Brown, Ryan

Ryan has over 10 years of experience in the water, wastewater, and stormwater industry. Much of that time he has focused on hydraulic modeling for...

Joined:

About Brown, Ryan

Ryan has over 10 years of experience in the water, wastewater, and stormwater industry. Much of that time he has focused on hydraulic modeling for design, analysis, and other digital applications of water, wastewater, and stormwater related data systems. Ryan Holds a BS in Biosystems Engineering from Clemson University and an MS in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from NC State University. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of North Carolina.

Brown, Ryan

Titles from this speaker

Am I Missing Something in My Drainage Design?

Abstract

Introduction With the advent of low-impact design (LID) or green infrastructure being coupled with traditional stormwater infrastructure becoming more widespread and desired in land development projects, drainage design has become increasingly complex. LID structures are designed to slow down and infiltrate stormwater in order to better mimic the natural hydrology of a site once it's developed and provide a level of treatment to improve water quality, versus a traditional approach involving a centralized location to simply store and control the release stormwater. There are multiple ways that a system like this could be modeled for design purposes either through the hydrology, a simplified hydraulic method, or a detailed physics based hydraulic method. Like most modeling efforts, there are pros and cons to each. Comparing Methods Many municipalities around the country have particular standards, and its often difficult to introduce new and innovative technology with different workflows. As more research becomes available and as computers have been able to handle more and more processes, the methodologies and standards used by cities are quickly becoming the 'old way of doing things'. In this presentation, we'll take a look at some of the common methods used for drainage design and how they compare (the good and the bad) to a fully dynamic solution with the latest EPASWMM5 engine. We'll also cover comparisons between modeled results using these different methods and how they compare to field monitored flow data. This will provide an in depth look into what aspects you could be missing in both traditional and green infrastructure stormwater design and how a more complete and robust analysis will provide a more accurate result. Intentional Focus Most low impact design structures have different soil layers with different characteristics which can impact how water moves through them. Specifically with regard to how much and how long it takes for water to leave the structure through underdrains, overflows, or through exfiltration. Many of these nuances aren't captured with a simplified modeling approach and their impact on each other is often ignored by modeling these structures in isolation. In this presentation I intend to highlight: -What goes on in the back end of H&H analysis tools -How these different approaches changes the output of the design -How these different methods compare with field monitored flow data Conclusion New technologies can take time for engineers and regulators to accept them regardless of whether they are the better approach. With this common mentality, there could be a lot missing from the designs leading to inefficient designs, over or under-sized structures, and problems down the road. The technology and development behind the EPASWMM5 engine has been decades in the making and with today's computing capabilities, we can and should be using more robust routines to develop green infrastructure and drainage design plans.

This paper was presented at the WEF Stormwater Summit, June 27-29, 2023.

SpeakerBrown, Ryan

Presentation time

14:00:00

14:30:00

Session time

13:30:00

16:45:00

SessionSession 13: Advancements in Modeling

Session number13

Session locationKansas City Convention Center

TopicWatershed-Based/Integrated Planning, Design and Modeling

Author(s)

Brown, Ryan

Author(s)R. Brown1;

Author affiliation(s)Autodesk1;

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Jun 2023

DOI10.2175/193864718825158955

Volume / Issue

Content sourceStormwater

Word count9

Does Mesh Resolution Matter? The Importance in 2D Modeling

Abstract

Often the mesh resolution used in a 2D model comes down to reasonable run times, but what impact does that have on the analysis and ultimately the results? In this presentation we'll take a look at the results of a fully 2D hydraulic model with varying levels of mesh resolution and see how calibration was also impacted. In 2008, Iowa City, IA experienced a catastrophic flood event. Soon after the event, 23 high water marks were collected throughout the city for the purpose of building and calibrating a hydraulic model. Along with as-built plans for the bridges, land use, and DEM, a fully 2D hydraulic model was built and calibrated. Four copies of the model were made in order to build different models with varying levels of detail and ranged from having ~1.5 million cell elements to ~75k cell elements. Results from each model were compared to each other at each of the high water marks to highlight differences and statistical error between each one. Additionally, the four copies were then re-calibrated to try to reduce the amount of difference and error which ultimately resulted unrealistic modeling parameters. As 2D hydraulic modeling becomes more prevalent in the stormwater industry, its important to understand how some of the fundamental and initial decisions when beginning a 2D hydraulic analysis will impact the results. This presentation is designed to highlight why mesh resolution is such an important decision and should be given a higher level of attention beyond just a consideration for run times.

This paper was presented at the WEF Stormwater Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 27-29, 2022.

SpeakerBrown, Ryan

Presentation time

09:00:00

09:30:00

Session time

08:30:00

12:15:00

Session number11

Session locationHyatt Regency Minneapolis

TopicHydraulic Model, Modeling, Stormwater Management Design And Analysis

Author(s)

R. Brown

Author(s)R. Brown1

Author affiliation(s)AutoDesk1;

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Jun 2022

DOI10.2175/193864718825158454

Volume / Issue

Content sourceStormwater Summit

Word count10

Base text size -

Brown, Ryan

About Brown, Ryan

My Recent Activity