09-29-2003, 02:55 AM
Quote:Interesting, and I'm sure that it would be environmentally benign on a small scale. I would question the effect on the lake's ecosystem if a large number of facilities began to alter the natural deep water temperature significantly.
That was my first thought too. I don't think that would be much of an issue, though, considering how absolutely huge the Great Lakes are. It would take an awful lot of these deep water heat exchangers to alter the overall water temperature to any significant degree.
I haven't done the math, but consider how much energy would be required to raise the temperature of 1,640 cubic kilometers of water by even one degree Celsius.
Also, water is constantly flowing from one Great Lake to the next -- eventually emptying out to the St. Lawrence River and out into the Atlantic ocean. The system is always refreshing itself, albeit slowly (lots of volume is moved, but not a lot as a percentage of the system's total volume). There is always fresh cold water moving in.
I don't think we have to worry about this issue. At least, not for quite a long time.
-DeeBye