Report details
Bibliographic Data
Title:
Paakitsoq Hydro Power Plant - Thermal Modelling of a Subsurface Permafrozen Tunnel in Rock
Authors:
Year:
2016
Report no.:
16-03
Topics:
Infrastruktur,
Geoteknik
Keywords:
PDF file:
Supervisors:
Abstract:
This report presents a review of the construction and operation of the Paakitsoq hydropower plant. The plant is located in the Disco Bay Area of Western Greenland.
The report has been produced by data collected from many dierent sources, both academic literature and data from d....
This report presents a review of the construction and operation of the Paakitsoq hydropower plant. The plant is located in the Disco Bay Area of Western Greenland.
The report has been produced by data collected from many dierent sources, both academic literature and data from dierent interested parties. All site investigations were conducted in the period 1985- 1992, by GTO. Later when actual construction began, Istak collected temperature readings as the tunnel was being blasted.
The objective of the report is to present an analysis of the thermal regime, in which the tunnel has been built. To do so, the reader will be given an account of the theoretical principles, concerning the issues at hand. These include knowledge into engineering conditions in the Arctic, geology, rock mechanics, thermodynamics and nite element modelling.
The main task of the report is to examine the disturbances of the thermal regime (expected thawing effects) over time. This includes handling of data from preliminary site investigations and measured data while the project was being constructed.
The first priority of the thermal analysis, is concerned with the presence of permanently frozen rock and the risk of thawing.
The results of this report will mainly be driven by COMSOL Multiphysics - a FEM software. As the authors have no previous experience with COMSOL Multiphysics, or setting up an elaborate modelling scheme, this report is learning process into modelling. Furthermore, modelling results will be validated with substantial analytical analysis.
An initial steady state distribution will rst be modelled. This is followed by several transient (timedependent) models, which will describe the development of thawing over time. The modelling focus will be on the area surrounding the power station, where the largest thaw bulb is expected.
Finally, comparisons of the obtained modelling results and measured temperature data from Istak will be done.
Some of the main conclusions of this report are:
1) It is possible to construct and operate a subsurface hydro power plant in a permafrost regime, with emphasis on the necessary considerations.
2) Several models of Paakitsoq power plant have been created, which satisfactory mimic the physical reality, speci cally of the thermal development.
3) The construction period and the operational period of the hydro power plant have been modelled in several time steps. The modelled maximum thaw bulb radius reaching 80 meters.
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