A Computational Fluid Dynamics Based Integrated Disinfection Design Approach for Improvement of Full-scale Ozone Contactor Performance

Abstract

A three-dimensional multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been developed, to address all the major components of ozone disinfection processes at the Charles DesBaillets Water Treatment Plant in Montréal, Canada. Good agreement was observed between the numerical results and full-scale tracer data. The CFD predicted flow fields showed that recirculation zones and short circuiting existed in the DesBaillets contactors. Installation of four additional baffles in the second chamber would significantly improve contactor mixing performance. The modeling results also indicated that ozone residuals at the cross section of the outlet of each chamber were very sensitive to the locations of monitoring points.

Keywords:

• Ozone
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
• Multiphase
• Disinfection Design Approach
• Contactor Performance

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Funding for this project was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in the form of an Industrial Research Chair in Water Treatment at the University of Waterloo. The current Chair partners include: American Water Canada Corp., Brightwell Technologies Inc., the cities of Brantford, Guelph, Hamilton, Ottawa and Toronto, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Limited, EPCOR Water Services, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, PICA USA Inc., RAL Engineering Ltd., the Region of Durham, the Regional Municipalities of Niagara and Waterloo, Stantec Consulting Ltd., and Zenon Environmental Inc. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Benoit Barbeau at École Polytechnique de Montréal for his support with respect to data collection and field investigation of the Desbaillets WTP ozone contactors.

Notes

ANSYS. CFX 10 User Manual, Ansys Canada, Inc. (2005).