Modeling Sediment‐Induced Density Currents in Sedimentation Basins

Abstract

Sediment‐driven density currents exist in most secondary sedimentation basins and cause the usual hydrodynamic flow pattern in these basins to deviate substantially from uniformity. The mathematical model introduced here allows one to predict, by direct computation, the behavior of the bottom current and the surface return flow, and simultaneously to determine their distributional effects on the sedimentation process itself. The model consists of conservation equations for fluid mass and momentum and sediment volume, supplemented by a modified form of the