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Anti-clogging evaluation for drip irrigation emitters using reclaimed water

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Abstract

Emitter clogging has a direct impact on the required operating time and benefit of a drip irrigation system, especially when using reclaimed water. Thus, accurately evaluating its anti-clogging ability is important to select an appropriate emitter under specific conditions. In his paper, a drip irrigation emitter clogging experiment was carried out, and the dynamic outflows of 14 emitter types using 3 kinds of reclaimed water and the groundwater in the experiment station in Tongzhou, Beijing, were tested. Then, the drip irrigation emitter anti-clogging ability evaluation index (I a ) was proposed, based on the measured emitter clogging characteristics. I a ranked in consistent with average discharge variation rate (Dra) among different types of emitters. Thus, I a is a valid performance indicator to evaluate anti-clogging ability, and an emitter with a relatively large value of I a has a better anti-clogging ability. According to the calculated I a , the same type of emitter showed better anti-clogging ability with the groundwater than with the reclaimed water, while cylindrical emitters were more likely to clog than flat emitters. Additionally, I a was mainly affected by flow path length (L), flow path width/depth ratio (R W/D ) and average near-wall water shear force (τ), as I a increased with shorter L, smaller R W/D and larger τ. Furthermore, the quantitative estimating model of I a was established through dimensional analysis and was predicted by an emitter’s rated outflow (Q) and flow path geometrical parameters (L, W and D).

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for financial support from the National Natural Science Fund of China (Nos. 51321001, 51179190, 51339007), Public Welfare Project of PRC Ministry of Water Resources (No. 201401078). The first author also appreciates the financial support from the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for him to attend Purdue University as a joint Ph.D. student.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Bo Zhou, Yunkai Li, Peng Song, Yunpeng Zhou & Yang Yu

  2. Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2093, USA

    Bo Zhou & Vincent Bralts

Authors
  1. Bo Zhou
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  2. Yunkai Li
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  3. Peng Song
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  4. Yunpeng Zhou
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  5. Yang Yu
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  6. Vincent Bralts
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Correspondence to Yunkai Li.

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Communicated by G. Merkley.

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Zhou, B., Li, Y., Song, P. et al. Anti-clogging evaluation for drip irrigation emitters using reclaimed water. Irrig Sci 35, 181–192 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-016-0530-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-016-0530-8

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