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Title: THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELLING OF A SEAWATER DESALINATION PLANT DISCHARGE INTO COCKBURN SOUND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA Authored by: Yeates, Peter , Okely, Patricia , Dallimore, Chris , Antenucci, Jason , Hipsey, Matthew and Imberger, Jorg Abstract:
Increased industry in Cockburn Sound, a coastal embayment 15 km south of Perth, Western Australia, has led to concerns about the ecological health of the Sound. The recent construction of a seawater desalination plant that discharges hypersaline effluent into the Sound has raised questions about the possible impact of increased density stratification, particularly regarding potential to reduce dissolved oxygen concentration at depth. The three dimensional hydrodynamic Estuary, Lake and Coastal Ocean Model (ELCOM) was coupled with the Computation Aquatic Ecosystem Dynamics Model (CAEDYM) to simulate the physics and dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Sound and assess the potential impact of the desalination discharge. CAEDYM was configured to include the dominant biogeochemical processes, and was adapted to include the dynamics of seagrasses and microphytobenthos on dissolved oxygen concentrations in the water column. The model was calibrated using data from in-situ monitoring stations and profiling instruments and was able to reproduce the seasonal variation in hydrodynamics and dissolved oxygen distribution and capture short episodic events driven predominantly by short-term changes in meteorological fluxes. The model results suggest that for typical meteorological conditions the hypersaline discharge, which is released on a shallow shelf along the eastern shore of the Sound, is rapidly diluted by wind-driven mixing, thus having negligible impact on stratification and dissolved oxygen dynamics in the deeper regions.
Reference: Yeates, Peter , Okely, Patricia , Dallimore, Chris , Antenucci, Jason , Hipsey, Matthew and Imberger, Jorg, 2007, THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELLING OF A SEAWATER DESALINATION PLANT DISCHARGE INTO COCKBURN SOUND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 811-814 |
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