An optimised water intake with the presence of submerged vanes in irrigation canals

One of the problems at most water intakes is accumulation of sediment at the entrance and changing of flow talweg path at the water intake. Submerged vanes are small hydraulic structures that are used for flow and sediment control on the bed of rivers. The submerged vanes may be installed individually or in a group with different arrangements. In this study, a group of submerged vanes are installed at the entrance of a rounded edge 55° water intake with parallel and zigzag arrangements. The vanes' installation angles were selected to be 10, 20, 30 and 40° to the flow direction. The sedimentation pattern at the entrance of the water intake and the amount of sediment entering into the lateral channel were measured after experimental tests. From the experimental study, the optimum vane angle for the above-specified water intake was found to be 30°. Also the parallel arrangement was found to be the best arrangement for the submerged vane. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.