Alternative Approaches to Modeling Fluence Distribution and Microbial Inactivation in Ultraviolet Reactors: Lagrangian versus Eulerian

Abstract

A study was performed to evaluate alternative methods for predicting the ultraviolet (UV) reactor performance using computational fluid dynamics. The study consists of modeling the UV fluence distribution and microbial inactivation using either Lagrangian or Eulerian methods for both low- and medium-pressure UV reactors. In the Eulerian method, fluence distributions were calculated using a flow-weighted and a mass-weighted fraction technique. The results show that the Eulerian flow-weighted fraction fluence distribution agreed well with the Lagrangian particle tracking fluence distribution when applied to the UV reactor outlet plane. However, when applied to planes downstream from effluent hydraulic structures, the Eulerian fluence distribution method was influenced by the additional convective mixing from these hydraulic structures and predicts a tighter fluence distribution range than the Lagrangian method. The Eulerian approach to modeling microbial inactivation seems comparable to the Lagrangian particle tracking approach and can be viewed as a suitable alternative to the Lagrangian approach. The results also show that the Eulerian mass-weighted fraction distribution is comparable to the microbial kinetic weighted Lagrangian particle tracking approach, which can provide greater sensitivity to the low fluence regions in the UV reactor.