Dispersion of solutes in sinuous open channel flows.

The research undertaken for this Ph.D. thesis concerns the dispersion of solutes in sinuous open channel
flows. The aim of the work is to address the void in knowledge and understanding of mixing and transport
processes in natural watercourses. The influences of plan form curvature and non-uniform cross sectional
shape on transverse and longitudinal mixing are specifically addressed.
Experimental work was undertaken on the Flood Channel Facility at HR Wallingford Ltd. This involved
creating a pseudo natural sand channel within the concrete meander plan form of the facility, and then
stabilising the form. Tracer studies using instantaneous injection to investigate longitudinal mixing and
continuous point source release to study transverse mixing were performed. Fluorescent tracer was used.
Measurement was by six Turner Design Field Fluorometers in pump through mode and these were
digitally logged. Detailed hydrodynamic measurements were made using a two-dimensional Laser
Doppler Anemometer (LDA) fitted with a 14mm fibre-flow probe.
The resulting data has undergone robust analysis and detailed interpretation. The conclusions are that the
dominant processes in mixing, in the natural channel form studied, are shear effects. Simple equations for
the prediction of flow fields have been investigated and validated against LDA measurements. It has been
possible to make accurate predictions of the transverse and longitudinal mixing coefficients from the
predicted flow fields. These predictions have been shown valid for the variations in mixing coefficients
over the meander cycle and with discharge.