A model of flow and nutrient absorption in artificial wetland systems (Q1903239)

An analysis is presented of nutrient absorption controlled by a simple growth law in an artificial wetland system. The distribution of transit times for fluid particles to pass through the wetland is described by a function determined from experimental dye data, and the model includes a constant diffusion term, which is important at slow flow rates. The nutrient absorption efficiency is determined as a function of the flow rate and size of the system. Conditions for maximum absorption are derived from the model for a fixed rate of nutrient input to the wetland using an assumption of nonoverlapping paths.