Engineering-Geological and Geoecological Problems of Heat Power Complexes on Urban Areas

Abstract

The impacts of thermal energy plants on the geological environment include the chemical pollution of groundwater and soils, changes in their physical and mechanical properties, and the induction of thermal, vibrational, and electromagnetic fields in the soil bases. The aim of the research is to determine geological hazards in large cities, where thermal powerplants and combined heat and power plants are located. The objects of research were soil foundations, buildings ofthermal power plants of industrial and urban agglomerations of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa. The following hazardous objects have been identified in the thermal power plants located within the settlements: flue-gas stacks (static load, dynamic influences at significant wind loads, impact on the ecological state); cooling towers and cooling pools(leaks, additional soil moisture); engine rooms (static loading and vibration effects from equipment operation); pipelines(leaks, formation of thermal stresses in soils); ash settlers (environmental impact). The positions of heat power plant objects in relation to the functional zones of the city are analyzed. Description of soil bases is given. It is established that the bases of the thermal power plants buildings are mainly dispersed incoherent (sandy) and weakly cohesive (loess-like)soils. Changes in engineering and geological conditions during the operation of the thermal power plants, which can cause dangerous geological processes and provoke emergency situations, have been assessed. Indicators of criteria for identification of geological hazards when assessing risks during the operation of the thermal power plants are proposed on the basis of engineering-geological processes caused by technogenic factors.