Abstract
In pressurized irrigation networks that use underground water resources, submersible pumps are one of the highest energy consumers. The objective of this paper was to develop a decision support system, implemented in MATLAB®, to reduce the energy consumption of the water abstraction process, from an aquifer to a reservoir in existing wells, by installing a frequency speed drive. An economic module with the aim to assess the economic profitability of the investment cost of the variable speed drive was also developed. This tool was used in three wells that were located in the Eastern Mancha Aquifer. Several scenarios and irrigation seasons were analyzed while considering the interannual and annual variation in ground water depth. In the three analyzed irrigation societies (named A, B, and C), energy savings were achieved using a variable speed frequency when compared with fixed speed. Considering the analyzed cases, when the dynamic water table level is higher, energy savings ranged from 4.4% and 24.4%, using a variable speed ratio of 0.9 and 0.82. The energy savings based on the variable speed frequency increased when the dynamic water table level was lower, with the average energy savings close to 23%, 22% and 6.8% for irrigation societies A, B, and C, respectively. The results also show that the investment costs of the variable speed drive in two of the three irrigation societies studied were highly profitable, with a payback that ranged from 4.5 to 10 years.
Highlights
In most countries of the world, the use of underground water resources has a relevant importance, mainly in arid and semiarid climates
The proposed methodology can be useful for reducing energy consumption during the water abstraction process from an aquifer to a reservoir in existing wells by installing a frequency speed drive
This tool might be combined with other tools focused on a centralized management, such as Irrigation Advisory Services, where managers can determine the optimum amount of water applied depending on the crop production costs and gross margin
Summary
In most countries of the world, the use of underground water resources has a relevant importance, mainly in arid and semiarid climates. Groundwater is important in regions of Spain, such as in the Castilla–La Mancha region, where that approximate source of water represents more than 65% of water use in irrigation and urban networks [2]. In these areas, it is necessary to improve the energy that is consumed, which guarantees. One relevant point to highlight is water discharge and recharge phenomena. In this regard, several sources of recharge mainly come from precipitation and surface-water bodies, such as streams, ponds, or lakes. Water recharged to groundwater for years has a high variability, because it depends on the amount of precipitation or the local geology of each irrigable area
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