A Design of an Expert System for Selecting Pumps Used in Agricultural Irrigation

The economical development of Turkey depends on agriculture so yield in agricultural production has to be increased for improving Turkey’s economy. Irrigation is also very important factor to increase yield per unit area. Different kinds of pumps such as centrifugal, submersible and deep well turbines are used according to the system conditions for irrigation of agricultural areas. It is very difficult to find an expert at desired time and desired place for choosing correct pump which are varied in different kinds and models. In this study, this problem was to be tried to solve by designing of an expert system. The choosing of proper pump is very important because of the plant efficiency.
The expert system database was formed by using data obtained from commonly used pumps in Turkey. Flow rate and total manometric head which are important for selecting pump were determined by taking into consideration irrigation area, irrigation methods, water resource, climate, soil properties, crop pattern and well characteristics. The software of expert system was developed for Windows operation system by using Visual Basic Programming Language. In this expert system, when the programme is operated, the trademark/model of pump having the lowest specific energy consumption is determined to be the most suitable pump for the plant at the end of the programme.