Desarenadores fluídicos de tubo de vórtice: un estudio experimental

A vortex tube sediment extractor is a device to extract sand and silt from rivers and irrigation channels. A vortex tube consists of a pipe, closed at one end, with a longitudinal slot along the top. The pipe is buried in the canal bed so that the slot is aligned with the surface of the bed. As water and sediment pass over the tube, a forced vortex is set up within it. Water and sediment are extracted from the canal and discharged off the channel. The performance of the device is evaluated through the trapping efficiency, which is defined as the relation between the extracted sediment and the total solid discharge that is transported by the river, and the extraction ratio, defined by the ratio between the flow that is extracted by the vortex tube and the total discharge of the river. The results of an experimental study carried out in the "Enzo Levi" laboratory at the Mexican Institute of Water Technology are presented in this paper. Results show that trapping efficiencies of around 94.4% can be achieved and that the extraction ratio is not greater that 10% in all the analyzed cases.