Save Energy and Money With Variable Frequency Drives | by Wade Sikkink

When growers look to invest in new products or technology for their farming operation, they generally expect to get one of two things out of the investment. It will either increase their output (yield) or it will reduce their operating costs. Either one is a good thing. When growers invest in irrigation equipment they tend to be focused on the yield side of the equation. Adding center pivot irrigation will give a grower higher, more reliable yields, and he can expect that equipment to pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time.

However, irrigation is not just about increasing yield. The equipment and pumping stations have operational costs, so growers also look for ways to reduce those costs. A great way to do that is by using Variable Frequency Drives on your electric pumps. A Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is an electronic device that can change the frequency of the supplied power to a pump or other electric motor. This means that the pump doesn’t always have to operate at the same speed, but can operate at different speeds depending on demand. 

Let me use an example to illustrate. Corner machines are a great way to add additional irrigated acres to your investment in a center pivot. A typical corner machine on a quarter-mile pivot can pick up as much as 25 acres. However, corner machines can have a big effect on your pumping system. The difference in flow between when the corner machine is extended vs. retracted can be 35 percent or more. That’s significant! If your pump only operates at one speed, and is sized correctly to provide the right amount of water when the corner machine is extended, then it’s going too fast and providing more pressure and flow than necessary when the corner machine is retracted. The bottom line is the pump is using more energy than necessary, increasing your operating costs.

Here’s where the VFD comes in. If there is a VFD controlling the pump, it can reduce the speed of the pump as the corner machine retracts and continue to provide only the needed pressure and flow. The pump is then running at a slower speed and using less energy; therefore, saving money!

The corner machine example I used above strongly illustrates the benefit of using a VFD for your pumping system, but there are many other applications that can benefit just as much from a VFD, including rolling terrain, Benders, VRI, multiple pivots on a single pump, etc.

Valley_® Water Management is focused on designing and building the best possible pumping solutions for growers. We have partnered with Yaskawa™ Electric America to make Yaskawa VFDs available on our custom-engineered pump stations, which are available to Valley dealers for all their pumping applications. Yaskawa is the leader in VFD technology for agriculture applications and its VFD software includes the most control and protection features available on the market today.

In a future post, I’ll tell you about another new product from Valley Water Management called Drive Connect.

To learn more about Valley Water Management VFDs, visit our website.

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Wade Sikkink Director - Valley Water Management Wade joined Valley Irrigation in 2008 as a Product Manager. He has spent a lot of time in the field working with dealers and growers on developing new products. In 2012, Wade changed roles to lead a new division within Valley Irrigation focused on pumping systems for center pivots called Valley Water Management.  When he’s not working, Wade enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his wife and three children on their acreage in rural Nebraska.

A Winning Formula from Valley Water Management | by Tyler Fields

With inflation on the rise and increased power costs, efficiency in pumping applications has reached critical mass. When it comes to the engineering and design of pump stations, Valley_® Water Management has produced a winning formula. Our mission is not only to serve our dealers and customers, but also to always seek and implement the most efficient pumping solutions possible. 

It’s not uncommon for us to completely redesign a project just for cost comparison with an end game of keeping that dollar in your pocket. How does that work? We can save hundreds of horsepower through the use of booster stations, if applicable, which could save thousands of dollars per year.

Another huge money saver is a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). VFDs are used in aiding the startup of large pumps, which can eliminate demand charges (based on your local power company). The use of VFDs greatly increases the life of your pump motor through a patented “slow start,” as well as byu maintaining pressure instead of wasting it.

Another great tool is Pump Connect™, a product that provides a secure back-up plan when you’re not around. It simply mounts on your center pivot/linear and connects to your pump, enabling it to shut down your pump if the pivot safeties out or is shut off remotely. This one tool saves power, water, and prevents your field from flooding.

VWM is here to help you in your custom applications. Contact your local Valley dealer and get your farm in on a winning formula today!

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R. Tyler Fields Agricultural Engineer Tyler, an agricultural engineer specializing in land and water resources, joined Valley Water Management in April 2013. He had worked in the Valley network for many years, enabling him to work closely with the agricultural irrigation community in assessing the needs of the farm and other Ag industries. Tyler grew up on a dairy farm in south Florida and also has been involved in the daily operations of ranches and row crop farms. Working for VWM allows him to pair his education and his love for agriculture.

Missing the Olympics? Get Your Fix From This Sochi Supplier | by Dan Duncan

Construction of D-Lift Booster Pump Station

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, is the third Olympic event in which Torrent has provided its expertise in the niche market of snowmaking with high-power, large-capacity pump stations. 

The process for Sochi began in 2008 when Torrent traveled to the future site of the Olympic Games in Russia to aid in the beginning of the discovery, design, and engineering phase for the pumping stations. The Torrent pump stations supplied the water for the snowmaking guns.

There were a number of challenges the Torrent team faced as it worked to deliver the optimum pumping stations to meet the unique requirements of the Russian climate, environment, and altitude. The goal was to get a sufficient amount of water up a significantly high vertical rise of approximately three-fourths of a mile (about 1,000 meters) and do so in a way that would supply the adequate amount of water to be crystalized into snow at the correct pressure ratings.

Construction of Olympic Lake Pump Station

The primary pumping system adjacent to the storage lakes had 14 600 horsepower vertical pumps in it. The water left the primary pump house at a pressure of 1,000 PSI. This water passed through two additional booster pump stations as it traveled to the summit of the mountain. Each of these pump stations were in constant communication with one another, and could be operated locally, from remote locations, or from the central control room at the resort. 

Each Olympic project requires several years of planning, organization, and communication. The weather was quite warm at the most recent games, but the snowmaking system produced enough snow prior to the games to ensure the success of the events.  

Head over to the Torrent Facebook page to see videos and news stories about the Sochi pumps.

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Dan Duncan Torrent Engineering & Equipment Dan is a guest writer for the Growing the Conversation blog by Valley. He is a mechanical engineer educated at Purdue and based in Indiana. He has a history in the automotive, heavy equipment, and water pump markets. Dan’s primary focus is raw water pumping systems for the agricultural, oil and gas, and mining industries.

Pump Connect Simplifies Pivot Operation | by Wade Sikkink

New technology and improved farm equipment would seem to have made a farmer’s job easier, but the reality is that it’s just changed what farmers have to do. Farming is still a hard job. There are so many things vying for a farmer’s time that he needs to use these new technology products just to keep up.

Because fewer and fewer growers are farming more and more acres, today’s farmer has to become an expert not only in his crops, but in the technology and automation necessary to make a modern farm successful.

For example, a typical farmer today could be farming 2,000 acres essentially by himself. If his farm is irrigated, that means he’s keeping track of 12 to 15 center pivots and the pumps that supply those pivots. If those pivots and pumps are checked a couple times a day, that could be more than 50 separate stops during the farmer’s day. Yikes! Automating some of that work can make a huge difference in the amount of time a farmer has available in any given day.

Pump Connect

Valley_® Irrigation has been a leader in remote control and monitoring of center pivot irrigation equipment for decades. With products like Valley Basestation and TrackNet™, farmers can fully control and monitor their pivots remotely. Now, Valley Water Management is introducing Pump Connect™ to automate the operation of pumps supplying center pivots and other irrigation equipment.

Pump Connect is radio system that wirelessly connects a center pivot control panel to a pump control panel. When installed, Pump Connect will remotely start a pump when the center pivot calls for water. Now, all a grower has to do is go to his pivot , start the machine with “Water On,” and the pump will start automatically, saving the grower a trip to the pump site. If the pivot shuts off for any reason, such as “Stop-in-Slot” or a safety shutdown, the pump will stop automatically.

Here’s an experience a grower in Georgia recently had with Pump Connect. The grower stopped by the field to check his pivot, which was running fine. Twelve hours later, he stopped by again and the machine was stopped. About an hour after his first stop, one of the towers had gotten stuck in a wheel rut and the machine shut down. Pump Connect shut off the well when the pivot shut down. The grower was quick to point out that without Pump Connect, the well would have continued to run for the next 10 hours with the pivot not moving, making a huge mess!

Pump Connect is available for a variety of pivot/pump combinations. Not only can you wirelessly connect one pivot to one pump, but with the Multi versions of the product, you can connect a single well to multiple pivots, or multiple wells to a single pivot. In Texas, we have farmers using Pump Connect to control multiple wells pumps that feed a ditch to supply a linear. Pump Connect also can be used on engine-driven pumps to shut the pump down when the pivot shuts down.

Farmers today are as busy as ever, even with the advent of new time-saving technology. Pump Connect gives growers an easy, affordable way to automate the operation of the pumps that supply their pivots and provide them with peace of mind when the pivot shuts down. 

For more information on the new Pump Connect from Valley Water Management, contact your local Valley dealer, or visit www.valleyirrigation.com/PumpConnect.

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Wade Sikkink Director - Valley Water Management Wade joined Valley Irrigation in 2008 as a Product Manager. He has spent a lot of time in the field working with dealers and growers on developing new products. In 2012, Wade changed roles to lead a new division within Valley Irrigation focused on pumping systems for center pivots called Valley Water Management.  When he’s not working, Wade enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his wife and three children on their acreage in rural Nebraska.