ADCP's Application to Ocean Current Measurement in Sines Port

1. Where is Sines Port?

Port Scale and Throughput

Sines Port is in the municipality of Sines, Portugal. It is a giant deep-water port with relevant scale and has an important role in national and international trade. The port has impressive throughputs, which handle everything from containers to bulk goods such as coal, oil, and other industrial products. It can handle large vessels, with its infrastructure continuously changing to meet the increasing demands of the global shipping industry.

Routes and Business

It is strategically positioned and connected to most of the ports across the globe through an extensive network of shipping routes. In domestic matters, it serves as an important transportation link within the country and for trade exchange with other European countries. At the international level, it has trade relations with several continents; thus, the importation and exportation of goods can be allowed in huge volumes. The core activities are loading and unloading of different kinds of cargo, storage in modern warehouses equipped with advanced inventory management systems, and value-added services such as packaging, sorting, and facilitating customs clearance.

Port Management and Operation

Professional management in every regard from port authorities ensures its efficient working. They supervise the activities related to managing vessel traffic, berthing programs, upkeep and security of port areas, and liaison work with regulatory authorities concerned. Regular repairs and improvement works are constantly being undertaken at port facilities-berths, terminals, handling equipment-so that they have adequate output and meet very high levels of safety parameters.

Port Facilities

Modern berths are constructed, making up the Sines Port; thus, it can handle up to several ships, including a medium-sized container vessel and the biggest of supertankers. Very large warehouses with various possibilities for climate-controlled storage offer ample accommodations for sensitive goods. Alongside it comes advanced loading and unloading equipment, cranes, conveyor belts, and automation systems for cargo handling. Facilities also include vessel services comprising refueling, water supply, and even the ship repair service.

Channel and Direct Shipping

The port has a very well-maintained and dredged channel that allows access and exit of ships safely. The depth and width of the channel are designed to accommodate the biggest vessels in the world. It offers direct shipping to many key ports, thus reducing transportation time and costs and stimulating international trade and economic development.

2. Why measure the ocean currents in the Sines Port?

Improving Safety of Ships during Navigation

It is very relevant to take measurements of the ocean currents at Sines Port for ships navigating safely. By knowing the direction and speed of the currents, a ship pilot will be able to accurately maneuver the vessels during berthing and departure. In a busy port like Sines, with large ships arriving and leaving in large numbers, ocean currents could be understood to avoid any collision with the port structures or other vessels during bad weather conditions or when tidal patterns are complicated.

Optimizing Port Operations

Ocean current data is vital for optimizing port operations. Different current conditions can affect the time and efficiency of cargo loading and unloading. For instance, strong currents would require the vessel to change its position or to use extra mooring lines in order not to put workers and cargo at risk. Precise current measurements would help the port operators to plan such operations better, minimizing delays and increasing the general efficiency of the process.

Planning of Port Infrastructure

Understanding the ocean currents is crucial for the long-term development and expansion of the port. The hydrodynamic forces due to currents can affect the stability and durability of structures at a port, such as berths, piers, and breakwaters. This information is required by engineers for the design and construction of new infrastructure that can withstand continuous action by currents. Besides that, it helps with identifying the best locations where further expansion and enhancement could be made with minimal harmful effects of the water flow.

It offers a far more civilized and practical solution for measuring ocean currents, as it is able to rapidly produce detailed current data at variable depths. Therefore, such real-time information becomes the indispensable input towards efficient operability and further developments at the Sines Port.

3. Working of Doppler Principle using ADCPs

Working principles: The ADCPs work on the principle of the Doppler effect. ADCPs emit acoustic signals into the water. Acoustic waves will interact with any suspended particle or any other scattering objects in the water moving along with an ocean current. After the reflecting waves get back to the ADCP meter, there is a frequency shift due to the Doppler effect.

From this frequency shift, the ADCP current meter can determine the velocity of the current at various depths within the measurement range.

ADCP in Port Ocean Current Measurement

Shipborne ADCP

Shipborne ADCPs are installed on ships that operate in and around Sines Port. As the ship moves through the port waters, the ADCP current profiler continuously emits acoustic signals in multiple directions. It can gather current data at numerous points along the track of the ship, thereby constructing a full picture of the ocean current distribution across various areas of the port. In this way, a rapid assessment of the current situation in a relatively large area covered by the ship's movement is possible.

Fixed ADCP

Fixed ADCPs are typically deployed at discrete locations within a harbor, on the seafloor adjacent to infrastructure features such as berths or deployed in strategic locations of a waterway. They remain in fixed positions and repeatedly measure ocean current conditions over long time periods in the location to which they have been moored. It also provides continuous data on ocean currents to add value for a proper understanding of their periodic behaviors and implications at these fixed locations for port infrastructures and operations.

4. What is necessary to realize high-quality measurements of the currents in Sines port?

Material Reliability

Reliable materials will be essential for the fabrication of all equipment for measuring high-quality Sines Port currents. Such material use needs to be able to endure those harsh marine conditions, which include saltwater corrosion, variable water pressures with changing depths, and constant wave motions, without causing a reduction in performance to be given by the measuring device. Titanium alloy is found as an excellent choice to make casings for the ADCP meter. It has high strength, considering the mechanical forces in the marine environment, and excellent corrosion resistance, which ensures a long life in seawater.

Size, Weight, and Power Consumption

The equipment should be small in size, lightweight, and have low power consumption. A small size will be able to be installed with ease at different areas of the port, whether on ships or at fixed locations. Light weight facilitates handling and deployment, while low power consumption allows for longer equipment operation without necessarily having to change batteries often or use high-power feeding. This is very important for long-term and continuous monitoring operations at the port.

Cost-Effectiveness

Cost-effectiveness is very important to allow large-scale measurement across the port. The equipment should be of a reasonable price to let multiple units be deployed for the purpose of obtaining current data from various locations around the port area, getting a more accurate and detailed understanding of the overall ocean current patterns around Sines Port.

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

Usage Purpose

• Shipborne ADCP: If the purpose is to have mobile measurements while the ship moves around Sines Port with the aim of quickly gathering general information about the current situation at the various port sections, shipborne ADCP should be used. It would have a wide coverage of areas when used during the normal operation of the ship itself.
• Bottom-mounted ADCP: Where the continuous and long-term monitoring of the ocean current at some specific fixed location in the port is required, like near crucial facilities or where the impact of currents on structures needs to be closely watched, bottom-mounted ADCP would be more appropriate. It provides consistent data with stability for that particular position over a long period of time.
• Buoy-mounted ADCP: In locations where installation of fixed equipment on the seafloor or on other structures would be inappropriate, buoy-mounted ADCP can be used. The buoy-mounted ADCP can measure the upper layer ocean current and wirelessly transmit data, offering flexibility in data collection.

According to Different Frequencies

• At a depth of approximately 70 meters from Sines Port, it will generally operate at 600 kHz. Such a shallow depth is quite well measured with a 600 kHz ADCP for the ocean current characteristics.
• For the case of water depth of approximately 110 meters, the suitable one is an ADCP of 300 kHz, as at this particular depth it gives good results in measuring currents.
• ADCP frequency of 75 kHz: this shall be selected in deeper water areas with a water depth up to 1000 meters because it can penetrate deeper into the water and obtain reliable current information.

For commercial purposes, there are some popular ADCP brands: Teledyne RDI, Nortek, and Sontek. However, the most valuable one is from a Chinese brand: China Sonar PandaADCP. This kind of ADCP is an all-titanium alloy in good condition, and it gives full value to money. More details you can find on the website of: https://china-sonar.com/.

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