1.

Gravel Trap cum-settling basin

Rivers carry substantial amount of sediment in the form of gravel, sand or finer particles
depending on the river characteristics, geology of the catchment area and the discharge. Steeper
rivers such as those that originate from the Himalayas carry cobbles and even move boulders
during annual floods. Large particles can block the headrace and reduce its capacity. Suspended
load, especially sharp-edged fine sand transported by rapid mountains streams causes rapid wear
of the penstock and the steel parts- primarily the runner vanes- of the turbines, exposed to water.
Water flowing at high velocity and carrying heavy sediment burden also attacks the linings of
power canals and power tunnels. The rate of wear of turbine parts due to sediment abrasion is
governed by the following factors: Concentration of suspended particles, Hardness of particles,
Size of particles, Resistance of turbine runner, Turbine head. It is necessary to exclude all the
sediment at the settling basin as far as possible. However, in many cases this is impossible,
therefore, sediment concentration within acceptable limits are permissible. The function of the
settling basin is to settle suspended particles present in the diverted river flow. The deposited
sediments in the settling basin or de-silting basin is flushed, using flushing gate, safely to the
river itself.

2. Principle of Settling Basin

Suspended sediment that is not settled in the gravel trap is trapped in the settling basin. The basic
principle of settling is that the greater the basin surface area and lower the velocity, the smaller
the particles that can settle. The settling basin is designed with enough length and width for high
efficiency and reduced effect of turbulence in the basin. Settling basin is designed for enough
storage capacity to store settled particles for some time unless it is designed for continuous
flushing.

3. Design

Hydraulic design of settling basin is broadly outlined in the following:

3.1 Exploration of sediment conditions

Involve quantitative and qualitative analysis of sediment carried by the river.

The suspended sediment is generally of mixed gradation, i.e of different particle size, including
colloidal grains (smaller than 0.002 mm) up to grains of the sand fraction.

Sediment concentration in mountain streams or in steep river sections varies from 2 to 10 kg/m3.
At times of high flood sediment concentration is up to 50 and 60 kg/m3. Average sediment
concentration in low-land rivers is generally between 0.1 and 1.0 kg/m3increasing at times of
flood to 5 to 10 kg/m3.
 3.2 Necessary degree of load removal

Operating requirements of power plants determine the necessary degree of load removal.

Approximation of operating requirements are made by specifying the diameter of the smallest
particles to be settled out (limit particle size). At medium head plants the removal of particles
larger than 0.2 to 0.5 mm is usually specified. According to Sokolov, sharp-edged quartzite
sediment with a particle size as small as 0.25 mm may seriously damage the turbines. In high
head plants particle sized 0.1 to 0.2 mm and even smaller might be objectionable. Instead of
using the limit particle size, the degree of removal is frequently defined by the removal ratio.

Removal ratio = Concentration after settling/ Concentration before settling, expressed in percent

= 100 x Concentration after settling/ Concentration before settling

R= 100 Cp/C (percent)

The concentration of suspended load is measured in sediment weight per unit volume (eg.
Kg/m3)

R/100 = Cp/C = P/100

Cp = P C/100 kg/m3

C – Cp = C – P C/100 = (100 C – P C)/100

C – Cp = (100 – P) C /100 [kg/m3]

3.3 Settling velocity

Depth= h, Width = b, Discharge passing through the basin = Q, Flow through velocity = v,
Settling velocity = ω, Settling time = t

Q = bhv [m3/sec] (1)

t= h/ω [sec] (2)

Finally, the length of the basin will be governed by the consideration saying that water particles
entering the basin and sediment particles conveyed by them with equal horizontal velocity
should only reach the end of the basin after a period longer than the settling time. Thus even the
smallest settling particles may strike the bottom of the basin within the settling zone. In order
words, the retention period should not be shorter than settling time. The required length of the
basin is thus

l =v t [m] (3)
Eliminating t from the last two equations, two relations will be established between the six
values governing the hydraulic design.

Q= bhv (4)

l ω= hv (5)

Solution is not possible until four of six quantities are known. Discharge Q is always considered
as given; the settling velocity is defined by the initially specified degree of removal. The highest
permissible flow through velocity should also be specified in order to prevent particles once
settled from being picked up again. The actual flow velocity should not exceed this limit,
whereas excessive dimensions computed by substantially lower velocities would again result in
uneconomical design. Velocities higher than the permissible tend to scour the materials settling
to the bottom, which may even become suspended again. This limit velocity may in fact be
considered equal to the velocity encountered in the theory of sediment transport.

Critical velocity, v= a√d [cm/sec]

Where d is the diameter of particles in mm and the constant:

a = 36, for d>1 mm

a = 44, for 1 mm> d >0.1 mm

a = 51, for 0.1 mm> d

Thus according to the foregoing considerations, the fourth value that can be assumed in advance
is one of the main dimensions of the basin. In view of the fact that long and/or wide bsins can in
general be constructed at lower costs than deep ones, the minimum practical depth should be
adopted for the design. The depth of horizontal-flow settling basins employed in water projects is
generally between 1.5 and 4.0 m with velocities not high than from 0.4 to 0.6 m/sec. The
remaining two main dimensions of the basin can hereafter be computed by equations 4 and 5.
The width is calculated by the first (4) and the length by the second (5) equation.

It should be noted that elimination of v from equation (1) yields

Qt = hbl = V [m3]

Owing to the retarding effect of turbulent flow on subsiding particles, settling is slower in
flowing water. A more accurate investigation of the basin is, therefore impossible, unless the
retarding effect of turbulence is taken into consideration. By using a lower settling velocity

ω – ω′

The reduction in settling velocity ω′ to be closely related to the flow – through velocity
ω′ =α v [m/sec]
0.132
α= where h is the water depth in m.
√h

hv h3/2 v
The settling length, l =ω−αv = h1/2 ω−0.132 v [m]

The condition that may influence the settling velocity are the quantity of sediment (specific
weight and shape of particles), density of water carrying sediment and water temperature.

The necessary settling length for turbulent flow is computed from the settling velocity in
stagnant water, ω and from the flow-through velocity. The settling length
2
λ2 v2 (√h− 0.2)
l= [m]
7.51ω2

Where, 𝝀 depends on the removal ratio defined previously. Values of 𝝀 defined by the function

𝝀 = f(W)

W denotes the ratio of settled sediment to the total load entering with the flow and can be
computed from the afore-mentioned removal ratio as follows:

W= 100 – 100 Cp/C