Experimental investigation of the effect of curvature submerge vane with 60 degree radial section on the efficiency of vortex settling basin

One of the sediment controlling methods in the hydraulics structures is application of the vortex settling basin. Such basins represent the higher speed in sediment separation in comparison with other usual settling structures. One of the problems of such settling structure is the settlement of a portion of the sediments on the basin floor as a result of disruption on the structure operation caused by remaining loads. Therefore, the curvature submerged vane was introduced by this research in order to solve the problem. Several curvature vanes patterns was applied in an experimental model of the vortex settling basin to investigate the efficiency and sediment removal from the basin floor. Experiments were carried out in a basin with diameter of 96 cm and a height of 206 cm. In this model, curvature submerge vanes were used for modification and their different arrangement in 60 degree diameter section for increasing in vortexes power. Experiments were continued by 45 and 37 Ls-1 water discharge, flushing orifice diameters of 36, 46 and 59 mm and six different arrangement of vane (R2, R3, R4, R23, R34, R234). Results showed that application of submerged vane on the vortex basin floor with suitable arrangement resulted in sediment removal from basin floor and in replacement of sediments toward the orifice. Present research showed that the best efficiency was obtained from R3, R4 and R34 arrangements which were located in the farther distance from orifice. Furthermore, results showed that variation in water discharge and orifice diameter is an effective factor in the efficiency of curvature submerged vane. In the most optimum case of curvature submerged vane arrangement, 25.56 percent of the sediment was removed from the floor of vortex settling basin.