DETERMINATION OF SPRINKLER WETTING ZONE IN CIRCULAR SELF-PROPELLED SPRINKLER SYSTEMS

Circular self-propelled sprinkler systems are highly efficient equipment for irrigating crops by sprinkling. As a rule, artificial rain in these installations is created by fine sprinkling with mechanical atomisation of water on a rotating sprinkler spreader. During the operation of the installation, the sprinkler must provide the specified characteristics, namely the radius of sprinkling and a high degree of uniformity, as well as the required parameters, including productivity. Considering that the irrigation diameter, uniformity and productivity of the installation largely depends on the parameters and mutual arrangement of sprinklers on the main pipeline of the sprinkler, their evaluation in terms of compliance with the specified values leads to the need for preliminary measurements for each single sprinkler. Nozzle diameter of the sprinkler nozzle, pressure, working height, inclination to the horizontal of the scatterer all affect the parameters of artificial rain. Synthesis of deterministic model of parameters and characteristics of aerosol jet of a single sprinkler requires preliminary knowledge of behaviour and interaction of all elements on the main pipeline of the sprinkler system, which is practically unrealizable taking into account their number and range of change of internal dimensions. The use of deterministic models based on the ballistic theory of motion of a single autonomous droplet requires preliminary specification of the number and size of droplets. In the case of a self-propelled type of sprinkler system, the model must allow for application dependent on the speed of the sprinkler and the interaction of the jet with the surging wind flow. An alternative approach to modelling the dynamics of aerosol jet atomisation by a nozzle is to consider this process in the context of the phenomena occurring in the water-drop-air system.