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Estimation of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient using a two-zone model in a channel partially covered with artificial emergent vegetation

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Abstract

Understanding scalar transport in solvents is important in chemical engineering, pollution control, and water remediation, where the longitudinal dispersion coefficient (LDC) is a key parameter for describing solute transport in fluids. For flow in classic conditions such as in a pipe or a regular open channel, formulas for LDC are derived from adopting the ideas of the advection–diffusion equation. However, when the flow encounters large-scale roughness, such as an open channel with vegetation, longitudinal dispersion becomes complicated. This paper aims to estimate LDC in an open channel that is partially covered with artificial vegetation. This kind of artificial vegetation is emergent, which comprises eight floats. A two-zone model is proposed to determine LDC in this channel condition. In validating our model, experiments are conducted with Rhodamine as a tracer, whose time-concentration curves are measured at two locations. The routing procedure is applied to obtain LDC from these curves. Results show that the measured LDCs are consistent with the predicted ones, thereby validating the accuracy and reliability of our proposed two-zone model.

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Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11672213, 11872285, and 51809286), Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2018ZX07105002), National Key Research and Development Project (2018YFC0407702, 2019YFD1100205), and IWHR Research and Development Support Program (WE0145B062019, WE0145B422019, WE0145B052017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, China

    Jiao Zhang, Wen-Xin Huai & Hao-Ran Shi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, 100038, China

    Wei-Jie Wang

  3. Department of Water Ecology and Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, 100038, China

    Wei-Jie Wang

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  1. Jiao Zhang
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Correspondence to Wei-Jie Wang.

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Zhang, J., Huai, WX., Shi, HR. et al. Estimation of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient using a two-zone model in a channel partially covered with artificial emergent vegetation. Environ Fluid Mech 21, 155–175 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-020-09766-2

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