Influence and analysis of structure design and optimization on the performance of a pit drip irrigation emitter<sup>*</sup>
Tianyu Xu, Lixiang Zhang
Abstract
Abstract This study aimed at enhancing the performance of an emitter by optimizing the flow channel and reducing the flow index, which improves the energy dissipation coefficient and anti‐clogging ability of a pit drip irrigation emitter (PDIE). Methodologies of a flow numerical simulation and a model experiment were used to evaluate the influence of four types of optimized structure schemes of PDIE. The results show that the low‐velocity vortex zone in the flow channel increased the energy dissipation coefficient, and decreased the flow index, in which anti‐clogging ability was decreasing. The optimal design schemes 3 and 4 had a good working performance by reducing the flow area at the upper and lower ends of the PDIE and adding the resistance of the torus edge; the former added two triangles and the latter an arc and a triangle. The flow index was between 0.482 and 0.486, and the energy dissipation coefficient was 843–912. The optimizations improved the anti‐clogging ability by increasing the flow resistance and reducing the low‐velocity vortex zone. The experimental error compared with the numerical simulation for the flow index and the energy dissipation coefficient was less than 3%. This indicated that the analytical method used in this study was reliable. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.