Analysis on Buoyancy Inflow Behaviors in Reservoir

Abstract

Dynamics of river inflow into a stratified reservoir is discussed by performing a k-εA turbulence model analysis. Several types of density currents found in a stratified reservoir are numerically reproduced;(1) plunging inflow at the upstream end of a reservoir, (2) surface density current taking place when fluid density of inflow is smaller than the reservoir water, (3) density undercurrents in the case of inflow density being larger than that of the reservoir water, (4) interaction between a thermocline and the inflow water mass, etc. It is confirmed that every types of the flows are successfully reproduced by the k-εA turbulence model. Some of the results are compared with the previous laboratory experiments and satisfactory agreements between the analysis and the experiments are obtained. The authors believe that some turbulence model should be taken into consideration in modelling reservoir hydrodynamics, which would be powerful tool in predicting reservoir water quality.