Thermal Modeling
EFDC+ has been enhanced with a range of heat exchange options, providing you increased flexibility when simulating complex thermal systems and supporting ecosystem health. Thermal modeling helps predict how changes in temperature can impact aquatic systems. Species diversity, reproduction, and survival rates are directly impacted. Moreover, biological processes associated with eutrophication are essential in simulating algal blooms or oxygen depletion.
Surface Heat Exchange Options
EFDC+ has significant capabilities in the heat module for simulating the surface heat exchanges processes. The five options available for the simulation process include: No Atmospheric Linkage, Full Heat Balance, COARE3.6, Equilibrium Temp (CE-QUAL-W2 Method), and External Equilibrium Temperature. This array of choices allows increased flexibility when simulating thermal power plant cooling, and habitat analyses.
Solar radiation is often the most crucial surface heat flux component as a heat source for a water body. EFDC+ allows users to select the appropriate computation method of solar radiation for the surface heat exchange. The options available npw include: No Solar Radiation, Absorb 100% Solar Radiation in Surface Layer, Use fast/slow Extinction Coefficients, and Spatially & Temporally Varying Extinction Coefficients. These options allow engineers and scientists to develop highly tailored studies involving submerged aquatic vegetation.
Heat Coupled Ice Modeling
EFDC+ implements a robust ice sub-model where ice formation and melt is simulated using the coupled heat model. This feature is not available in other versions of EFDC or other environmental hydrodynamic modeling tools such as MIKE3 or DELFT3D.
Forced Evaporation
Forced evaporation is the additional evaporation in receiving waters due to increased temperatures from the discharge of heated cooling water. Federal and state agencies now consider forced evaporation to be a consumptive use for thermal electric power plants. EFDC+ has the necessary toolbox to provide spatial and tempora evaluations of forced evaporation and ensure thermal compliance.