Numerical investigation of thermal discharge to coastal areas: A case study in South Italy

Gaeta, Maria Gabriella; Samaras, Achilleas G.; Archetti, Renata

doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2019.104596

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…This could depend on the fact that the stretch of coast where the effluent was positioned is particularly exposed to dominant winds and currents and subjected to an intense hydrodynamic regime, which contributed to enhance seawater mixing and helped dissipating the plume of heated waters. It is worth noting also that, the water body northward the effluent received the heated water only when winds blew from S-SE sectors (one of the main wind direction in the region, along with N-NE winds, Gaeta et al 2020), so that rocky reef assemblages at I were not permanently under the influence of thermal discharge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The power plant is one of the largest coal-fired energy plants in Europe, with a total installed capacity of 2640 MW. Seawater is used as cooling fluid for heat exchangers and, at the end of the production process, discharged into the sea through an 80-m width channel with 100 m 3 /s flow (Gaeta et al, 2020). Seawater temperature of the effluent is estimated to be within 12 °C higher than the ambient value, and field measurements and effluent diffusion modelling showed that the increase in seawater temperature at 1 m depth varied from 0 to 4 °C with respect to the ambient values within 1 km radius from the effluent, depending on wind and wave direction (Gaeta et al, 2020).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Temperature of discharged heated waters are often imposed by law, although legal limits may change with country. In Europe, for example, admitted limits for temperature of thermal effluents range between 7 and 12 °C at the outflow or, if related to the increase of seawater temperature in the nearby marine water body, should not exceed 1-3 °C at a distance that varies from few tens of meters to 1 km from the outfall (Gaeta et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact assessment of thermal pollution on subtidal sessile assemblages: a case study from Mediterranean rocky reefs

Bevilacqua

Clara

Terlizzi

2020

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Coastal power plants generally use seawater as cooling fluid, discharging heated waters into the sea after the cooling process. The ensuing increase in seawater temperature could affect the marine biota in the nearby areas, causing alterations at different level of biological organization, from individuals to populations and assemblages. In the Mediterranean Sea, few attempts have been made to assess the effects of this point sources of thermal pollution, especially on rocky habitats. Here, we investigated the putative impact of a thermal effluent from one of the largest European coal-fired coastal power plants on sessile assemblages of subtidal rocky reefs. Sessile assemblages on rocky substrates were photographically sampled at one location near the effluent (I), and at two control locations (Cs) virtually unaffected by thermal discharge. An asymmetrical after-control impact experimental design was employed to test the hypothesis that the thermal discharge significantly modified sessile assemblages at I if compared to Cs. We detected significant differences in assemblages at I versus Cs, indicating a clear effect of the effluent on assemblage structure. Such differences were mostly due to shift in dominance among macroalgae between I and Cs, which likely depended on different tolerance limits of species to increased seawater temperature and other sources of disturbance associated to the effluent, such as increased sedimentation rates and water turbidity. Our findings stressed the need for further investigations of the impact of 2 thermal effluents on marine communities, considering the potential synergistic effects of climate change especially in the Mediterranean Sea.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact assessment of thermal pollution on subtidal sessile assemblages: a case study from Mediterranean rocky reefs

Bevilacqua

Clara

Terlizzi

2020

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“…The rise in water temperature and the water stratification caused by thermal discharge [5][6][7] have adverse impacts on the marine ecological environment [8][9][10][11]. Thermal pollution caused mainly by industrial use of water as a cooling agent has been regarded as a severe threat to ecological composition in coastal waters [12]. Meanwhile, a portion of the heated water directly returns to the intake, which negatively affects the unit operation efficiency [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was found that the excess temperature at the outlet has more influence on the mixing zone. The work in [12] also provided a discussion on the effect of water discharge and the temperature at the outlet on the plume distribution. Zeng et al [18] used the full-field physical model with scale distortion and the local physical model with a normal scale to analyze the detailed heat exchange phenomenon and discuss the effect of scale distortion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study on the Effect of Heat-Retaining and Diversion Facilities on Thermal Discharge from a Power Plant

Hao

Qiao

Han

et al. 2020

Water

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In order to reduce the influence of thermal discharge from the power plant on the surrounding water environment and the operation efficiency of the power plant, a distorted physical model was presented and applied to Huadian Kemen Power Plant for studying heat transport and analyzing the effects of heat-retaining and diversion facilities near the intake/outlet on the thermal discharge for six scenarios. Field investigations were also used to validate the model. This study is unique as it is the first to elaborate on the impact of heat-retaining and diversion facilities on thermal discharge. The results indicate that the construction of heat-retaining and diversion facilities can decrease the excess temperature at intake to meet the intake requirement and improve the distribution of low temperature rise, but the area of high temperature rise has an increase. When the heat-retaining wall and diversion dike were constructed, the maximum intake temperature rise of Phase III decreased significantly by 1.0–1.3 °C with an average decrease of 0.2 °C, and the maximum value of Phase I and II was reduced by 0.3 °C with little mean change. A comparative experiment with different construction heights was also conducted. Result analysis shows that when the crest elevation was reduced from 3 to 2 m, the influence on the intake temperature rise of Phase I and II could be ignored, and the average temperature rise of Phase III only had an increase of 0.1 °C, suggesting that constructions with 2 m play an effective role in reducing heat return to the intake.

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Numerical simulation of the thermal pollution zones formation from the power plant for different weather conditions

Issakhov

Mustafayeva

2022

Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Numerical investigation of thermal discharge to coastal areas: A case study in South Italy

Cited by 16 publications

References 46 publications

The impact assessment of thermal pollution on subtidal sessile assemblages: a case study from Mediterranean rocky reefs

The impact assessment of thermal pollution on subtidal sessile assemblages: a case study from Mediterranean rocky reefs

Experimental Study on the Effect of Heat-Retaining and Diversion Facilities on Thermal Discharge from a Power Plant

Numerical simulation of the thermal pollution zones formation from the power plant for different weather conditions

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