ADCP's Application to Ocean Current Measurement in Constanța Port

1. Where is Constanța Port?

Constanța Port is situated in Romania, on the western coast of the Black Sea. It is one of the biggest and most significant ports in the Black Sea area.

Port Scale and Throughput

It is a port with huge infrastructure having high throughput capacity to handle different vessel types. Its throughput is rather big and with a big range of cargo flow annually. Bulk cargo such as coal, grains, and ores; containerized cargo; liquid cargo of oil and chemicals. The port has a strategic location to be able to act as an important link in trade between Europe and Asia.

Routes and Business

Constanța Port has a comprehensive road system of shipping routes that are linked with many others from the Mediterranean Sea to the Baltic Sea and from the other Black Sea ports. Constanța offers all kinds of traditional cargo transport services, and special mentions are shipbuilding and ship-repair services too. It is one of the leading export outlets in the Romanian agricultural industry for foreign trade with industrial equipment, as well as consumer products imported to the country's domestic market.

Port Management and Operation

The port is managed by a professional organization that focuses on the goal of efficiently and safely operated. Advanced technologies have been employed in controlling ship traffic, cargo handling, and management of storage. Facilities at the port are maintained well and continually upgraded in line with modern shipping and trade requirements.

Port Facilities and Waterway

The facilities within the port are numerous. Among them are several deepwater berths, modern cranes for loading and unloading cargo, and extensive storage areas. The channel to the port is kept in good condition and dredged regularly to allow large vessels to pass through. Additionally, it has a well-equipped pilotage service that guides ships safely into the port.

2. Why is it necessary to measure the currents of the ocean currents in Constanța Port?

Navigation Safety

Measuring ocean currents in Constanța Port is of utmost importance for ensuring navigation safety. The port is a busy place with a high volume of traffic, including large cargo ships, tankers, and passenger vessels. Currents can significantly affect the maneuverability of ships. For example, a strong cross-current off a berth may make the smooth docking of a ship quite difficult. With precise current speed and direction, captains of ships can make more informed decisions while approaching and leaving the port, hence reducing the chances of collisions and other accidents.

Optimization of Port Operations

Knowledge of ocean currents is useful in optimizing port operations. These currents may positively or adversely affect the berthing and unberthing of ships. For instance, a good application would be allowing favorable currents to assist a ship in berthing to avoid using resources to hire tugboats and thus save on the cost involved. It will also facilitate better scheduling of cargo handling by considering current patterns. Besides, the current data is essential for long-term planning of the port regarding new berth building or further extension of the port facilities while taking into consideration t he currents' impact on sedimentation and erosion.

Environmental Considerations

Currents play a certain role in the dispersion of pollutants in the port area. In this regard, the measurement of ocean currents allows better prediction of the extent to which the spread of pollutants-oil spills or chemical discharges-will occur, enabling emergency response and environmental protection measures more effectively.

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) is a far superior and easy way to measure currents than the traditionally developed methods. It permits immediate and correct data, real-time and of the quality that is so necessary for the proper functioning and administration of Constanța Port.

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

ADCPs operate on the Doppler principle. Acoustic signals are transmitted into the water, usually from a transmitter at or near the bottom. Acoustic waves interact with moving particles in the water. Moving particles cause a shift in frequency of the reflected acoustic waves-the Doppler effect.

This frequency shift is measured by the ADCP meter, which in turn calculates the velocity of the moving particles. These particles' movement is related to the ocean current, hence the ADCP current meter will ultimately calculate the speed and direction of the ocean current.

Ship-borne ADCP in Constanța Port

It is usually installed on a vessel when a shipborne ADCP is used in the port. The ship moves along through the waters of the port while continuously sending acoustic signals downwards and sideways. In that process, it continuously records ocean current data at different depths and positions the ship travels. This can be very useful for obtaining a full overview of the current situation over a wide area of the port.

Fixed ADCP in Constanța Port

A fixed ADCP is installed in a place, on the pier, or other underwater structures inside the port and continuously monitors ocean currents at the location it faces. It provides current data on the long term and steadily from a certain area in the port and helps study regular patterns and changes that might occur within those places.

4. What will be required for fine measurement of currents in Constanța Port?

Reliability of Material

In building, for high-quality Constanța Port current measurements, the equipment material should be highly reliable. The equipment is usually in seawater, which may cause corrosion, and in other ways may be prone to mechanical impacts. Therefore, in putting up with these kinds of conditions for such a long-term and highly accurate measurement process, its building construction should be done by durable materials.

Small Size, Light Weight, and Low Power Consumption

Smaller size, lighter weight, and lower power consumption are wanted. A small-sized ADCP is easy to install in various locations at a port, whether on the vessel or fixed structure. Lighter weight means the workload and expenses of transport and installation will be reduced. Low power consumption allows the equipment to work without interruption for a long period of time, which saves the battery from being changed frequently and avoids high-energy consumption, which is also very important for long-term and continuous current measurement.

Cost-effectiveness

Another important aspect is cost-effectiveness. The equipment must be reasonably priced to allow large-scale measurement of ocean currents in the port area. The casing of the ADCP flow meter is preferably made from a titanium alloy. There are several advantages to using a titanium alloy: very high strength, which will enable it to resist underwater pressure and mechanical forces that the equipment may be subjected to in the port environment. Besides, it has excellent corrosion resistance, which will guarantee that the equipment can withstand the corrosive effects of seawater for a long time. In addition, compared with other materials, it has a relatively light weight which makes it more appropriate for installation in the port.

5. How to Choose right equipment for current measurement?

Based on Usage Purpose

The choice, in selecting the proper equipment for current measurement in Constanța Port, depends on the purpose of the measurement. If the intention is to make mobile measurements while the ship is navigating in the port, then the ship-borne ADCP would be appropriate; it can cover different areas of the port as the ship moves around, giving an overview of the current situation.

In the case of long-term fixed-point observation in a certain area of the port, the sit-on-bottom ADCP should be a better choice. It will stay in one place and record constantly the current condition, therefore giving very important data for local current analysis.

An ADCP profiler that is buoy-mounted might be considered if the requirement is to monitor a wide area on the water surface, with some mobility provided.

Based on Water Depth

Besides, according to the water depth, the frequencies of ADCP are to be selected. In most situations, when the water is less than 70m, the 600kHz ADCP would do just fine and could get good results of the current profile in the shallow water; the 300kHz will do if the water depth is around 110 meters, and the 75kHz would go up to 1000m, to get a good and accurate current measurement result.

There are well-known ADCP brands such as Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, a Chinese ADCP brand-China Sonar PandaADCP is also worth mentioning. It is made of all-titanium alloy material, combining excellent durability and corrosion resistance with an incredible cost-performance ratio. You can find more information about it on its website: (https://china-sonar.com/).

In the end, ADCP is playing an important role in measuring ocean currents in Constanța Port; therefore, choosing the right equipment according to needs will contribute to more efficient port operation and management.

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