InterAdsFoam: An Open-Source CFD Model for Granular Media–Adsorption Systems with Dynamic Reaction Zones Subject to Uncontrolled Urban Water Fluxes
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 9
Abstract
In the urban water cycle, adsorption facilitated by engineered granular media increasingly is deployed for solute separation in potable water, stormwater, and wastewater systems. Of these systems, stormwater treatment is inordinately complex. Stormwater systems are passive, decentralized, and subject to highly unsteady and uncontrolled fluxes with multiphase interactions. This study proposes a multiphase and multiphysics computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, interAdsFoam, to simulate turbulence mixing and adsorption with dynamic water–air interface and reaction zones. An original CFD model is proposed, benchmarked, and validated with data sets across a range of scales: (1) bench-scale columns for model parameter estimation, (2) physical modeling of a radial flow adsorption reactor (RFR) subject to controlled fluxes, and (3) field monitoring of a commercial volumetric radial flow adsorption reactor (VRFR) system subject to uncontrolled event-based fluxes. The results illustrate (1) the nonuniqueness of numerical solutions for parameter estimation in adsorption modeling; (2) that regulating the parameter estimation process with isotherms improves model generalizability; (3) inverse modeling of the RFR hydraulic resistance with the quadratic Thiem model can provide a more accurate representation than the Ergun model; and (4) that turbulence transport and chemical adsorption are dynamically coupled with the air–water momentum balance. The proposed CFD model predicts total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) transport and fate based on field monitoring of the VRFR. System dynamics and treatment functionality are elucidated, and implications for practical reactor design are discussed. The proposed open-source CFD model provides a novel framework for higher-fidelity urban water adsorption reactor simulation, design, and optimization than current methods for adsorption.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available in a repository online in accordance with funder data retention policies. The source code and compilation instructions of interAdsFoam are available in a GitHub repository (https://github.com/Rdfing/interAdsFoam).
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by USGS funding through the Water Resources Research Institute in Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment at the University of Florida under the 104B program.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 9 • September 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 5, 2021
Accepted: Mar 25, 2022
Published online: Jun 24, 2022
Published in print: Sep 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Nov 24, 2022
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Adsorption
- Chemical processes
- Chemistry
- Computational fluid dynamics technique
- Dynamic models
- Engineering fundamentals
- Environmental engineering
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Hydraulic models
- Hydrologic engineering
- Model accuracy
- Models (by type)
- Municipal water
- Numerical models
- Sorption
- Stormwater management
- Water (by type)
- Water and water resources
- Water management
- Water treatment
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