International Journal of Advanced Technology in Engineering and Science www.ijates.

com
Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

WATER IRRIGATION SYSTEM USING

CONTROLLER

Chetna V. Maheshwari1, Dipal Sindha2

1
Assistant Professor, Department of EC Engineering, GCET, V.V.Nagar (India)
2
Department of EC Engineering, GCET, V.V.Nagar, Gujarat (India)

ABSTRACT

In the present work, attempt has been made to design of a programmable logic controller based system to
control an automatic irrigation system as a non human interface system. This paper presents the development of
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and their affordable price has made it possible to use them as stand-
alone irrigation controllers. The purpose of this work is to develop self-governing irrigation systems that use a
single climate criterion which then adapt the irrigation schedule to the observed conditions, leading to a
reasonable saving in the amount of irrigation water. It must also be reliable and easily deployable in order to
work under harsh outdoor conditions without the need for supervision or regular monitoring.

Keywords: PLC; Irrigation; Automation; Hargreaves; Irrigation Controller; Evapotranspiration.

I. INTRODUCTION

Water availability is a critical variable for virtually every economic activity, including agriculture and industry,
the energy sector and public use. Municipalities waste thousands of cubic meters of purified water to maintain
the parks and green areas in cities and towns[1,2]. Irrigation process has been converted as a complex process
because of less manpower is available for low paid jobs like these and also time and over exploitation of energy
made this problem as bulk[3,4]. With respect to the simpler types of irrigation controllers that involves specific
run-times and days and sometimes the controller executes the same schedule regardless of the season or weather
conditions. From time to time a technician may manually adjust the watering schedule, but such adjustments are
usually only made a few times during the year, and are based upon the technicians [5,6]. Perceptions rather than
actual watering needs. These changes to the watering schedule are typically insufficient to achieve efficient
watering. So automation of irrigation system is needed to overtake these problems which apply water to the
landscape based on the water requirements of the plants[7,8]. Many types of irrigation controllers have been
developed for automatically controlling application of water to landscapes [9].
This paper work intends to develop a cost-effective irrigation controller that is adaptive to daily climate
conditions, without the need for expensive sensors and costly weather-stations. Section 2 discusses the Particular
problem of Irrigation system with simple controller. Section 3 talks about the materials and methods proposed
for calculating parameters for the automation of irrigation system. The proposed system and proposed algorithm
is also being discussed in the same section. Section 4 discusses results based on quality analysis. Section 5
provides the conclusion of the proposed process.

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

II. PROBLEM DEFINITION

In agriculture, industry, energy sector and public use water availability is becoming one of the most precious
natural resources. New technique such as irrigation scheduling is available to predict the time and specific
amounts of water required for crop irrigation at particular times can be derived using the soil-water plant
relationship. Irrigation process has been converted as a complex process because of less manpower is available
for low paid jobs like these and also time and over exploitation of energy made this problem as bulk. So
automation of irrigation system is needed to overtake these problems.

The purpose of this work is to create an autonomous irrigation systems that use a single climate criterion to
adapt daily irrigation depths to plant needs. Criteria such as temperature, total radiation and total wind can be
measured directly by PLCs which then adapt the irrigation schedule to the observed conditions, leading to a
reasonable saving in the amount of irrigation water. Thus, this work intends to develop a cost-effective irrigation
controller that is adaptive to daily climate conditions, without the need for expensive sensors and costly weather-
stations.

III. MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this section we discuss the proposed algorithms. Here we have used different types of components for
controlling amount of water for every weather- stations.

i) The Irrigation Controller

An irrigation controllers have additional features such as multiple programs to allow different watering
frequencies for different types of plants, rain delay settings, input terminals for sensors such as rain and freeze
sensors, soil moisture sensors, weather data, remote operation etc[12]. PLCs are “Programmable Logic
Controllers” that are digital computers used for automation of electromechanical processes. They have a
processor, some form of keyboard and screen, have analog /digital input ports and the capacity to command a
number of electric devices through relays. Originally expensive and limited in capacity. The dramatic
development of Programmable Logic Controllers, PLCs, and their rather affordable price has made it possible to
use them as stand-alone irrigation controllers [11].
Basic parts of the PLC are as follows: Processor, Memory, Input/output devices, Programming panel and Power
supply[9].Various industrial PLCs were studied, including the Siemens Micro Master, Ibercomp PLC IV,
Allean Bradly and the Bipom MM-51.After careful consideration the Allean Bradly Micrologix 1400 controller
was selected due to least expensive safety PLC. It provides EtherNet/IP, online editing and a built-in LCD, plus
adding enhanced features, such as increased I/O, faster High Speed Counter/PTO and communication
capabilities and its development is perceived by some as intuitive and easy to use [10].

ii) Irrigation Program

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

The PLC was programmed to carry out hourly temperature readings, and at the end of every 24h period, calculate
the average, maximum and minimum temperatures [13]. With this information it calculates the ETo
(Evapotranspiration ). The flow chart is like following.

 Read day of the year and crop growth stage

 Read thermister voltage
 Calculate temperature
 Manage time of the day and number of measurements still needed
 Wait until next temperature measurement
 Calculate average, maximum and minimum temperatures
 If it is irrigation time Calculate ETo
 Carry out irrigation in different sectors.
 Continue making hourly temperature measurements

ii) System Description

The irrigation control system which is based on PLC is shown in Below figure 1.

Figure 1. Block Diagram of PLC Based Irrigation Control System

1) Temperature Sensor
Here we can use a pyranometer or a thermocouple or a thermistor to measure the air temperature.

i) Pyranometer
A pyranometer as shown in figure 2(a) is a solar radiation sensor that can be applied in scientific grade solar
radiation observations. It is a temperature measuring device but unlike RTDs and thermocouples it’s not in
contact with the surface. It could be optical or radiation pyranometer.

ii) Thermocouple
A thermocouple as in figure 2(b) consists of two conductors of different materials (usually metal alloys) that
produce a voltage in the vicinity of the point where the two conductors are in contact. Thermocouples are a
widely used type of temperature senor for measurement and control and can also be used to convert a
temperature gradient into electricity.

iii)Thermistor

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

A thermistor as in figure 2(c) is a specialized resistor, intentionally designed to be thermally sensitive and its
primary characteristic is its ability to alter its electrical resistance in response to changes in case temperature. In
this ,we use a 1k thermister with a 1% accuracy to measure the air temperature. It was connected in half duplex
to an analog I/O port, using a 1k resistance.

A)Pyranometer (B) Thermocouple (C) Thermistor

Figure 2. Types of Temperature sensors.
These results indicate that the (tmax –tmin) component of the Hargreaves-Samani equation increases with height,
and thus it calculates higher values of ETo. The thermister was placed in a ventilated box, so that the readings
were not influenced by sunshine or by the crop transpiration which usually decreases air temperature.
2) Water pump
A water pump (being represented by dc motor) was a device used to move or pulls water out of a well or a pond
and displaces it volume by physical or mechanical action as shown in figure 3. It is most considered as the heart
of irrigation system. Before selecting an irrigation pump, a careful and complete inventory of the conditions
under which the pump will operated was considered.

Figure. 3 A Water pump

3) Solenoid Valve
The irrigation system was managed by a solenoid valve connected to one of the relays. This arrangement allowed
the controller to command the irrigation events without the need for supervision. Solenoid valves as shown in
figure 4(a), may use metal seals or rubber seals, and may also have electrical interfaces to opened (normally
open) or closed (normally closed) while the valve is not activated as in figure 4(b) & (c).

Solenoid :-
Controls the flow of fluid through a pipe line by the compared action of the plunger along with the magnetic
force created by the coil. The solenoid converts electrical energy into mechanical energy which, in turn, opens or
closes the valve mechanically.
Valve:-

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

The valve is controlled by an electric current through a solenoid. In the case of a two-port valve the flow is
switched on or off; in the case of a three-port valve, the outflow is switched between the two outlet ports.Most
solenoid valves operate on a digital principle. They therefore possess two distinct states, which are (1)when the
coil is activated by an electrical current, and (2) when the valve is resting (without electricity). Valve functions
are defined from the resting position. The direct acting or pilot operated solenoid valves may have two functions,
Normally closed (NC) & Normally Open (NO) as shown in figure 4(b) & (c).

(a)Solenoid Valve (b) Normally closed (NC) (c) Normally Open (NO)
Figure 4. Solenoid Valve & its Function
4) Signal Conditioning Unit

Figure 5. Signal Conditioning Unit

4) PLC(Programmable Logic Controller )

In this research work we have used MicroLogix 1400 Controllers having following specification mention in
Table 1.

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

Table-1 General Specifications

Specification 1766 Controllers

Operating Temperature -20…60 °C (-4…140 °F)

Non operating -40…85 °C (-40…185 °F)

Temperature

Relative Humidity 5…95% non condensing

Vibration 3 g at 10... 500 Hz

Operating Shock 30 g

Non operating Shock Panel mount: 50 g, DIN mount: 40 g

Certifications⋆ UL Listed Industrial Control Equipment for use in Class 1, Division 2, Hazardous
Locations, Groups A, B, C, D

5) Ladder Logic
5.1 Ladder Logic Inputs
PLC inputs are easily represented in ladder logic. There are three types of inputs ,first two are normally open and
normally closed inputs, discussed previously. The IIT (Immediate Input) function allows inputs to be read after
the input scan, while the ladder logic is being scanned. Normally open, an active input x will close the contact
and allow power to flow and closed, power flows when the input x is not open as in below figure 6. IIT X
immediate inputs will take current values, not those from the previous input scan.

Open Closed
Figure.6 Ladder Logic Inputs
5.2 Ladder Logic Outputs
In ladder logic there are multiple types of outputs, but these are not consistently available on all PLCs. The first
is a normal output, when energized the output will turn on, and energize an output. The circle with a diagonal
line through is a normally on output. When energized the output will turn off. When power is applied (on) the
output x is activated for the left output, but turned off for the output on the right.

An input transition on will cause the output x to go on for one scan (this is also known as a one shot relay).

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

When the L coil is energized, x will be toggled on, it will stay on until the U coil is energized. This is like a flip-
flop and stays set even when the PLC is turned off.

Some PLCs will allow immediate outputs that do not wait for the program scan to end before setting an output.

Figure .7 Logic Outputs

A ladder diagram in figure 8 consists of a downward line on the left side with lines branching to the right.
Existing line on the left side is called the bus bar, whereas the branching lines are lines of instructions or steps.
Instructions are placed along the line of a variety of conditions linked to the other instructions on the right side.
Logic combination of the conditions stated when and how the existing instructions on the right side is done.

Figure.8 Example of ladder diagram

6) SCADA SYSTEM
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems means different things to different people, depending
on their backgrounds and perspectives .It is vital component of most nations’ critical infrastructures. They
control pipelines, water and transportation systems, utilities, refineries, chemical plants, a wide variety of
manufacturing operations, we have work on the application of this system in irrigation for the first time in the
Gaza Strip in particular and Palestine in general. SCADA provides management with real-time data on
production operations, implements more efficient control paradigms, improves plant and personnel safety, and
reduces costs of operation. SCADA is the technology that enables a user to collect data from one or more distant
facilities and/or send limited control instructions to those facilities. Or A system operating with coded signals
over communication channels so as to provide control of RTU (Remote Terminal Unit) equipment. some of the
typical SCADA software components are listed below :

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

• SCADA master/client : • SCADA slave/data server

---Human Machine Interface(HMI). --Real-time system manager.
---Alarm handling. --Data processing applications.
---Event and log monitoring. --Report generator.
---Special applications. --Alarm handling.
---ActiveX controls. --Drivers and interfaces to control components .
--Charting and trending.
--Typical SCADA system architecture
--Spreadsheet.
--Data logging.

IV RESULT DISCUSSION
In this research work we have used Micro Logix 1400 Controllers. we have programmed this controller so that it
controls the opening and closing of the main valve and zonal valve of the irrigation system. As a result of this
programming we received the following type of condition of the valves as in below figure 9(a),(b) & (c) for the
main pump, master valve and zonal valve respectively.

(a) Main Pump

(b) Master Valve

(c ) Zonal Valve
Figure 9 Valve control condition

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Volume No.02, Special Issue No. 01, September 2014 ISSN (online): 2348 – 7550

We have also implement this irrigation system using SCADA system .This system clearly shows the condition
of each valve and also all pipeline as shown in below figure 10.

Figure 10 System Using SCADA

V CONCLUSION
From this system we can clearly define the advantage of this irrigation system based on PLC that it is very
flexible as only one single Programmable Logic Controller can easily run many machines. Correcting errors in
PLC is extremely short and cost effective. Programmable Logic Control memory is getting bigger and bigger this
means that we can generate more and more contacts, coils, timers, sequencers, counters and so on. We can have
thousands of contact timers and counters in a single PLC. The program can be tested, validated and corrected
saving very valuable time. Prices of Programmable Logic Controllers vary from few hundreds to few thousands.
When running a PLC program a visual operation can be seen on the screen. Hence troubleshooting a circuit is
really quick, easy and simple.

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