Center Pivot Irrigation System

Question

How to determine the time of one revelation of center pivot irrigation systems?

Mir Sarfaraz Ali Khan · Answer

Depends on many factors such as diameter of center pivot, crop water requirements and the precipitation rate of sprinklers used. Usually it is between 20 and 22 hours.

Paul Rounthwaite · Answer

Hi Mahmoud,
Lets assume it is full-circle machine and is 700m long, and the overhang/end boom is 13m. Take the 13m off the total length because this will be where the last drive wheels will be (unless it has a corner unit - let's assume it doesn't). Taking the 13m off leaves a 687m radius (4316.5m circumference). If, for example, the maximum tower speed is 2.68m/minute, then it will take 1,610.6 minutes to complete one lap (assuming it is at 100% speed all the time). That is around 26.8 hours. As far as the flow-rate goes, lets assume it irrigates an area of 153.9ha at 5.0mm/day (5L per square meter per day), that will require a flow rate of 89.1L/s (continuously). If you ran the machine at only 50% speed, it would take twice as long to get around, but, assuming the machine is left running 24hrs a day/7 days a week, it would still apply 5.0mm/day on average. I hope this is what you were after!

SHLOMO Kramer · Answer

The first step is to determine the daily water needs of the plants. That combined with the specific application rate of the machine and the optimum irrigation intervals will lead to the movement speed of the pivot.

Yashpal Morey · Answer

The time taken for one depends on the area to be irrigated and irrigation interval. The  time ranges from 12 hours to 90 hours depending on the above factors and manufacturer's specifications.  
Generally these systems are supplied as custom made ones from each manufacturer, and they design it considering all the key factors after discussion with the client.

Taxonomy