Mathematical modelling and simulation of pollutant transport in meandering river

Abstract

The study of pollutant transport has important implications to solve water quality issues which is occurring in most region worldwide. It has been the key focus of river engineering for decades; however, due to the form of the river itself, it remains a challenge for researchers to produce mathematical models that may accurately reflect the advection and diffusion phenomena occurring in the meandering channels. The current study put forward a two-dimensional mathematical model to investigate the distribution of pollutants experiencing the physical process of advection-diffusion process in curved channels. The governing equation is discretized by using explicit finite difference schemes for numerical solutions. Computational results based on MATLAB software revealed that once discharged either continuously or instantaneously, the pollutant is distributed to fulfil the domain. The pollutant also travelled at a much faster rate with the combination of both advection and diffusion process in contrast to when the process is considered independently. Pollutants that are commonly found in river such as ammonium nitrate and crude oil travelled at an extremely lower rates, suggesting that they will remain at the same location for much longer time. The overall results suggested that the proposed mathematical model and numerical solutions are suitable to solve for problems relating to rivers in Malaysia.