Modeling mass removal and sediment deposition in stormwater ponds using floating treatment islands: a computational approach.

Floating treatment islands (FTIs) offer effective solutions for stormwater management, providing flood attenuation and pollutant removal capabilities. However, there remains a knowledge gap concerning their performance, specifically in terms of pollutant removal and sediment deposition. To address this gap, the present study employs computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to investigate the intricate interactions within FTI systems. Various FTI configurations are analyzed, considering mass removal through FTIs and sediment deposition, the first time where these two processes were considered together in a CFD environment. The findings demonstrate that FTIs have a significant influence on flow patterns and mass removal. Notably, FTIs enhance mass removal compared to the control case, with larger sediment particles exhibiting higher removal rates. The correlation between the short-circuit index and sedimentation in FTI ponds highlights the potential of FTIs as indicators of treatment efficiency. Furthermore, the study focuses on mass removal exclusively through the FTI root zones. The positioning of FTIs within the pond has a considerable impact, resulting in differences of up to 20% in mass removal. Moreover, the FTI configuration exerts a more pronounced influence on mass removal through FTIs than through sediment deposition alone. In cases where both processes occur simultaneously, the presence of FTIs lead to higher mass removal, primarily attributed to the FTIs themselves, particularly in the initial segment. Remarkably, certain FTI configurations enable mass removal exceeding 70% for large sediment particles, even with a pond length less than half of the original.

Modelagem da vegetação aquática em estudos de dinâmica dos fluidos computacional / Modeling aquatic vegetation in computational fluid dynamics studies

RESUMO O objetivo deste trabalho foi apresentar, por meio da técnica dinâmica dos fluidos computacional (CFD), dois métodos utilizados nas representações conceitual e física da vegetação em meio aquático: meio poroso e elementos geométricos simplificados. Três estudos de caso, que incluem um wetland flutuante e manchas de vegetação, exemplificam a aplicação dos métodos, mostrando suas vantagens e desvantagens. Nas etapas da geometria e da malha, a representação da vegetação como meio poroso é mais simples, prática e rápida do que a da vegetação como elementos geométricos simplificados. Porém, na parte da modelagem das equações, o método do meio poroso não consegue capturar os processos de mistura no interior da vegetação, enquanto o método dos elementos geométricos simplificados consegue.

ABSTRACT The goal of this work was to present, through computation fluid dynamics (CFD), two methods used in the conceptual and physical representation of vegetation in aquatic environments: the porous media approach and the simplified geometric elements. Three case studies, including a floating wetland and patches of vegetation, exemplify how the methods are applied, showing their advantages and disadvantages. At the geometry and meshing stage, the porous media approach shows to be simpler, faster, and more practical than the simplified geometric elements. However, in the equation modeling, the porous media approach is not able to capture the mixing processes inside the vegetation, while the simplified geometric elements method can capture those processes.

Impacto da configuração de entrada e saída sobre a mistura em reservatórios de armazenamento de água / Impact of inlet and outlet configurations on the mixing behavior in water storage tanks

O impacto na qualidade da água causado por reservatórios é usualmente negativo. Essa deterioração se deve, na maioria dos casos, a uma mistura de baixa qualidade, sendo esta fortemente influenciada pelas características de entrada e saída dos reservatórios. Com o intuito de avaliar esse impacto, quatro configurações de reservatório foram testadas (variando a posição da entrada e/ou saída) por meio da ferramenta Computional Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Através dos resultados foi demonstrado, usando como critério a maior concentração média no interior dos reservatórios, que a melhor configuração entre as testadas foi aquela que apresenta a entrada no topo e a saída no fundo.

The impact of water quality caused by storage reservoirs is usually negative. This deterioration of water quality, in most cases, is due to a mixture of low quality water, which is strongly influenced by the inlet and outlet of the reservoirs. In order to evaluate this impact, four reservoir configurations were tested (by varying the position of the inlet and/or outlet) by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The mean concentration inside the reservoirs demonstrated that the best configuration among those tested was the arrangement that presents the input at the top and the output at the bottom.