The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Clarkson University will purchase a flume for multiphase flow studies which will be dedicated to support the following studies: (1) simultaneous transport of a simulated frazil ice and sediment in rivers; (2) conveyance characteristics of solid-liquid transport at large solid fractions; (3) water wave and ice fragment interaction; (4) mass transport relationships for nearly buoyant sediments; and (5) the surface transport of contaminants (oil) and their mixing into the water column. The Flume for multiphase flow studies consists of a rectangular channel with a working length of 40' (12.2m) in length having a cross section width and height of 1'-6" (0.457m) by 2' (0.610m) respectively. The flume is designed to simultaneously recirculate water and two separate solid phase. One phase is to be buoyant and the other non buoyant. The flow rate of water and each solid phase can be independently controlled. The bed of the channel can be varied between slopes of 0 and +6 degrees. Specially designed discharge storage facilities will be provided enable studies to be conducted on the surface spreading of immiscible fluids such as oil in water. The results of these studies will have application in the civil infrastructure and industry.
