Research Article
Oliveira FC, Lavanholi R, C
Abstract
The leading causes of emitters’ clogging are known, although the processes involved are seldom studied. The present research is based on the hypothesis that the susceptibility of drippers to clogging is influenced by the emitter discharge, the type of clay, and the concentration of clay in the irrigation water. The objective of this study was to analyse the susceptibility of drippers to clogging caused by water containing suspended clay particles. The susceptibility of the drippers to the clogging was analysed with respect to the following factors: the concentration of suspended clay in water, the discharge of emitters of same labyrinth geometry, and the type of clay particles in suspension. We used four concentrations of kaolinite and montmorillonite (500, 750, 1,000, and 2,000 mg L−1) and two drip line models with similar labyrinth geometries, one model having a lower flow rate (0.6 L h−1) than the other (1.7 L h−1). The concentration of suspended clay particles affected the flow rate of the drippers, particularly at concentrations above 1000 mg L−1. The drip line model with the lower flow rate was more susceptible to variations in the flow rate than the higher-flow rate model. The type of clay had no significant effect on the dripper clogging.