Alden has a long history of providing modeling services to municipalities, technology manufacturers, and private companies.
Studies of treatment facilities are conducted to:
- Define flow patterns in treatment tanks, mixing chambers, and pumping systems for treatment facilities
- Identify problems such as short-circuiting, resident time, and extent of mixing (using conservative tracers, Rhodamine WT, and calibrated fluorometers
- Develop and verify remedial devices to achieve the desired operating characteristics
- Control flow patterns in settling and treatment chambers with design changes to achieve a uniform “plug” flow in a minimal distance
- Minimize pre-rotation and vortices at pump intakes using various types of control devices
Studies of combined sewer outfall (CSO) structures are conducted to:
- Minimize floatables and suspended solids entering the receiving body
- Design the structure with a minimal footprint to fit on the available real estate (a combination of physical modeling and CFD often offers the most cost-effective method for designing such structures)
Studies of NPDES II stormwater management technologies are conducted to:
- Meet State testing protocol requirements for laboratory evaluation of stormwater separators
- Assist stormwater technology manufacturers in optimizing their designs
In the wastewater industry, grit and debris accumulation is a common problem. Alden has developed a very successful program for addressing grit deposition using a combination of physical and numerical modeling.
Numerical modeling is used to:
- Improve flow patterns
- Reduce areas of flow separation where grit deposition typically occurs
- Confirm the change in deposition patterns using mass and mass-less particle tracking
Physical models are then used to verify the results of the numerical simulations.
Both the water and wastewater industry use a variety of open-channel flow structures with diversions. Where headloss is critical, CFD or physical modeling is used to predict the headloss through the system.
Most water and wastewater treatment plants rely on pumps at some point in the process to move the water. CFD can be used to determine the approach flow to the wet wells, at which point physical modeling is then used to determine if vortex formation will be a problem.
