A hybrid near-field/far-field thermal discharge model for coastal areas

A hybrid technique has been used to simulate the dispersion of heat from surface discharges in coastal areas. Characteristics of the near field thermal dispersion are described by the CORMIX3 model. A two-dimensional harmonic finite element hydrodynamic model (TEA) and a Eulerian-Lagrangian transport model (ELA) are applied for the far-field computation. A Gaussian puff algorithm in ELA, which represents the near field plume as a series of patches, is used to link the two regimes. The computed results are compared to available field measurements. Very reasonable agreement is observed.