Abstract
We study how the complex interplay between channel roughness, inertia, and diffusion controls tracer transport in rough channel flows. We first simulate flow and tracer transport over wide ranges of channel roughness, Reynolds number (Re), and Péclet number (Pe) observable in nature. Pe exerts a first-order control on first-passage time distributions, and the effect of roughness on the tracer transport becomes evident as Re increases. The interplay between the roughness and Re causes recirculating flows, which intensify or suppress anomalous transport depending on Pe. At infinite Pe, the late-time scaling follows a universal power-law scaling, which is explained by conducting a scaling analysis. With extensive numerical simulations and stochastic modeling, we show that the roughness, inertia, and diffusion effects are encoded in Lagrangian velocity statistics represented by velocity distribution and velocity correlation. We successfully reproduce anomalous transport using an upscaled stochastic model that honors the key Lagrangian velocity statistics.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 014502 |
| Journal | Physical Review Fluids |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through the Subsurface Environment Management (SEM) Project (Grant No. 2020002440002). P.K.K. also acknowledges the College of Science & Engineering at the University of Minnesota and the George and Orpha Gibson Endowment for its generous support of Hydrogeology. We thank the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (MSI) at the University of Minnesota for computational resources and support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Physical Society.