Assessment of the Tidal Current Energy Resources and the Hydrodynamic Impacts of Energy Extraction at the PuHu Channel in Zhoushan Archipelago,China

An unstructured model FVCOM(The Unstructured Grid Finite Volume Community Ocean Model) with sink momentum term was applied to simulate the tidal current field in Zhoushan Archipelago, China, with focus on the region named PuHu Channel between Putuo Island and Hulu Island. The model was calibrated with several measurements in the channel, and the model performance was validated. An examination of the spatial and temporal distributions of tidal energy resources based on the numerical simulation revealed that the greatest power density of tidal energy during spring tide is 3.6 kW m-2 at the northern area of the channel. Two parameters were introduced to characterize the generation duration of the tidal array that causes the temporal variation of tidal current energy. The annual average available energy in the channel was found to be approximately 2.6 MW. The annual generating hours at rated power was found to be 1800 h when the installed capacity of tidal array is approximately 12 MW. A site for the tidal array with 25 turbines was selected, and the layout of the array was configured based on the EMEC specifications. Hydrodynamic influence due to the deployment of the tidal array was simulated by the modified FVCOM model. The simulation showed that the tidal level did not significantly change because of the operation of the tidal array. The velocity reduction covered a 2 km~2 area of the downstream the tidal array, with a maximum velocity reduction of 8 cm s-1 at mid-flood tide, whereas the streamwise velocity on both sides of the farm increased slightly.     

Tidal current and tidal energy changes imposed by a dynamic tidal power system in the Taiwan Strait,China

The Taiwan Strait has recently been proposed as a promising site for dynamic tidal power systems because of its shallow depth and strong tides. Dynamic tidal power is a new concept for extracting tidal potential energy in which a coast-perpendicular dike is used to create water head and generate electricity via turbines inserted in the dike. Before starting such a project, the potential power output and hydrodynamic impacts of the dike must be assessed. In this study, a two-dimensional numerical model based on the Delft3D-FLOW module is established to simulate tides in China. A dike module is developed to account for turbine processes and estimate power output by integrating a special algorithm into the model. The domain decomposition technique is used to divide the computational zone into two subdomains with grid refinement near the dike. The hydrodynamic processes predicted by the model, both with and without the proposed construction, are examined in detail, including tidal currents and tidal energy flux. The predicted time-averaged power yields with various opening ratios are presented. The results show that time-averaged power yield peaks at an 8% opening ratio. For semidiurnal tides, the flow velocity increases in front of the head of the dike and decreases on either side. For diurnal tides, these changes are complicated by the oblique incidence of tidal currents with respect to the dike as well as by bathymetric features. The dike itself blocks the propagation of tidal energy flux.     

Estimation of annual energy output from BCM tidal barrage and the corresponding marine environmental impact

Based on the finite-volume coastal ocean model(FVCOM),a three-dimensional numerical model FVCOM was built to simulate the ocean dynamics in pre-dam and post-dam conditions in Bachimen(BCM).The domain decomposition method,which is effective in describing the conservation of volume and non-conservation of mechanical energy in the utilization of tidal energy,was employed to estimate the theoretical tidal energy resources and developable energy resources,and to analyze the hydrodynamic effect of the tidal power station.This innovative approach has the advantage of linking physical oceanography with engineering problems.The results indicate that the theoretical annual tidal energy resources is about 2×10~8 k Wh under the influence of tidal power station;Optimized power installation is confirmed according to power generation curve from numerical analysis;the developable resources is about 38.2% of theoretical tidal energy resources with the employment of one-way electricity generation.The electricity generation time and power are 3479 hours and 2.55×10~4 KW,respectively.The power station has no effect on the tide pattern which is semi-diurnal tide in both two conditions,but the amplitudes of main constituents apparently decrease in the area near the dam,with the M_2 decreasing the most,about 62.92 cm.The tidal prism shrinks to 2.28×10~7 m~3,but can still meet the flow requirement for tidal power generation.The existence of station increases the flow rate along the waterway and enhances the residual current.There are two opposite vortexes formed on the east side beside the dam of the station,which leads to pollutants gathering.     

Evaluation of tidal stream energy and its impacts on surrounding dynamics in the Eastern Region of Pingtan Island,China

Using an improved FVCOM numerical model, combined with the momentum-sinking scheme based on the structural characteristics of specific turbines, this study analyzed the temporal and spatial distributions of tidal energy resources before and after the deployment of tidal turbines near Pingtan Island, China. Considering factors such as the distribution of tidal stream energy, bathymetry, topography, and the design parameters of the turbines, an appropriate location for a demonstration tidal turbine was selected and the corresponding energy resource was evaluated. Several sites with strong tidal streams were considered: south of the northern cape, east of the southern cape, and the southern end of Haitan Bay. The former was thought most suitable for the deployment of a tidal energy turbine, with projected power generation for approximately 470 h per month. The average power of this demonstration was about 2.4 k W, and the annual electricity output was approximately 17.47 MWh. The intervention of the turbine device had little influence on the near-field tidal stream or water level. The tidal stream was reduced slightly in the area south of the northern cape, although the ef fect weakened further from the turbine. Conversely, the velocity increased slightly on both sides of the demonstration site. The dif ference in current speed with and without the turbine was greater at slack tide than still tide. The influence of turbine operation on water level was minor. The method adopted in this study can be considered a reference for the selection of sites for the demonstration of tidal stream energy. However, the method is unable describe the dynamic characteristics of the turbulent flow surrounding the deployed turbines, which has an important role regarding the optimal designs of the turbine blade and pile foundations. Therefore, we will continue to work to improve this model in future research.     

Numerical hydrodynamics study around turbine array of tidal stream farm in Zhoushan,China

In recent decades, great efforts have been made to efficiently explore tidal stream energy due to its unique advantages of easy prediction and great potential. China recently launched a national tidal stream farm demonstration project in the waterway between Putuoshan and Hulu Islands in the Zhoushan area. Before deployment of the turbine array, it is necessary to understand the hydrodynamic changes associated with the construction of a turbine array. In this study, we developed a depth-averaged hydrodynamics model that solves the shallow water governing equations to simulate the tidal hydrodynamics around the Zhoushan Archipelago. The simulation results agree with field data in terms of the water elevation and stream velocity. We considered two types of turbine arrays in this study and investigated their impacts on the local hydrodynamics. In general, the stream velocity in the northern and southern areas is reduced due to the power take-off of the turbine array, whereas stream velocity in the western and eastern areas is slightly increased due to the blockage impact of the turbine array.     

Responses of Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass to Typhoon Bolaven

A two-month seabed-mounted observation(YSG1 area) was carried out in the western Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM) using an RDI-300 K acoustic Doppler current profiler(ADCP) placed at a water depth of 38 m in late summer, 2012. On August 2012, Typhoon Bolaven passed east of YSG1 with a maximum wind speed of 20 m s-1. The water depth, bottom temperature, and profile current velocities(including u, v and w components) were measured, and the results showed that the typhoon could induce horizontal current with speed greater than 70 cm s-1 in the water column, which is especially rare at below 20 meters above bottom(mab). The deepening velocity shear layer had an intense shear velocity of around 10 cm s-1 m-1, which indicated the deepening of the upper mixed layer. In the upper water column(above 20 mab), westward de-tide current with velocity greater than 30 cm s-1 was generated with the typhoon's onshore surge, and the direction of current movement shifted to become southward. In the lower water column, a possible pattern of eastward compensation current and delayed typhoon-driven current was demonstrated. During the typhoon, bottom temperature variation was changed into diurnal pattern because of the combined influence of typhoon and tidal current. The passage of Bolaven greatly intensified local sediment resuspension in the bottom layer. In addition, low-density particles constituted the suspended particulate matter(SPM) around 10 mab, which may be transported from the central South Yellow Sea by the typhoon. Overall, the intensive external force of the Typhoon Bolaven did not completely destroy the local thermocline, and most re-suspended sediments during the typhoon were restricted within the YSCWM.     

Assessment of tidal range energy resources based on flux conservation in Jiantiao Bay,China

La Rance Tidal Range Power Station in France and Jiangxia Tidal Range Power Station in China have been both long-term successful commercialized operations as kind of role models for public at large for more than 40 years. The Sihwa Lake Tidal Range Power Station in South Korea has also developed to be the largest marine renewable power station with its installed capacity 254 MW since 2010. These practical applications prove that the tidal range energy as one kind of marine renewable energy exploitation and utilization technology is becoming more and more mature and it is used more and more widely. However, the assessment of the tidal range energy resources is not well developed nowadays. This paper summarizes the main problems in tidal range power resource assessment, gives a brief introduction to tidal potential energy theory, and then we present an analyzed and estimated method based on the tide numerical modeling. The technical characteristics and applicability of these two approaches are compared with each other. Furthermore, based on the theory of tidal range energy generation combined with flux conservation, this paper proposes a new assessment method that include a series of evaluation parameters and it can be easily operated to calculate the tidal range energy of the sea. Finally, this method is applied on assessment of the tidal range power energy of the Jiantiao Harbor in Zhejiang Province, China for demonstration and examination.     

Seasonal Variability of Internal Tides Northeast of Taiwan

The spatial-temporal characteristics of the barotropic tides and internal tides(ITs) northeast of Taiwan Island are examined, based on a 1-year mooring current observations from May 23, 2017 to May 19, 2018. The results of harmonic tidal analysis show that the barotropic tides are dominated by semidiurnal tides, which is mainly controlled by M_2 tidal components. Moreover, the vertical structures of diurnal and semidiurnal ITs show that the semidiurnal IT shows notable seasonal variation, whereas seasonal variations of the diurnal IT energy is not significant. The semidiurnal IT energy in winter half year is twice that in summer half year. The seasonal variation of semidiurnal IT is mainly modulated by the direction change of the current rather than by the topographic features and stratification. In summer(winter) half year cyclonic(anti-cyclonic) eddies meanly control at this point, so the flow direction is mainly in the southwest(northeast) direction, causing the background flow to flow along(perpendicular to) the isobath. When crossing the isobath, the ITs are generated by the interaction of the barotropic tide and the topography, resulting in the increase of the tidal energy in the winter half year.     

Observation of the abyssal western boundary current in the Philippine Sea

Mooring observations were conducted from July 16, 2011 to March 30, 2012 east of Mindanao, Philippines(127°2.8′E, 8°0.3′N) to observe the abyssal current at about 5600 m deep and 500 m above the ocean bottom. Several features were revealed: 1) the observed abyssal current was highly variable with standard deviations of 57.3 mm/s and 34.0 mm/s, larger than the mean values of-31.9 and 16.6 mm/s for the zonal and meridional components, respectively; 2) low-frequency current longer than 6 days exhibited strong seasonal variation, flowing southeastward(mean flow direction of 119.0° clockwise from north) before about October 1, 2011 and northwestward(mean flow direction of 60.5° counter-clockwise from north) thereafter; 3) the high-frequency flow bands were dominated by tidal currents O 1, K 1, M 2, and S 2, and near-inertial currents, whose frequencies were higher than the local inertial frequency. The two diurnal tidal constituents were much stronger than the two semidiurnal ones. This study provides for the first time an observational insight into the abyssal western boundary current east of Mindanao based on long-term observations at one site. It is meaningful for further research into the deep and abyssal circulation over the whole Philippine Sea and the 3D structure of the western boundary current system in this region. More observational and high-resolution model studies are needed to examine the spatial structure and temporal variation of the abyssal current over a much larger space and longer period, their relation to the upper-layer circulation, and the underlying dynamics.     

海南岛及北部湾海域海啸数值模拟与影响分析

海底地震引发的海啸灾害,对沿海国家和地区的影响是相关领域的研究热点。研究采用COMCOT海啸数值模拟模型,对可能发生在马尼拉海沟一次地震活动（M_w=9.0级）所引起的海啸过程进行了数值模拟,并研究了该海啸传播到海南岛和北部湾的过程及其特点,分析海啸波对这一地区可能造成的影响。研究发现,传播到北部湾地区的海啸波具有明显的非线性特征,海啸发生后2 h 10 min左右到达海南岛东海岸,首轮波高达2.1 m;随着湾内水深逐渐变浅,受制于海底摩阻,及海南岛的阻隔与缓冲作用,海啸到达广西壮族自治区南部沿海地区的时间,被推迟到距地震发生8 h后,海啸波高减小到0.4 m,海啸波能量大为衰减。研究结果表明,马尼拉海沟地震引发海啸,对海南岛东南部沿海影响较大,有成灾的可能性;而对广西壮族自治区南部沿海及北部湾地区的影响较弱,一般不会造成大的灾害。     

Development of a High-Resolution Coastal Circulation Model for the Ocean Observatory in Lunenburg Bay

An advanced ocean observatory has been established in Lunenburg Bay of Nova Scotia, Canada as part of an interdisciplinary research project of marine environmental prediction. The development of a high-resolution coastal circulation model is one of important components of the observatory. The model horizontal resolution is 60m and the vertical resolution is about 1 m. The coastal circulation model is used to simulate the semi-diurnal tidal circulation and associated nonlinear dynamics with the M2 forcing specified at the model open boundaries. The model is also used to simulate the storm-induced circulation in the bay during Hurricane Juan in September 2003, with the model forcing to be the combination of tides and remotely generated waves specified at the model open boundaries and wind stress applied at the sea surface. The model results demonstrate strong interactions between the local wind stress, tidal forcing, and remotely generated waves during this period. Comparison of model results with the surface elevation and current observations demonstrates that the coastal circulation model has reasonable skills in simulating the tidal and storm-induced circulation in the bay.     

基于潮汐动态淹没过程的长江口潮滩地形信息反演研究

潮滩是陆地与海洋之间重要的生态过渡地带,具有复杂的生态过程和重要的服务功能。受陆海交互作用及人类活动的影响,潮滩处于高度动态变化过程中,而传统测绘技术受到潮滩可达性影响无法快速获取潮滩地形信息。为解决潮滩高程数据获取困难的问题,本文提出一种基于潮汐动态淹没过程和时序遥感影像的潮滩地形信息提取算法,利用K-means++聚类方法实现水域提取,并通过时序淹没特征计算潮滩淹没频率提取潮滩范围信息,最终综合区域潮汐特征反演潮滩地形。研究以崇明东滩为例,利用2016—2020年所有可用Sentinel-2和Landsat-8时序遥感影像,实现潮滩范围提取与高程反演,并通过实测高程数据进行精度验证。研究结果表明,潮滩范围提取总体精度为97.73%,F1_score为0.98;高程反演平均绝对误差为0.15 m,潮滩高程的反演精度与可用影像的数量呈正相关。研究利用该算法进一步反演长江口地区主要潮滩地形特征,结果表明区域内潮滩面积为346.93 km²,高程范围为1.00~3.84 m,且与现有潮滩范围数据集相比,本研究提取的长江口潮滩范围更为完整。该算法为潮滩地形的快速反演提供了可能,对潮滩资源动态监测和管理具有重要意义。     

The impact of coastal reclamation on tidal and storm surge level in Sanmen Bay,China

In recent years, fast economic development demands for more land use and thus many reclamation projects are initiated around the Sanmen Bay, Zhejiang, SE China in the East China Sea, for which tidal and storm surge levels are reassessed. A two-dimensional numerical model based on an advanced circulation model(ADCIRC) was applied to evaluate the impact of reclamation projects on tidal and storm surge levels in the bay. The results show that the shoreline relocation and topographic change had opposite effects on tidal heights. Shoreline relocation decreased the tidal amplitude, while siltation caused topographic change and increased the amplitude. Such variations of the amplitude were significant in the top areas of Sanmen Bay. Three types of typhoon paths were selected for a case study to investigate the impacts of shoreline relocation and topographic change on storm surge level. Results show that the maximum increase in storm surge level due to shoreline relocation was less than 0.06 m. The rise of peak surge level due to the change of topography was significant and the peak surge level rose when siltation increased. The maximum surge level rise occurred in the path of northwest landing typhoons, which exceeded 0.24 m at the top of the bay. The rise in peak surge level can potentially lead to severe damages and losses in Sanmen Bay and more attention needs to be paid to this problem of shoreline change in the future.     

A mechanism of the effect of non-uniform current on the spectrum of short wind waves

A mechanism is suggested in this paper concerning the effect of non-uniform current on the spectrum of short wind waves. According to this mechanism, a non-uniform current brings changes to the breaking criteria of short wind waves through modulating the surface drift, and hence enhances or weakens wave breaking. Some modification is proposed to the source term, which represents the spectral rate of wave energy dissipation due to wave breaking so that the source term can incorporate this mechanism. In order to illustrate whether this mechanism is significant, a real case is studied, in which the wind waves propagate on a tidal current flowing over the sea bottom covered with sand waves. Finally, the effect of the new mechanism on the equilibrium spectrum of small scale gravity waves is discussed. Numerical estimates suggest that, for water depths less than 50 m and wavelengths less than 1 m, this current field may result in distinct spatial variations of the wave breaking criteria, the spectral rate of wave energy dissipation and the equilibrium spectrum of short gravity waves.     

Application of 2D numerical model to unsteady performance evaluation of vertical-axis tidal current turbine

Tidal current energy is renewable and sustainable, which is a promising alternative energy resource for the future electricity supply. The straight-bladed vertical-axis turbine is regarded as a useful tool to capture the tidal current energy especially under low-speed conditions. A 2D unsteady numerical model based on Ansys-Fluent 12.0 is established to conduct the numerical simulation, which is validated by the corresponding experimental data. For the unsteady calculations, the SST model, 2×10~5 and 0.01 s are selected as the proper turbulence model, mesh number, and time step, respectively. Detailed contours of the velocity distributions around the rotor blade foils have been provided for a flow field analysis. The tip speed ratio(TSR) determines the azimuth angle of the appearance of the torque peak, which occurs once for a blade in a single revolution. It is also found that simply increasing the incident flow velocity could not improve the turbine performance accordingly. The peaks of the averaged power and torque coefficients appear at TSRs of 2.1 and 1.8, respectively. Furthermore, several shapes of the duct augmentation are proposed to improve the turbine performance by contracting the flow path gradually from the open mouth of the duct to the rotor. The duct augmentation can significantly enhance the power and torque output. Furthermore, the elliptic shape enables the best performance of the turbine. The numerical results prove the capability of the present 2D model for the unsteady hydrodynamics and an operating performance analysis of the vertical tidal stream turbine.     

Radial tidal current field in a semi-enclosed rectangular basin: formation and evolution

The radial tidal current field accounts for the formation of the radial sand ridges in the South Yellow Sea. Understanding the formation and evolution of this radial tidal current field is vital to assessing the morphodynamic features in the area. A semi-enclosed rectangular basin with and without a coastal barrier was schematized from the topography of the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea. The 2D tidal current field in this basin was simulated using the DELFT3D-FLOW model. The concept of tidal wave refraction, which highlights the effect of the sloped or stepped submarine topography on the propagation of the tidal waves, was introduced to explain the formation of the radial tidal current field. Under the effect of tidal wave refraction, co-phase lines of the counterclockwise rotating tidal wave and incident tidal wave are transformed into clockwise and counterclockwise deflections, respectively, leading to the convergence and divergence of the flow field. Regardless of whether a coastal barrier exists or not, the outer radial tidal current field might emerge over certain topography. The responses of the radial tidal current field in this basin to the environmental variations such as coastline changes and bottom erosions were discussed. Results show that local protrusion near the focal point of the radial tidal current field will have limited effects on the location of the tidal system. However, a remarkable shift of the amphidromic point toward the entrance and central axis of this basin and a movement of the focal point of the radial tidal current field toward the entrance could be caused by the significant seaward coastline advance and submarine slope erosion.     

A Synoptic Snapshot of the East Cape Eddy （ECE）

1Introduction The East Australian Current(EAC)partially sepa-rates from the coast of Australia(Godfrey et al.,1980)and subsequently flows eastward along the Tas-man Front(TF)(Warren,1970).When the east-ward flow reaches the northernmost point of New Zealand,it turns southeastward and becomes the East Auckland Current(EAUC).The flow that goesround the East Cape is named the Ease Cape Current(ECC).The ECC separates from North Island and proceeds eastward to the north of the Chatha…     

The Impact of Large-Scale Reclamation on Hydro-Dynamic Environment——A Case Study of Xinghua Bay

A hydro-dynamic model is established on basis of MIKE21 FM to simulate the hydro-dynamic characteristics of Xinghua Bay and investigate the influence of reclamation project on the tidal elevation and tidal currents. Tidal elevation data was obtained at the six tide gauge stations around the Xinghua Bay, and another six current stations were established to observe the tidal current velocity and direction. Validation shows that the model-simulated tidal elevation and tidal currents agree well with observations made at different stations. Predictions are made according to the reclamation project proposed in the regional marine planning of Hanjiang Industrial Park around the port in Putian City. The variations of hydro-dynamic factors, such as tide, current velocity and direction and tidal influx are obtained, and the adverse effect of reclamation on marine environment is discussed. It is shown that the tidal level inside the Xinghua Bay during high tide decreases after the reclamation project is completed. The tidal currents during flooding tide generally decrease in the southeast of the reclamation region, with the maximum decreasing amplitude reaching 0.44 m s^-1. On the other hand, the tidal currents during flooding tide increase around the southeast and southwest corners of the reclamation region. The tidal currents during ebb tide increase around the southeast and southwest corners of the reclamation region, with the maximum increasing amplitude attaining 0.18 m s^-1. The results in this paper can give some guidance for the marine environment management and the effective utilization of land in Putian.     

STUDY ON THE FORECAST METHOD FOR THE IMPACT OF CROSSWAY ON TIDAL CURRENT FIELD IN SEA AREA

This paper's method simulates the tidal current field near piles to derive and predict the scale oftheir impacts on the tidal current field, and presents the empirically obtained damp coefficient needed inpedicting the current field. The substituted plans used in the prediction are studied using Qingdao.Crossway as an example.     

Physical oceanography of the Caroline M4 seamount in the tropical Western Pacific Ocean in summer 2017

Physical oceanography plays an important role in the formation of submarine sediments,and the distribution of nutriments and biocenoses in seamounts.The M4 seamount is located in the Caroline Island Ridge of the Western Pacific Ocean.The physical properties around M4 seamount are preliminarily analyzed based on the in-situ data obtained in summer 2017 in Caroline M4 seamount and open-sourced data.We found that the water in the upper 200 m is controlled by the westward North Equatorial Current(NEC),while the water between 300-1 000 m is dominated by the eastward North Equatorial Undercurrent(NEUC).The current direction fluctuates significantly below 300 m at upstream stations.At the same depth of the lee sides,the current direction changes with the distance from seamount.These are likely caused by the obstacle of M4 seamount.The calculation results show that there is an anticyclonic cap above M4 seamount caused by tidal rectification.Tidal currents in M4 seamount are squeezed by the topography and amplified,and the amplified tidal currents play a dominant role in M4 seamount.First,the circulation system generated by the interaction of the amplified tidal current and M4 seamount drives the upward/downward movement of the isotherms.Secondly,the thickness of the surface turbulent layer is changed with the tidal phase.Thirdly,high turbulent diffusivities are found in the bottom of M4 seamount,and these are most likely attributed to the turbulent mixing induced by the mutual effect between semidiurnal tidal currents and steep bathymetry.This article of physical oceanography provides scientific basis for further analysis of the distribution of biological community and deposition mechanism in M4 seamount.