CE760a: Surface Water Quality Modeling

Instructor: Purnendu Bose

Schedule: TF: 15:00 – 16:45

Venue: WL226

Lecture 1: Friday 4/1/19

Flux of Contaminants
Transport of contaminants in water (both molecules and particles) is quantified in
terms of Flux.

Flux is a vector quantity.


Unit of Flux ( J ) is ML-2T-1 (g/m2/s), i.e., mass of contaminant passing through an unit
area in unit time.

The “unit area” is oriented in the direction perpendicular to the flux vector.


(J z ) 
 (J v )
(J u )

(J x )


(J y ) 
(J w )
Mass Transport: Particulate and Dissolved Contaminants
How a contaminant particles is transported from one place to another??

Most Effective way: The contaminant (dissolved or particulate) is transported while entrained
in the flowing water or air. This happens in surface water (rivers, lakes,
oceans), in the subsurface and also in air.
This mass transport process is known as Advection:
Advective flux is caused by the net flow of the water in which the contaminant is suspended
(for particles) or dissolved (for molecules)

Advective Contaminant Flux   

( J )
Advective flux in x-direction = x A = C.( U x ) , where, U x is the velocity of flow in x-
direction.
In the absence of advection, mass transport is through molecular diffusion
Molecular Diffusion:
Diffusive flux is caused by random motion of contaminant molecules or particles ( < 1 mm
size) in water.

Diffusive Contaminant Flux inWater

Diffusive flux in x-direction = (J x ) D  D. C , where D is the diffusion coefficient
x
Diffusive flux in x, y and z direction results in gradual spreading of the contaminant in all
directions.
Molecular Diffusion:
Molecular diffusion is caused by random motion of contaminant molecules or particles ( < 1 mm
size) in water or air.

Diffusive Contaminant Flux in Water

  C C C 
Diffusive flux = J D  D. .i  .j  .k 
 x y z 
where D is the diffusion coefficient or Diffusivity. This is known as the Fick’s Law of Diffusion

Molecular diffusion is a slow transport process, however it is an important process by which

contaminants are transported in still water or air. Molecular diffusion is particularly
important at solid-liquid or air-liquid interfaces, i.e., in the boundary layers. Thus the rate of
mass transfer of contaminants between phases is often controlled by molecular diffusion.
Other Mass Transport Mechanisms
Advection is also accompanied by a variety of spreading (Dispersion) mechanisms
Shear-Flow Dispersion (also called shear diffusion): Shear Dispersive flux of particles or
molecules is due to the effect of shear (laminar) flow
 C
Dispersive flux in x-direction = (J x )s  E s . , where Es is the shear flow dispersion
x
coefficient

Turbulent Dispersion (also called turbulent diffusion): Combined Flux Due to

Dispersive flux of particles and molecules are due to effect of Advection and
turbulent flow. The random velocity components in a turbulent flow Turbulent Dispersion
cause contaminants to move in a random fashion (similar to
diffusion, but in much larger scale)  C
(
Turbulent Dispersive flux in x-direction = x D J )   E . ,
x
D

where, ED is the turbulent dispersive flux in x-direction.

For a contaminant, ED >> ES >> D. Further, ED and ES depends on

the flow physics, while D depends on the contaminant properties.
ED and ES cannot exist together. D can be neglected in the presence
of ED or ES
Other Mass Transport Mechanisms……Continued

Hydrodynamic Dispersion: Dispersive flux of particles and molecules in

subsurface flow.

Local velocity through soil pores is not uniform. Thus, some of the contaminant travels at
velocities greater than average velocities, while some travel at velocities less than the
average velocity. Also, shear dispersion within a pore is responsible for hydrodynamic
dispersion.
 C
Hydrodynamic Dispersive flux in x-direction = (J x ) H   E H . , where, EH is the
hydrodynamic dispersive flix in x-direction. x

Transport of Contaminant in the

subsurface through advection Shear Dispersion in Pores
and hydrodynamic dispersion
Dissolved and Colloidal Contaminant Transport in Aqueous Media
Translation Spreading

Transport in Still Water: Molecular Diffusion

Transport in Laminar Flow: Advection Shear Dispersion
Transport in Turbulent Flow: Advection Turbulent Dispersion
Transport in Subsurface flow: Advection Hydrodynamic Dispersion

Additional Transport Mechanisms for large Particles

(these particles are not transported by molecular diffusion)
Settling: Downward motion of particles suspended in water due to gravitational forces
Scouring: Re-suspension of settled particles by flowing water
The Concept of Reactive Transport
While getting transported, dissolved contaminants may undergo various kinds of chemical and
biochemical reactions and mass transfer, viz. gas-liquid, solid-liquid mass transfer.

Colloidal Contaminants may undergo various physical transformation processes like,

Coagulation-flocculation and filtration during transportation.

Thus the flux of a contaminant and ultimately the concentration of a contaminant in an

environmental media depends on the reactive transport mechanisms. Mathematical modeling
of such processes for determination of contaminant concentration in environmental media as a
function of space and time is known as Environmental Modeling.