ABSTRACT
The selection of a water intake location is an important issue for the life time of the intake and the running operation cost and hence it is indirectly affecting the final water unit price. Hydrodynamic properties of the location (e.g. water depth, velocity, turbulence, bed shear and sediment in suspension, are among the most important factors affecting the location selection aside to other factors related to construction techniques, planning considerations, navigation obstructions, environmental impacts and others. An existing water intake located on the River Nile West bank in Assuit is currently subjected to sedimentation problems causing operational drawbacks that require frequent dredging. In this manuscript, a hydrodynamic model for the subject location was developed and investigated through a number of alternative solutions to minimize the sedimentation problem and to provide better hydrodynamic conditions for intake operation. The main aim of this study is to develop a procedure to define the best power plant intake location based on multi-criteria analysis technique that is supported by the results of a hydrodynamic modeling developed for the power plant location. Using the RMA2 2-D hydrodynamic model, the hydraulic characteristics of the location (i.e. water depth, and velocity) were investigated for each proposed scenario and then weights were given to each of them for comparison. The selected solution is the one that gives the best hydrodynamic performance based on the proposed multi criteria procedure.
