Numerical Modeling of Flow and Sediment Transport in Rivers

Understanding the mechanisms that control sediment transport in rivers and the size distribution of sediments is of fundamental importance to the fields of hydraulics, hydrology and water resources. Flows in river are, in general, three dimensional, unsteady, and turbulent, in addition to additional complexity of interactions of fluid and solid phases. Therefore, the exact mathematical analysis of flow and sediment transport is a challenging task. In addition, direct extrapolation from laboratory data to field applications is not possible. Field measurements are, however, very tedious, expensive, and time consuming. More fundamentally for reservoir geologists and engineers, riparian flow measurements cannot now be performed on rivers that last flowed eons ago. Hence, quantitative, physically realistic models are needed for use with current field and laboratory measurements to reliably reconstruct the flow and sediment transport that, long ago, formed different types of nderground reservoirs.

The objective of this project is to develop a three-dimensional, two-phase flow computational model using Lagrangian particle trajectory analysis procedures for sediment transport, deposition, and resuspension processes. The specific objective is to develop a physical model relating particle size distribution in the sedimentary bed as a function of the river geometric features and flow conditions.

Funded by US Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)