National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Testing of agricultural sprinklers is necessary to find the optimum field operating conditions with minimum cost while satisfying design water distribution criteria. In the present study two twin-nozzle agricultural sprinklers were tested in field under ten different operating pressures ranging from 1.6 kg/cm² to 3.5 kg/cm². In each experiment sprinkler discharge rate, nozzle pressure, radius of throw, and water distribution pattern around the sprinkler were observed. The average discharge coefficients of the two sprinkler nozzles were determined. The radius of throw was measured in four orthogonal directions. The distortions in radius of throw were observed to study the effect of wind on water distribution patterns. The depth distribution profiles across the wetted area did not show significant distortions for wind velocities less than 2 m/s. The experimental results obtained for the sprinkler heads showed that the discharge from the sprinkler nozzle increased with the increase in the nozzle pressure. Under identical pressure head the discharge rate of the sprinkler with larger nozzle size was more. Empirical pressure-discharge relationships were developed for the two sprinkler heads. Both the relationships were power functions, which showed good correlation between the nozzle pressure and sprinkler discharge. The observed water distribution patterns for different experiments were analysed to design the ideal operating conditions for the two sprinkler heads. The sprinkler to sprinkler spacing along the lateral was fixed at 12 m and the resulting wetting pattern around the lateral line was estimated by overlapping the wetting patterns of a single sprinkler. This led to the estimation of maximum possible spacing between the laterals by overlapping the wetting patterns of adjacent laterals while maintaining a minimum uniformity coefficient value of 85%. Finally, the best operating pressure and the recommended spacing of the system for the two sprinkler heads were suggested. This study can be used as a simple guideline for the field users to install and operate their sprinkler system efficiently with good uniformity and minimum cost.
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