Marine pollution is a major global environmental problem. The transport and dispersion of marine pollution is driven by a wide range of hydrodynamic processes, including wave-induced currents (e.g., Stokes drift) that are generated by free-surface and internal gravity waves in density-stratified fluids. While the (Lagrangian-mean) Stokes drift is known to fundamentally change transport patterns, wave-induced Eulerian-mean currents, such as those generated in the presence of the Coriolis force due to the Earth's rotation, are generally less well understood. To address this, the Delta Transport Processes Laboratory (DTP-Lab), a multi-purpose lab with novel facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, is being constructed in the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory at TU Delft. The DTP-Lab combines multiple components: a 4.40-m diameter turntable, which can support a (removable) 5-m long flume; a 12.7-m long stainless steel flume; a piston-type, wet-back, force-controlled surface wave generator; a pumping system to create any type of density stratification; and a 3D Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) system. The design and construction of these components along with technical validation and performance tests are presented in this technical note. A scaling analysis demonstrates the suitability of the laboratory to investigate wave-induced current under rotation. The DTP-Lab will pioneer the combined experimental study of surface waves, density stratification and Coriolis forces. The DTP-Lab is presented here with the objective of giving practical information to future users and to describe its novelty and range of applications. ... Read more

The presence of marine pollutants such as marine plastics has increased significantly over the last decades and poses a major environmental problem, in both the coastal and offshore area. Marine pollutants are transported, mixed and diffused in the ocean, which means the understanding and modelling of marine transport is key for mitigation purposes (Moulton et al., 2022). Additional to large scale and planetary currents that play a major role in marine transport, free surface waves, internal gravity waves in density stratified fluids and the Coriolis force due to the rotation of the Earth are also fundamental drivers of transport that need to be accounted for. The fundamental fluid mechanics processes associated with these are often not resolved in large-scale models, but are instead included in a parametrised form. However, some fundamental processes associated with wave-induced currents (e.g., Stokes drift) in rotating, density-stratified fluids with a free surface remain unclear and untested. In addition, parametrisation for different environments, forcings and time scales must be developed and tested before being implemented into models for them to reliably predict transport, accumulation and storage of marine pollutants. For this purpose, the Delta Transport Processes Laboratory (DTPLab) is being developed at TUDelft Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory. This laboratory pioneers the combined experimental study of surface waves, density stratification and Coriolis forces in a single laboratory. The DTPLab was designed with a multi- users and purposes vision, with interchangeable facilities and state-of-the-art measurement devices. This paper presents the DTPLab facilities (under construction) and equipment that make this laboratory unique in the world, and describes, as an example of what is feasible, a novel experiment that will be performed in this lab.</jats:p> ... Read more