File(s) not publicly available
Improving the uniformity of emitter air bubble delivery during oxygation
journal contribution
posted on 2017-12-06, 00:00 authored by Manouchehr TorabiManouchehr Torabi, David MidmoreDavid Midmore, Kerry WalshKerry Walsh, Surya BhattaraiSurya BhattaraiDrip irrigation may be used to deliver water and air to plant root systems, although uniformity of air bubble delivery along the irrigation line is an issue. Use of 1.2 ppm of a nonionic surfactant (alcohol alkoxylate) in an open-end drip irrigation system increased the Christiansen uniformity coefficient (CUC) of the emitter air flow rates to 80%, compared to 20% without surfactant. In a closed-end irrigation system, addition of 32 ppm surfactant raised the CUC of the emitter air flow rates from 1 to 23% for the symmetric connectors and from −83 to 37% for the asymmetric connectors, respectively, over the controls without surfactant. In the absence of the surfactant, insertion of turbulence-inducing sealing plugs before the 9.5-mm-long symmetric and asymmetric connectors raised the CUC of the emitter air flow rates from 1 to 18% for the symmetric and from −82 to −64% for the asymmetric connectors, respectively. Regardless of the type of the connectors, the highest CUC for emitter air flow rates in the closed-end system was obtained when both sealing plugs and surfactant were used.
Funding
Category 3 - Industry and Other Research Income
History
Volume
140Issue
7Start Page
1End Page
6Number of Pages
6eISSN
1943-4774ISSN
0733-9437Location
United StatesPublisher
American Society of Civil EngineersPublisher DOI
Full Text URL
Language
en-ausPeer Reviewed
- Yes
Open Access
- No
External Author Affiliations
Centre for Plant and Water Science; Esfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Centre; Institute for Resource Industries and Sustainability (IRIS); School of Medical and Applied Sciences (2013- );Era Eligible
- Yes