Experiment of hydraulic structure's effect on pollutant transport and dispersion

Abstract

Hydraulic structures have caused many environmental problems in recent years. Structures such as spur-dikes are effective in river regulation but also a threat to river ecology. Therefore, in this paper artificial wetland is considered in spur-dike engineering practice for river restoration. In order to study the influence of this ecological project on the discharge of polluted sediment particles, a laboratory experiment was carried out. The flow field and concentration process around the project area was measured under different conditions of discharge, vegetation and sediment concentration input. Results showed that, the reduction of peak concentration was obvious due to velocity variation. The increase of vegetation occupation ratio would lead to the transition of concentration process diagram from 'single-peak' to 'multi-peak' type. And it's very helpful for the enhancement of water quality and the pollutant decomposition. The pollution reduction amounts and the best parameters of this ecological approach were also calculated. © 2013. The authors.