CFD Modeling of Solid Separation in Three Combined Sewer Overflow Chambers

Abstract

The knowledge of solid behavior in combined sewer overflow (CSO) chambers is a great challenge for the protection of receiving watercourses. Moreover, great attention must be given to the occurrence of deposits on the bed of the chamber because they may lead to operation problems. In this paper, we investigate the capability of a particle tracking approach to determine the solid separation in CSO chambers. This is done by comparing simulations and experimental data collected in three small-scale models, as reported by Kehrwiller 1995. The trap, reflect, and bed shear stress (BSS) boundary conditions are compared. We propose to use the Shields relationship for evaluating the critical BSS. Finally, we propose a methodology for predicting the solid separation in CSO chambers using computational fluid dynamics.