Kemper, Jost, Mense, Jan, Graf, Kai, Kröger, Jörn and Riebesell, Ulf (2023) Towards Reliable Performance Predictions for Stommel's Perpetual Salt Fountain. [Paper] In: 10. Conference on Computational Methods in Marine Engineering (Marine 2023). , 27.-29.06.2023, Madrid, Spain . 10. International Conference on Computational Methods in Marine Engineering MARINE 2023. ; pp. 1-19 . DOI 10.23967/marine.2023.018.

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Abstract

Artificial Upwelling (AU) of nutrient-rich Deep Ocean Water (DOW) to the ocean’s sunlit surface
layer is currently being investigated as a way of increasing the ecosystem productivity and enhancing
the natural CO2 uptake of the ocean. AU is thus considered a marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
(CDR) option (GESAMP, 2019) in addition to its potential in the context of open ocean fish and
macroalgae farming (Kirke, 2003; Wu et al., 2023). A promising technical concept for AU was described
by the oceanographer Stommel et al. (1956). Stommel proposed that the counteracting effects of
typical open ocean temperature and salinity depth profiles on density can be utilized to drive a
self-sustaining upwelling flow in a vertical ocean pipe. He termed this effect the ”perpetual salt
fountain”. Despite several research efforts, none of the previous studies were able to reliably predict
or demonstrate the potential of Stommel Upwelling Pipes (SUP)s. The growing interest in AU in
light of current CDR research poses the need for reliable performance prediction methods and further
development of Stommel’s concept. To fill this gap, two models have been developed in the present
work. A Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model and a one-dimensional numerical model.
While the RANS model enables detailed modeling of the heat transfer and flow phenomena, the one-dimensional numerical model allows for fast evaluation of simplified geometries for optimization and
large-scale studies. This twofold approach allows for effective performance predictions while ensuring
good reliability of the results. The present work shows the results of a number of studies, performed
for different geometries and environmental conditions. The results of both models are compared and
analyzed, and the respective potential is demonstrated. The presented results provide insight into
some key aspects of the performance of SUPs and their potential for AU.

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