Agricultural Pumping Research Articles

Hierarchical frequency control framework for a remote microgrid with pico hydel energy storage and wind turbine

An autonomous, sustainable microgrid with minimal operation and maintenance intervention would be a viable option to power the underprivileged remote communities in India. The microgrids supported by battery storage requires frequent maintenance and are prone to operational failures. So, the wind-powered agricultural pumping system is re-configured to form a hybrid microgrid with wind electric system (WES) and pico hydel energy storage (PHES) to meet the water and energy demands of the remote communities. As the frequency stability of autonomous microgrid is critical, a hierarchical frequency control framework is proposed in this paper. It has three different control aspects: firstly, novel droop augmented rapid power, and rapid speed control strategies are proposed for PHES. Secondly, the wind turbine is de-loaded by a dynamic droop integrated pitch angle controller to increase the inertial response of the system. Finally, a power management algorithm with suitable constraints is used to combine the control strategies of PHES and WES to derive the hierarchical frequency control framework. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is analysed through time-domain simulations using MATLAB/Simulink® by considering the change in wind speed, load, and the violation of water volume constraint. The proposed frequency control framework effectively managed the microgrid sources with suitable constraints and ensured minimal de-loading of the wind turbine. Furthermore, the framework also minimized the frequency nadir/peak and maintained the frequency within limits specified by the Indian Electricity Grid Code.

Agriculture Pump based on Smart Energy Harvesting on Solar System

The Solar panel consists of a number of solar cells and those cells transforms solar energy into electrical energy. Higher efficiency of energy depends upon the position of the solar panel with respect to sun. In this project, a solar pump and solar panel Implementation which tracks the Sun’s movement throughout the day is proposed. The inexpensive design of solar panels is focused on the usage of a basic circuit compatible Raspberry pi microcontroller, dc motor, battery, and solar panel. The key goal is to provide energy to farmers according to their needs. Solar energy-based farming encourages farmers to efficiently use solar energy on farm and sell the energy excess. In our project, we are saving solar energy using solar panel and pass to the main storage server and then passing it to other farmers as per their requirement.

How to Meter Agricultural Pumping at Numerous Small-Scale Wells?—An Indirect Monitoring Method Using Electric Energy as Proxy

The large number of users and the small scale of wells greatly complicate monitoring of groundwater abstraction in areas of intensive pumping by numerous smallholders such as in the North China Plain. This paper presents a study in a typical county in the North China Plain. It discusses the application and challenges of an indirect, energy-based approach to groundwater abstraction monitoring. Intensive field experiments at individual wells were carried out to provide a basis for the conversion from electric energy consumption to groundwater abstraction and to explore the feasibility of direct and indirect abstraction monitoring methods in the study area. The results show that the main challenge of electricity-to-water conversion lies in the large spread of conversion factors between wells. The conversion error at an individual well is found to be less than 20%. The same accuracy is achieved on spatially aggregated levels by testing only a small number of wells. Trade-offs can be made to obtain groundwater abstraction estimates at the required accuracy and with reasonable efforts regarding data collection. The analysis shows that energy-based groundwater abstraction monitoring outperforms direct water metering with respect to cost and robustness. It provides satisfactory data accuracy and equitability in regions where irrigation wells are powered by electricity.

Greenhouse Automation for Agriculture using PLC & SCADA

Most of water used by man goes to irrigation. A major part of this water is used to irrigate small plots where it is not feasible to implement full scale evapotranspiration-based irrigation controllers. During growth season crop water needs do not remain constant and varies depending on the canopy, growth stage and climate conditions. An economic irrigation controller that can adapt the daily water application to the plant needs. Here we use the water pump automated controlled, it will check the agriculture pump do not run in dry mode means if pump runs without water it will trip and keeps the motor in safe condition. As per the moisture of soil it water will be controlled, the volume of water can utilized by using PLC and SCADA system. Modern agriculture requires field machinery capable of precise, repeatable operations based on models of systems and processes. In the mechatronic design process, applied to three examples, the efficiency of the design process and the performance of the mechanisms can be improved considerably through concurrent, integrated development. Such advanced systems with modern feedback controllers can generate significant demands for data processing and require substantial communications bandwidth. Standardized agricultural bus systems form the backbone for the high variability and high- bandwidth data streams. In the first example, the problem of mechanical grain yield sensors placed on combines, is described. By minimizing the influence of the friction of the grain kernels on the sensor, the total number of calibrations can be limited to once per harvesting season, independent of the condition and type of crop harvested..

낙동강 하류 유역 농업용 양배수지와 배수지의 수질특성 및 오염부하량 산정

낙동강 하류 유역 농업용 양배수지와 배수지의 수질특성 및 오염부하량 산정

Groundwater salinity and quality assessment using multivariate statistical and hydrogeochemical analysis along the Urmia Lake coastal in Azarshahr plain, North West of Iran

In the present study, the aim was to investigate groundwater quality and salinity in one of the highly affected areas along the hyper-saline Urmia Lake. Accordingly, physicochemical parameters from 77 groundwater wells were assessed using multivariate statistics and hydrogeochemical analysis in case of groundwater salinity and quality of Azarshahr plain. Based on the electric conductivity of the water, the results show that almost 41% of the wells are freshwater (< 1000 µS/cm), 18% slightly saline water (1000–3000 µS/cm), and 42% moderately saline water (3000–10,000 µS/cm). Based on Gibbs plot, rock weathering was a dominant process in the plain so that about 80.7% of the samples fall under very hard class. Results from Principle Component Analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis divided the groundwater into four distinct zones: cluster 1 in the western area of the plain is known as recharge zone (Ca–HCO3 water type), cluster 2 northwest of the study area is influenced by saline water up-coning during agriculture pumping (Ca–Cl water type), cluster 3 north of the study area is affected by rock weathering (Ca–HCO3–Cl water type), and finally cluster 4 in the central plain is mostly influenced by wastewater and agricultural fertilizers (Ca–SO4–Cl water type). It was also found that there are high concentrations of TDS, Cl−, and SO42− in the agricultural areas which was also showing an increasing trend within 2010–2014. Finally, it was found that agricultural activity, contamination and salinization from irrigation, use of fertilities, and up-coning salt water during pumping are among the factors in deterioration of groundwater resources in the studied area.

PV based Agricultural Pumping System using Boost Inverter Fed Induction Motor

This paper presents a simple, cost-effective scheme for agricultural pumping system. It consists of PV array, canonical switching cell converter (CSCC), Boost inverter, and induction motor. The input power for the boost inverter is obtained from the photovoltaic (PV) based CSCC. The requirement of lower number of components and nonpulsating input current are the superior features of the CSC converter. The conversion of DC voltage obtained from the PV based CSC converter system into high voltage AC using the boost inverter is the main feature of the proposed scheme. Extraction of maximum power from the PV system is ensured in this paper by means of a P &amp; O MPPT algorithm. Because of a high step up CSC converter and boost inverter, this scheme requires fewer number of PV arrays to power the induction motor for pumping system. Effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified through MATLAB/SIMULINK environment and necessary results are presented.

Design of BLDC Motor for Agriculture Pump Application

This paper presents the analytical design method for surface mounted BLDC motor to meet the performance requirements of submersible Pump for agriculture application. The design calculations involved assumption of various design variables viz. Stacking factor, leakage factor, Flux densities in stator and rotor yokes and flux density in the stator teeth etc. With these assumptions the geometry of the intended motor is derived. The geometrical information like the rotor diameter, rotor and stator thickness and stator teeth thickness etc. obtained from the analytical calculations are used as input to Finite Element Model (FEM) Analysis tool FEMAG. The Torque-Speed characteristics, back EMF, flux densities in various parts of the motor are obtained from FEM Analysis and the same are compared with the results obtained from Analytical design. Various designed parameters like airgap length, stack length and magnet widths are varied and their influence on the characteristics of the intended BLDC motor is obtained through FEM Analysis. Based on the analytical models and FEM Analysis the design parameters are tweaked until the desired performance for the agriculture pump is accomplished.

Cost Effective Single-Phase DSTATCOM for Low Power Applications

In this article, a single-phase Distribution Static Compensator (DSTATCOM) with reduced dc-link voltage is proposed for power quality improvement in a distribution system. Generally, the dc-link voltage of DSTATCOM is maintained twice the peak of Point of Common Coupling (PCC) voltage by voltage regulation loop. But, the dc-link voltage is maintained itself without voltage regulation loop in the proposed method. For this case, the required dc-link voltage magnitude is less when compared to conventional method. Under predefined load conditions such as agriculture pump set loads, this less voltage is sufficient to give satisfactory performance. Therefore, the rating of DSTATCOM is reduced and thereby the cost of system is reduced. The proposed method enables compensation of reactive power and mitigation of source current harmonics in a distribution system for low power applications. The advantages of the proposed method are elimination of dc voltage sensing elements, minimization of switching loss of Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) and cost effective. The proposed single-phase DSTATCOM performance is demonstrated through MATLAB/simulink and validated by experimental results with agriculture pump set load.

Investigation on Water-resistant Measures for Agricultural Pumping Stations

Investigation on Water-resistant Measures for Agricultural Pumping Stations

A smart monitoring and controlling for agricultural pumps using LoRa IOT technology

&lt;p&gt;Controlling electrical pumps on farms can be problematic, especially if there are a small number of people managing or working on huge areas of land and if the provision of electricity is not consistent. Therefore, further techniques for the management of plant irrigation on this type of land are being invented to make the process of irrigation easier. In this paper, a new intelligent device is designed and utilized to control the operation of irrigation pumps using a robust method of communication to transfer information at long distances, for the lowest cost, and the longest battery life. This technology is called LoRa (Long Range) communication, which is a low-power technology. The unit consists of two circuits: the first one is for switching the pumps ON and OFF, while the second one controls and monitoring the work of the pumps. Monitoring of the pumps can also be carried out through smart phones by measuring the voltage. The most important features of this new design are its intelligent control for long distances, cheap price, and a long operational life of more than five years. The goal of this paper is to help farmers by designing and manufacturing a remote-control system that switches irrigation pumps on and off using LoRa technologies.&lt;/p&gt;

Design of solar‐powered agriculture pump using new configuration of dual‐output buck–boost converter

This paper proposed a new structure of single switch dual output Zeta derived DC-to-DC converter for an efficient harvesting of photovoltaic (PV) power for a 4-phase switched reluctance motor (SRM) driven agriculture pump. The system is essentially developed to minimise both cost and complexity, while synchronously guaranteeing optimal operation of the PV array. The proposed converter is derived from a hybrid of a ‘Zeta’ and Landsman converters and so it contains all the benefits of both converters including balanced outputs. Due to an identical instantaneous duty cycle, the switching node is shared by both Zeta and Landsman converters. The proposed converter offers continuous power to drive, a low ripple in output current, and balanced dual output supply. The PV power optimisation and to deliver smooth start of SRM, are the two major objectives of proposed DC-to-DC converter. A new maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique is also used in the system to optimise the performance of PV array. Moreover, the proposed MPPT control has an additional advantage of regulating the flow rate of water pumping by adjusting the duty cycle of DC-to-DC converter. The motor speed is smoothly regulated through the variable DC link voltage of a mid-point converter.

A Modified Water-Table Fluctuation Method to Characterize Regional Groundwater Discharge

A modified Water-Table Fluctuation (WTF) method is developed to quantitatively characterize the regional groundwater discharge patterns in stressed aquifers caused by intensive agricultural pumping. Two new parameters are defined to express the secondary information in the observed data. One is infiltration efficiency and the other is discharge modulus (recurring head loss due to aquifer discharge). An optimization procedure is involved to estimate these parameters, based on continuous groundwater head measurements and precipitation records. Using the defined parameters and precipitation time series, water level changes are calculated for individual wells with fidelity. The estimated parameters are then used to further address the characterization of infiltration and to better quantify the discharge at the regional scale. The advantage of this method is that it considers recharge and discharge simultaneously, whereas the general WTF methods mostly focus on recharge. In the case study, the infiltration efficiency reveals that the infiltration is regionally controlled by the intrinsic characteristics of the aquifer, and locally distorted by engineered hydraulic structures that alter surface water-groundwater interactions. The seasonality of groundwater discharge is characterized by the monthly discharge modulus. These results from individual wells are clustered into groups that are consistent with the local land use pattern and cropping structures.

Implementation of solar photovoltaic array and battery powered enhanced DC-DC converter using B4-inverter fed brushless DC motor drive system for agricultural water pumping applications

The proposed research involves, an implementation of solar photovoltaic array and battery powered enhanced dc-dc converter using B4-inverter fed brushless dc motor drive system for agricultural water pumping applications. It consists of step up and step-down converter, DC-link module. DC-link switching is achieved by reduced ripple voltage which results in improved quality of obtained output power. The Three Port Converter has been proposed and operated in unidirectional and/or bidirectional way simultaneously, for achieving an inherent dual voltage and power flow control. Switch count makes the system more cost effective. An excellent tracking performance under dynamic condition with negligible oscillations around optimum operating point is achieved. Optimally selecting the initial value of duty ratio and its perturbation size offer soft starting of BLDC motor by slowly increasing the DC-link voltage of VSI. A simulation model of solar photovoltaic array and battery powered enhanced DC-DC converter is developed and its performance is analysed for various operating conditions.

Contribution to Innovation in Sustainable Agriculture Practices for Draught Prone Farmers by A.S Innovations and Agro: A Case on Eco Sarovar Hydrogel

A.S.Innovations & Agro,is a budding start-up, incorporated in the year 2016, is counted amongst the notable manufacturer, distributor and trader. Company is dedicatedly involved in offering finest quality gamut of Indian Spice Powders, Agricultural Pump and Super Absorbent Polymer. The company offers a very innovative product ‘Eco Sarovar Hydrogel’. The research tries to study and contribute to Innovation in sustainable agriculture practices for draught prone farmers by A.S Innovations and Agro. A special focus of study is A.S Innovations ‘Eco Sarovar Hydrogel’. The paper tries to bring out benefits of product to farmers and consecutively discuss growth of a budding technology in business.

Modeling and simulation of an autonomous PV Generator dedicated to supply an agricultural pumping station

The objective of this work is the study, design and validation by simulation the model of an isolated photovoltaic chain composed of : PV Generator 4.2 KW, power conditioning system and a direct current load. This system is used to supply agricultural pumping station.The effects of temperature and irradiation on the PV Generator are studied, in particular on the magnitudes of the short circuit current, the open circuit voltage and the power delivered by the system.According to the characteristics of the load and the operating conditions (temperature, irradiation), we can find a big gap between maximum potential PV Generator power and that actually transferred to the pumping system.In order to extract in every moment the maximum of power available at the terminals of the PV Generator and transfer it at the pumping system, we use a matching stage composed of a boost converter controlled by an algorithm of power maximization "P&O" and a pulse width modulation (PWM).

Optimization of Building and Agricultural Pumping System Energy Efficiency for Maximum Return on Investment

Historically South Africa has benefitted from some of the cheapest electricity in the world. Due to the low prices, many pumping systems were installed based on minimum capital cost without due consideration being placed on the efficiency of the systems. Over the past 5 years, electricity prices in South Africa have skyrocketed. There is now a significant scope to improve the efficiency and reduce the operating costs. Very large systems typically have intensive engineering attention paid to them to ensure maximum efficiency. However, there is a significant installed base of pumps in the range of 7.5 kW to 75 kW in buildings and agriculture that have very little engineering attention paid to them. The scope for energy saving is vast but, because of the sheer number of pumps and size range, the assessment process itself has to be very cost effective.Pumping systems are complex. There are inefficiencies in the motor, pump, valves, pipes, and control systems. Optimizing the entire system can result in very large savings depending on the current level of inefficiency.This article describes a test, analysis and optimization process applicable to pumping systems including some case studies. The optimization includes both the technical aspects of the pumping system as well as the financial aspects. In any pumping system, there are several parameters that can be changed, e.g., pump size, pipe size, flow rate, duty cycle, and control method. Each parameter can have a range of values, and changing the parameters independently means that there are hundreds of different ways that each pumping system can be reconfigured. Not all combinations of parameters are technically feasible and those are eliminated. The remaining options are analyzed to determine which options yield the maximum saving for the least capital, expressed as net-present value (NPV).

High-resolution seismic reflection to improve accuracy of hydrogeologic models in Ventura County, California, USA

A high-resolution seismic-reflection investigation mapped reflectors and identified characteristics influencing the hydrogeology underlying a portion of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura County, California. Design and implementation of this study was heavily influenced by high levels of cultural noise from vehicles, power lines, roads, manufacturing facilities, and underground utilities/vaults. An abundance of very high quality reflections within the optimum window on shot gathers allowed accurate velocity analysis and statics corrections, which resulted in consistent and coherent common-midpoint (CMP)-stacked reflections with minimal wavelet degradation. Acquisition and processing flows were tailored to this noisy environment and relatively shallow target interval. Layering within both upper and lower aquifer systems was delineated at a vertical resolution potential of about 2.5 m at 350 m depth. Discontinuities in bedding with significant impact on the groundwater flow, particularly related to saltwater intrusion from agricultural pumping near the coast, were delineated on CMP-stacked sections and correlated to widely separated boring data, thereby providing continuity and realism to hydrologic models.

GIS based solar resource analysis for irrigation purposes: Rural areas comparison under groundwater scarcity conditions

During the past decade, most governments have been promoting energy efficiency programs and the integration of renewable energy sources into the majority of energy uses. Among the different sectors, the agricultural sector is becoming a more active participant to reduce fossil fuel dependence and improve environmental sustainability. Indeed, agriculture usually combines both a high energy demand and water problems associated with over-exploited aquifers, providing great potential and remarkable opportunities to change the energy mix and maximize the use and integration of natural resources in a rational way. Considering this framework, the present paper describes and compares the solar resource integration and its effects on agricultural pumping purposes in two Mediterranean countries, Spain and Morocco, with significant differences in terms of energy mix, climatic conditions and energy policies. As a novel contribution in this paper, we propose the use of GIS to analyze the spatial and temporal variability of the solar resource through real data of both locations, as well as to study groundwater resources. With this aim, two technical proposals for irrigation purposes are compared in terms of environmental benefits, CO2 emissions and agriculture energy model changes: diesel equipment and photovoltaic system. Results based on solar radiation resource, pumping requirements and aquifer depth are included in the paper.

A Policy for Improving Efficiency of Agriculture Pump Sets in India: Drivers, Barriers And Indicators

The Indian power sector provides significant opportunities for reducing energy consumption by addressing existing inefficiencies of technical, operational and economic nature. Replacement of inefficient agricultural pump sets has been identified as one of the key policy initiatives, which to date, has been limited to a few pilot projects. The policy objectives are to: replace inefficient pump sets, improve distribution grids and provide metering. Adequate readdressing of economic inefficiencies, in terms of electricity pricing, remains a long-term objective. The scalability of such a policy proposal across the country offers many challenges. The paper identifies drivers and barriers for implementation of the policy, role of international cooperation and indicators for policy implementation with international cooperation.