Field Studies of Submerged-Diffuser Thermal Plumes with Comparisons to Predictive Model Results

Thermal plumes from submerged discharges of cooling water from two power plants on Lake Michigan were studied. The system for the acquisition of water temperatures and ambient conditions permitted the threedimensional structure of the plumes to be determined. The Zion Nuclear Power Station has two submerged discharges structures separated by only 94 m. Under conditions of flow from both structures, interaction between the two plumes resulted in larger thermal fields than would be predicted by the superposition of single non-interacting plumes. Maximum temperatures in the near-field region of the plume compared favorably with mathematical model predictions. A comparison of physical-model predictions for the plume at the D. C. Cook Nuclear Plant with prototype measurements indicated good agreement in the near-field region, but differences in the far-field occurred as similitude was not preserved there.