Assessment of the performance of evaporation suppressant films: analysis and limitations of simple trialling methods
Article
Article Title | Assessment of the performance of evaporation suppressant films: analysis and limitations of simple trialling methods |
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ERA Journal ID | 3449 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Hancock, N. H. (Author), Pittaway, P. A. (Author) and Symes, T. W. (Author) |
Editors | Banhazi, Thomas |
Journal Title | Australian Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Engineering |
Journal Citation | 8 (2), pp. 157-168 |
Number of Pages | 12 |
Year | 2011 |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Place of Publication | Sydney, Australia |
ISSN | 0812-3314 |
1441-6611 | |
1448-8388 | |
Web Address (URL) | http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/library |
Abstract | The potential utility of monomolecular layers ('monolayers') and other surface film materials for the reduction of open water evaporation has long been argued. However, outside the laboratory, trials to quantify the effectiveness of artificial surface films have produced highly variable results after application to water surfaces, whether natural water bodies or managed farm storages. This paper briefly reviews the physical mechanisms involved in evaporation suppression and the biophysical literature on aquatic surface microlayers. The wide-ranging results from sixteen months of outdoor trough-scale and (simultaneous) replicated bucket-scale evaporation reduction trials are interpreted using biophysical measurements made on microlayer and immediate subsurface water samples taken from the experimental troughs. When the prevailing environmental conditions and other ancillary measurements are taken into account, plausible hypotheses arise to account for at least some of the observed trial-to-trial differences in evaporation reduction and surface film performance. Results for the commercial monolayer product are inconclusive, as the concentration of the active ingredient in its formulation lacked the uniformity required for the accuracy at which these trials were conducted. Results for the temperature differential between open (unprotected) water and film-covered water, and the influence of windspeed on evaporative loss, indicate that the mechanism of evaporation suppression for mono-molecular (monolayer) organic films differs from that for thicker silicone oil films. These results have implications for both small-scale trialling of evaporation suppressants and the deployment and management of artificial surface film materials on agricultural water storages. In addition, it concluded that despite the attractiveness of simple side-by-side comparisons of performance, meaningful interpretation of results must consider prevailing meteorological conditions, and a timescale of hours rather than days. |
Keywords | evaporation; suppressant films; monlayers; microlayers; aquatic surfaces |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 340603. Colloid and surface chemistry |
300201. Agricultural hydrology | |
409901. Agricultural engineering | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q1340/assessment-of-the-performance-of-evaporation-suppressant-films-analysis-and-limitations-of-simple-trialling-methods
1990
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