Experimental and numerical study of current-induced artificial upwelling

Abstract The aim of the current paper is to investigate hydrodynamic characteristics of the artificial upwelling induced by ocean currents. Experiments were performed in a flume at different density difference heads, horizontal current velocities and upwelling pipe diameters. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was employed on wider range of parameters for further analysis. The performance of the numerical model has been confirmed by the experimental findings. The present results show that the volume flow rate of current-induced artificial upwelling is influenced by geometrical parameters and inclination angle of the pipe, the horizontal current velocity and vertical distribution of water density. In ideal two-layer density stratified water, the critical current velocity to generate upwelling linearly increases with the increase of the density difference, and the maximum rising height for upwelling is inversely proportional to the density difference. Feasibility analysis was taken by using current and density profiles of the East China Sea near Dongji Islands, which provides an useful reference for engineering practice.