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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Hydrosphere
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1427707

Investigating the Dynamics of Water and Sediment Disruption Due to Impeller Action in Silt-Rich Reservoir Zones of Inland Waterways in China

Provisionally accepted
Hao Wang Hao Wang 1Yu Wang Yu Wang 1*Kaiqing Liu Kaiqing Liu 2Tianfeng Luo Tianfeng Luo 3Jinping Li Jinping Li 1Miao Tian Miao Tian 1Zhehui Wang Zhehui Wang 1Xiaolong Zhang Xiaolong Zhang 1
  • 1 College of Energy and Power Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
  • 2 Water Resources Utilization Center of the Taolai River Basin in Gansu Province, Jiuquan 73500, Gansu Province, China, Jiuquan, China
  • 3 Gansu Provincial Department of Water Resources Fee Center, Lanzhou 730050, China, Lanzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    To investigate the characteristics of sediment disturbance caused by impeller rotation in the reservoirs of inland rivers with high sediment content in China, a scaled experimental model was established in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, following the principle of similarity. This model reflects typical environmental conditions of inland water reservoirs in Northwest China. This study integrated numerical simulations performed using Ansys Fluent software and corroborated the findings through hydraulic experiments. Speculation suggests this method facilitates comparing the effects of impeller submersion depth, inflow velocity, and rotational speed on sediment-laden flow disturbance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the κ-ε Realizable model were adopted in the numerical simulation of the solid-liquid mixing process. These simulations were subsequently verified against the experimental model. The results indicated that impeller velocity gradually increased from 2 rad/s to 8 rad/s when immersed in the center of the flow field at a depth of 1000 mm, resulting in a higher rate of bottom sediment suspension.Additionally, the rate of suspended sediment discharge from the model outlet increased with the inflow velocity increasing from 0.1 m/s to 0.8 m/s. Furthermore, decreasing the impeller's submersion depth from 600 mm to 1200 mm reduces the maximum disturbance radius affecting the bottom sediment. The reliability of the simulation was confirmed by juxtaposing the software simulation results with experimental data. This study provides insights into the disturbance mechanisms of sediment-laden flows in the reservoir areas of inland rivers in China and lays the foundation for comprehensive sediment discharge explorations in these environments.

    Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, Impeller rotation, Sediment-laden flow, Solid-liquid mixing, Sediment discharge in reservoir areas

    Received: 08 May 2024; Accepted: 26 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Wang, Liu, Luo, Li, Tian, Wang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yu Wang, College of Energy and Power Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050, Gansu Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.