DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF PRESSURIZED IRRIGATION SYSTEM

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Agric. Eng. Res. Inst., ARC, Cairo, Egypt

2 Agric. Eng. Dept., Fac. Agric., Zagazig Univ., Egypt

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate a sprinkler irrigation
system based on its design criteria to minimize friction loss, pressure head variation, and specific
energy and maximize water uniformity distribution. The system was developed from single inlet open
lateral (SIOL) to double inlet closed lateral (DICL). Experiments were conducted to study two
different parameters (lateral length and irrigation water inlet method to lateral line) affecting the
performance of the developed system. The system performance was evaluated in terms of water
distribution uniformity, coefficient of uniformity, pressure head variation and specific energy. It was
concluded that pressure head variation and specific energy were significantly decreased while water
distribution uniformity was improved with DICL compared to SIOL at all lateral lengths. The lateral
length of 165m with DICL was recommended to be used as they achieved acceptable distribution
uniformity, coefficient of uniformity and pressure head variation values which were 75%, 81% and
18%, respectively.

Keywords