Numerical Modeling of Unsaturated Flow in Wastewater Soil Absorption Systems

It is common practice in the United States to use wastewater soil absorption systems (WSAS) to treat domestic wastewater. WSAS are expected to provide efficient, long-term removal of wastewater contaminants prior to ground water recharge. Soil clogging at the infiltrative surface of WSAS occurs due to the accumulation of suspended solids, organic matter, and chemical precipitates during continued wastewater infiltration. This clogging zone (CZ) creates an impedance to flow, restricting the hydraulic conductivity and rate of infiltration. A certain degree of clogging may improve the treatment of wastewater by enhancing purification processes, in part because unsaturated flow is induced and residence times are significantly increased. However, if clogging becomes excessive, the wastewater pond height at the infiltrative surface can rise to a level where system failure occurs. The numerical model HYDRUS-2D is used to simulate unsaturated flow within WSAS to better understand the effect of CZs on unsaturated flow behavior and hydraulic retention times in sandy and silty soil. The simulations indicate that sand-based WSAS with mature CZs are characterized by a more widely distributed flow regime and longer hydraulic retention times. The impact of clogging on water flow within the silt is not as substantial. For sand, increasing the hydraulic resistance of the CZ by a factor of three to four requires an increase in the pond height by as much as a factor of five to achieve the same wastewater loading. Because the degree of CZ resistance directly influences the pond height within a system, understanding the influence of the CZ on flow regimes in WSAS is critical in optimizing system design to achieve the desired pollutant-treatment efficiency and to prolong system life.     

青藏高原下地壳流动方式的数值模拟研究

青藏高原存在柔性下地壳流动被越来越多的学者接受, 但是关于下地壳流动方式及速度存在争议。 地表运动有GPS等直接测量, 上地幔运动有S波分裂间接反映, 下地壳运动目前没有直接观测手段, 使得开展数值分析非常重要。 本文利用三维球壳黏弹性有限元模型研究了青藏高原下地壳柔性流动方式和流动速度。 本文通过对地表GPS观测资料的拟合与不同数值模型的对比分析, 认为青藏高原柔性下地壳东向流动遇到四川盆地的抵阻, 下地壳物质可能仅在高原东南方向存在物质外溢通道, 而在高原东北方向不存在类似的物质通道; 下地壳的流动速度比地表运动速率每年快几毫米至十几毫米, 对应的黏滞系数为10¹⁸~10¹⁹ Pa·s。     

Methods and Results of Numerical Modeling of Reactive Solute Transport in River Flow

The equation of advection–diffusion transport of a reactive solute in a stream is solved by different methods. Procedures for evaluating the parameters of a four-node finite-difference approximation used to numerically integrate this equation are proposed. Numerical experiments based on the developed numerical procedures, software, and models of solute transport allowed, in particular, the evaluation of the sensitivity of pollutant concentration estimates to variations in the parameters of interaction processes and hydrodynamic dispersion for a lowland river.     

Modeling Bedload Transport Trajectories along a Sine-Generated Channel

Water Resources - This study explores the influences of flow discharge and particle size on bedload transport trajectory by applying a depth-averaged two-dimensional model to a 110°...     

Refractive Flow and Treatment Systems: Conceptual, Analytical, and Numerical Modeling

Refractive flow and treatment (RFT) systems are designed for passive or low-maintenance in situ ground water remediation for rock or soil of low to moderate permeability. An RFT system captures and refracts contaminated ground water and conveys it to an in situ permeable treatment zone without the need for pumping. Flow to the treatment zone is through one or more high-permeability collection cells, and flow from the treatment zone back into the adjacent native media is through one or more high-permeability dispersal cells.
Conceptual, analytical, and numerical modeling demonstrates the potential for RFT systems to be successful. Analytical modeling shows that the most important factor for this success is that RFT system components be engineered to have comparatively high hydraulic conductivities. A numerical model, capable of representing site-specific conditions, is required for actual RFT system design.     

3D Numerical Modeling of the Summit Lake Lava Flow,Yellowstone, USA

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - Abstract—Volcanic eruptions belong to the extreme events that change the Earth’s landscape and affect global climate and environment. Although...     

Modeling Flow into Horizontal Wells in a Dupuit-Forchheimer Model

Horizontal wells or radial collector wells are used in shallow aquifers to enhance water withdrawal rates. Groundwater flow patterns near these wells are three-dimensional (3D), but difficult to represent in a 3D numerical model because of the high degree of grid refinement needed. However, for the purpose of designing water withdrawal systems, it is sufficient to obtain the correct production rate of these wells for a given drawdown. We developed a Cauchy boundary condition along a horizontal well in a Dupuit-Forchheimer model. Such a steady-state 2D model is not only useful for predicting groundwater withdrawal rates but also for capture zone delineation in the context of source water protection. A comparison of our Dupuit-Forchheimer model for a radial collector well with a 3D model yields a nearly exact production rate. Particular attention is given to horizontal wells that extend underneath a river. A comparison of our approach with a 3D solution for this case yields satisfactory results, at least for moderate-to-large river bottom resistances.     

Prediction of Flow around a Vertical Circular Pier in a Discordant Bed Channel Confluence

Water Resources - Understanding the flow dynamics around the hydraulic structure caused by complex junction flow is still a major challenge. In order to gain a better insight of impact of junction...     

Flow Discharge Modeling in Open Canals Using a New Fuzzy Modeling Technique (SMRGT)

The main goal of this study was to research the answer to two important questions in flow modeling; i) how to optimally design the cross‐section of an open channel for a given flow, and ii) in the case of selecting the fuzzy method for modeling, how to construct the membership functions (MFs) and fuzzy rules (FRs) such that the system yields the best results. The first question is answered in order to minimize difficulties in excavation and related costs by using the appropriate flow velocity. To provide the best answer researchers use several methods. The second question is answered in order to minimize model error. For this aim, there are many algorithms proposed by researchers in the literature. In this paper, the fuzzy logic method was used for open canal flow modeling. Furthermore, a simple membership function and fuzzy rule generation technique (SMRGT) is introduced, and used for fuzzy modeling. Two fuzzy models, each for different cross‐sectional shape, are presented in this study as an application of SMRGT. The comparison depends on various statistics, mean absolute relative error, and contour maps showed that the fuzzy models were successful in open channel flow modeling and SMRGT is useful for MF (membership function) and FR (fuzzy rule) generation.     

Numerical Modeling of Ice Jams

A numerical model is proposed to describe the formation of ice jams under the effect of a release wave.     

Erratum to: 3D Numerical Modeling of the Summit Lake Lava Flow,Yellowstone, USA

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351321120016     

Modeling Monthly Mean Flow in a Poorly Gauged Basin by Fuzzy Logic

The estimation of the monthly mean flow is a critical issue in many water resource development projects. However, in practice the mean flow is not easily determined in ungauged and poorly gauged basins. Therefore, in the literature, various flow estimation methods have been developed recently for mountainous regions which are generally ungauged or poorly gauged basins. In this study a fuzzy logic model based on the Mamdani approach was developed to estimate the flow for poorly gauged mountainous basins. This model was applied to the Solakli Basin which is located in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. Limited rainfall and flow data are available for this basin. In addition to these variables, the stream and time coefficients were introduced and used as variables for modeling. The data was divided into training and testing phases. The model results were compared with the measured data. The comparison depends on seven statistical characteristics, four different error modes and the contour map method. It was observed that the fuzzy model developed in this study yielded reliable results.     

On the Critical Velocities and Depths in a Nonuniform Steady Flow in an Open Channel

The results of experiments discussed in this paper show that some characteristics of gravity waves in finite-depth water can be used in the case of steady flows with a pronounced nonuniformity in open channels. In particular, in addition to the classical critical velocity and depth, the higher (second) critical velocity and (second) critical depth can be used.     

Numerical Modeling of Atoll Island Hydrogeology

We implemented Ayers and Vachers' (1986) inclusive conceptual model for atoll island aquifers in a comprehensive numerical modeling study to evaluate the response of the fresh water lens to selected controlling climatic and geologic variables. Climatic factors include both constant and time-varying recharge rates, with particular attention paid to the effects of El Niño and the associated drought it brings to the western Pacific. Geologic factors include island width; hydraulic conductivity of the uppermost Holocene-age aquifer, which contains the fresh water lens; the depth to the contact with the underlying, and much more conductive, Pleistocene karst aquifer, which transmits tidal signals to the base of the lens; and the presence or absence of a semiconfining reef flat plate on the ocean side. Sensitivity analyses of steady-steady simulations show that lens thickness is most strongly sensitive to the depth to the Holocene-Pleistocene contact and to the hydraulic conductivity of the Holocene aquifer, respectively. Comparisons between modeling results and published observations of atoll island lens thicknesses suggest a hydraulic conductivity of approximately 50 m/d for leeward islands and approximately 400 m/d for windward islands. Results of transient simulations show that lens thickness fluctuations during average seasonal conditions and El Niño events are quite sensitive to island width, recharge rate, and hydraulic conductivity of the Holocene aquifer. In general, the depletion of the lens during drought conditions is most drastic for small, windward islands. Simulation results suggest that recovery from a 6-month drought requires about 1.5 years.     

Modeling Water Flow in the Presence of Higher Vegetation

The notions of hydromechanics of continuum with a complicated structure are used to formulate a closed spatially homogeneous mathematical model of water flow within higher aquatic vegetation (HAV) canopy. Model equations are applied to the analysis of the vertical structure of a turbulent flow in a vegetated open channel. Test calculations are made. The results of calculations and experimental studies of water flow characteristics within vegetation communities in some water bodies [1, 6–8, 10, 14] are shown. The difficulties in implementing such experiments require improving the methods of mathematical simulation of water flows through HAV.