14452 - Agricoltural Hydraulic,Irrigation And Drainage

Learning outcomes

At the end of the teaching, the student acquires the most important principles and notions of the agricultural hydraulics and technical elements for managing water for irrigation and drainage.

Course contents

Formative Pre-requirements

The student must own a basic preparation thanks to studied principles of mathematics and physics and to some notions of agronomy and agro-meteorology. These pre-requirements are provided by the respective courses of the Bachelor’s degree.

Unit 1 - Agricultural hydraulics (25 hours)

- Base notions and principal quantities of the agricultural hydraulics.

- Hydrostatics: distribution of pressure in a fluid in quiet, law of Stevin,

- Hydrodynamics: types of flows and motions, the Bernoulli’s theorem for ideal and real (energetic dissipations) fluids.

- Flows in pressure: distributed and located losses of hydraulic load, long conducts, problems of verification and design.

- Surface flows: constructive characterization of canals, problems of verification and design.

Competences acquired in unit 1

The student matures the competence of language and management of the quantities of the hydraulics.

The student understands the phenomena that appear both in quiet (hydrostatics) and in movement (hydrodynamics) water.

The student acquires tools for facing problems of verification and design both in long conducts and in open channels.

Unit 2 - Irrigation (24 hours)

- Base concepts and definition of the fundamental quantities - classification of the irrigation according to agronomic and territorial criterions, necessity and convenience of the irrigation.

- Gravitational methods of irrigation (sliding, infiltration, submersion).

- Methods of irrigation in pressure: sprinkling - constitutive elements, typologies of business systems, self-propelled systems, typology and characterization of the irrigators.

- Methods of irrigation in pressure: micro-irrigation - constitutive elements with particular attention to nozzles, systems of filtering, fertirrigation.

- Pump systems and other equipment: classification of the pumps, fundamental quantities, characterization of pumps and other equipment.

Competences acquired in unit 2

The student possesses the correct technical approach in the context of the explained techniques of irrigation.

The student is able to choose the suitable technique of irrigation in relation to the different business realities.

The student knows criterions to calculate the principal parameters of irrigation.

Unit 3 - Drainage (6 hours)

- Relationship between water and drainage.

- Classification of the types of drains and their respective use: horizontal drainage, vertical drainage.

Competences acquired in unit 3

The student is able to identify the characteristic elements of both superficial and underground systems of drainage.

The student recognizes the most proper setup for the drainage of the water in excess.

Unit 4 - Exercises and didactic visits (25 hours)

- Numerical exercises of hydrostatics: diagram of pressure and evaluation of push on plain surfaces, identification of the center of push.
- Numerical exercises of hydrodynamics and long conducts: problems of verification and project.
- Numerical exercises of surface flows: problems of verification and project.
- Design of irrigation systems, examples.

- Didactic/field visit.

Competences acquired in unit 4

The student identifies and calculates the fundamental quantities of the agricultural hydraulics.

The student is able to verify and project conducts in pressure and channels.

In a specific context, the student is able to choose the most suitable scheme of irrigation.

The student understands the studied tools in the field.

Readings/Bibliography

Lecture notes of “Agriculture Hydraulics, Irrigation and Drainage” (in .pdf format downloadable on the teacher’s website) and didactic material.

Texts for further information:

A. Capra, B. Scicolone; “Progettazione e Gestione degli impianti di irrigazione”; Edagricole; Bologna; 2007

V. Ferro; “Elementi di idraulica e idrologia per le scienze agrarie, ambientali e forestali”; McGraw-Hill; Milano; 2013

 

Teaching methods

The course is divided in four didactic unities. The first three units are theoretical. They are developed through frontal lessons supported by slides in PowerPoint. Demonstrations will be done through the help of blackboard and doubts will be clarified with opportune tools. The fourth didactic unit foresees numerical exercises that would be developed from the teacher and students. The material will be provided both on paper or on digital format. Also seminars and specific detailed analysis would be done in order to satisfy the difficulties and requirements of the students. The didactic visit is an integral part of the course because it is useful and necessary to understand the mechanisms of different irrigation systems in the field.

Assessment methods

The verification of the learning consists in a written examination (two or three numerical exercises of agricultural hydraulics and free answers to three / four questions related to irrigation and drainage). The exercises will be similar to those made during the practical lessons. If the student judges the positive final evaluation not satisfactory, he/she has the possibility to sustain an additional oral exam. Students wishing to take the examination in English are allowed; in this case a communication is needed in advance.

Teaching tools

Slides in PowerPoint, blackboard, computer, didactic material.

Office hours

See the website of Attilio Toscano