Dispersion in Varying-Geometry Rivers with Application to Methanol Releases
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 5
Abstract
Most analyses of turbulent mixing in rivers assume constant hydraulic geometry (width, depth, and velocity), despite the fact that in natural rivers these variables typically increase downstream. A comprehensive set of data for the rivers and streams in the United States is used to derive generalized equations for variations in hydraulic geometry. As a preliminary investigation of the importance of these variations, an approximate analytical solution to the one-dimensional advective-dispersion equation is derived for rivers with variable velocity, cross-sectional area, and dispersion coefficient. The solution compares well with previous analyses, and is used to assess the potential environmental impacts of methanol releases into a hypothetical river. The resulting downstream concentrations of methanol are considerably lower than those calculated assuming constant hydraulic geometry.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 5 • May 2005
Pages: 390 - 396
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 17, 2002
Accepted: Aug 18, 2004
Published online: May 1, 2005
Published in print: May 2005
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