Method for dust control on saline dry lakebeds using minimal water resources

Abstract

A method for controlling dust on a saline lakebed is disclosed comprising several methods such as a Brine Membrane method, an Interim method and a Springtime Conservation method. A Master method for determining which of the three methods to use under certain circumstances is described. Prospective application of the methods is for dry lakebeds, such as the Owens Lakebed in Calif.

Description

[0001]This patent application is a continuation-in-part of non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 12 / 841,971, filed on Jul. 22, 2010, which claimed priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. Nos. 61 / 228,271 entitled “System and Method for Use of Natural Brine To Prevent Fugitive Dust Using Minimal Water,” filed on Jul. 24, 2009; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 254,112 entitled “System and Method for Use of Natural Brine to Prevent Fugitive Dust Using Minimal Water,” filed on Oct. 22, 2009; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 315,461 entitled “Method for Employing Clay for Construction of Low Cost Pond Liners,” filed on Mar. 19, 2010; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 326,468 entitled “Chloride Salts With Divalent Cations Provide Temporary Surface Stabilization in Saline Systems Dominated by Sodium,” filed on Apr. 21, 2010; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 358,249 entitled “Chloride Salts with Divalent Cation...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]The present invention includes systems and / or methods that will protect the surface from releasing dust, use present infrastructure, if available, that was built to provide surface wetting (or at other sites, create such infrastructure) with minor modification, consume minimal water resources for startup, and consume little or no additional water for maintenance. Each of three methods provides the surface protection by working with the natural properties of the salts present within the Owens Lake system. In one of the methods a different type of salt is imported that, with another ingredient, works to stabilize the surface.

[0026]Springtime Conservation is a method embodiment that curtails water delivery to the wetting basin when temperatures are safely forecasted to induce summer crust formation. This method, favored for wetting basins that are undesirable for conversion to Brine Membrane can still save almost one third of the water that is used within such wetting basins. Springtime Conservation transforms the dust control wetting basins in the last two months of the dust season from a highly evaporative wetted surface that requires constant resupply with water into a dry non-emissive surface, thereby conserving significant water resources.

Problems solved by technology

Soils enriched with sodium carbonate and sodium sulfate through agricultural drainage, similar salty beds exposed due to anthropomorphically-changed hydrology (like the Owens Lake), and natural dry lakebeds with shallow groundwater connection are prone to create large sources of airborne dust that can cause health and safety hazards within the surrounding region.

Owens Lake was the historic terminus of the Owens River that was diverted for export by the City of Los Angeles resulting in desiccation of the lake early in the last century.

This process destroys soil cohesion and renders the surface easily lofted by only moderate winds of about 15 miles per hour.

Unfortunately, wetting of the Owens Lake surface is using enormous amounts of water—LADWP uses four feet per year to plan for the required water application for dust control through the dust control season.

Within the critically water-short semi-arid southeastern California region, this annual consumption of water for dust control is not sustainable.

Sodium chloride, the salt that provides the protective mechanism responsible for retaining the non-emissive qualities of a lakebed source deposit, may be present in limited but sufficient quantities, if managed correctly.

The June threshold arose because summertime winds are generally insufficient to cause dust emission from those portions of the Owens Lake bed that emitted dust during the winter and spring.

Images