A physical model of reservoir sediment bypassing

Abstract

On average, one percent of reservoir storage capacity is lost annually to sediment deposition in reservoirs. Several methods for sediment removal do exist, but most are inefficient and costly in terms of money or water usage. One method known as siphoning has been shown to adequately remove sediment, but present knowledge is lacking to optimize this method for removal. Three relationships for sediment transport in a pipe were compared against data collected from a physical model resembling a reservoir siphoning system. None of the three accurately predicted the physical model results. However, some trends among the relationships were observed, indicating that with additional modification to the relationships, parameters could possibly be developed to design a prototype system.