Three-Dimensional Computation Design of a Novel Sediment Sampler

Abstract

This paper presents the three-dimensional computation design of a novel hydrocyclone using for in-situ sampling large quantities of suspended sediments. Fluid medium was simulated as the water flow through the Three Gorges Reservoir in the Yangtze River, China and particle flow described by the stochastic Lagrangian model. Both the particle tracking and flow field in the sediment sampler were analyzed to evaluate its performance efficiency. The results of three-dimension numerical modeling have shown that the newly designed sediment sampler can effectively separate micron-sized particles (63µm) from the water and realize separation efficiency of 85% or greater, which have been also proved by the laboratory simulation experiments. Furthermore, results reveal that the model is validated by the good agreement between the measured and predicted results. This paper suggested that the newly designed sediment sampler could be a desirable and low-costing alternative to a centrifuge or filtering separation system.