Influence of Emitter Structure on Its Hydraulic Performance Based on the Vortex

Abstract

The rectangular labyrinth emitter is taken as the study object in this article, as we added internal teeth to vortex-free and vortex areas in its lateral channel or lengthened the vertical channel, to change the channel structure. Using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method simulates the water flow field, to get the relationship between flow rate and pressure, and the vortexes distribution in channel. The aim of this study is to explore the reasons for the influence of structural change on hydraulic performance of the emitter through the analysis of vortex intensity and its distribution from the perspective of the vortex. The results show that the relative error of simulated results and experimental data was 1.02–2.11%. Adding internal teeth to vortex-free areas in lateral channel can improve hydraulic performance of the emitter; adding them to vortex areas can reduce it. The increase in vortex number and intensity in flow field is the internal reason for the improvement of the emitter’s hydraulic performance. The channel structure changes promote the formation of a larger velocity gradient, and the increase in the velocity gradient in flow field exacerbates vortex formation. Changing channel structure to improve the emitter’s hydraulic performance can promote an increase in the number and intensity of vortexes in the channel.

Design and hydraulic performance of bionic leaf vein‐type drip irrigation emitters

“…The average error was less than 3%, and the correlation coefficient was higher than 0.9. The simulated flow rate was greater than the measured flow rate, which is consistent with the findings of Xu and Zhang (2020) and Wang et al (2021). The possible reason is that the smoothness of the walls cannot be guaranteed during the test model processing, which leads to additional energy dissipation in the leaf vein flow channel, and another possible reason is that a suitable turbulence model was not selected during the simulation.…”

Analysis of Hotspots in Subsurface Drip Irrigation Research Using CiteSpace

“…Increasing the fluid velocity and turbulence inside the emitters can contribute to improved anti-clogging performance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based numerical simulation techniques have been widely applied in the design and development of emitters, playing a significant role in optimizing channel design and enhancing anti-clogging capabilities [76]. Pipeline damage can result from multiple factors: aging of the pipeline material, breakage caused by expansion and contraction under varying temperatures, damage inflicted by plowing equipment, and damage from rodents [20].…”

Simulation of the flow characteristics of a labyrinth milli-channel used in drip irrigation

“…They also observed that increasing the flow velocity as well as increasing the labyrinth channel dimensions could reduce sediment accumulation and improve the performance of the irrigation system. The high turbulence present in the labyrinths creates vortices that serve as essential mechanisms for controlling fluid discharge and dissipating energy (Wang et al, 2021;Wei et al, 2006).…”