Hydraulic performance evaluation of mini sprinkler system

Irrigation system performance assessment is of high priority in irrigation research to solve the problem of irrigation development and management. It is obvious that many irrigation systems are performing below their capacity. This situation may lead to non-uniform and unreliable water distribution. The mini sprinkler systems recently introduced for irrigation needs to be evaluated for their performance. A mini sprinkler system was evaluated for its hydraulic performance. Experiment was conducted to evaluate the hydraulic performance using a mini sprinkler system having double nozzle-full circle sprinkler at various sprinkler spacings (8 m × 8 m, 10 m × 10 m and 12 m × 12 m) at three operating pressures (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kg/cm2). The index of jet break up was obtained in all the three operating pressures in the range of 2.63 to 4.65, however ideal value of index of jet break up was obtained close to 4.0 at 1.5 kg/cm2. Uniformity coefficient for all the system arrangements was in the range of 79.14 to 87.68%. The uniformity coefficients were obtained at par for 8 m × 8 m spacing at 2.0 kg/cm2 and 10 m × 10 m spacing at 1.5 kg/cm2. The spacing of 10 m × 10 m at operating pressure of 1.5 kg/cm2 showed better hydraulic performance with economical feasibility.    Key words: Mini sprinker, uniformity coefficient, distribution uniformity, index of jet break up, hydraulic performance.