Influence of sediment particle size on clogging performance of labyrinth path emitters

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of small sediment particles containing in muddy water on anti-clogging performance of oblique dental labyrinth channel drip emitters. A total of 8 types of muddy water with different particle size distribution (all less than 0.1 mm) were tested by short-term clogging tests. Based on these trials, the effect of two factors (sediments’ diameter and muddy water concentration) on emitter’s clogging were analyzed, and then the range of sensitive particle diameters and the level of sediment concentration were discussed.The results showed that the performance of emitters was greatly impacted by the sediment concentration in muddy water with sediment particle size <0.1mm, especially when sediment concentration was greater than 1.25 g/L. This finding indicated the positive relationship between sediment concentration and the clogging process.On the other hand, the sediment particle diameter neither monotonically increased nor decreased the clogging.Emitters are prone to being clogged when particle size ranges between 0.03 and 0.04 mm. The findings from the study will be beneficial for the practical application of muddy water in drip irrigation.