Field Calibration of Submerged Sluice Gates in Irrigation Canals
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 6
Abstract
Four rectangular sluice gates were calibrated for submerged-flow conditions using nearly 16,000 field-measured data points on Canal B of the B-XII irrigation scheme in Lebrija, Spain. Water depth and gate opening values were measured using acoustic sensors at each of the gate structures, and the data were recorded on electronic data loggers. Several gate calibration equations were tested and it was found that the rectangular sluice gates can be used for accurate flow measurement. The Energy-Momentum (E-M) equations proved to be sound. The calibration of the contraction coefficient, to be used in the energy equation, allowed good estimations of the discharge for three of the four gates studied. The gate for which the E-M method did not perform satisfactorily was located at the head of the canal with a unique nonsymmetric approach flow condition. Alternatively, we investigated the performance of the conventional discharge equation. The variation of the discharge coefficient, , with the head differential, , and the vertical gate opening, , suggests that be expressed as a function of these two variables. For the sluice gates considered in this study, the best empirical fit was obtained by expressing as a parabolic function of , although an exponential expression tested previously by other writers also produced satisfactory results. The greatest uncertainty in the variables considered in this study was in the calculated coefficient of discharge, and based on the uncertainty analysis, it is possible to quantify the uncertainty in the estimated discharge through a calibrated sluice gate. The discharge uncertainty in each of the four gates in this study decreases with increasing gate opening, and it decreases slightly with increasing head differentials.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the research projects “Control y automatización de canales de riego,” funded by Instituto Andaluz de Reforma Agraria (Junta de Andalucía, Spain), and “Teledetección para la gestión sostenible del riego,” funded by INIA, Ministry of Education and Science, Spain.
References
Chow, V. T. (1959). Open-channel hydraulic, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Clemmens, A. J., Strelkoff, T. S., and Replogle, J. A. (2003). “Calibration of submerged radial gates.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 129(9), 680–687.
Coleman, H. W., and Steele, W. G. (1999). Experimentation and uncertainty analysis for engineers, Wiley, New York.
Dent, P. (2004). “Submerged radial gate calibration using historical data to improve canal automation performance.” Proc., World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, ASCE, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Henderson, F. M. (1966). Open channel flow, Macmillan, New York.
Henry, H. R. (1950). “Discussion: Diffusion of submerged jet.” Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 115, 687–697.
Litrico, X., Belaud, G., Baume, J. -P., and Ribot-Bruno, J. (2005). “Hydraulic modeling of an automatic upstream water-level control gate.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 131(2), 176–189.
Lozano, D., Arranja, C., Rijo, M., and Mateos, L. (2007). “Canal control alternatives in the irrigation district ‘Sector BXII del Bajo Guadalquivir,’ Spain.” Proc., 4th Int. Conf. on Irrigation and Drainage, United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (USCID), Sacramento, Calif.
Lozano, D., and Mateos, L. (2009). “Field evaluation of ultrasonic flowmeters for measuring water discharge in irrigation canals.” Irrig. and Drain., 58, 189–198.
Malaterre, P. O., and Baume, J. -P. (1997). “SIC 3.0, a simulation model for canal automation design.” Proc., Int. Workshop on the Regulation of Irrigation Canals: State of the Art of Research and Applications, RIC97, Marrakech, Morocco.
Merkley, G. P., and Rogers, D. C. (1993). “Description and evaluation of program canal.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 119(4), 714–723.
Montes, J. S. (1997). “Irrotational flow and real fluid effects under planar sluice gates.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 123(3), 219–232.
Skogerboe, G. V., and Merkley, G. P. (1996). Irrigation maintenance and operations learning process, Water Resources, Englewood, Colo.
SonTek. (2003). Argonaut-SW System manual, Firmware version 9.3, Sontek/YSI, San Diego, Calif.
Swamee, P. K. (1992). “Sluice-gate discharge equations.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 118(1), 56–60.
Tillis, G. M., and Swain, E. D. (1998). “Determining discharge-coefficient ratings for selected coastal control structures in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, Florida.” Rep. No. 98-4007, Water Resources Investigations, Tallahassee, Fla.
United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). (1997). Water measurement manual, Water Resources, Englewood, Colo.
Vudhivanich, V., and Roongsri, S. (2001). “Steady state gate operation model for Mun Bon irrigation system.” Fudan J. (Nat. Sci.), 35, 85–92.
Wahl, T. L. (2005). “Refined energy correction for calibration of submerged radial gates.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 131(6), 457–466.
Webby, M. G. (1999). “Discussion: Irrotational flow and real fluid effects under planar sluice gates.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 125(2), 210–212.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 8, 2008
Accepted: Mar 15, 2009
Published online: Mar 18, 2009
Published in print: Dec 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.