Water flow regulator for irrigation canals

Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, Moscow, Russia

^* Corresponding author: VL_Snejko@mail.ru

Abstract

A distinctive feature of the irrigated systems of the Russian Federation is a large area of irrigated areas and a significant length of irrigation canals. With a large area of the irrigated massif on small canals, the use of electricity to regulate the throughput of network hydraulic structures is economically ineffective. Preference is given to means of hydraulic automation of water supply. Regulation of the throughput of a hydraulic structure is based on the laws of fluid flow within it. On irrigation canals in Russia, as in world practice, water-operated gates are widely used. One of the disadvantages of such gates is moving metal parts and sensors, which reduce the operational reliability of structures. A new regulator of throughput is proposed, the action of which is based on the injection effect. Compression of the flow by physical elements was replaced by the circulation of surplus water supply between the outlet section of the water supply structure and the downstream. The regulator is built into the pressure drop between the high and low order channels. Regulating the throughput of the tubular water outlet automatically begins after shutting down one or more sprinklers that take water from the lower order canal. After turning the sprinklers into operation, the regulator automatically restores the original throughput. Using the theory of jet pumps, a new method has been developed for the theoretical determination of the main hydraulic characteristics of the regulator. These include the size of the nozzle and the velocities of the injection and injection streams. The derivation of theoretical dependencies was based on the classical equations of fluid mechanics; the flow within the structure was considered quasi-one-dimensional. The obtained calculated dependencies were verified using numerical and physical modeling. The data of the physical and numerical experiment were in good agreement with the theoretical dependences. Further optimization of the controller can be performed by changing its geometric parameters.