Solid Removal across the Bed Depth in Media Filters for Drip Irrigation Systems

Miquel Duran-Ros, Joan Pujol, Toni Pujol, Sílvia Cufí, Gerard Arbat, Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena and Jaume Puig-Bargués ()
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Miquel Duran-Ros: Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Joan Pujol: Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Toni Pujol: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Construction, University of Girona, C/Universitat de Girona 4, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Sílvia Cufí: Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Gerard Arbat: Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena: Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Jaume Puig-Bargués: Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Pressurized sand media filters are commonly used in drip irrigation systems to prevent emitter clogging. However, the performance of these filters may be improved with more information about the retention of solids at different bed depths under different filter operation conditions and irrigation water sources. In this study, experiments in a scaled sand media filter were conducted to clog the filter with two different filtration velocities (30 and 60 m h −1 ) and two-particle types (inorganic from A4 coarse sand dust and organic from a reclaimed effluent). The suspended solids retained in slices of 5 mm (in the first 20 mm of the bed) and 20 mm (from 20 to 200 mm depth) thick were determined following the van Staden and Haarhoff (2011) procedure. The solids retained in each slice per mass of media were significantly ( p < 0.05) affected by the interaction between the filtration velocity, the bed depth, and the particle type. The solids retained in the first 5 mm of the bed were significantly higher than at other depths. Moreover, inorganic solids were retained more in upper slices than organic ones. Therefore, media depths may be adjusted depending on the irrigation water source to optimize media use.

Keywords: irrigation equipment; micro irrigation; sand filter; filtration; clogging; suspended solids (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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