Silting of dams is a crucial problem and can influence their lifetime, which is between 50 to 70 years in Algeria. Although consented efforts have been undertaken using hydraulic dredging every five to 10 years, the situation of these dams has not improved. To warrant efficient dredging, a maximum silt concentration must be pumped with minimal energy expense and an optimal selection of the pumping system must be made. In this paper, the hydraulic curves of pumps, the influence of solid-liquid mixtures and the rheology of silts on the pump performance are presented, in order to evaluate the energy costs of the evacuated cubic meter of silt.
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