Sluice
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A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wooden or metal plate which slides in grooves in the sides of the channel. Sluice gates are commonly used to control water levels and flow rates in rivers and canals.
Operation
Raising a sluice gate allows water to flow under it. (The term sluice gate refers to any gate that operates by allowing water to flow under it.) When a sluice gate is fully lowered, water sometimes spills over the top, in which case the gate operates as a weir.Usually a mechanism drives the sluice gate up or down. This may be a simple, hand-operated, worm drive or rack and pinion drive, or it may be electrically or hydraulically powered.
The gates of a lock may work in a way similar to the way a sluice gate works, but traditional canal lock gates are hinged to swing like double doors.
Flow calculation
The sluice flow rate formula is:- [Q = AC\sqrt]
- Q is the flow
- A is the area of the sluice
- g is the acceleration due to gravity on the Earth's surface (approx. 9.81 m/s²)
- h is the head across sluice
- C is the discharge coefficient (typically 0.61 for small depth ratios)
Types of sluice gates
- flap sluice gate - a fully automatic type, which is controlled by the pressure head across it. It is a gate hinged at the top. When pressure is from one side, the gate is kept closed. A pressure from the other side opens the sluice when a threshold pressure is surpassed.
- vertical rising sluice gate - a plate sliding in the vertical direction, controlled by machinery.
- radial sluice gate - a structure, where a small part of a cylindrical surface serves as the gate, supported by radial constructions going through the cylinder's radius, continuing through to a counterweight.
- rising sector sluice gate - also a part of a cylindrical surface, which rests at the bottom of the channel and rises by rotating around its centre.
- needle sluice - a sluice formed by a number of thin needles held against a solid frame through water pressure as in a needle dam.
See also
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