Effects of inlet momentum and orientation on the hydraulic performance of water storage tanks

Abstract

The influence of inlet momentum and inlet orientation on hydraulic performance of cylindrical water process tanks were investigated using a factorial design strategy. The hydraulic performance of the tanks was assessed with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, which calculated the flow fields and the residence time distribution (RTD). RTDs were used to quantify the tanks hydraulic performance using hydraulic indexes that represent short-circuiting, mixing, and moment. These indexes were later associated with the effluent fraction of disinfectant (inlet and outlet disinfectant ratio). For small depth-to-diameter ratios, the inlet orientation and the inlet momentum were the most important factors regarding the hydraulic indexes and the effluent fraction of disinfectant, respectively. A poor correlation was obtained between the hydraulic indexes and the effluent fraction of disinfectant, indicating that they are not good predictors for water quality. For large depth-to-diameter ratios, the inlet orientation had the most significant effect on both the hydraulic indexes and effluent fraction of disinfectant. The short-circuiting and mixing indexes presented a good correlation with water quality for this case.