the electrode at which positive flows from it to the solution (e.g. M - M (aq.) -)- ze) is the anode. 

On a global scale, the atmosphere serves as the major pathway for the transport and deposition of contaminants from emission sources to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem receptors (22, 27). Once a contaminant is airborne, the processes of atmospheric di sion, transport, transformation, and deposition act to determine its fate. These processes are complex and the degree to which they influence the fate of a particular contaminant is dependent on its physico-chemical characteristics, the properties and concentrations of coexisting substances, and the prevailing meteorological conditions, including wind, precipitation, humidity, temperature, clouds, fog, and solar irradiation. 

Ear from being just the processing of water on Earth, this cycle is the basis for a wide range of meteorologic, geochemical, and biological systems. Water is the transport medium for all nutrients in the biosphere. Water vapor condensed into clouds is the chief control on planetary albedo. The cycling of water is also one of the major mechanisms for the transportation of sensible heat (e.g. in oceanic circulation) and latent heat that is released when water falls from the air. 

In addition to biogeochemical cycles (discussed in Section 6.5), the hydrosphere is a major component of many physical cycles, with climate among the most prominent. Water affects the solar radiation budget through albedo (primarily clouds and ice/snow), the terrestrial radiation budget as a strong absorber of terrestrial emissions, and global temperature distribution as the primary transporter of heat in the ocean and atmosphere. 

In the mid-latitude region depicted in Fig. 7-5, the motion is characterized by large-scale eddy transport." Here the "eddies" are recognizable as ordinary high- and low-pressure weather systems, typically about 10 km in horizontal dimension. These eddies actually mix air from the polar regions with air from nearer the equator. At times, air parcels with different water content, different chemical composition and different thermodynamic characteristics are brought into contact. When cold dry air is mixed with warm moist air, clouds and precipitation occur. A frontal system is said to exist. Two such frontal systems are depicted in Fig. 7-5 (heavy lines in the midwest and southeast). 

---