ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the design of intakes to produce controlled swirling flows. Certain characteristics of swirling flows in conduits make vortex-flow intakes appropriate for dropshafts. Intake configuration controls both the flow depth in the approach channel and the dropshaft diameter required to pass the design flow with a minimum permissible air-core area. The scroll configuration is possibly the most widely used vortex-flow intake, although it is likely that it too will be superseded by the simpler and more compact tangential configuration. The vortex-flow intake imparts an angular motion to the flow which then enters the dropshaft as a swirling annular jet with an air core at the center of the dropshaft. Tangential configurations are the simplest and most compact of the vortex-flow intakes. Flows through vortex-flow intakes have been analyzed by several investigators. Hydraulic and relationships for determining the appropriate dimensions of the scroll and tangential forms of vortex-flow intakes are presented.
