Abstract
Consequent to rapid urbanization and industrialization, desalination of sea water is considered as a potential source of water along coastal areas. One of the challenges in putting up a desalination plant along coastal areas is the safe disposal of brine discharge and its dispersion in seawater, as it can have a profound impact on the marine environment. This study has been carried out to ensure better disposal and dispersion of the effluent from a proposed desalination plant at Tuticorin. Taking a point source as the outfall point, the brine solution is discharged at a rate of 1.58 m3/s into the marine environment. This was done at a distance of 2–2.5 km from the shore at a depth of 7–9 m from the mean sea level. Since the depth is relatively small and initial vertical momentum is high, the discharge surfaces initially and then sinks in. The fate of the brine discharged from the outfall of the desalination plant is predicted using a commercial numerical model, MIKE-21, by considering the local bathymetry and assessing the hydrodynamic parameters such as waves, tides and currents of the area as well as wind and the other local environmental parameters included in the study.
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List of Figures
Fig. 23.1 Predicted tide (sample data) for India for the month of January 2012
Fig. 23.2 Average speed and wind direction for Tuticorin coast for the year 2012
Fig. 23.3 Average wind speed and direction during winter 2012
Fig. 23.4 Average wind speed and direction during southwest monsoon 2012
Fig. 23.5 Average wind speed and direction during northeast monsoon 2012
Fig. 23.6 Typical bathymetry of the Tuticorin coast
Fig. 23.7 Current during winter
Fig. 23.8 Current during southwest monsoon
Fig. 23.9 Current during northeast monsoon for the Tuticorin coast
Fig. 23.10 Dispersion flow model during winter
Fig. 23.11 Dispersion flow model during the southwest monsoon
Fig. 23.12 Dispersion flow model during the north east monsoon
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Danish, D.R., Mudgal, B.V., Dhinesh, G., Ramanamurthy, M.V. (2015). Mathematical Model Study of the Effluent Disposal from a Desalination Plant in the Marine Environment at Tuticorin, India. In: Baawain, M., Choudri, B., Ahmed, M., Purnama, A. (eds) Recent Progress in Desalination, Environmental and Marine Outfall Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19123-2_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19123-2_23
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19122-5
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