Development of a sustainable, hydro-powered water saving irrigation system

在传统的灌溉系统中，水从主要渠道分配到较小的沟渠中，然后灌溉田地或植物。这需要大量的水，并且今天期望利用节水滴灌或喷灌系统。然而，这些需要加压流。电泵是一种可能的解决方案，但这种系统需要电线（灌溉的田地可能距离下一个村庄有几公里远），水泵，当然还有电力。在南安普顿大学，我们开发了一种非常简单的水轮，它结合了高效率和如此低的水头差。这个轮子可以与一个非常简单的螺旋泵结合起来，然后驱动滴灌。在本项目中，我们希望（a）研究使用超低水头水力转换器（HPC，H = 0.10至0.30 m），利用灌溉渠中的水力驱动节水灌溉系统。(b)将该技术发展到现场测试阶段。该项目的目的是建立一个可持续的、具有成本效益的系统，利用灌溉渠中的可用水电来驱动节水灌溉系统。这包括为HPC/泵/输送点系统开发理论模型，将水电系统集成到灌溉系统本身，以及开发新的供水解决方案。在该项目中，我们将建造和测试小规模和接近全规模的系统，并在西班牙（靠近瓦伦西亚）安装一个系统。该项目将与aQysta有限公司（荷兰德尔夫特，www.aqysta.com）合作运行，并通过aQysta有限公司得到欧盟委员会/中小企业工具的支持。

In classic irrigation systems, the water is distributed from main channels into smaller trenches, which then irrigate the fields or plants. This requires a lot of water, and today it is desirable to utilise water saving drip or sprinkler irrigation systems. These however require pressurised flow. Electric pumps are a possible solution but such systems need electricity lines (the irrigated field may be kilometers away from the next village), pumps and of course electricity. At Southampton University, we developed a very simple water wheel, which combines high efficiency with such low head differences. The wheel can combined with a very simple spiral pump, which could then drive the drip irrigation. In this project, we want to (a) investigate the use the ultra low-head hydropower converters (HPC, H = 0.10 to 0.30 m) to drive water saving irrigation systems using the hydropower available in the irrigation canals. (b) develop the technology up to field testing stage. The aim of the project is, to create a sustainable, cost-effective system, which employs the available hydropower in irrigation canals to drive water saving irrigation systems. This includes the development of a theoretical model for the HPC/pump/delivery point system, the integration of the hydropower system into the irrigation system itself as well as the development of novel solutions for water supply. Within the project, we will build and test small scale and near-full scale systems and install a system in Spain (near Valencia). The project will run in cooperation with aQysta Ltd. (Delft / Netherlands, www.aqysta.com) and is supported by the European Commission / SME instrument through aQysta Ltd..