Physical and Numerical Modeling – None, One, or Both? The System Conveyance and Operations Program (SCOP) Boulder Islands Outfall (BIO) Project

The Issue - New methods of calculating and predicting project performance become necessary when projects are undertaken that have no historical precedent.The Project - The Clean Water Coalition's Systems Conveyance and Operations Program (SCOP) in Clark County, Nevada will convey highly treated wastewater effluent from the Las Vegas Valley to a large submerged outfall system discharging into Lake Mead. The performance requirements to meet diffusion and aesthetic criteria will require removal of entrained air from the effluent.The Solution - Very little information exists about air removal in identical situations. Both numerical and physical modeling were undertaken to predict system performance and guide the design of the system. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling and the construction of physical models ranging in scale from 1:8 to 1:2.5 were tested. Modeling results were used to establish and refine design criteria, providing a high confidence in meeting system performance requirements.