The Hydraulic and Environment Effect of El-Ain-Al Sokhna Power Plant

Abstract

The demand on electrical power in Egypt increase to supply industrial and public utility needs. In this manner new power plants are being constructed at different spots in Egypt in order to meet that demand. El-Ain-Al Sokhna super critical steam turbine (2*650 MW) has been operated in 2012. It is located 52Km south Suez city The Power Plant uses a direct once through cooling system using water taken from the Suez Gulf and discharged with higher temperature . The discharge of processed water which has higher temperature affects both physical and chemical properties of water. It changes its density, vapour pressure, viscosity, surface tension, gas solubility, diffusion, and chemical reactions which have influence on the local physical, chemical and ecological of marine environment. This paper studies the hydraulic and environment impact of the El-Ain-Al Sokhna power plant on the surrounding area under different wind conditions and tidal forces using numerical modeling. A hydrodynamic model for the study area has been developed using Delft3D. Data for site description, water levels, velocity measurements, wind data and water quality have been collected and used in model setup and calibration. Different scenarios have been simulated under different tidal and wind conditions .The effect of changing the intake location and the feasibility of adding a breakwater to minimize the entrance of thermal plume from the El-Ain-Al Sokhna power plant and Suez Gulf power plant outfalls have been studied .The temperature distribution results have been compared with the environmental regulations Dimension analysis of the factors affecting the temperature distribution and an equation for the intake temperature have been developed.