Mathematical models of water movement
This chapter has concentrated on the application of computer models to tidal power schemes. The effects of marine projects on tidal flows have in the past, before the advent of computers, been investigated with the help of physical models. It shows the size and complexity of a model of the Wash, built by Hydraulics Research Ltd. on the east coast of the UK. Physical models are still widely used, for example for port developments. Their use for tidal power projects has been limited; the most notable recent example being the use of an existing model for the preliminary assessments of the Mersey barrage. One reason is that the barrage operation, particularly that of the turbines, is difficult to model accurately at the small scale needed. Another reason is that the time needed to set up and carry out a test is much greater, and therefore inherently more expensive, than with a computer model.
Mathematical models of water movement, Page 1 of 2
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