Real-time measurements of suspended sediment concentration and particle size using five techniques

Fine sediments are important in the design and operation of hydropower plants (HPPs), in particular with respect to sediment management and hydro-abrasive erosion in hydraulic machines. Therefore, there is a need for reliable real-time measurements of suspended sediment mass concentration (SSC) and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2016-11, Vol.49 (12), p.122006
Main Authors: Felix, D, Albayrak, I, Abgottspon, A, Boes, R M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abrasive erosion
Acoustics
Dilution
Gravimetric analysis
Hydroelectric plants
Hydroelectric power
Measuring instruments
Measuring techniques
Particle size
Particle size distribution
Pressure
Pressure sensors
Real time
Sampling instruments
Sediment concentration
Sediments
Sensors
Size distribution
Soil management
Suspended sediments
Time measurement
Transducers
Turbidimeters
Water analysis
Water sampling
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Summary:Fine sediments are important in the design and operation of hydropower plants (HPPs), in particular with respect to sediment management and hydro-abrasive erosion in hydraulic machines. Therefore, there is a need for reliable real-time measurements of suspended sediment mass concentration (SSC) and particle size distribution (PSD). The following instruments for SSC measurements were investigated in a field study during several years at the HPP Fieschertal in the Swiss Alps: (1) turbidimeters, (2) a Laser In-Situ Scattering and Trans- missometry instrument (LISST), (3) a Coriolis Flow and Density Meter (CFDM), (4) acoustic transducers, and (5) pressure sensors. LISST provided PSDs in addition to concentrations. Reference SSCs were obtained by gravimetrical analysis of automatically taken water samples. In contrast to widely used turbidimeters and the single-frequency acoustic method, SSCs obtained from LISST, the CFDM or the pressure sensors were less or not affected by particle size variations. The CFDM and the pressure sensors allowed measuring higher SSC than the optical or the acoustic techniques (without dilution). The CFDM and the pressure sensors were found to be suitable to measure SSC ≥ 2 g/l. In this paper, the measuring techniques, instruments, setup, methods for data treatment, and selected results are presented and discussed.
ISSN:1755-1307
1755-1315
DOI:10.1088/1755-1315/49/12/122006