Mathematical modeling of ultimate heat sink cooling ponds

A general treatment of ultimate heat sink (UHS) cooling pond thermal performance is proposed through the application of a three-dimensional grid model. Validation of the model has been shown through comparisons of predictions with data from a field and laboratory pond. The advantage of the model lies in its ability to determine the detailed character of the flow field whether it be one, two, or three dimensional. Existing models require a priori knowledge of the character and dimensionality of the flow field in such ponds. Application of the model to a prototype UHS pond revealed that the balance of physical mechanisms involved in the thermal hydraulics of these ponds is quite different than for ponds used in normal cooling. The small, heavily-loaded, irregularly-shaped nature of the UHS pond should, in many cases, lead to a vertically mixed pond with only a one-dimensional (longitudinal) variation in pond temperature.