Modeling and Dynamic-Simulating the Water Distribution of a Fixed Spray-Plate Sprinkler on a Lateral-Move Sprinkler Irrigation System

Abstract

Uniformity of water distribution plays an important role in evaluating irrigation quality. As necessities in calculating irrigation uniformity during designing a lateral-move sprinkler irrigation system (LMSIS), the water distribution patterns of individual sprinkler in motion are crucial. Considering the limitation of the experiment platform, dynamic water distribution of an isolated sprinkler is difficult to measure, especially for a fixed spray plate sprinkler (FSPS) which LMSIS has been widely equipped with in China, therefore developing a model to simulate dynamic water distribution of a moving sprinkler is necessary. The objective of this study was to develop and validate the theoretical basis for calculating water distribution characteristics of a single FSPS in translational motion applying a superposition method, and provide an optimized operation management of LMSIS. The theoretical model’s validity was verified in an indoor experiment using a Nelson D3000 FSPS in motion with 36 grooves and blue-plate spray heads. The software was programmed using the Eclipse Platform and the software was capable of simulating water distribution pattern and Christiansen uniformity coefficient (Cu). The results indicated that the water distribution simulated by the software presents three peaks of maximum application under varying conditions, and the value of water application peaks decreased as working pressure and/or mounting height increased. Conversely, the wetted diameter increased as working pressure and/or mounting height increased. Working pressure, mounting height, and sprinkler spacing each had a significant effect on the Cu. The Cu increased as working pressure and/or mounting height increased but decreased as sprinkler spacing increased. As a consequence, the model can be used to predict the relative water distribution pattern; and the Cu can be calculated with the simulated data, thus providing a tool for designing a new LMSIS.

The Effect of Sedimentin Yellow River on Hydraulic Characteristics of Spray Sprinkler

“…A Nelson D3000 sprinkler (Nelson Irrigation Co., Walla Walla, WA 99362-2271, USA) [25] with a nozzle diameter of 4.76 mm was selected in these experiments. Considering negligible differences among the grooves of Nelson D3000 sprinkler [12], the water distribution characteristics of this sprinkler could be acquired by measuring one spray jet. In order to measure the water distribution pattern of spray jet from one groove, the selected sprinkler was installed in a funnel-shaped box, an adjustable window was located on the shell, and only one spray jet was allowed to exist; the bottom of the box was connected with a sediment-water return pipe, and the spare sediment-water sprayed from other grooves was collected with a tank.…”

“…The experiment was conducted at the Hydraulics Laboratory of Zhengzhou University in China. The experimental platform consisted of the plastic stirred barrel, booster pump, pipes, valves, brackets,sediment-watercontainer, pressure sensor, catch-can, and other necessary equipment, as shown in Figure 1.The diameter and height of the stirred barrelwere 1 m and 1.3 m, respectively; a stirrer(motor power was 1.1KW) was installed above the barrel, and the swing speed of the stirred paddle was adjustable.A Nelson D3000 sprinkler (Nelson Irrigation Co., Walla Walla, WA 99362-2271, USA) [25] with a nozzle diameter of 4.76mm was selected in theseexperiments.Considering negligible differences among the grooves of Nelson D3000 sprinkler [12], the water distribution characteristicsof this sprinkler could be acquired by measuring one spray jet. In order to measure the water distribution pattern of spray jet from one groove, the selected sprinkler was installed in a funnel-shaped box, an adjustable window was located on the shell, and only one spray jet was allowed to exist; the bottom of the box was connected with a sediment-waterreturn pipe, and the spare sediment-water sprayed from other grooves was collected with a tank.…”

“…In recent years, center-pivot and linear move sprinkler irrigation machines have been widely employed with the high automatic extent and labor-saving characteristics [11,12], exhibiting the particular potential of irrigating with Yellow River resource. Commonly, these irrigation machines are equipped with fixed spray plate sprinkler (FSPS) and rotating spray plate sprinkler (RSPS); the hydraulic characteristics of these two sprinklers, such as water distribution patterns and wetted areas, have a significant effect on irrigation uniformity [13][14][15][16].…”

Effects of Travel Speed and Collector on Evaluation of the Water Application Uniformity of a Center Pivot Irrigation System

“…Center pivot irrigation systems are increasingly equipped with low-pressure sprinklers to reduce energy consumption [11,12]. Currently, fixed and rotated spray plate sprinklers (FSPS and RSPS, respectively) are the two most popular types [13][14][15].…”

Evaluación del desempeño del riego por aspersión en lotes con cultivo de banana en Chiapas, México

“…La evaluación de un sistema de riego, permite determinar, a partir de parámetros cuantitativos, problemas en algún elemento del mismo y determinar la forma en que se está aplicando el riego (Martínez, 1991, Mansour et al, 2019Zhang et al, 2019). La uniformidad de aplicación es el parámetro más importante en la evaluación de un sistema de riego, el cual depende del tipo de aspersor, de las condiciones de operación, así como del espaciamiento entre regantes y aspersores (Dieter et al, 2014;Mohamed et al, 2019;Tamagi et al, 2018).…”