A model for non-uniform sediment transport induced by flushing in sewer channels

Abstract

A novel unsteady flow numerical model for the simulation of the transport of non-uniform non-cohesive sediment mixtures (SM) during flushing operation in sewers is presented in this paper. The model was applied to the case of a flush experimental test that was recently carried out in a combined sewer channel of the sewer system of Paris city that exhibits depositional problems due to relatively coarse sediments. The model output was compared to the results of the field experiments as well as to those obtained with a model for the transport of uniform sediments (US). The model for SM provided a reliable interpretation of the selective transport of the sediments deposited in the channel bed as induced by the flush. The comparison showed the model for SM to provide an enhanced description of the erosional effects of the flush on the deposits, including improved evaluation of the volume of sediments flushed out of the experimental channel in the field.