Modelling and Analysis of Hydrodynamics and Water Quality for Rivers in the Northern Cold Region of China

In this study, the Mudan River, which is the most typical river in the northern cold region of China was selected as the research object; Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) was adopted to construct a new two-dimensional water quality model for the urban sections of the Mudan River, and concent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Main Authors: Gula Tang, Yunqiang Zhu, Guozheng Wu, Jing Li, Zhao-Liang Li, Jiulin Sun
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2016
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13040408
Description
Summary:In this study, the Mudan River, which is the most typical river in the northern cold region of China was selected as the research object; Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) was adopted to construct a new two-dimensional water quality model for the urban sections of the Mudan River, and concentrations of CODCr and NH3N during ice-covered and open-water periods were simulated and analyzed. Results indicated that roughness coefficient and comprehensive pollutant decay rate were significantly different in those periods. To be specific, the roughness coefficient in the ice-covered period was larger than that of the open-water period, while the decay rate within the former period was smaller than that in the latter. In addition, according to the analysis of the simulated results, the main reasons for the decay rate reduction during the ice-covered period are temperature drop, upstream inflow decrease and ice layer cover; among them, ice sheet is the major contributor of roughness increase. These aspects were discussed in more detail in this work. The model could be generalized to hydrodynamic water quality process simulation researches on rivers in other cold regions as well.