Abstract
Low pressure oscillating water flow can reduce the investment and energy consumption of irrigation. It is also effective in reducing the clogging of an emitter and improving the spraying quality of sprinklers. In order to overcome the problem of the complex process in calculating the amplitude of the pressure head loss of oscillating water flow in different types of pipes, in this study, an empirical equation for the amplitude of the pressure head loss of oscillating water flow in different types of pipe has been developed. Further, validation experiments have been conducted to verify the accuracy of the calculated amplitudes of the pressure head loss by the empirical equation. The results show that average relative error between the measured and the calculated amplitudes of the pressure head loss by the empirical equation is 10.77%. Since the relative errors are small, it is an indication that the amplitudes of the pressure head loss calculated by the empirical equation are accurate. For the empirical equation developed in this study, the sensitivity of the model parameters has been analyzed. The results show that the amplitude of velocity, the internal pipe diameter, and the length of pipe are classified as highly sensitive. The average velocity, the period of oscillating water flow, and the modulus of elasticity of the pipe material are classified as sensitive. The thickness of the pipe wall is classified as medium sensitive. Compared with the calculation models of the existing researches, the empirical equation reduces the number of parameters required to be calculated, by which many complicated calculations are avoided, which greatly improves the computing efficiency. This is conducive to the efficient operation and management of oscillating water flow in irrigation pipe networks and also provides help for the optimal design of irrigation pipe networks.
Highlights
The considerable investment and cost of energy required for irrigation greatly challenges the wide application of irrigation
The average relative error (Equation (14)) between the measured and the calculated amplitudes of the pressure head loss by the empirical equation is 10.77%. These results show that the relative error of the calculated amplitude of the pressure head loss by the empirical equation is small, and the calculated and measured amplitudes of the pressure head loss are close to each other
The results show that the empirical equation can be used to calculate the amplitude of the pressure head loss of oscillating water flow in different types of pipes accurately
Summary
The considerable investment and cost of energy required for irrigation greatly challenges the wide application of irrigation. The main method to lower the operating and energy costs in irrigation is to reduce the operating pressure of irrigation. Irrigation with low operating pressure does not require high-power pumps or other high-standard water supply facilities. This is conducive to the wide application of irrigation in areas where water-supply facilities are inadequate and sparse [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Low-pressure drip irrigation uses lower water pressure, which produces slow water flow velocity in the emitter. Due to the slow flow velocity, it increases the probability of the suspended solids being
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