Uniformity performance of non-standard overlapped center pivot and lateral move sprinklers

Irrigation efficiency is an important area of research for the irrigation industry across the world, to date part-circle sprinklers have not formed part of this research effort. The investigation into the uniformity performance of part-circle sprinkler will help to fill the knowledge gap. This project tested two of the most commonly used part-circle sprinklers under ideal laboratory conditions to assess their performance. Results show that the PC-S3000 model sprinkler performs very well and with some simple improvements could provide uniformity equal to that of a standard sprinkler. The PC-D3000 model was not as impressive with low levels of uniformity even when overlapped with other sprinklers. Modelling of the sprinkler test data determined the optimum orientation and spacing of each sprinkler combination of nozzle size and pressure setting based on a boomback setup of four sprinklers. Further modelling of the PC-S3000 using the test data that produced the best uniformity, revealed that five sprinklers orientated in a specific way provides the best coefficient of uniformity equal to 88.96%. The outcome of this project delivers a sprinkler layout that can be applied to new and existing irrigators and also recommends many areas of future work that needs to be carried out in the future