Abstract
The present study focuses on understanding the flow dynamics of baffled disinfection contact tanks through the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In particular, we seek to address the key question: for a given footprint of a contact tank with a fixed inlet configuration, how does the hydraulic efficiency of the tank depend on the configuration of internal baffles? The benchmark contact tank geometry in our study is shown in Figure 1. In order to define guidelines for hydraulically efficient baffle tanks, we perform a total of 36 high-resolution three-dimensional simulations to quantify the efficiency of a laboratory scale tank as a function of the dimensional relationships between the inlet width, channel width, tank width, tank length and baffle opening length. Simulated flow through curves (FTC) and longitudinal velocity profiles show good agreement with previous experimental results. Our analysis of residence time distribution (RTD) curves obtained for different tank configurations of the same footprint indicate that an optimum configuration that approaches near plug flow conditions may exist and can be defined by the dimensional relationships examined in this study. © 2012 ASCE.
Recommended Citation
Z. H. Taylor et al., "Computational Modeling of Baffled Disinfection Tanks," World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2012 Crossing Boundaries Proceedings of the 2012 Congress, pp. 1280 - 1289, American Society of Civil Engineers, Sep 2012.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784412312.129
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
978-078441231-2
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 American Society of Civil Engineers, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
17 Sep 2012
