Morphological changes of Cairo West power plant intake while using submerged vanes

Abstract

Lateral intake structures suffer from sediment deposition and instability of flow path which may have a negative influence on the efficiency of power plants that use river intakes as a primary source for their cooling system. This study aims to experiment the usage of submerged vanes as a mitigation method and determine their effectiveness in decreasing sediment deposition. A numerical model was constructed using DELFT3D of a reach that is located in the Nile River including the intake structure. Several scenarios were tested to optimise several parameters such as the usage of one or two rows of vanes and the distance of the vanes from the lateral intake. The results generated from the model showed that using two rows of vanes provided a 30% reduction of erosion in front of the intake compared to the base case and a 33% reduction in the volume of sediment entering the intake. Moreover, a 36% reduction of sediment volume was observed compared to the base case when the vanes were placed at a distance that is equivalent to 0.3 the intake’s opening. The output of the model showed that it is more optimal to use two rows of submerged vanes at a distance that is equivalent to 0.3 the intake’s opening.