Taking wind into account in the design of waste stabilisation ponds

Abstract

Up to now, most investigations on the dependency of the fluid flow patterns and performance of waste stabilisation ponds (WSPs) on wind speed and direction and pond layout have been performed using 2D and 3D CFD steady state isothermal models. 3D non steady state models integrating thermal processes and boundary conditions taking into account the full influence of meteorological factors are likely to provide more realistic predictions of WSP performance. Such modelling was undertaken for 4 pond layouts, 2 without baffles and 2 with baffles. Wind speed and direction were kept constant throughout each simulation while other meteorological forcings were derived from field measurements. Twelve wind directions and 2, 4 and 6 m s−1 wind speeds were considered for each WSP layout. Simulations allowed verifying that the pond performance is dependent on the wind direction and velocity, that baffles may improve WSP performance and that the addition of well-designed baffles has the advantage of reducing its sensitivity to the wind.