ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Diagenesis
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements in Carbonate Geology: Depositional settings, Sedimentology, Chemostratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization, and Environmental SustainabilityView all 11 articles
Optimization of flow division piers distribution for sedimentation tank in the Oujiang Water Diversion Project
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wenzhou Water Conservancy Survey and Design Institute Co., Ltd., Wenzhou, China
- 2Jiaxing Hang-Jia-Hu South Drainage Project Management Service Center, Jiaxing, China
- 3Wenzhou Oujiang Water Diversion Development Co., Ltd., Wenzhou, China
- 4Wenzhou Polytechnic, Wenzhou, China
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The design of sedimentation tank is of key importance in a water diversion project. Both physical and numerical models are conducted to study the hydrodynamics and sediment transport in the sedimentation tank of the Oujiang Water Diversion Project. The water inlet central axis inclines greatly against the sedimentation tank central axis. The physical model adheres to the principle of gravitational similarity, with a geometric scale of 1:20. Four rows of division piers are designed and optimized to effectively separate the flow, ensure efficient sedimentation and prevent sediment re-suspension. The numerical model simulates graded sediments of four fractions. The simulations are carried out under designed low, standard, and high water levels. The numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. The main flow is focused on the left bank of the tank due to the large angle between the inlet gate and the tank axis. Consequently, a large-scale backflow region predominantly forms on the right bank. After the optimization of flow division piers at the tank inlet, the main flow velocity significantly decreases, becoming smoother and more uniform, with no reversal flow areas present. As a result, the sediment concentration distribution becomes more uniform, and the sedimentation rate increases notably.
Keywords: Division pier, Flow optimization, Physical model, sedimentation rate, numerical study, Water division project
Received: 15 Aug 2025; Accepted: 05 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zhang, Wu, Tian, Zheng, Zhao and Qiu. 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: Xianghua Wu, wenzhou05770577@sina.com
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