Self-compensating or turbulent jets - which one to choose? Differences between the two

04.10.2022

When we think about installing a drip irrigation network, we have to take into account several issues, the first of them is the quality of the water, the pressure we have, the type of terrain, the existing topography, etc., etc.
First of all, we must know that to irrigate we need a minimum of pressure and clean water. If we do not have clean water we will have to install corrective measures to make it useful for our irrigation, by means of filters (mesh, ring, sand, etc.), hydrocyclones, or other elements and treatments.


Once we have solved the issue of optimal water for drip irrigation, we are faced with the choice of the different types of drippers and whether to install self-compensating or turbulent drippers, but

Which one do we choose and why?


First of all, it is important to know the two types, since the performance may be different depending on several factors, among others the differences in level that we may have in our land.
Both types of drippers work perfectly, and both seek to have a constant flow, although the behavior of one or the other is completely different depending on the circumstances of each specific case.


Differences between turbulent and self-compensating drippers


The main difference of the self-compensating dripper, is that inside it has a membrane that works under a certain pressure, if the pressure is higher, the membrane opposes a resistance in order to maintain a constant flow, the membrane closes so that the volume of water entering does not increase, so that the incoming flow is the desired and the most uniform possible.
The main advantage is to control the water outlet, that is, the optimum flow, and for this reason we can make longer lines in our installation maintaining a constant flow between the first branch and the last one.

A counterproductive effect may also occur due to excess pressure, i.e., the membrane may clog the water outlet. To avoid this, pressure regulators should be used when necessary.
There are different types of drip irrigation pipes:

  • Black piping (more economical, mainly for agricultural use)
  • Brown piping (for aesthetic gardening purposes)

In very uneven terrain, self-compensating drippers are necessary, since turbulent systems do not respond well to excess pressure on the drippers, resulting in very large flow deviations from one dripper to another.
TIP: In excessively uneven terrain: use self-compensating drippers.

It should also be taken into account that if the land is flat, the turbulent dripper works perfectly, with a very homogeneous flow (depending on the quality of the dripper) and is much more economical, there are very large farms with these types of drippers and with optimal performance.


Turbulent drippers vary their flow depending on the pressure that the water exerted on them, i.e., if we have large slopes, the difference in elevation will affect us, which we will have to take into account.

Conclusion: Which dripper to use?
As a general rule, we will use self-compensating drippers.

when we have slopes that affect our irrigation network, and we will use turbulent drippers in straight lines and without differences in elevation.
There are many types of drippers both turbulent and self-compensating (punctured, adjustable, detachable, inserted, circular, tablet, etc.)....) the best choice is the one that best suits our needs and type of terrain, there is no exact rule to determine that a dripper or pipe with inserted dripper is better than another, that difference will give us the quality of the dripper, the quality of the pipe, the raw material of the pipe (recycled or virgin) the thickness of the pipe, etc. ...

 

 

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