Flux Control Methodology for Optimum Fertilization Based on Differential Pressure Fertilization Device
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 7
Abstract
Differential pressure fertilization devices are applied widely in cultivated areas. The device suffers from local insufficient or excessive fertilization, which causes environmental pollution and decreases grain production. A flux control methodology is proposed to maintain optimum fertilization for the device based on fertilizer continuity equation. The fertigation flux is constant in the proposed methodology, and the target fertilizer concentration decreases linearly in the device to maintain the optimum fertilization from the fertigation system inlet. The methodology is applied directly for fertilizer in the case of a large dispersion coefficient when the mixture of water and fertilizer is immediate and uniform. An extra parameter is required, and a simple predictor-corrector method is suggested for fertilizer in case of small dispersion coefficient. A grade regulation method is suggested for convenient application of the methodology. A developed numerical model was applied to verify the methodology’s feasibility for optimum fertilization. The numerical model simulates the mixing of water and fertilizer fairly well for different fertilizer dispersion coefficients and indicates the applicability of the flux control methodology. The flux control methodology well simulates optimum fertilization, and both the simple predictor-corrector method and the grade regulation method have the potential to improve the performance of fertigation application based on differential pressure fertilization device.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
The project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51836010 and 41961144014), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFD0201502), and the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (Grant No. 2019TC133).
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 7 • July 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 28, 2020
Accepted: Jan 30, 2021
Published online: Apr 26, 2021
Published in print: Jul 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Sep 26, 2021
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