Winning at Sustainability

  • Sponsor: Metropolitan Sewerage District of Madison, Wisconsin
  • IIHR Involvement: Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers hired IIHR to create a CFD model of the existing pump station, which was being retrofitted and reconfigured to handle larger flows. The station has been set in a local green space, Marshall Park, since 1974.

Goals:

  • Adapt Pumping Station 15 to handle a new sewage load
  • Increase the sustainability of the pump long-term
Madison sewer pumps pictured in the treatment facility

Setting up for CFD Modeling

  • IIHR began work on the project with a trip to Madison for video of the pumps in action
  • Researchers analyzed the layout of the pumps
  • They compared the videos taken at the pumps to the CFD model back at the lab
  • They then preformed unsteady simulations to determine the changing flow conditions in the sump (sewage pit)

Computational Model

  • IIHR researchers created CFD models to determine whether or not the old sump could handle the volume of waste the new pumps would bring in
  • Through computational models, IIHR researchers were able to determine that Pump Station 15 would not exceed the volume of the sump and thus did not need to expand to accommodate extra sewage brought in by the new pumps
a CFD mesh image created by IIHR researchers of a spillway leading into waters