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Sluice




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, Japan , used to power a Waterwheel .]]

A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate. For example, a '''millrace''' is a sluice that channels water toward a Water Mill .

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 River s and Canal s. They are also used in wastewater treatment plants and to recover minerals in Mining operations.


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.


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. Occasionally a counterweight is provided.


  • 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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