Barbara Milici

On the influence of wall roughness in particle-laden flows

The distribution of inertial particles in turbulent flows is highly nonuniform and is governed by the local dynamics of the turbulent structures of the underlying carrier flow field. In wall-bounded flows, wall roughness strongly affects the turbulent flow field, nevertheless its effects on the particle transport in two-phase turbulent flows has been still poorly investigated. The issue is discussed here by addressing direct numerical simulations of a dilute dispersion of heavy particles in a turbulent channel flow, bounded by irregular two-dimensional rough surfaces, in the one-way coupling regime.

Optimization of turbine positioning in water distribution networks. A Sicilian case study

The potential energy of water in Water Distribution Networks (WDNs), is usually dissipated by Pressure Reduction Valves (PRVs), thanks to which water utilities manage the pressure level in selected nodes of the network. The present study explores the use of economic hydraulic machines, pumps as turbines (PATs), to produce energy in a small network with the aim to avoid dissipation in favour of renewable energy production. The proposed study is applied to a WDN located in a town close to Palermo (Sicily), where users often install private tanks, to collect water during the period of water scarcity conditions. As expected, the economic benefit of PATs installation in WDNs is affected by the presence of private tanks, whose presence deeply modifies the network from designed condition. The analysis is carried out by means of a mathematical model, which is able to simulate dynamically water distribution networks with private tanks and PATs. As expected, the advantage of PATs’ installation in terms of renewable...

LES of turbulent channel flow with realistic rough walls

LESs are carried out in turbulent channel flows to investigate on the effects of realistic wall roughness on turbulence structures. To this aim irregular 2D and 3D roughness geometries were reproduced superimposing sinusoidal functions. The two configurations, having the same mean roughness height, give rise to different values of the roughness function in the log region. Thus, not only the mean statistical quantities of the roughness affect turbulence but also the element shape plays a fundamental role. The spatial inhomogeneities of the height of the roughness peaks and cavity regions locally destroy the coherent pattern of the flow and strongly modify the elongated turbulence structures typical characteristic of flat surfaces.

Water losses dynamic modelling in water distribution networks

In the last decades, one of the main concerns of the water system managers have been the minimisation of water losses, that frequently reach values of 30% or even 70% of the volume supplying the water distribution network. The economic and social costs associated with water losses in modern water supply systems are rapidly rising to unacceptably high levels. Furthermore, the problem of the water losses assumes more and more importance mainly when periods of water scarcity occur or when not sufficient water supply takes part in areas with fast growth. In the present analysis, a dynamic model was used for estimating real and apparent losses of a real case study. A specific nodal demand model reflecting the user’s tank installation and a specific apparent losses module were implemented. The results from the dynamic model were compared with the modelling estimation based on a steady-state approach.