Balkhash_base

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11th Thermal and Fluids Engineering ConferencArizona State
University, Tempe, AZ, USA, March 9–12, 2026
Paper ID 61465
A NUMERICAL
SIMULATION OF THE
HYDROTHERMAL
POLLUTION ZONES
FORMATION in a
Flowing Water
Environment from the
Coastal Power Plant
Speaker: PhD Student, Researcher, Aidana Sabyrkulova
Co-Authors: PhD, Professor A. Issakhov,
PhD, Associate Professor A. Abylkassymova
Almaty,
Kazakhstan

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Problem/Motivation
Motivation: Thermal Pollution from Power Plants
Background
• Coastal power plants require large volumes of cooling water.
• Once-through cooling systems discharge heated water back into
natural reservoirs.
• This creates thermal pollution, which alters hydrodynamics and
ecosystem stability.
Environmental risks
• Increase of water temperature in discharge zones up to 3–10 °C
reported in previous studies [1],[2],[3].
• Thermal stress affects fish survival, plankton dynamics and water
stratification [3], [4], [5].
• Elevated temperature may increase toxicity of existing pollutants
[6].
Engineering challenge
In enclosed shallow basins, heat dispersion is limited.
Hydrodynamic circulation may lead to accumulation of heat and
formation of thermal hotspots.
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Research issues
Research gap
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Thermal pollution from power plants has been widely
investigated in rivers and open coastal areas.
However, semi-enclosed shallow basins remain
insufficiently studied.
In such environments limited water exchange may lead
to heat accumulation and complex circulation patterns.
For the Balkhash Lake (Kazakhstan) coastal zone,
no validated CFD-based study of thermal plume
evolution currently exists.
Research objective
To develop and apply a validated CFD model to investigate
the hydrodynamic structure and spatial evolution of thermal
pollution zones caused by heated water discharge from a
coastal power plant in the shallow basin of Lake Balkhash.
Key question: How does thermal discharge evolve in a
enclosed shallow lake environment with limited water
exchange?
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Study Area
Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan
Location
• The study focuses on the southwestern coastal zone of
Lake Balkhash near Ulken village, Kazakhstan.
• Lake Balkhash is one of the largest endorheic lakes in
Central Asia and highly sensitive to environmental
disturbances.
Hydrological characteristics of Lake Balkhash
The lake consists of 2 basins with different hydrochemical
properties:
• Western basin – relatively fresh and shallow
• Eastern basin – deeper and more saline
Study domain
The investigated coastal area represents a isolated shallow
basin surrounded by:
natural shoreline
an island
hydraulic structures (dams and bridges)
Area of the modeled domain: 16.07 km²
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Materials
&Methods
Mathematical Model
Numerical Methods
Geometry and Mesh
Material Properties
Boundary Conditions
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Mathematical Model
Governing equations - RANS
Momentum equations
(1)