Abstract—This study develops a numerical model for investigating the hydraulic characteristics of a retention pond with porous baffles. The numerical model is developed using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) with k-εturbulence closure model. The model is successfully validated using physical modelling measurements. The proposed model is used to investigate the key mechanisms that govern and influence the hydraulic efficiency of retention ponds with porous baffles. Three configurations with varying numbers and locations of baffles are simulated. The numerical results are analyzed by comparison of velocity fields, tracer transport patterns, and associated residence time distributions (RTDs) across all the simulation scenarios. It was found that the porous baffles effectively improve hydraulic performance by creating uniform flow distribution and dissipating the flow energy, thereby avoiding dead zones and mitigating short-circuiting. Results show that the location of the first baffle plays a critical role in the flow momentum dissipation. Carefully considerations are required to determine the optimal number and positions of baffles in a specific system. The numerical RTDs are in good agreement with the physical modelling data, confirming the positive contribution of porous baffles to the overall hydraulic performance of the pond by extending the average tracer residence time.

Index Terms—Hydraulics, numerical simulation, porous baffle, retention pond.

Mingqi Guo, Jonathan Pearson, and Soroush Abolfathi are with the School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (e-mail: Mingqi.Guo@warwick.ac.uk, J.M.Pearson@warwick.ac.uk, Soroush.Abolfathi@warwick.ac.uk).
Danial Goodarzi is with the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5, Canada (e-mail: dani.goodarzi@gmail.com).
Sina Borzooei is with the Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium (e-mail: Sina.borzooei@ugent.be).

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Cite: Mingqi Guo, Danial Goodarzi, Sina Borzooei, Jonathan Pearson, and Soroush Abolfathi, "The Effects of Porous Baffles on the Hydraulic Performance of Sediment Retention Ponds — A Numerical Modelling Study," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 239-245, 2022.

Copyright © 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).