Flats Mentor Farm (FMF) currently irrigates 7 acres of farmland by pumping well water to holding tanks, from which farmers must fill buckets and carry some distance to their plots to manually water their crops. The project team, in conjunction with representatives from FMF, developed and proposed alternative irrigation methods to replace the existing system, considering various irrigators, filtration systems, and pump designs, and eventually deciding on a MegaNet sprinkler system driven by an unused gasoline-powered pump at FMF, with lay flat line and PVC connections. To simulate the system, the project team built a small-scale prototype simulating irrigation for a 25’ by 25’ plot using a 0.5 hp pump. Difficulties in lay flat line and slip-on PVC connections prevented the prototype from reaching the desired pressure (35 psi). Nevertheless, the irrigation system prototype demonstrated proper MegaNet sprinkler function at low pressure (6 psi). Prototype irrigation system function, despite a proportionally weaker prototyping pump, also suggests proper pump function in the full-scale design.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Fankhanel, Nathan
• Brennan, Sophia R.

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 5651
• E-project-031321-161801

Advisor

• Sturm, Stephan
• Mallick, Rajib B.
• Sabuncu, Ahmet Can
• Rudolph, Jennifer

Year

• 2021

Sponsor

• Flats Mentor Farm

Date created

• 2021-03-13

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering
• Civil Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Última modificação

• 2021-05-03