Influential analysis of thermal discharge diffusion of a power plant in Changjiang estuary and countermeasures

The water temperature is a vital factor to the health of aquatic ecosystems. Taking a power plant located in Yangtze River estuary as an example, we simulate thermal discharge diffusion under different hydrological conditions by using MIKE21 model. The analysis results show that the influence of high temperature rise is small while the impact of low temperature rise is large. The rank from large to small of influenced area is winter neap, summer spring-tide and winter spring-tide. And the temperature rise at the discharge outlet has greater impact on the upstream during high tide, while in ebb tide, the temperature rise impact scope to the downstream is more large, so the influenced area becomes larger as well. The results are helpful to protecting the health of ecosystem as well as the regulation of power plants in Yangtze River estuary.