title: Monitoring cooling water discharge using Lagrangian coherent structures: a case study in Daya Bay, China.
abstract: As an unwanted by-product in the power plants, cooling water (CW) discharge may induce harmful effects on the coastal environment. In this paper, to accurately predict the CW transport in the Daya Bay, China, we develop a three-dimensional hydrodynamic and temperature model to simulate the transport of the CW from nuclear power plant into coastal waters. Specifically, we use the flow velocity produced by the model to locate Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs) hidden in ocean surface currents. Result show that the transport of the CW is quite strongly tied to the simulated LCSs. The LCSs constitute fluid barriers that accurately demarcate potential pathway for CW transport. Thus, LCSs in velocity fields from a coastal model is an extremely useful way to monitor and interpret the transport of CW.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.
authors: Xing
authors: X
authors: Wei
authors: Guangdong Research Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower, Guangzhou 510610, China.
authors: Peitong
authors: P
authors: Ni
authors: State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China. Electronic address: hgzhan@scsio.ac.cn.
authors: Haigang
authors: H
authors: Zhan
mesh_terms: D061006:Bays / Q000737:chemistry*; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Cooling water discharge; Finite-time Lyapunov exponents; Lagrangian coherent structures; Power plant