Numerical Simulation of Thermal Discharge with Different Heat Exchange Methods on Water Surface

The calculation of heat exchange on water surface plays an important role in thermal discharge simulation. A laboratory thermal discharge flume experiment under specified artificial meteorological conditions was conducted to investigate the thermal impact process in receiving water, which was also modeled using both the Hydrodynamic Module and ECO Lab Module of MIKE3 Flow Model FM 2009 (MIKE3FM), respectively. The results indicate that the amount of heat exchange on water surface calculated by real time heat flux method and comprehensive heat transfer coefficient method is quite different. The heat flux method can reflect the heat accumulation process of environment water under the real-time meteorological conditions, while the comprehensive heat transfer coefficient doesn´t embody the real physical process of heat exchange, and it is generally applied to the power plant siting and planning stage under design conditions.