Sprinkler irrigation is promoted due to its remarkable advantages in water conservation, but the high energy consumption limits its development in a situation of energy scarcity. In order to determine the energy consumption of a fixed spray-plate sprinkler (FSPS), its discharge and initial trajectory velocity were investigated using a particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses. A nozzle diameter of 4.76 mm was used under windless conditions. Overall, good agreement between simulation results and experimental values was obtained. On the premise that the simulation method produced high accuracy, a series of simulations was performed with different nozzle diameters. The water distribution pattern, stream trajectory velocity and kinetic energy dissipation were analyzed. The results show that the jet produced at the nozzle is split by grooves after it hits the plate, with separation occurring earlier with decreasing nozzle diameter. The area of the flow cross-section of the outlet is mainly influenced by nozzle diameter rather than working pressure. The initial trajectory velocity of the grooves increases logarithmically with increasing working pressure. A high working pressure may not cause large kinetic energy dissipation. The dissipation rate of the FSPS ranged from 28.01–50.97%, i.e., a large kinetic energy rate was observed. To reduce this energy dissipation and improve water use efficiency, the structure of the FSPS should be optimized in further research.

A large quantity of particulate matter is generated during construction of civil engineering projects, which has a negative effect on the atmosphere and environment. In order to explore the concentration, distribution and diffusion of particulate matters generated from construction dust with different moisture contents, a wind tunnel experiment was conducted, and the effects of wind speed and moisture content on the inhibition rate, drifting distance and suppression percentage of particulate matters were investigated. The results show that the peak concentration decreases with the increase in moisture content, compared with dry dust; the peak concentrations for 1%, 2% and 3% moisture content are reduced by 37.07%, 39.53% and 65.38%, respectively. The average concentrations in the cross-section decrease with the increase in the moisture content, resulting in an increasing tendency of the particle inhibition rate. The forecast drifting distance decreases with the increase in the moisture content; when the suspension percentage is 1%, the forecast drifting distances of dry dust, 1%, 2% and 3% moisture content are 641.58, 116.08, 19.33 and 3.82 km, respectively, for a 5 m/s wind speed. Considering that an increase in wind velocity will not only decrease the inhibition rate but also increase the drifting distance, the dust suppression method by increasing the moisture content in low and medium wind velocities is applicable. When the limit value of the particle suppression rate within a distance of 50 m is larger than 70%, construction activities are prohibited at any wind velocity for dry and 1% moisture content, and at wind velocities larger than 2 m/s and 4 m/s for 2% and 3% moisture content, respectively.

The water shortage has become a great challenge for Yellow River irrigation regions; for the high level of suspended sediment in Yellow River, sprinkler irrigation, which has achieved superior anti-clogging performance, can be an effective solution for water conservation in agriculture management. For the direct utilization of the Yellow River water resource in irrigation land as irrigated by movable sprinkler irrigation systems, a series of experiments about the effect of sediment-water on the hydraulic performance of fixed spray plate sprinkler was conducted. The results showed that peak water precipitation rate appeared as both clean and sediment-water jetting from the groove, and the differences were that sediment-water minimized peak value of water application rate and increased wetted radius efficiently. The water distribution of an individual sprinkler resembled lotus shape with different working conditions, and the application rate nearby sprinkler increased with the increase insediment concentration, resulting in higher water distribution uniformity. In addition, sediment-water increased the spray distance remarkably with a maximum increasing ratio of 7.79%; meanwhile, it led to the transfer of peak application region to the edge of the wetted circle and, consequently, the wetted area increased. The calculation result of the water diffusion coefficient indicated that sediment-water contributed to splintering water jet effectively, but the analysis of variance showed that no significant change was obtained with increasing sediment concentration. All these results suggested that the sediment-water in Yellow River could be directly utilized in agriculture irrigation with superior hydraulic performance, and it would be helpful to protect and maximize the utilization of the Yellow River resource.

Uniformity of water distribution plays an important role in evaluating irrigation quality. As necessities in calculating irrigation uniformity during designing a lateral-move sprinkler irrigation system (LMSIS), the water distribution patterns of individual sprinkler in motion are crucial. Considering the limitation of the experiment platform, dynamic water distribution of an isolated sprinkler is difficult to measure, especially for a fixed spray plate sprinkler (FSPS) which LMSIS has been widely equipped with in China, therefore developing a model to simulate dynamic water distribution of a moving sprinkler is necessary. The objective of this study was to develop and validate the theoretical basis for calculating water distribution characteristics of a single FSPS in translational motion applying a superposition method, and provide an optimized operation management of LMSIS. The theoretical model’s validity was verified in an indoor experiment using a Nelson D3000 FSPS in motion with 36 grooves and blue-plate spray heads. The software was programmed using the Eclipse Platform and the software was capable of simulating water distribution pattern and Christiansen uniformity coefficient (Cu). The results indicated that the water distribution simulated by the software presents three peaks of maximum application under varying conditions, and the value of water application peaks decreased as working pressure and/or mounting height increased. Conversely, the wetted diameter increased as working pressure and/or mounting height increased. Working pressure, mounting height, and sprinkler spacing each had a significant effect on the Cu. The Cu increased as working pressure and/or mounting height increased but decreased as sprinkler spacing increased. As a consequence, the model can be used to predict the relative water distribution pattern; and the Cu can be calculated with the simulated data, thus providing a tool for designing a new LMSIS.