Dissolved Oxygen Demand at the Sediment-Water Interface of a Stream: Near-Bed Turbulence and Pore Water Flow Effects
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 7
Abstract
A microbial dissolved oxygen (DO) uptake model was developed for a stream bed, including the effect of turbulence in the flow over the bed and pore water flow in the porous bed. The fine-grained sediment bed has hydraulic conductivities , i.e., sediment particle diameter . The pore water flow is driven by pressure fluctuations at the sediment-water interface, mostly attributable to near-bed coherent motions in the turbulent boundary layer above the sediment bed. An effective mass transfer coefficient () coupled to a pore water flow model was used in the DO transport and DO uptake model. DO flux across the sediment-water interface and into the sediment, i.e., sedimentary oxygen demand (SOD), was related to hydraulic conductivity and microbial oxygen uptake rate in the sediment and shear velocity at the sediment-water interface. Simulated SOD values were validated against experimental data. For hydraulic conductivities of the sediment bed up to , the pore water flow effect on SOD was found negligible. Above this threshold, the effective mass (DO) transfer coefficient in the sediment bed () becomes larger as the hydraulic conductivity () becomes larger as the interstitial flow velocities increase; consequently, DO penetration depth increases with larger hydraulic conductivity of the sediment bed (), and SOD increases as well. The enhancement of vertical DO transport into the sediment bed is strongest near the sediment-water interface, and rapidly diminishes with depth into the sediment layer. An increase in shear velocity at the sediment-water interface also enhances DO transfer. Shear velocity increases at the sediment-water interface will raise SOD regardless of the maximum oxidation rate if the hydraulic conductivity is above the threshold of . The relationship is nearly linear when . At shear velocity , SOD for oxidation rates and are almost five times larger than those with no pore water flow. When pore water transport of DO is not limiting, SOD is a linear function of oxygen demand rate in the sediment when .
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Young Researcher Overseas Visit Program, UNSPECIFIEDNo. 21-5018), and by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (UNSPECIFIEDNo. 22560522). Anonymous reviewers of the manuscript provided helpful comments and suggestions. The authors thank these individuals and organizations for their support.
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© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 14, 2010
Accepted: Jan 31, 2011
Published online: Jun 15, 2011
Published in print: Jul 1, 2011
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