PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLID-SET SPRINKLER IRRIGATION UNDER DIFFERENT PRESSURES AND NOZZLE DIAMETERS

Low irrigation efficiency and limited fresh water resources become serious issues worldwide particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Rapidly deep percolation of water especially in light-textured soils needs efficient irrigation systems for water application. The overall irrigation efficiency can be increased through choosing the optimum operating conditions. This study investigated the effects of both operating pressure and nozzle diameter on the performance of the solid set sprinkler irrigation system. Three levels of operating pressure of (160, 180 and 200 kPa) and three different nozzle diameter of 3.0, 4.2, and 5.2 mm were used. The distribution efficiency of water was evaluated through the calculation of Christiansen’s uniformity coefficient (CU), distribution uniformity, application uniformity and precipitation rate. The results demonstrated that 180 kPa operating pressure produced the highest distribution uniformity, coefficient of uniformity and application uniformity.