Control of Propagation of Salt Wedge by using Roughness Blocks having Different Inclination

Abstract

The hydraulic conditions of a flow previously proved to be changed when placing large-scale geometric roughness elements on the bed of an open channel. These elements impose more resistance to the flow. The geometry of the roughness elements, the numbers used, and the configuration are parameters that can affect the hydraulic flow characteristics. The target is to use inclined block elements to control the salt wedge propagation pointed in most estuaries to prevent its negative effects. The Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD Software was used to simulate the two-phase flow in an estuary model. In this model, the used block elements are 2 cm by 3 cm cross-sections with an inclined face in the flow direction, with a length of their sides 2 and 3 cm. These elements were placed with a constant spacing in two rows at a distance from two sides of the bed of the channel model. Six simulation runs were conducted with two different discharges and three different inclinations of the centerline of the element concerning the flow direction. The applied discharges are 30 and 45.3 l/min, and the inclination of roughness elements are 15o, 30o, and 45o. The spacing between elements in each row is kept at 3cm. The results showed that when no roughness elements were used, the propagation of the salt wedge extended to 3.9m and 3.1m at a discharge of 30 l/min and 45.31/min, respectively. The propagation of the salt wedge was reduced when using the inclined blocks roughness element. This reduction depends on the applied discharge and the angle of inclination. At the minimum applied discharge of 30 l/min, the propagation of the salt wedge was reduced by 74% at 45o inclination. In contrast, it was 69% at 30o and 64% at 15o inclination at the same discharge. When the discharge is 45.3 l/min, the propagation of the salt wedge was reduced by 85% at 45o inclinations of roughness, 84% at 30o. It was 70% at 15o inclinations. The roughness elements improve the flow turbulence that disperses and slows the salt wedge propagation beneath the fresh water.

Keywords

• CFD
• Salt wedge
• Roughness elements