Experimental study on the effect of bottomless structure in front of a bottom outlet on a sediment flushing cone

One of the main problems in reservoirs is sedimentation which reduces the operating life of dams if a proper plan and analysis method are not in place.The techniques to manage sediment in reservoirs include several sustainable management techniques that route sediment through or around the reservoir.One of the main economical methods in arid and semi-arid regions is pressurized flushing using moderate drawdown of the water level of the reservoir to evacuate sediment deposited behind dams.In the current study,the effect of a new structure called a dendritic bottomless extended(DBE)outlet structure at three angles of 30°,45°,and 60°
on pressurized flushing efficiency was investigated.Consequently,45 experiments were designed for three discharge rates (Qo),three sediment levels(Hs),four types of structure,and a no-structure condition(reference test).The results indicated that the DBE structure with a 30°angle between the branches,a sedimentary dimensionless index of Hs/Do=4.59,and a flow dimensionless index of Qo=/√gD05=1:43(where g is the acceleration of gravity and Do is the diameter of the bottom outlet)lead to 10-fold increase in the sediment flushing cone dimensions and sediment removal efficiency compared to the results of the reference test.Finally,according to a statistical analysis of the results,a dimensionless equation for calculating the sediment flushing cone dimensions was developed for the tested sediment characteristics.     

Physical and coupled fully three-dimensional numerical modeling of pressurized bottom outlet flushing processes in reservoirs

Sediment deposition in reservoirs is an important research topic in engineering practice. Reservoir sedimentation has the potential to affect ood levels, drainage for agricultural land, pump station and hydropower operation as well as navigation. This paper describes the development of a coupled fully three-dimensional (3D) numerical model for the prediction of the local sediment ushing scour upstream of the bottom outlet. The presented numerical model solves the Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with the k- turbulence model which includes both sediment transport and hydrodynamic parameters. The proposed coupled fully 3D numerical model is used to simulate experimental tests based on non-cohesive sediment. The geometric features of the scour hole (temporal and spatial hole devel- opment) upstream of the bottom outlet were reasonably well predicted compared to the experimental data. Furthermore, the velocity eld upstream of the bottom outlet was in good agreement with mea- surements. The proposed numerical model for bottom outlet ushing was, therefore, validated because of its ability to accurately predict the scour hole development during the ushing process. The proposed numerical model can be considered reliable provided that the model is correctly calibrated and set up to re ect the conditions of a particular case study.