Irrigation Pumping Plant Efficiency Calculator by UNL Extension

Whether your pumping plant uses diesel, electricity, gasoline, natural gas, or propane, this app will help you calculate its efficiency and how much savings you could see by making upgrades to your system.

The content of this app is based upon the Nebraska Pumping Plant Performance Criteria (NPPPC) that is cited by irrigation design engineers worldwide (Scheusener and Sulek, 1959). Defining the original criteria involved manufacturer’s and Nebraska Tractor Test data and field evaluations of pumping installations. Since 1959, the diesel fuel standard was updated by Fischbach and Dorn, (1981).

A new pumping plant testing program is under way to update the Nebraska Pumping Plant Performance Criteria for all energy types. Average pumping plant test results conducted previously in Nebraska and elsewhere have been near 80% of the NPPPC. Tests conducted on relatively new installations in 2009 produced results that ranged from 82% for Diesel powered units to 92% for electric units. The project will continue and the update of the NPPC will be based on data collected by the UNL and other entities across the country (Kranz, 2010).

The app is funded by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County. The app is adapted from an Excel spreadsheet developed by Thomas Dorn, Extension Educator Emeritus, UNL Extension, available at: http://lancaster.unl.edu/ag/crops/Long_Term_Pump.xlsnn