• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.3-12
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• 2000

The field surveys and the measurements of seawater temperatures were conducted every month from 1997 to 1999, and the distributions of seawater temperature were simulated and reproduced by a three dimensional hydrodynamic numerical model over the southern waters of Cheju island. In order to estimate the marine environmental capacity for the reception of the heat loads of cooling water discharged from Hwasoon Thermal Power Plant(HTPP) in the study area, the simulations for predicting the situation of unfavorable environment in which marine organisms might not be satisfied with change in seawater temperature were peformed using a three dimensional hydrodynamic numerical model by controlling quantitatively the heat loads of cooling water from HTPP Currently, HTPP discharges cooling water of 35.9℃ into the sea as much as 112,800m³/day in summer. As the results of simulations, the more the heat loads from the power plant increase, the more increase the seawater temperatures around the water areas adjacent to the power plant. In case the heat loads of cooling water from HTPP become about 5 times as high as the present loads, seawater temperatures at near-shore waters adjacent to HTPP appear to be increased to the extent of 0.5℃ above the existing seawater temperature in summer. The marine environmental capacity for the reception of thermal discharge from HTPP is estimated to be about 530×10/sup 6/kcal/day which is equivalent to the increase of a factor of 2 in the temperature of cooling water without any change in the discharge rate of cooling water or which is equivalent to the increase of a factor of 4.6 in the discharge rate of cooling water without any change in the temperature of cooling water. Comparing the case of the increase in the discharge rate of cooling water with the case of the increase in the temperature of cooling water on the basis of the same heat loads of 530×10/sup 6/kal/day, the former case is expected to increase seawater temperature a little higher and to extend the area affected by heat loads a little broader.