Control of sediment inflow into a trapezoidal intake canal using submerged vanes

Intake canals are used to withdraw water from rivers for various purposes. Sedimentation in the intake canal reduces the quality and quantity of water being delivered. In this study, experiments were conducted to control sediment entry into an intake channel using submerged vanes in a physical model with a rectangular mobile-bed main channel and a trapezoidal rigid-bed intake channel diverting at an angle of 45°. The variables in the study included vane angle, number of vane rows, and vane spacing in terms of mean flow depth in the main channel. In addition to the commonly used vane array with uniform vane heights, three other vane-height configurations were also tested. The least local scour around vanes and highest sediment reduction (~70%) were observed for vanes oriented at a 15° vane angle with an increasing vane-height configuration placed in two rows. It was also observed that control of sediment entry into the intake canal increased with an increase of both vane spacing and number of vane rows.