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Photochemistry of Long‐Chain Fatty Alcohols for Evaporation Control
Author(s) -
Golden Anthony,
Ungefug Gary,
Hoffman Clark,
Baker G. L.,
Anacker E. W.
Publication year - 1964
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1964.tb01271.x
Subject(s) - fatty alcohol , evaporation , monolayer , chemistry , decomposition , dissolution , alcohol , chemical engineering , substrate (aquarium) , organic chemistry , ultraviolet , photochemistry , materials science , meteorology , geology , biochemistry , physics , oceanography , engineering , optoelectronics
Monomolecular films of long‐chain fatty alcohols are capable of reducing water evaporation significantly. Before such films can be used routinely in water conservation, a number of gaps in the knowledge must be closed. One of these concerns the ultimate fate of the alcohol in the monomolecular film. Routes by which alcohols are able to leave the monolayer include bacterial attrition, dissolution into the substrate, and decomposition into volatile or soluble products under the influence of solar radiation. This article presents the initial results of an investigation into one aspect of the latter route. Brief tests in the Bureau of Reclamation's laboratories suggested that a chemical reaction takes place either in hexadecanol or between hexadecanol and asphalt in the presence of solar radiation. Although detailed knowledge of the effects of solar radiation on monomolecular films of alcohols on water is a primary goal of the authors' work, investigation was actually confined to the influence of ultraviolet‐rich radiation on molten alcohols saturated with oxygen. It is assumed that many of the products formed in the bulk alcohol are similar to, if not identical with, those formed in the film. The procedures being developed to identify the products in the former system should therefore apply to the characterization of products originating in the latter.