Exploring integrated impact of temperature and flow velocity on chlorine decafor a pilot-scale water distribution system

Abstract

The reduction rate of residual chlorine concentration in water distribution systems depends on water quality and system parameters. Temperature is the one of the important factors affecting the rate of chlorine decay, and flow velocity further affects chlorine variation along the distribution pipeline. In this study, we explored the combined impact of temperature and flow velocity on chlorine decay rate in water distribution systems. A pilot-scale water distribution system was designed and fabricated to obtain time series of residual chlorine concentration under various temperature and flow velocity conditions. The parameters of kinetic reaction models were calibrated using genetic algorithm for further generalization of kinetic coefficient prediction. The impact of flow velocity was incorporated into the Reynolds number and integrated into a combined equation to show the relationship of temperature to decay coefficients. The decay rate obtained from the combined equation shows good agreement between simulation and experimental verification.