title: Experimental analysis and modeling of a stormwater perlite filter.
abstract: This paper presents the study of a mixed porous media composed of expanded perlite and a nonwoven needle-punched geotextile used to reduce the suspended solids load and concentration in urban runoff. Laboratory procedures were designed to quantify the suspended solids removal efficiency and variation in time of filtration rate. Different grain-size distributions of expanded perlite, diverse suspended solids concentrations, and different hydraulic and geometric conditions were tested to determine the most effective filter media. A dimensionless parameter, termed Global Performance Index (GPI), was developed to reach this objective. Measured data were also used to build a dimensional and a regression model to represent the performance of the filter media mathematically. The theory, derivation, and performance of both models are presented and compared with an existent empirical model. The dimensional model better reproduces the observations, becoming a useful tool for the design, operation, and evaluation of commercial porous media filters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA. jorge.gironas@colostate.edu
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gironás
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Adriasola
authors.forename: Bonifacio
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fernández
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D014867:Water; D014887:Weather
chemical_list: D014867:Water; C003076:Perlite; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D000537:Aluminum Oxide