Author(s): K. A. Rakha; F. Al-Hulail
Linked Author(s): Neelamani Subramani
Keywords: Hydrodynamic model; Tidal currents; Thermal pollution; Arabian Gulf; Desalination Plants; RMA model
Abstract: Many desalination and power plants are situated along the Kuwaiti coastline. These plants include seawater intakes and outfalls. The Shuaiba area includes several outfalls and intakes that are used for different purposes. It is essential to ensure that the outfalls do not have a considerable negative impact on the existing intakes. The impact of the outfalls on the marine environment is also important since other outfalls are being considered for future projects. In this study temperature and salinity are modelled for the study area using a three dimensional 3D hydrodynamic model (RMA-10). The RMA-10 finite element model calculates the tidal currents and water level fluctuations due to tides together with the temperature and salinity. The model was validated using field measurements of water levels, currents and water temperature. The model was capable of modeling the tidal currents and the water temperatures well. Using a relative temperature model, the recirculation at the existing intake for the power and desalination plant was found to reach 1.3°C 50% of the time. The temperature at the existing intake exceeded only 10% of the time was found to be 1.6°C. The impact of the outfalls on the temperature was found to extend to about 2 km in the offshore direction.
Year: 2010