Phenomenological Relationship for Predicting the Surface Areas of Thermal Plumes in Lakes.

Abstract

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Water Resources Research Program: Analysis of Three Years of Complete-Field Temperature Data from Different Sites of Heated Surface Discharges Into Lake Michigan.

“…The single-unit average curve is concave downward as is the Asbury-Frigo average curve for single-unit plumes on the Great Lakes. [9] The double-plume average area curve i s m r e concave upward, indicating t h a t large areas a r e expected f o r lower isotherms i f extrapolation of the area curve is permitted.…”

Assessment of the once-through cooling alternative for central steam-electric generating stations

“…This range of values appears to be typical of shoreline surface discharges. The Asbury-Frigo correlation35 based on field measurements at sites of shoreline surface discharges on lakes yielded 7 x 10** s/m with the results of individual measurements ranging from 2 * 10 4 * s/m to larger than 10 x 10** s/m. Lakes and estuaries clearly exhibit different receiving water characteristics; however, the results from measurements at lake sites should at least give an order-of^-magnitude estimate of the size of the mixing zone needed by shoreline surface discharges to attain a dilution of 12.…”

“…Initial mixing with the ambient receiving water is governed primarily by the outfall configuration and the discharge densimetric Froude num-' i ber, but, lake currents, especially strong shore-parallel currents, can î nfluence initial mixing. By the time a dilution of 5-6 has taken place, velocities and densities within the heated plume are only slightly different from those in surrounding ambient water; therefore, currents and turbulence associated with the ambient receiving water dominate the plume dispersal processes Because surface discharges on lakes have been used for a number of years, a considerable amount of data from field measurements exists in the form of horizontal isotherm areas of the plume as a function of excess temperature and depth.Early in 1971, Asbury and Frigo35 examined the literature and identified sets of published lake-plume data from six different lake sites that they considered useful for their attempt to find a phenomenological correlation between plume surface area and excess temperature. They only included measurements for which discharge flow rate, discharge temperature, and ambient temperature were reported.…”