ADCP in Ocean Current Measurement of Yingkou Port

1. Where is Yingkou Port?

Yingkou Port is one of the major ports in the Bohai Bay area, lying in the city of Yingkou in Liaoning Province, China. It's an important traffic center in Northeast China.

Port Scale and Throughput

Scale: This is a highly scaled port with a number of terminals. It consists of a record number of berths, with deepwater berths for modern large container ships, bulk carriers, and oil tankers, immensely developed quay areas, and storage facilities.

Throughput: The throughput of Yingkou Port is very high. It is amongst the leading cargo-carrying ports in the country in bulk cargo transportation, mainly coal, iron ore, grains, and chemical goods. The container throughput is large and has grown step by step so it increasingly makes itself an important contributor to both domestic and international trade.

Routes and Business

Routes: The port is incorporated into the most extensive network of shipping routes. Domestically, it has close links with the other key ports along the Chinese coast, while internationally, it has trade relations with the ports in Northeast Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world. These routes are very vital in the transportation of goods across different regions. Business: The business operations of Yingkou Port are really all-encompassing, covering a wide variance. This involves the import and export of industrial products, agricultural goods, energy resources, amongst others. In addition, it offers value-added services like warehousing, logistics, and cargo-handling operations.

Port Management and Operation

It operates an integrated management system in the operation optimization of Yingkou Port through which it regulates the entry and exit of ships at the port, allocates berths, and coordinates cargo-handling processes. Advanced technologies are adopted in the operation optimization, such as automated container-handling systems and intelligent shipping-scheduling software. Safety and security are of utmost importance. Stringent safety regulations ensure the implementation of safety principles for workers, ships, and cargo. The management process encompasses environmental protection measures with the view of reducing the footprint of port activities on the marine environment.

Port Facilities

The modern quay cranes and gantry cranes fitted with high-speed and high-capacity loading/unloading arrangements serve the -container terminals. Advanced container-stacking systems are provided in the storage yards for orderly storage and retrieval of containers.

Bulk Cargo Terminals

Bulk cargo is handled with facilities such as conveyor belts, stockyards, and loading equipment. These are designed for different types of bulk cargo to be managed efficiently and safely with minimal spillage. Liquid Cargo Terminals: Each liquid cargo terminal has a system of pipelines, storage tanks, and loading arms. In fact, these are equipped with certain safety facilities like spill containment and fire protection systems to deal with the handling of oil and chemical products.

Channel and Direct Shipping

The natural conditions of Yingkou Port for shipping services are superior since the channels are well maintained with enough depth to host large vessels. Its competitiveness has been enriched with the establishment of direct shipping services to the most important international ports, as in South Korea and Japan. Via these direct routes, transport times and costs will be reduced, therefore fostering closer economic and trade relations.

2. Why need we measure the ocean currents in the Yingkou Port?

Impact on Ship Navigation

Ocean currents in Yingkou Port must be gauged for the use of ships in their courses. Currents can affect both the speed and course for ships at entry and exit in a port. In this busy port, which is the case with Yingkou, because of high-intensity shipping traffic, accurate current information enables the ship captains to make more precise adjustments of speed and course. It helps them avoid collision and permits more efficient docking and undocking procedures.

Influence on Cargo Handling

Ocean currents can interfere with or facilitate efficiency in cargo-handling operations. In loading and unloading bulk cargo or containers, for example, vessels may find it difficult to operate cranes and other handling gear with precision when strong or erratic currents are present. Current measurements allow the port to better plan cargo handling operations, scheduling work around the current, thereby reducing delays for vessels and facilitating general work efficiency. Environmental monitoring, basically, the measurement of sea currents finds essential applications in environmental monitoring in the port area. The current data is used in cases of oil spills or other pollutants for predicting the direction and speed with which the contaminants are likely to spread. This allows the port to take timely preventive and remedial measures for protection of the marine environment. It improves the measurement of ocean currents to be more advanced and convenient in comparison with the traditional ways. Therefore, it's highly useful in the operations at Yingkou Port.

3. How do ADCPs using the principle of Doppler work?

Measurement Principle

The Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler(ADCP) work on the principle of Doppler. When an acoustic signal is projected into the water by the ADCP current meter, the signal becomes scattered by particles and other substances in water. Due to the Doppler effect, the scattered signal frequency received back by the ADCP doppler will differ from that transmitted because water particles are in motion with the ocean current. The velocity of the water particle and subsequently the velocity of the ocean current can be calculated from the measurement of the frequency shift.

ADCP in Port Ocean Current Measurement: Shipborne ADCP

They are installed on ships. While a ship moves in the Yingkou Port area, the ADCP current profiler will continuously transmit and receive acoustic signals. It is able to measure currents at each depth in front of the ship in which it is moving. Data it provides can be used to analyze current conditions outside the area in which the ship is sailing; this can be quite useful for several purposes in shipping. Fixed ADCPs are installed typically at fixed points in the area around the Yingkou Port, such as pier or buoy installations. Those are stationary ADCPs monitoring ocean currents around their position. Thus, they can give long-term and stable current data, helpful for the understanding of general patterns and changes over time in the port area.

4. What is necessary for good measurement at Yingkou Port's currents?

Equipment Requirements

Material Reliability: The materials used in the equipment have to be highly reliable. They have to put up with the harsh marine environment, including corrosion by seawater, high humidity, and impacts from floating objects. Small Size, Light Weight, and Low Power Consumption: A small-sized and light-weight ADCP is convenient to install and operate, especially in the case of shipborne ADCPs. Low power consumption allows the equipment to operate for a long time without frequent battery replacement or high-power supply requirements, very important factors both for fixed and shipborne ADCP flow meter.

Low Cost for Mass Measurement: To carry out large - scale current measurement in the port, the cost of the equipment should be relatively low. This enables the deployment of multiple ADCPs at different locations in the port to obtain more comprehensive current data.

The Advantage of Using Titanium Alloy for ADCP Casing

Titanium alloy is an excellent material for ADCP meter casings. It has several advantages. First, excellent corrosion resistance can guarantee the long-term stability and reliability of equipment to resist the corrosive effect of seawater effectively. Second, the high strength-to-weight ratio means that while providing sufficient strength, the weight can be kept relatively low, satisfying requirements for small size and light weight. Thirdly, titanium alloy has fine thermal stability so that the equipment in the port area can operate properly in various temperature conditions.

5. How to Choose the right equipment for current measurement?

According to the Use Purpose

ADCP: Shipborne ADCP would be ideal in case the measurement was mainly performed onboard a ship. It could easily move along with the ship to measure currents in all different areas of the port as the ship navigates.

Sitting Bottom ADCP: It is used for long-term fixed-point current monitoring at a particular location in the Yingkou Port; usually, sitting bottom ADCPs are installed on the seabed and can monitor time-shared continuous currents around its location. Buoy -Type ADCP: Buoy -type ADCP applies to those applications where real -time monitoring of currents in a certain area of the port is needed. It can float on the water surface and the ADCP profiler on it can measure the currents around it.

Selection Based on Different Frequencies

Different frequencies of ADCPs apply to different water depths. For example, 600 kHz ADCP can be fit within 70 m of water depth. This can deliver higher details of current data in fairly shallow water areas. A 300 kHz ADCP shall work fine where the depth of water is up to 110 m, while 75 kHz ADCP will work just fine for water as deep as 1000 m. It can precisely calculate the current at different heights in Yingkou Port responding to any actual depth of water.

There are several well - known ADCP brands such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, for those looking for cost - effective options, the Chinese brand China Sonar PandaADCP is highly recommended. It is made of all - titanium alloy material and has an incredible cost - performance ratio. You can visit its website (https://china-sonar.com/) for more information.

Here is a table with some well known ADCP instrument brands and models.