Transport & logistiek·tudelft.nl·22 jul 2025

Floating particle transport on turbulent flows

The transport of floaters in free surface flows is of particular interest in many environmental applications and especially pollutant dispersion (microplastics, miscellaneous marine debris, oil spills), while it also has important oceanographic/biological implications (phytoplankton clustering, interfacial transport). Research in this area has been very limited, especially with respect to turbulence effects. In this project the goal is to experimentally measure floating particle motion in conjunction with liquid flow velocities on free surfaces deformed due to subsurface turbulence. Analysis of turbulent structures and their effect on particle clustering behaviour will follow. A new facility will be designed and built, employing an random actuated synthetic jet array for turbulence production, and laser/LED based imaging techniques will be used for the measurements of both phases.