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Laminar and turbulent regime changes in drinking water contact tanks
Author(s) -
Barnett Taylor C.,
Venayagamoorthy Subhas K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.5942/jawwa.2014.106.0149
Subject(s) - laminar flow , turbulence , inlet , computational fluid dynamics , mechanics , flow (mathematics) , environmental science , flow conditions , volumetric flow rate , laminar flow reactor , fluid dynamics , open channel flow , engineering , physics , mechanical engineering
Transitions in flow regimes that can occur in drinking water contact tanks may significantly affect the disinfection efficiency of the system. To demonstrate these effects, the authors investigated the internal velocity fields and flow regime of a drinking water contact tank located in Jamestown, Colo. The baffling factor (BF) of the system fluctuated annually between 0.5 and 0.6 because of a shift in flow regime caused by changes in the flow rate of the system. The authors studied the effects of the regime change from laminar to turbulent flow (or vice versa) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models and physical tracer studies. Several inlet modifications were then investigated using CFD to determine which alteration would be most beneficial. Key findings showed that with proper inlet modification, the BF of the system could be stabilized at 0.6 during periods of high or low flow.