Hydraulic Analysis of Model Treatment Units

Rational guidelines for designing studies to improve an existing water or wastewater treatment unit configuration through the use of experimental analysis of small-scale models are presented. Tracer data results from a prototype and model chlorine contact unit are analyzed to develop and illustrate the main principles. These data show that nonreproducible tracer parameters can result if the model unit is only operated at a level prescribed by a dimensionless number such as a Froude number. It is also evident from these data, that indices commonly recommended for tracer analyses have varying degrees of reliability and should therefore be examined thoroughly for each model study.