Modeling study demonstrates 17.4% to 52.3% hydraulic power savings in pressurized irrigation systems, indicating efficiency constraints from flow-independent head.
Pressurized irrigation systems are commonly sized for peak demand but may operate for long periods at lower discharge. This paper estimates the theoretical reduction in hydraulic power when supplied head is matched to partial demand and examines the limiting effect of the flow-independent share of total head. An idealized reference system (60 m³ h⁻¹, 40 m design head) was evaluated at 100, 85, 70 and 55% of design flow for constant-head fractions from 0.25 to 0.75. At 55% flow, the theoretical saving ranged from 17.4 to 52.3%. Changing the friction exponent from 2.0 to 1.852 altered the intermediate-case estimate by no more than 1.4 percentage points. The formulation is intended for preliminary hydraulic screening; it does not predict pump speed or actual electrical-energy savings.
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Bayramov et al. (2026) studied this question.
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