Numerical investigation of thermal discharge to coastal areas by means of a coupled 3D hydrodynamic-wave model.

This master’s thesis relates to the investigation of a thermal plume propagation in a selected coastal area in the Southern Adriatic Sea, which is generated due to heated water release, by an Italian thermal power plant. Available punctual temperature profiles with depth have been used in order to calibrate a numerical model. Open-source suite of solvers TELEMAC-MASCARET has been adopted and turned out to be a powerful tool in order to accomplish the goal; nowadays, numerical modelling represents indeed a crucial component in investigating coastal engineering processes. In building the model, hydrodynamics and wave processes characterizing the area have been coupled. Coupling has been gained by means of the combined use of two of the system’s modules: TELEMAC-3D and TOMAWAC. The former solves the three-dimensional free surface flow equations and the transport-diffusion equations of intrinsic quantities, like temperature, while the latter has been used for the solution of the spectral wave action density conservation equation. The thesis containes indeed details about the whole calibration process, up to the final calibrated model description. Once the model has been calibrated, it has been applied to different possible scenarios. This has been done in order to both test the model and exploit its potential for further studies on the area. In particular, three almost extreme scenarios have been investigated: the first involved the consideration of the worse conditions regarding weather, meaning absence of wind and therefore no waves; the second involved the consideration of the maximum power production operational conditions of the power plant; finally, in the third one, a different blowing wind direction has been considered. The overall purpose consisted in both exploiting a powerful open source solver and calibrating a reliable and easy-manageable model on real measurements, to be adapted and re-used for further applications in the area, at the same time.