HOMEWORK #10 (Due December 5, 2013)
Homework No. 10
Began using Maple 16 to answer problem number 1, as a enter the solution into maple I began getting
“match” errors.” Below is the start of the code I am working through to answer problem 1.
My water pollution is completed. Below is a section from my report, specifically from the water contamination levels in the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is considered
Sean Paquette Air & Water Pollution Prevention & Control Engineering Semester Fall 2013
MANE-6960H01
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Homework No. 10 the worst oil spill in the world and the largest environmental disaster in the United States. The oil spill prompted an immediate fire on the Deepwater Horizon platform and contaminated the surrounding water supply, destroying vegetation and root systems. Approximately 1,000 miles [8] of shoreline were polluted by the oil spill and over 8,000
[9]
turtles, birds and mammals died within six months of the explosion. “Oil contamination in the environment is primarily assessed by measuring the chemical concentrations of petroleum products in the affected environmental compartment (e.g. sediment, biota, water). The determination of total petroleum hydrocarbons or, alternatively, hydrocarbon index in water and soil is one of the important analytical tasks to assess levels of water pollution.” [10]
Hydrocarbons are “organic compounds consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon” [11]
and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) are any combination of hydrocarbons within crude oil. To completely understand the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil Spill, hydrocarbon contamination at various levels need to be studied. For example, a study completed in 2010, published in Elsevier Journal, (Reference 12), examined the scattering and abundance patterns of TPHs (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), C4
Phenanthrenes/Anthracenes, C2 Phenanthrenes/Anthraacenes, C2 sub’d B(a)/chrysene, C3
Dibenzothiophenes, C1 Phenanthrenes/Anthracenes, C4 Dibenzothiophenes, C1
Benz(a)Anthracenes/Chrysenes, C2 Dibenzoththiaphenes, C3 Fluorenes, C4 Naphthalenes, and
C2 Naphtalenes) in seawater, sediment, marine fauna and flora surrounding the oil leak.
Appendix E is a map showing sample points for tests produced in Reference (12). The results identified TPHs concentrations ranging between 0.050 ppm
[12]
(parts per million) to 535 ppt
[12]
(parts per trillion) in the sediment with an average of 39.4 ppt
[12]
at the well head. In addition, seawater experienced concentration levels of TPHs, ranging between 160 ppm
[12]
to 260ppm
[12]
, with an average concentration of 202.206 ppm [12] . Fauna and flora had an average TPH concentration level of 3.820 ppt
[12]
. Figures (4), (5) and (6) below are bar graphs illustrating the mean concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment, seawater and fauna and flora.
Sean Paquette Air & Water Pollution Prevention & Control Engineering Semester Fall 2013
MANE-6960H01
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