Abstract
Using low-pressure sprinklers in agricultural irrigation has become an alternative way of reducing water and energy stress. To determine the applicability of the low-pressure rotating sprinkler, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of working pressure and nozzle size on sprinkler rotation speed, application rate, droplet size, droplet velocity, droplet trajectory angle, and kinetic energy distribution. The results showed that the mean droplet diameter increased exponentially along with the increase in distance from the sprinkler, and a logarithmic relation was derived between droplet diameter and droplet velocity. Due to the low breakup degree of the jet under the lowest working pressure of 100 kPa, the peak values of specific power and application rate were high, which reached 0.09 W m−2 and 11.35 mm h−1, and were 3.1–5.4 times and 2.5–3.1 times those of other working conditions. Meanwhile, the peak specific power of the biggest nozzle (diameter = 5.2 mm) was 2.4–2.8 times that of smaller nozzles. With an increase in working pressure, the sprinkler time per rotation decreased and the distributions of kinetic energy and water became more uniform. Thus, it is not recommended to equip the sprinkler with a large nozzle under low working pressure.
Highlights
Water shortage and the energy crisis continue to be worldwide challenges, especially in the arid regions that cover 42% of the planet’s surface [1]
The results demonstrate that working pressures have a significant influence on the rotation speed of the low-pressure rotating sprinkler (p < 0.01), while the sprinkler rotation speed was not affected by the nozzle size (p = 0.77)
This result is not in accordance with the rotation of the rotating spray plate sprinklers (RSPSs) reported by Liu et al, who found that the rotation time of the RSPS decreases with increasing nozzle size [33]
Summary
Water shortage and the energy crisis continue to be worldwide challenges, especially in the arid regions that cover 42% of the planet’s surface [1]. To reduce water consumption in agriculture, water-saving irrigation technologies, including drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation, have been actively developed and promoted [3]. Irrigation technology consumes a large amount of energy in practice [4]. Taking these challenges into consideration, many studies have focused on improving the water and energy efficiencies of irrigation systems [5,6,7]. Sprinkler irrigation is one of the most commonly used agricultural irrigation methods, with 21%
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