Influence of fine particle size and concentration on the clogging of labyrinth emitters

The evolution of drip emitter clogging with labyrinth channel was investigated experimentally to study the fine particle size and concentration effects in the irrigation water. Short-term clogging tests were performed using muddy water containing particles with 8 different sizes (all less than 0.1 mm). The particles used in this study were composed of fine sands, slit and clay. Afterwards, verification tests were conducted to prove the results obtained from short-term clogging tests. The impacts of particle size and particle concentration in muddy water on emitter clogging were analyzed by means of calculating the mean discharge and the Christiansen uniformity coefficient. The results showed that for particles that were smaller than 0.1 mm in diameter, sediment concentration significantly affected clogging. The clogging level of emitters increased with raising the concentration. Especially when the sediment concentration was higher than 1.25 g/L, the impacts became remarkable. On the other hand, the sensitive sediment particle range that could get emitters clogged easily was found. In this study, the sensitive particle range were D6 (0.038–0.034 mm) and D7 (0.034–0.031 mm) The results aim to help in improving drip irrigation methods using water with high sediment concentration and providing experimental data for optimization design of emitter channel.