Summer thermal structure of lake Ontario off Toronto: Cooling the big city |
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| Authors: | FM Boyce DG Robertson GN Ivey |
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| Institution: | National Water Research Institute , Burlington, Ontario |
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| Abstract: | Abstract It has been proposed that large savings in electrical energy are possible if cool, deep water from Lake Ontario is used, as an alternative to electrically operated chillers, to provide the cooling requirements of large buildings in down‐town Toronto. In order to estimate the capital expenditure involved, it is necessary to determine how deep (and how far offshore) the cold water intake must be placed to obtain a reliable supply of cool water throughout the air‐conditioning season. Temperature profile data, collected during ship surveys over the past twenty years in Lake Ontario off Toronto, plus time‐series data from a 21‐level thermistor array installed on the 100‐m contour near the site of the proposed intake during the summer of 1980, have been used to answer this specific question. The two sets are examined to determine the relative importance of thermal variability for inter‐annual, seasonal, and shorter time‐scales. Intake design turns out to be an important consideration for the air‐conditioning scheme. Unless azimuthal swirling velocities are restrained at the intake, drawdown of warmer thermocline water into the intake may occur. |
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