i hereby declare that i have read this thesis and in my...

I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my opinion this thesis is sufficient

in terms of scope and quality for the award of the bachelor of Mechanical

Engineering (Thermal-Fluid)

Signature : ………………………

Name of Supervisor : Mr. Cheng See Yuan

Date : ………………………

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATED IRRIGATION SYSTEM

FOR HOME GARDEN

MOHD NAZIF BIN CHE NOK @ NAWI

This PSM report is submitted to Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka in partial fulfillment for

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Fluid)

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka

MAY 2008

ii

“I hereby the author, declare this report entitled “DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

OF AUTOMATED IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR HOME GARDEN

is my own except for quotations and summaries which have been duly

acknowledged”

Signature : ………………………………

Author : MOHD NAZIF BIN CHE NOK @ NAWI

Date : ……………………………….

iii

A special thanks goes to my Projek Sarjana Muda supervisor, Mr Cheng

See Yuan for the encouragement and support during the project process.

Not forgotten to my beloved parents, Nawi B. Isa and Noriman Bt.

Zakaria for their love, inspiration and caring towards me. Not forgotten

to all my friends, lecturers, technician and Mr Rahmat for their

contribution in completing this project. Thank you so much for your

guidance, strong support and lifelong encouragement...

Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka

May 2008

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillah with His Mercy and Blessings, my greatest gratitude to Allah

the Almighty for the chances given to me to complete this project. My first

acknowledgement goes to Mr. Cheng See Yuan, my project supervisor. Thanks for

his tremendous help, advice, inspiration and unending guidance to me until

completing this thesis. Without him, this project will not exist. The fundamental idea

behind this project is his and he never stop from giving me support and

encouragement in completing this project. Without his valuable guidance, I would

not have been able to achieve the objectivity of this project.

Not forgotten, to my beloved parents, Mr. Nawi B. Isa and Mrs. Noriman bt

Zakaria. Your love and caring really touched me. Thanks so much for giving me

lifelong encouragement, inspiration and support. May Allah bless both of you.

To Mr. Razmi and Mr. Rahmat, the two persons that help me so much while

do the experiments. Thank so much for the idea and support given to me. Lastly, my

acknowledgments go to my friends who really understand and willing to cooperate

with me in the process of completing this project. Without your supports, I will never

go this far.

v

ABSTRAK

The scopes of this proposed project are to research about irrigation type and

flowers or ornamental plants in Malaysia. The scopes also involve the research to

determine the home garden area according to the different type of house, flow rate of

the irrigation system and the relationship between the pressure drop or friction loss

with the length of the piping system. In the irrigation system for home garden, there

are several problems occur which is the system must be able to operate according to

the irrigation time interval for each plant and the system must able to deliver water

according to how much the plants require water. Therefore, as a solution a timer will

be install in the system to control the irrigation time interval and deliver the water

according to the water required for each type of plant. For this project design, four

timers were used to avoid the problem. Several interviews and a survey had been

conduct to research the irrigation system. Two experiments also had been conduct to

investigate the relation between pressure drop or friction loss with the length of the

piping system. For this project design, four types of plant were involved according to

the survey which is fern type, palm type, flower type and grasses. The irrigation type

of this design is using the combination of drip and sprinkler irrigation system based

on the feedback from the survey. Sample calculation also had been done to determine

the water required for each type of plant and the irrigation time interval. For fern and

flower type, water quantity needed is about 0.617 and 1.045 liter in one day and for

palm and grass type, the water that needs to irrigate them in one day is about 1.389

liter and 61.74 liter. The Irrigation time for fern type and flower type in one day is 21

minutes and 35 minutes. While for palm type and grasses type is 47 minutes and 14

minutes. From the experiments, if the length of the piping system increases, pressure

drop or friction loss will also increase except for the length of the 4 mm diameter

LDPE tube.

vi

ABSTRAK

Dalam projek ini, bidang kajian yang terlibat adalah kajian mengenai jenis-

jenis sistem pengairan dan juga jenis-jenis tumbuhan hiasan di Malaysia. Kajian juga

melibatkan keluasan halaman rumah, kadar alir air di dalam sistem pengairan dan

juga kajian untuk menentukan perhubungan diantara kehilangan tekanan air dengan

panjang sistem paip. Dalam sistem pengairan untuk halaman rumah, ada beberapa

masalah yang berlaku. Antaranya sistem itu perlu membekalkan air mengikut kadar

keperluan air yang diperlukan oleh sesuatu tumbuhan. Untuk itu, alat yang dipanggil

timer dipasang pada sistem pengairan untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini. Untuk

rekaan sistem pengairan pada projek ini, empat timer dipasang untuk mengatasi

masalah tersebut. Beberapa temubual dan juga tinjauan telah dilakukan untuk

mengkaji dengan lebih mendalam mengenai sistem pengairan ini. Dua eksperimen

juga telah dijalankan untuk mengkaji hubungan diantara kehilangan tekanan air

dengan panjang sistem paip. Dalam rekaan untuk projek ini, sebanyak empat jenis

tanaman terlibat berdasarkan maklum balas yang diterima daripada tinjauan yang

telah dibuat. Jenis-jenis tanaman tersebut adakah tanaman jenis herba, bunga, pokok

palma dan juga tanaman jenis rumput yang digunakan untuk menutupi kawasan

halaman sesebuah rumah. Jenis sistem pengairan yang digunakan dalam rekaan

projek ini adalah sistem pengairan yang mengabungkan pengairan jenis menitis dan

juga pengairan jenis merenjis. Pengiraan juga telah dilakukan untuk mengetahui

kadar keperluan air bagi sesuatu jenis tumbuhan. Untuk tumbuhan jenis herba dan

pokok bunga, keperluan air dalam satu hari bagi setiap jenis tanaman tersebut ialah

0.617 liter dan 1.045 liter. Manakala bagi tanaman jenis palma dan juga tanaman

jenis rumput, sebanyak 1.389 liter dan 61.74 liter air diperlukan. Berdasarkan

eksperimen yang telah dibuat, hubungan diantara kehilangan tekanan air dengan

panjang sistem paip ialah jika panjang paip meningkat, maka kehilangan tekanan air

juga akan meningkat.

vii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER SUBJECT PAGE

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLE x

LIST OF FIGURE xii

LIST OF SYMBOL xv

LIST OF APPENDIX xvi

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Problem Statement 2

1.3 Objectives 3

1.4 Scopes 3

1.5 Expected Result 3

viii


CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Introduction 4

2.2 What is Irrigation? 4

2.3 Type of Irrigation System 5

2.3.1 Drip or Micro or Trickle Irrigation 5

2.3.1.1 Type of Drip Irrigation 7

2.3.1.2 Plant Require 9

2.3.1.3 Advantage 10

2.3.1.4 Disadvantages 10

2.3.1.5 Component in Drip Irrigation

System

11

2.3.2 Sprinkler or Overhead Irrigation 14

2.3.2.1 Component of Sprinkler Irrigation

System

15

2.3.2.2 Type of Sprinkler System 16

2.3.2.3 Type of Sprinkler Head 21

2.3.2.4 Basic Body Styles of Sprinkler Head 26

2.3.2.5 Suitable 27

2.3.3 Comparison between Sprinkler and

Drip System

28

2.3.4 Flood Irrigation 29

2.3.4.1 Suitable 29


2.3.4.3 Disadvantage 30

2.3.5 Subsurface Irrigation 30

2.3.5.1 Suitable 31


2.3.5.3 Disadvantage 32

2.4 Classification of Plant 33

2.5 Home Garden Area 33

ix


CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 35

3.1 Study the Project 35

3.2 Decide and Design the System 36

3.3 Conducting an Experiment 36

3.3.1 Experiment’s Procedure: 38

CHAPTER 4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION 48

4.1 Result of the Survey 48

4.2 Sample Calculation 49

4.3 Design of the Automated Irrigation

System

52

4.4 Experiment Result 56

4.4.1 Experiment 1 56

4.4.2 Experiment 2 61

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 66

5.1 Conclusion 66

5.2 Recommendation 67

REFERENCES 70

BIBLIOGRAPHY 74

APPENDIX A 75

APPENDIX B 76

x

LIST OF TABLE

No. of Table Title Page

1 Component of drip irrigation system 11

2 Comparison between sprinkler and drip system 28

3 Components of the experiment 39





8 Calculation result 52

9 Type of plant in the home garden design 52

10 Components in the automated irrigation system 54

11 Flow rate of the main pipe 56

12 Flow rate of arrow drippers for 1/3 open valve 57

13 Flow rate of arrow drippers for 2/3 open valve 57

14 Flow rate of arrow drippers for fully open valve 58

15 Flow rate of arrow drippers for 1½ turns of valve

opening

61

16 Flow rate of arrow drippers for 3 turns of valve

opening

61


opening

61


opening

62


opening

62

xi

No. of Table Title Page


opening

62


opening

63


opening

63


opening

64

24 Plant factor value 75

25 PET value 75

26 Irrigation efficiency value 75

xii

LIST OF FIGURE

No. of Figure Title Page

1 Layout of drip irrigation system 6

2 Example of emitter 8

3 Example of lasso method 8

4 Components in drip irrigation system 14

5 Pattern of impulse sprinklers deliver water 17

6 Example of impulse sprinklers 17

7 Example of traveling sprinklers 18

8 Example of hand-move or portable sprinkler system 19

9 Example of LEPA Systems 20

10 Example of LEPA Systems 20

11 Pattern of pop-up oscillating sprinklers delivers

water

23

12 Example of pop-up oscillating sprinklers 23

13 Example of spray arm 23

14 Example of fixed-spray sprinklers 24

15 Example of rotating-impact sprinklers 25

16 Example of rotating multi-stream sprinklers 26

17 Example of rotating-spray sprinklers 26

18 Example of pop-up style sprinklers 27

19 Pattern type of rotor and spray sprinkler delivery

water

27

20 Example of flood irrigation 30

21 Example of subsurface irrigation 33

22 Example of soil erosion occur from subsurface

irrigation system

33

xiii


23 Layout of the experiment’s piping system 38

24 Picture of the experiment’s piping system 39

25 Dimension for layout of experiment’s piping

system

40

26 Volume is be taken to calculate the flow rate of the

main pipe

40

27 Arrow drippers and 4 mm diameter LDPE tube are

install to the 16 mm diameter LDPE pipe

41

28 16 mm diameter LDPE pipe is connect to the16

mm diameter LDPE 90° elbow

42



arrow dripper

44

31 Arrow drippers and 4 mm diameter LDPE tube are

install to the 16 mm diameter LDPE pipe

44



arrow dripper

46

34 Methodology flow chart 47

35 Layout of the home garden 52

36 Layout of the piping system for automated

irrigation system in the home garden

53

37 Layout of the automated irrigation system 53

38 Dimension for layout of the automated irrigation

system

54

39 Graph flow rate vs. length of the 16 mm diameter

LDPE pipe

58


LDPE tube for arrow dripper no.1 which is located

one feet from the entry

64

xiv



LDPE tube for arrow dripper no.5 which is located

five feet from the entry.

64


LDPE tube for arrow dripper no.10 which is

located ten feet from the entry.

65

xv

LIST OF SYMBOL

PET = Potential Evaporation, in / day

D = Diameter of a Plant Root, ft

Δ PL = Pressure Drop, kPa

ƒ = Darcy Friction Factor

L = Length of a Pipe, m

ρ = Density of Fluid, kg / m3

v = Velocity, m/s

D = Diameter of a Pipe, m

C = Coefficient of Friction

Q = Flow Rate, gpm

xvi

LIST OF APPENDIX

No. of Appendix Title Page

APPENDIX A Table of plant factor value, PET value and

irrigation efficiency value

75

APPENDIX B Sample questioner for survey 77

The layout of the drip irrigation system for

landscape area

The layout of the arrow dripper system

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Most of the home in Malaysia has their own yard. The yard area is depending

on the type of the house. Bungalow has more large yard area compare to terrace

house. The yard area is not same for the house which has same type. So, it depends

on the contractor which builds that house.

Usually, flowers or ornamental plants are planted or cultivated in the yard to

make it look more beautiful and to decorate it. In Malaysia, this crop is classification

into five type or class. The classes are climber, fern, shrub, palm, tree, grasses,

flower and aquatic plant.

So, water must be supply to those plants so that the plant can grow. Watering

or irrigation system can be dividing into six types. The types are flood irrigation,

overhead or sprinkler irrigation, center pivot irrigation, lateral move irrigation, drip

or trickle irrigation and sub irrigation [2]. But, center pivot irrigation and lateral

move irrigation can be classification in overhead or sprinkler irrigation [3].

In Malaysia, most of the plants which grow in yard are watering by hand

watering. This type is popular because it is an effective and efficient way of applying

water to selected plants that show signs of stress during dry periods. The direct

2

application of water to the base of the plant provided it is applied slowly enough to

be absorbed by the soil and uses less water [4]. It also is the most cheap and easy

type irrigation compare to other.

But, in several case the hand watering is not suitable to use. This is because if

the owner is getting out in several days or weeks for work or holiday, so who will

water their plants? For this solution, overhead or sprinkler irrigation, drip or trickle

irrigation or sub irrigation is suitable for irrigate home garden because they can add

timer to their system. The owner can setting the timer which install at their irrigation

system to set up the time and how many time their home garden want to irrigate.

This research is more specially to design and development the suitable type

of irrigation in home garden. The result obtained of this study hopefully can be used

as a reference or guideline by other researcher.

1.2 Problem Statement

Irrigation or watering system is usually used is a hand watering system which

is not suitable for those who busy with work and like having vacations. This is

because if they are busy with work, they will have not enough time or forget to water

their home garden. That is same as with those out stationed for several days or weeks

for visiting relatives or having vacations and their home garden will be not watering.

To design the suitable system also is a problem because it depends on the

area of the yard and the type of the flowers or ornamental plants which want to plant.

It is because there is system which suitable for large area and there is a system which

suitable for small area. These systems also different for each type of the plant

because each system have different water flow rate and the plant also need different

water supply.

3

1.3 Objectives

The objectives of this proposed project are:

a) To study the concept of irrigation system for home garden.

b) To research about equipments or components in irrigation system.

c) To design and develop an automated irrigation system for home garden.

1.4 Scope

The scopes of this proposed project are:

a) Research about irrigation type.

b) Research about flowers or ornamental plants in Malaysia.

c) Research about home garden area according to the different type of house.

d) Research about the flow rate of the irrigation system.

e) Research about the relationship between the pressure drop and friction loss

with the length of the piping system.

f) Design and development the irrigation system.

1.5 Expected Result

This system must delivered water to home garden according to how much

water the plants are need. For residential house the water source usually come from

the main pipe, the water meter. So, this system will connect to the water tank which

located at the roof of the house and the water will flow through the components of

the irrigation system such as valve, filter and other to the plant.

4

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The literature review is based on the physics of the project undertaken here,

concentrating on the irrigation system in home garden, type of irrigation, components

in irrigation system, classification of plants, and home garden area.

2.2 What is Irrigation?

Irrigation is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from

another source in order to grow crops or plants [5]. Supplementary irrigation is the

application of water to plants when natural precipitation is not adequate to secure

crop production. Depending on the size of the farm and type of irrigation system,

application of water is possible by using modern power sources from deep well

pumps and by storage of large quantities of water in reservoirs, ponds, streams and

rivers. City water is also often used directly by small farmers who use drip irrigation

for their vegetable gardens.

Under the climatic condition of the southeastern regions, supplementary

irrigation during dry spell periods is essential to secure plants production. If water

shortage occurs early in the crop’s development, maturity may be delayed and yield

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain

5

could be reduced significantly. Similarly, if moisture shortage occurs later in the

growing season, quality is often reduced even though total yields are not affected [6].

It is essential to maintain soil moisture during the growing seasons of plants. Humans

are able to collect, store, and bring water to the land to produce crops and other

desirable plants. Whenever plant growing areas receive 20" of precipitation or less

(semi-arid), irrigation is necessary to insure continuous plant growth. So, the purpose

of irrigation is to supply water to plants during dry periods of plant growth [8].

2.3 Type of Irrigation System

The methods of applying irrigation may be classified as surface, subsurface,

sprinkler and drip/micro irrigation [6].

2.3.1 Drip or Micro or Trickle Irrigation

Drip irrigation is watering at a slow rate (or drip) right at the roots of plants.

Root irrigation is a good water conservation choice because it provides a deeper level

of watering than surface watering, which is prone to wastage due to evaporation and

runoff. The drip irrigation lines do not need to be buried (although they can be if the

owner prefer), so it can easily move them about and make adjustments to the

watering pattern as needed [9]. Water is applied in the form of drops, tiny streams, or

miniature sprays [19]. It also doesn't wet plant leaves, and helping to control some

diseases [10].

Drip irrigation slowly delivers water directly to the plant's root zone through

a tube with little drippers in it. Studies show that drip irrigation can save you up to 70

percent of applied water compared with an overhead sprinkler system. The best time

to install drip irrigation is right after you plant your shrubs or perennials. That way

it's easy to get in and around the plants [11]. It is the most common type of micro

irrigation [12].

6

A drip system can be as simple as a few emitters on a specific zone to a series

of drip zones that water foundation plantings, container-grown flowers, and

vegetable gardens. In all cases, drip installations require additional and more

complex equipment than the typical sprinkler system, including pressure reducing

equipment and filters. With a drip system, the valves and controller must be carefully

selected to ensure they are compatible with the watering times and flow rates used in

drip irrigation. Problems with a drip system may be harder to pinpoint and more

difficult to fix. Poor filtration and back siphoning of contaminants into the emitters

can render the system ineffective in a short time [13]. These little drippers, about the

size of a quarter don’t hang above the plants and drip but are actually laid along the

ground. Linked to an appropriate water source by a main feeder hose, they provide a

slow and steady flow of water [14].

Fig. 1 : Layout of drip irrigation system

7

2.3.1.1 Type of Drip Irrigation

Several types of drip or trickle equipment are available such as soaker hose,

emitter type system, micro sprinklers or micro spray heads and subsurface drip

irrigation or SDI.

a) Soaker hose [10]

The easiest to use as no installation is required.

It is a fibrous hose that allows water to slowly seep out all along its

length.

It is simply laid at the base of the plants and moved around the garden.

b) Emitter type

In which short tubes, or emitters, come off a main water supply hose and

go right to the roots [10].

Also called as dripper is a device to transfer water from a pipe or tube to

the area to be irrigated [17].

Typical emitter flow rates are from 0.16 to 4.0 US gallons per hour (0.6 to

16 L/h) [17].

Flow will vary with pressure, while some emitters are pressure

compensating [17].

These emitters employ silicone diaphragms or other means to allow them

to maintain a near-constant flow over a range of pressures, for example

from 10 to 50 psi (70 to 350 kPa) [17].

Emitter discharge rates for drip and subsurface irrigation are generally

less than 12 liters per hour.

Most emitters emit 4 liters/hour (4,0 l/hr) of water. That's about 1 gallon

per hour (1 gph) [15].

Use pressure compensating emitters if irrigating a hilly area

Most emitters operate best at around 20 PSI. At pressures over 45 PSI

emitters may blow apart. Barbed emitters in poly tubing may pop out of

the tubing at 30 PSI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Micro-spray_head&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragm_(mechanics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound-force_per_square_inch

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