Infrared thermography study of thermal plume

This Study uses a thermography technique to determine the heat diffusion profile of thermal water discharge into rivers and canals using thermal imaging camera. It´s provided thermal images for the surface of receiving water showing clearly the mixing zone, shape and edge of the plume which have been difficult to predict by mathematical models. The technique is one of the nondestructive testing tools which are predicting the diffusion of the heat without disturbing the fluid flow and its direction. The process applied on number of real canal sites and in laboratory to observe the actual thermal discharge. To verify the accuracy of the thermal images, the obtained data are compared with temperature measured by thermocouples on canal sites. The centerline temperature decay obtained from thermal images agreed with temperature measured by the thermocouples. This paper will be of interest to practicing engineers who deal with the environment.