Numerical investigation of turbulent flow through porous zone inside a contact tank

Kızılaslan M. A., Demirel E.

13th International Congress on Advances in Civil Engineering, İzmir, Turkey, 12 - 14 September 2018, pp.1-7

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • City: İzmir
  • Country: Turkey
  • Page Numbers: pp.1-7
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Multi-chamber contact tanks have been critical infrastructures in water treatment plants in recent years due to the energy considerations. An efficient contact system is required for the effective disinfection of potable water since conventional tank designs suffer from low hydraulic efficiency. The present study investigates the effect of porous zone on the hydraulic efficiency of a contact tank. Numerical simulation of the turbulent flow inside the contact tank is performed based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) model. Simulation results show that short-circuiting in the large chamber significantly reduces the hydraulic efficiency of the contact system. A horizontal porous zone is incorporated at the entrance of the third chamber in order to mitigate short-circuiting effects. Darcy-Forchheimer relation is employed for the simulation of the turbulent flow through the porous medium. It is found from the numerical results that the porous zone can significantly suppress short-circuiting inside the contact tank. Spatial distributions of the time-averaged vertical velocity components along the chamber width reveal that the horizontal porous zone can effectively turn the recirculating flow to the plug-flow.