International Journal of Coastal, Offshore and Environmental Engineering
Volume:7 Issue: 4, Autumn 2022

Fertile coastal area is one of the challenges of marine science. This study identifies the upwelling areas in the Strait of Hormuz (52˚E to 59˚E, 23˚N to 28˚N) by using data satellite images of Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA) in a period of 20 years (July 2002 to June 2021). Four coastal stations named Lavan, Abu Musa, Qeshm, and Jask were selected as a case study of this scope. The global monthly Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution (MUR) of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) analysis anomaly by 0.01° resolution was used to find colder areas. The data were analyzed by Matlab. The satellite image results illustrated that the SSTA pattern showed both temporal and spatial fluctuations. The results of two decades of data showed well the spatial (between east-west and north-south) and temporal (August-November) fluctuations in the Strait of Hormuz. The Marine Heat Wave (MHW) started in June and made August the hottest month of the year. The duration of MHW was four months. While November was recognized as the coldest month in these two decades of data and SSTA of the curve of the strait reached less than -0.1°C. There was a permanent warm eddy (SSTA=0.2489°C) at 25.93°N and 53.23°E with the diameter of 55 km. It was also confirmed a permanent upwelling in Jask areas in the east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The use of renewable energies is inevitable due to the limitations of fossil fuels, pollution, and the global increase in energy consumption. Renewable energies are various, so selection and investment in the best option in each region are complicated and depend on multiple parameters. For this reason, this study has used Analytical Hierarchal Process (AHP) to prioritize renewable energy sources in Iran's main ports (located in the Caspian Sea, Oman sea, and the Persian Gulf). The AHP is among the most widely used methods in multi-criteria decision-making in many fields and can include different and contradictory criteria. Renewable energies, including solar, wind, wave, and current, have been analyzed in the main ports' area (5 km radius in sea and port hinterland). The results show solar (photovoltaic) and wave energies are the first and second priorities in all southern ports except Imam Khomeini Port. Imam Khomeini Port is the only port where the current energy is unignorable. In the northern ports, wind energy is the primary option for investment. Wave energy can be exploited only in the Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar, located on the Oman Sea shores and directly connected to the open sea. In the ports of Khuzestan province, the photovoltaic power potential is lower than in other southern ports despite the very high solar direct normal irradiation.

It has been more than 30 years that marine currents are studied over the Hormozgan maritime zone. In this paper, in addition to discussing results of some previous related studies, simulation results of the hydrodynamic regime of currents are presented. The aim of this study is to investigate feasibility of construction of tidal power plants in the region. We believe that the existing analytical and field data can be used for energy zoning of tidal currents in the Hormozgan region, which can be scrutinized with small convertors. Based on these data, it is found that in most of the time, the maximum speed of the current does not exceed 1.8 m/s. Density of the exploitable power in the hottest point is estimated between 1 and 3 kW/m2. The extent of zones with the maximum speed of greater than 1.6 m/s is found in the Qeshm Canal, reaching to approximately 22km2, while in two regions, the depth of the zone reaches to approximately 40m. Although small convertors with the cut-in speed of approximately 0.5m/s contribute to 50% of the energy production during a day, construction of a tidal power plant requires improvements in the technology of these convertors.

Increasing the performance of offshore platforms is one of the main aims of the designers. The oil and gas offshore platforms encounter some challenges as the dynamic vibrational response that they always attempt to improve the stability and response of the platforms. On the other hand, many electronic devices on the platform require a supply resource. The transmitted energy of the excited waves into the mechanical vibrations for the platform may be captured by installing some types of WECs. The present study conducts a numerical study on the hydrodynamic analysis of the platform attached with four-point absorber wave energy converters underneath the Amir Kabir semi-submersible platform. The monochromatic regular waves are considered the excitation forces based on the Caspian Sea state. Two different arrangements of WECs and three sizes of sphere buoy are also considered. In addition to calculating the produced power via WECs, the overall performance of the single and integrated platforms is compared from the dynamic response point of view. The results show a considerable difference in the responses of the platform when the WECs are combined. However, the captured power does not depend on the locations of the WECs but is affected by the buoy size of the WECs while the platform response is dependent on the buoy size and also the WECs’ arrangement.

The concentration of ammonium has been greatly increased in freshwaters flowing into the coastal zone. In this paper, the combination of a paper-based analytical device (PAD) and a smartphone application (app) for on-site quantification and mapping of ammonium (NH4-N) in river water samples have been described. The developed app can capture, analyze and map the PAD colorimetric outputs. The developed app used an image processing algorithm for analyzing color intensity and relating the RGB elements to the ammonium concentration. The GPS-tagged data can be sent via social networks. Under optimized conditions, our method provided linear range between 0.2 and 10 mg L-1 with R2=0.9998. The limit of detection (LOD) of the method for quantification of ammonium was 0.10 mg L-1. The developed technique was effectively applied to determine and map the ammonium concentration in Chalus river samples (Iran). The obtained results were approved by the lab-based conventional methods using spectrophotometer.

The purpose of this study is to identify and then manage the most important environmental risks affecting financial performance of Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) in Iran. In this research, risks management of port equipment and facilities, operational, human resource, pollution, maritime transport, natural, security and rules has been considered as environmental risks management affecting financial performance of PMO. This research is a mixed data in terms of type, applied and developmental purpose, exploratory and descriptive research in terms of nature and a survey in terms of data collection method. The statistical population of the research is certified and experienced specialists in the field of financial management and health, safety and environment (HSE) of PMO in Iran, which the sample size of 70 was selected by purposeful sampling method. Structural equation modeling and Smart PLS software were used to analyze the research data. The results showed that to improve the financial performance of PMO from environmental risks management, human resource risk management, pollution risk management and operational risk management with path coefficients based on the research structural model of 0.948, 0.914 and 0.905 has been the highest, and rules risk management with path coefficient 0.629 has been the lowest effects. As a result, special attention should be paid to environmental risks management in order to improve the financial performance of PMO in Iran. Therefore, PMO can increase the level of their professional knowledge and skills by considering training programs for employees, and thus reduce human error.