Modelagem matemática de sistemas de aeração e oxigenação artificial em lagos e reservatórios

Abstract

Due to the progressive degradation of water bodies in general, alternatives have been studied so as to restore their water quality. Artificial aeration/oxygenation by injecting air/pure oxygen in the water (bubble plumes) can be used for this purpose. Hence, this study presents an integral model to evaluate gas transfer from circular bubble plumes in unstratified environments which is based on a radial Gaussian type distribution of plume properties and functional relationships for the entrainment coefficient and factor of momentum amplification due to turbulence. The impact of gas-liquid mass transfer on bubble plume hydrodynamics is investigated considering different bubble sizes, gas flow rates and water depths. Also simulations were run for aeration and oxygenation systems in order to provide the analysis of these effects. The results revealed a significant impact when fine bubbles are considered, even for moderate water depths. Medium bubbles present overall similar behavior as coarse bubbles. Additionally, model simulations also indicate that for bubble plumes with relatively low gas flow rates and high water depths, both dissolution and turbulence can affect bubble plume hydrodynamics, which demonstrates the importance of taking the momentum amplification factor relationship into account. For deeper water conditions, simulations of bubble dissolution using the present model and classical models available in the literature resulted in a very good agreement for both aeration and oxygenation processes. Finally, case studies involving those processes are presented.