Methodology to improve pumping station management of on-demand irrigation networks

• Aiming to improve the energy efficiency of pumping stations in irrigation networks.
• Minimum pressure head at pumping stations do not always ensure maximum efficiency.
• The efficiency of the pumping station for each Q-H combination needs to be considered.
• This methodology helps managers of irrigation districts to reduce energy consumption.

The energy efficiency of pumping stations in irrigation networks was examined using a methodology to determine the optimum pumping station regulation. The methodology was developed in the MATLAB® environment using the EPANET® toolkit and developed using three on-demand irrigation networks located in the Castilla—La Mancha region of Spain. In each irrigation network, the energy efficiency and energy consumption were obtained for three cases: a fixed pumping head, a pumping head that guaranteed minimum pressure head required at the open hydrant and a pumping head that minimised the absorbed power at the pumping station. With the three networks average energy savings of 3%, 7% and 30% were obtained by using the optimum pressure head compared with the current management based on fixed pressure regulation. This methodology is intended to be useful in irrigable areas to improve the management of pumping systems where the use of fixed pressure regulation is extensive. It is important to measure electrical and hydraulic parameters of pumps which make it possible to determine the energy efficiency of a pumping station for each combination of discharge and pressure head as well as the pressure head which minimises the energy consumed for the pumping station to guarantee a specific pressure at open hydrants. These results were related to the fact that with fixed pressures, and mainly low and medium discharges, the energy efficiency of pumping systems can drop.