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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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      <title>Waste Heat Recovery-based Seawater Desalination for Sustainable Maritime Operations: A Study on Heat Transfer, Techno-economic Feasibility, and Environmental Impact</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2606215</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Maritime vessels produce a large amount of waste heat, with approximately 51% of fuel energy dissipated during operation, and exhaust heat comprising the largest portion, approximately 26% of the dissipated heat. This represents a huge potential energy source, which could be utilized to address the crucial challenge of continuous freshwater supply onboard ships, especially for long voyages. Conventional onboard desalination systems like Reverse Osmosis (RO), Distillation (Multi-Stage Flash and Multi-Effect Distillation) or Electrodialysis are energy-intensive, space-intensive, and environmentally harmful due to high brine discharge. Additionally, the need for real-world experiments is crucial to understand the actual desalination feasibility onboard ships. This study meets those gaps by presenting a simple novel desalination system that directly utilizes the exhaust heat from the ship engine, featuring two unique components and processes: a prototype floating-head shell-and-tube heat exchanger for evaporation, and the ship's natural motion-driven seawater circulation for condensation. The experimental investigation was conducted using the exhaust of a 1 MW Caterpillar engine to represent the actual marine-type engine. Experimental testing demonstrates a maximum freshwater production of 1.1815 tons/day, a 97% reduction in brine discharge, a CO₂ emission reduction of approximately 0.0886 tons/year per ship, and an increase in cargo capacity of about 396 tons/year per ship compared to RO-based systems. Along with considering practical challenges of thermodynamic analysis, the results highlight a sustainable waste-heat-driven desalination system in maritime applications that economically and environmentally reduces extra fuel and RO replacement costs, and a potential alternative to energy-intensive desalination technologies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:35:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2606215</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Near-zero synergistic interaction policy for Offshore Oil and Gas Platform Energy Hub Clusters enabled by oceanic e-shared fleets and desalination under eco-safety welfare</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2648677</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The offshore oil and gas industry faces growing challenges related to decarbonization, energy autonomy, and sustainable freshwater provision in remote marine environments. To address these issues, this study introduces a near-zero synergistic interaction policy tailored for Offshore Oil And Gas Platform Energy Hub Cluster (OOGP-EHC). The proposed framework holistically integrates multi-energy flow coordination, marine-based seawater desalination infrastructure, and oceanic e-shared mobile storage fleets, a novel class of mobile, and marine-resilient storage systems designed for cross-platform energy exchange and redundancy in volatile ocean conditions. In term of the model lies a robust multi-objective optimization approach to jointly manage combined heat and power units, gas boilers, electrical and thermal energy storage, and offshore renewable energy systems that exploit the cyclical dynamics of ocean waves and tidal currents. A Load Peak Management (LPM) scheme is embedded to reshape demand during high-cost periods, while robust techniques address uncertainty in renewable output and electricity prices. The proposed methodology is validated through three operational scenarios: (i) uses deterministic optimization without uncertainty modeling; (ii) employs robust optimization for standalone energy hubs without storage and LPM schemes and (iii) applies robust optimization to fully integrated OOGP-EHC with all system components. (iii) demonstrates clear superiority, yielding a 14.7 % reduction in total operating cost, a 9.4 % decrease in CO₂ emissions, and a 20.8 % decline in upstream grid dependency compared to (ii). Additionally, a 5-metric oceanic eco-safety welfare evaluation framework is developed, capturing key marine-appropriate indicators. The welfare assessment reveals that (iii) outperforms the alternatives with about 12.5 % across all normalized indices. By embedding ocean-based renewable exploitation, energy storage mobility, and desalination coordination within a unified robust decision framework, this study offers a forward-looking solution for climate-conscious, welfare-driven governance of offshore energy systems.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 09:31:33 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2648677</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Wetland plant species and biochar amendments lead to variable salinity reduction in roadway-associated soils</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2439737</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Salinization is an emerging threat in freshwater wetlands, with few techniques available to mitigate anthropogenic inputs such as road salts. Phytoremediation and biochar addition have each been proposed to remediate salt-affected soils generally, but interactive effects in wetland environments to improve soil conditions adjacent to roadways are not well understood. The authors conducted an 88-day fully factorial greenhouse experiment to quantify the effects of three plant treatments (unvegetated, Typha × glauca and Phragmites australis) and three biochar rates (0.0, 2.5, 5.0 % wt/wt) on the soil and leachate of a simulated wetland system. Both plant species significantly reduced soil Cl⁻ content relative to unvegetated controls, while Typha also significantly reduced Cl⁻ content of leachate and soil Na⁺. The difference in effects was likely due to different salt tolerance strategies: the salt-accumulating Typha contained a significantly higher volume of Na⁺, Cl⁻, and water in its tissue than Phragmites, whose greater K⁺:Na⁺ ratio and similar soil Na⁺ to controls indicated a salt exclusion strategy. Biochar did not influence the growth of either species but moderately increased tissue Na⁺ concentration in Typha. Furthermore, biochar's effects on soil and leachate salt levels varied by application rate with the medium rate moderately increasing soil Na⁺ and Cl⁻ and leachate Cl⁻, while the highest application did not differ from controls across all metrics. The results suggest that phytoremediation can be optimized with salt-accumulating species, whose mechanisms of salt tolerance involve the accumulation of salt ions from the surrounding environment. The consistent flooding in the study may have inhibited the influence of biochar. The authors recommend future studies parse the effects of water levels and redox potential on biochar's ability to influence wetland salinity.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Oct 2024 15:29:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2439737</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Waste heat recovery system for marine engines optimized through a preference learning rank function embedded into a Bayesian optimizer</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2186264</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Waste heat recovery is a proven process to improve efficiency on engines and meets current necessities of the maritime industry. Since January 1, 2023, already built vessels must meet the energy efficiency indicators known as EEXI and CII. Aiming to reduce fuel consumption and mitigate pollution emissions, a novel waste heat recovery system composed of steam Rankine cycle, organic Rankine cycle, thermoelectric harvesters and desalination is presented. High, medium and low-grade waste heat from exhaust gas, jacket water, lubricating oil and engine block radiation are targeted for recovery. Performance assessment of each subsystem when implemented on a real case study 6-cylinder medium speed marine engine is analyzed. The equivalent electricity production concept was used for the assessment of the desalination subsystem. The proposed system effectively recovers waste energy, offering economic benefits, reducing pollution and satisfying the daily demand of fresh water. Also, optimal states of the waste heat recovery are provided via Bayesian optimization, which requires an evaluation function for the system to be optimized. However, this function is not available and cannot be straightforwardly established, since the quality of waste heat recovery depends on some indicators with a trade-off among them. Hence, a preference learning procedure that exploits expert knowledge is proposed to induce a function of this kind from those indicators in order to be embedded into the Bayesian optimization procedure afterward. Applied to the case study engine, a fuel consumption reduction of 15.04% is achieved. Fuel savings lead to an improvement in energy efficiency indicators, achieving a reduction of 6.98% on the EEXI and a 13.85% on the CII.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 30 Aug 2023 11:49:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2186264</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Probabilistic human health risk assessment of trace elements in ballast water treated by reverse osmosis desalination plants</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2112258</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Very few studies have paid attention to the transport of heavy and toxic metals via ballast water coming from different countries of the world. In the present study, ballast water samples (n = 83) were collected from ships, tankers and vessels of 21 different origins arriving at the two main ports of Qatar. Besides the basic physical parameters of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and total organic carbon (TOC), concentrations of 24 elements (As, Sb, Al, Cd, Pb, Si, V, Ag, Zn, Cr, Mn, Ba, Co, Ni, Sr, Be, Cu, Tl, B, Fe, Se, Sn, Mo and U) were determined. In addition, the potential human health risks of drinking water treated by reverse osmosis (RO) were assessed using Monte Carlo simulations. Two scenarios were used to assess the risks to the general population, namely, seawater (baseline) and ballast water (worst-case scenario). The authors' results show significant differences among the tested elements, depending on the origin of the ballast water. The human health assessment showed that all hazardous quotients (HQs) were below the safety limits. However, for the ballast water scenario, thallium (Tl) HQs were 10 % above the safety level. Ballast water in Qatar does not pose risks for human health through drinking water, but ballast water discharges should take into consideration seawater catchments and potential toxic elements, especially Tl. Regular monitoring campaigns need to be performed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Mar 2023 16:45:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2112258</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Membrane desalination of ballast water using thermoelectric energy from waste heat</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2008902</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Ballast water management and treatment is an on-going issue for marine industry including small and bulk carriers, cruise ships, passenger ships and cargo vessels. Several regulations are implemented at regional, national and international levels to minimise the environmental impacts related to improper disposal of contaminated ballast water at ports. In this study, an environmentally benign approach for managing the ballast water on marine vessels is proposed. Thermoelectric energy harvested from main engine’s waste heat is considered as a primary source of energy for a reverse osmosis desalination process, which recovers the ballast water in the form of clean water to provide for fresh water supplies in ships. A case study is presented to elaborate the proposed scheme. The effects of seawater temperatures and energy recovery schemes on the freshwater production rates are also discussed. The proposed scheme provides a promising approach to ballast water management while allowing to provide in situ treatment for its beneficial use in shipping operations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:12:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2008902</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Investigating the Polar Code’s function-based requirements for life-saving appliances and arrangements, and the performance of survival equipment in cold climate conditions – test of SOLAS approved desalting apparatus at low temperatures</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1889231</link>
      <description><![CDATA[As the sea ice extent steadily decreases, the Arctic region is simultaneously experiencing extensive growth in commercial shipping activities, in areas which previously were considered inaccessible for most ships during large periods of the year, increasing the probability of accidents or incidents occurring. The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (The Polar Code) states that resources shall be provided to support survival following abandoning a ship; desalting apparatus is proposed for the provision of the recommended amount of freshwater. However, previous studies have shown that the expected performance criteria for survival equipment are significantly reduced in cold climate conditions. In this paper, the authors present and discuss the results of testing SOLAS approved desalting apparatus at low temperatures in a controlled and enclosed environment, studying the equipment's performance capabilities.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2022 09:53:03 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1889231</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Experimental study on the motion response of an integrated floating desalination plant and offshore wind turbine on a non-ship platform</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1858966</link>
      <description><![CDATA[An on-grid floating desalination plant (FDP), powered by conventional fossil fuel, was recently proposed to support freshwater demands in some remote coastal cities that have electricity grid networks. The aim of this study is to investigate feasibility of integrating a wind turbine into the same FDP platform to be suitable for off-grid services with sustainable clean energy resources. The new proposed concept is a fully self-contained mobile system powered by wind. Using a 1:100 scale model of the proposed concept, an experimental study was performed to investigate the floater's motion behavior in Egypt. According to historical sea statistical data for Red Sea in Egypt and taking combined dynamic responses of turbine and floating platform into consideration, frequency and time history dynamic analyses have been done. Furthermore, the possibility of using five different wind turbines in the same FDP platform was studied for upgrading purposes. Results show that the proposed FDP concept has capability to support all tested turbines and to operate safely in Egyptian environmental conditions. Based on the FDP concept with and without turbine comparisons, there are minor motion changes in heave responses, while pitch and surge responses show major changes in time history analyses due to turbine operation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Jun 2021 14:26:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1858966</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Numerical hydrodynamics-based design of an offshore platform to support a desalination plant and a wind turbine in Egypt</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1848040</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Motivated by social and environmental reasons, water scarcity has become a global top agenda item. Egypt is one of the countries suffering from an acute shortage of freshwater. A promising novel and efficient solution to overcome Egypt's freshwater shortage, especially in remote coastal areas far from the national grid of freshwater and electricity, is a mobile floating desalination plant (FDP) powered by offshore renewable energy. The proposed new FDP concept powered by an offshore wind turbine needs a special floating platform to provide enough buoyancy to support the weight of the desalination plant and to restrain the six degrees of freedom motions within an acceptable operational limit for a wind turbine. Based on hydrodynamics, the main objective of this study is to select the suitable offshore platform that can meet the novel FDP concept operation's requirements at a specific deployment location in Egypt. Determining the safe natural frequencies zone necessitates taking into account the new FDP concept operation constraints and the Egyptian environmental loads to select platform far from the dynamic amplifications responses in the structure. Numerical modelling results show that the cylindrical platform with a heave plate configuration demonstrated the best dynamic and static performance for Egypt.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 25 May 2021 16:21:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1848040</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020: Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater and Water Desalination and Reuse</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1706847</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This collection contains 29 peer-reviewed papers on wastewater, stormwater, and water desalination and reuse.  Topics include: modeling and analysis of desalination processes; stormwater management and flood control; low impact development and runoff; and wastewater treatment.  This proceedings will be of interest to practitioners and researchers in all areas of water and environmental engineering.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2020 09:43:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1706847</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Tapping into the Pacific</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1458509</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant in Carlsbad, California has improved the reliability and volume of San Diego's local water supplies in its first year of operations. The San Diego region enjoys the peace of knowing that a portion of its water supply is droughtproof, at a time when much of California must contend with drought and the prospect of diminishing water supplies. The plant is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean and provides nearly 10% of the San Diego region's water supply. The reverse-osmosis process that is used is energy efficient, saving an estimated 146 million kWh of energy per year.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 27 Mar 2017 09:34:02 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1458509</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Fiberglass Pipe Is Helping Solve the World’s Drinking Water Shortage</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1416443</link>
      <description><![CDATA[With the aim of alleviating the endemic water shortage, the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) initiated the Carlsbad Desalination Project. This project was slated to begin delivering fresh drinking water to businesses and residents by the end of 2015. The plant was designed to convert more than 100 million gallons a day (MGD) of raw seawater into 54 MGD of desalinated drinkable water. This is the first of 12 such plants due to be constructed in California. One unique aspect of this project was the 2,000 LF of large diameter fiberglass pipe which was required for construction in certain areas within the facility. This fiberglass pipe ranged in diameter from 24” to 72”. Designing and building the pipeline involved a number of unique challenges. The pipe had to be buried at depths up to 18 feet, sometimes six feet below groundwater level. This required the pipe to withstand the soil and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) H20 traffic loading as well as resist buckling from the external water pressures. The highly corrosive nature of both the seawater and the chemically treated permeate water, with pH values ranging between 2.5 and 10.5, placed severe demands on pipe, joints and fittings. As a potable water application, the pipe requirements included compliance to the American Water Works Association (AWWA) C950 and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D3517 standards as well as NSF-certification and phthalate free resins. The project specification called for a minimum 30-year service life. The contractor, Kiewit Shea Desalination (KSD), outlined an aggressive construction schedule, requiring the fast-paced production of pipe and fittings to specification. As the chosen supplier of Flowtite filament wound fiberglass pipe for the project, the Thompson pipe group arranged to have the pipe produced in Louisiana. The installation of the large diameter fiberglass pipe included many different joint types and installation methods. The pipe manufacturer provided on-site field crews and technical support throughout the phases of the contract as a construction partner. With pre-cut fiberglass lamination kits shipped from the pipe manufacturer, field butt-wraps were performed in place. In other areas on the project, the contractor took advantage of the Flowtite fiberglass pressure rated couplings eliminating many of the 72” field wraps on the project, which shaved valuable time from the tight installation schedule. In addition to the traditional direct bury installation method, 350 LF of 72” fiberglass pipe was installed using a “jack and bore” application. The pipe manfacturer’s engineers worked with the contractor to design a system to fit within the casing of the jacking tunnel. Using the pressure rated couplings, the pipe sections could be joined together within the tunnel, simplifying the installation process and saving even more time. This project was a difficult project due to the aggressive construction schedule as well as the field quality control requirements. This paper will review this unique project from the aspect of construction, installation and inspection.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Aug 2016 11:08:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1416443</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Ballast water treatment ashore — Better for the environment and for seafarers</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1411789</link>
      <description><![CDATA[After a brief overview of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention), 2004, the status of ratification and its applicability to ships the main methods for ballast water treatment required by the BWM Convention are introduced. Port-based reception and treatment facilities would offer many benefits compared to treatment of ballast water on board — shore-based facilities would be more efficient and provide both economical and environmental advantages. The choice to impose the ballast water treatment obligations on the ships and their crews may have been the solution of least resistance, but it may also be the solution, which represents the least efficiency and the greatest overall cost as well as a potential for negative consequences for the crew responsible for ballast water management.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2016 09:18:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1411789</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>NRCC Borehole Indentor: Measuring Ice Strength</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1375693</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This paper presents an overview of the borehole indentor system that was specially developed at the National Research Council Canada for measuring the in situ rates-ensitivity of ice strength and the ice deformation properties. The borehole indentor system includes a fibre-glass core auger, a stainless steel indentor, and the associated electronics. The working principles of the indentor are discussed, and a brief description of the field programs in which the indentor has been used is presented. This paper is a companion paper to the papers on the measured borehole strengths of level ice (Johnston, 2005-a) and hummocked ice (Johnston, 2005-b) near Nain, Labrador.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2015 09:28:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1375693</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Growth and Decay of Landfast, First-Year Ice Near Nain, Labrador</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1375694</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Property measurements made in level landfast first-year ice from six sites within a 20 km radius of Nain are presented. Measurements were made during four site visits, from early February to mid-May, 2004. Three of the examined sites were located along the proposed shipping route to Voisey’s Bay Mine, in Edwards Cove. Rapid changes in air temperature were noted to have a visible effect on the ice conditions. Ice thickness ranged from 0.41 to 0.65 m in February and had increased to 0.95 to 1.28 m by May. By May, the ice showed clear signs of seasonal decay. The ice desalinated throughout its full thickness, it became isothermal at near-melting temperatures, and it showed a 20 to 60% reduction in its in situ strength.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2015 09:28:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1375694</guid>
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