Final Evaporation Control in reservoirs

8.1.5
 
Yanling, Shanxi, China-2001 
About 42% Reduction in evaporation vs. untreated water was achieved in Yanling, 
Shanxi, China using Water$avr a patented product of Flexible Solutions International, 
Inc. a Nevada USA corporation (Source: www.flexiblesolutions.com). Water$avr is a 
mixture of Calcium Hydroxide powder with a stearyl/cetyl OH flow aid, in a powder 
form. The same website also mentions about the researches done at the following 
places. The website of American Water Works Association also lists the following 
case studies done using Water$avr. 
•
October 2001, Bakersfield, CA: 27% Reduction in evaporation vs. untreated 
water. 
•
March 2002, Chennai India, Anna University 20 to 30% Reduction in 
evaporation vs. untreated water. 
•
June 2002, Arizona USA, Private Mining Company 20% Reduction in 
commercial evaporation use. 
8.1.6
 
Monolayer’s Role in Hurricane Mitigation through Evaporation Reduction 
Mr. Yu-Lun Lawrence Hsin in his B.Sc. thesis submitted to Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology in June 2002 has stated that the potential for monolayers to be used in 
hurricane mitigation comes in their ability to retard the rate of evaporation, which is a 
key factor in the maintenance of a hurricane’s strength. Long chain alcohols have 
proven particularly promising in field studies to offer a resistance to evaporation.
Mr Lawrence Hsin focused on one particular monolayer—Hexadecanol—to 
determine its fitness for use in reduction of hurricane strength. To test the properties 
of the monolayer that were most pertinent, experimentation and apparatus set-up 
covered four areas: duration of Hexadecanol presence, effects of Hexadecanol 
submersion, effects of disruption in Hexadecanol film, and the evaporation 
retardation rates. The first three properties were tested in experiments where surface 
tension readings indicated the presence of the monolayer. For evaporation retardation 
experiments, a new laboratory was conceptualized and constructed. From the results 
of the experiments, it was concluded that Hexadecanol as a film is too easily disrupted 
to be useful in hurricane mitigation. Even though it had the desirable properties of 
rapid spreading, sufficient duration (also not too long to become an environmental 
hazard), and ability to rise to the water surface upon the first application, this 
monolayer’s inability to reform by itself after being torn apart is far too significant. It 
is infeasible to use Hexadecanol for the substantial reduction in hurricane strength.”

---

81