Resumen de Reducción de la caída de presión en un filtro de medio granular mediante un nuevo diseño de su drenaje

J. Bové, Gerard Arbat Pujolràs, T. Pujol, M. Durán Ros, Francisco J. Barragán de la Rosa, Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena Bisbe, J. Puig Bargués

• Granular matrix filters commonly used in micro irrigation systems produce a large pressure drop, which also increases both energy consumption and cost. In previous works it has been observed that the main pressure drop is caused by the underdrain elements, which are located at the filter bottom. In order to minimize the head loss, in this paper computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been used to analyze the performance of a newly designed filter underdrain. In the new proposed configuration, the granular medium surrounding the filter underdrain has been replaced by another medium with higher hydraulic conductivity but which does not modify the structure of the rest of the original granular medium. At the same time, the passage between the compartment of the filter medium and the outlet manifold has been widened. The results of the simulations carried out with this new underdrain design working with tap water show that the pressure drop across the filter is reduced by 45% compared to a conventional commercial design, under the same boundary conditions.