Estimation of Sediment Trap Efficiency in Reservoirs - an Experimental Study

Abstract

Reservoir sedimentation has been a severe problem for most of the countries around the world. Reservoir sedimentation leads to the reduction of the original capacity which affects irrigation, hydropower, flood control, drinking water supply and recreational activities. As limited number of studies have been reported in this field and also whatever the available studies cover only few parameters which govern the trap efficiency of reservoirs. As a result, available formulations on trap efficiency are not very well defined. Brune [1953] curve is the most widely used method for estimating trap efficiency in reservoirs at present, but one of the limitations of this method is the use of only two parameters such as, reservoir capacity and inflow to estimate the trap efficiency. In order to investigate the factors affecting the trap efficiency, a small- scaled laboratory model was set-up. Several experiments were carried out by varying inflow rate, inflow sediment concentration, reservoir capacity and spillway length. The experimental data were analysed using dimensional analysis to develop an improved relationship to quantify reservoir sedimentation. Keywords: