Effect of Gravel Zone Widths on Critical Plunge Depth and Vortex Formation in Irrigation Wells

This study was carried out on a deep well model for typical irrigation purposes. In this study, hydraulic load, equipment diameter, filter type, filter length and pump type are kept constant. In this study, noise level, outlet pressure, vacuum pressure, water inflow velocity, drawn power values were measured for three different levels of gravel zone width for different irrigation flow rates and plunge depths. As a result of the measurements obtained, the effect of different pebble zone widths on critical plunge depth, depth and type of vortex plunge, noise and power values were determined. According to the research findings, the depth of the critical plunge increased as the flow rate increased for all three gravel zone widths. The critical depth of plunge did not show a significant change in constant flow and different gravel zone thicknesses. The critical depth of the plunge ranged from 257.6 to 617.7 mm in all combinations. The depth of the plunge plunging at the low plunge depth was increased with the increase of the flow rate. The types of vortexes vary depending on the flow and depth of plunge. Generally, vortex with continuous air inlet at low depths, while vortices formed at slightly higher plunge depths have been identified as non-air inlet type. It was observed that the average noise level of the pump at different depths of flow in the constant flow rate values was obtained at the lowest ？ZK1 combination and the highest in the ？ZK3 combination. It was determined that the gravel zone widths had no direct effect on the critical depth of the pump but indirectly affected