Water Soluble Polymers as a Means to Increase Flow Capacity: Field Experiment of Drag Reduction by Polymer Additives in an Irrigation Canal

Abstract

A drag reduction method by polymer additives was tested for the first time in a large scale open-channel watercourse. Ten and a half tons of a water soluble polymer were injected during 15 consecutive hours in the upstream section of an irrigation canal in steady state, leading to a 20 ppm concentration of polymer in the water. The evolution of the water depth was measured every 10 min for 18 h along ten sections further downstream, up to a distance of 26.3 km from the injection section. The water depth at all sections remained constant until the arrival of the polymer, at which time it strongly decreased, sometimes with a slight water-depth increase beforehand; the depth then remained constant as long as the polymer injection remained. A maximum water depth reduction of 26 cm (i.e., 17%) was measured at the first cross section (2 km downstream from injection). The water depth reduction decreased to 10% and 3% at 10 and 20 km downstream from the injection, respectively. However, further downstream, at a distance of 26.3 km, the water depth increased by 5%. This paper also discusses the environmental impacts of polymer injection through analysis of samples taken from the water and bed material before and during the experiments.