Temperature Distributions in Tidal Flow Field

Abstract

The development and application of a numerical model to predict the two‐dimensional depth mean velocity fields and background temperature distributions in a natural harbor, at Poole, England, is described. The predicted background temperature rises resulted from the proposed siting of either a 700 or 350‐MW capacity power station on the harbor perimeter, with the intake and outfall for the cooling water system being located along the boundary and within the harbor, respectively. The numerical model was based on the solution of the depth‐integrated flow equations, simulating the tidal currents, and on the depth integration of the advective‐diffusion equation for the conservation of heat. The main difficulties encountered in the hydrodynamic model included the representation of the advective acceleration terms, particularly since the harbor had a narrow entrance, and the modeling of the significant changes, which occur in the plan cross‐sectional area as large regions of shallow water, were dried out and flooded on each tide. The modeling difficulties associated with the heat balance equation included the numerical treatment of the temperature discontinuity at the outlet and the open seaward boundary conditions.