Abstract
Using the new gas tracer technique, the stream reaertion coefficient was measured in the field. Ethylene (C2H4) is used as a tracer gas and Rhodamine WT as a dispersion and advection tracer. After the step-type-injection of both tracers, water samples are taken from three recoveries downstream.
The temporal distribution of the tracers are compared and analyzed for the decay rate of the gas tracer. The volatilization rate of ethylene in the flow is estimated by the peak method and the mass method. The mean velocity, the mean depth and the longitudinal dispersion coefficient are also calculated by the results of the dye study.The estimated value of the reaeration coefficient is within a reasonable range and shows good agreement with the predicted values.
The gas tracer technique proves to be very useful for the study of the reaeration coefficient of the shallow streams.
