Gravity driven trickle flow of a liquid over a fixed bed in the presence of a gaseous phase is widely encountered throughout the process industry. It is one of the most common ways of contacting multi-phase fluids for reaction or mass transfer purposes. The presence of three phases greatly complicates the mathematical modelling of trickle-bed reactors and makes a description from first principles difficult. Trickle flow performance is usually characterized in terms of hydrodynamic parameters. One such parameter is the liquid holdup. The value and morphology (shape or texture) of the holdup influences the catalyst contacting, wetting, mass transfer characteristics and ultimately the performance of the trickle flow unit. This study is limited to the air-water-glass spheres system with no gas flow. It is partitioned into three sections. An investigation into the nature of the residual liquid holdup in beds of spherical particles revealed that the general assumption that all residual liquid is held in the form of pendular rings at particle contact points proves to be untrue. Instead, indication is that 48 % of the residual holdup is present in the form of agglomerated liquid globules in interstices of low local porosity. Theoretical residual liquid holdup models and residual liquid holdup-based mass transfer models should include this phenomenon. In a subsequent section, the influence of the prewetting procedure on the operating holdup is investigated. Three distinct limiting cases are identified: Kan-wetted, Levec-wetted and non-wetted. A volumetric utilization coefficient that describes the extent to which the bed is irrigated is developed. It indicates that large fractions of the bed remain non-irrigated in the Levec- and non-wetted modes. A momentum balance-based model is adopted to predict the Kan-wetted mode holdup. This model was successfully extended to predicting the holdup in the Levec- and non-wetted modes by simple incorporation of the volumetric utilization coefficient. The predictive capability of this model is highly satisfactory, especially in light of it using only the classical Ergun constants and no fitted parameters (AARE = 9.6 %). The differences in the hysteresis behaviour of holdup and pressure drop in the different modes are attributed to differences in the morphology of the operating holdup. The existence of the three limiting prewetted modes is confirmed by residence time distribution (RTD) analysis of the stimulus-response behaviour of the system. This behaviour was quantified using a NaCl tracer and conductivity measurements at both the inlet and outlet of a bench scale bed. The analyses show that: · There are large fractions of the holdup that is inaccessible to the tracer in the Levec-wetted and non-wetted modes. · The mixedness in the three prewetted modes differ appreciably, with the Kan-wetted mode clearly less mixed than the Levec-wetted mode. The RTD analyses also confirm the existence of the three prewetting modes in a porous system (spherical a-alumina), with a large fraction of the holdup being inaccessible to the tracer in the Levec-wetted mode. This study emphasizes the role of the morphology of the various types of liquid holdup on the hydrodynamic performance of a trickle flow unit. It is apparent that aspects of the morphology depend strongly on phenomena like globule formation, hysteresis and flow and prewetting history that have not been adequately recognized to date. The visualization of the various modes of trickle flow is an intellectual platform from which future studies may be directed. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Chemical Engineering / Unrestricted

No / The growing demand for high-quality middle distillates is increasing worldwide, whereas the demand for low-value oil products, such as heavy oils and residues, is decreasing. Thus, maximizing the production of more liquid distillates of very high quality is of immediate interest to refiners. At the same time, environmental legislation has led to more strict specifications of petroleum derivatives. Hydrotreatment (HDT) of crude oil is one of the most challenging tasks in the petroleum refining industry, which has not been reported widely in the literature. In this work, crude oil was hydrotreated upon a commercial cobalt¿molybdenum on alumina (Co¿Mo/¿-Al2O3) catalyst presulfided at specified conditions. Detailed pilot-plant experiments were conducted in a continuous-flow isothermal trickle-bed reactor (TBR), and the main hydrotreating reactions were hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodenitrogenation (HDN), hydrodeasphaltenization (HDAs), and hydrodemetallization (HDM), which includes hydrodevanadization (HDV) and hydrodenickelation (HDNi). The reaction temperature (T), the hydrogen pressure (P), and the liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) were varied with certain ranges, with constant hydrogen to oil (H2/Oil) ratio. The effects of T, P, and LHSV on the conversion of sulfur, nitrogen, vanadium, nickel, and asphaltene were studied. The results showed that high T and P and low LHSV in HDS, HDN, HDV, HDNi, and HDAs of crude oil improve the sulfur (S), nitrogen (N), metals [vanadium (V) and nickel (Ni)], and asphaltene (Asph) conversion. The hydrotreated crude oil has been distilled into the following fractions: light naphtha (LN), heavy naphtha (HN), heavy kerosene (HK), light gas oil (LGO), and reduced crude residue (RCR), to compare the yield of these fractions produced by distillation after the HDT process to those produced by conventional methods (i.e., HDT of each fraction separately after the distillation). The yield of the middle distillate showed greater yield compared to the middle distillate produced by conventional methods. The properties of RCR produced using both methods are also discussed.

No / Petroleum contributes significantly to our lives and will continue do so for many years to come. Petroleum derivatives supply more than 50% of the world's total supply of energy (Jarullah, 2011). Traditionally crude oil goes though fractional distillation to produce different grades of fuel such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, etc. providing fuel for automobiles, tractors, trucks, aircraft, and ships. Catalytic hydrotreating (HDT) is used to detoxify the oil fractions produced by fractional distillation in the petroleum refining industries which involve removal of pollutants such as sulfur, nitrogen, metals, and asphaltene in trickle bed reactors. Recently Jarullah and co-workers proposed detoxification of whole crude oil a priori before the crude oil enters further processing in a fractionating column. This chapter highlights this new technology.

Yes / The oxidative desulphurization (ODS) of light gas oil (LGO) is investigated with an in-house designed cobalt 11 oxide loaded on alumina (γ-Al2O3) catalyst in the presence of air as oxidizing agent under moderate operating 12 conditions (temperature from 403 to 473 K, LHSV from 1 to 3 hr-1, initial concentration from 500 to 1000 13 ppm). Incipient Wetness Impregnation method (IWI) of cobalt oxide over gamma alumina (2% Co3O4/γ-14 Al2O3) is used for the preparation of the catalyst. The optimal design of experiments is studied to evaluate the 15 effects of a number of process variables namely temperature, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) and 16 concentration of dibenzothiophene and their optimal values were found to be 473 K, 1hr-1 and 1000 ppm 17 respectively. For conversion dibenzothiophene to sulphone and sulphoxide, the results indicates that the 18 Incipient Wetness Impregnation (IWI) is suitable to prepare this type of the catalyst. Based on the 19 experiments, mathematical models that represent a three phase reactor for describing the behavior of the ODS 20 process are developed. 21 In order to develop a useful model for simulation, control, design and scale-up of the oxidation process, 22 accurate evaluation of important process parameters such as reaction rate parameters is absolutely essential. 23 For this purpose, the parameter estimation technique available in gPROMS (general Process Modelling 24 System) software is employed in this work. With the estimated process parameters further simulations of the 25 process is carried out and the concentration profiles of dibenzothiophene within the reactor are generated.

Yes / Energy saving is an important consideration in process design for low cost sustainable production with reduced environmental impacts (carbon footprint). In our earlier laboratory scale pilot plant study of catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of phenol (a typical compound found in wastewater), the energy recovery was not an issue due to small amount of energy usage. However, this cannot be ignored for a large scale reactor operating around 140–160 °C due to high total energy requirement. In this work, energy savings in a large scale CWAO process is explored. The hot and cold streams of the process are paired up using 3 heat exchangers recovering significant amount of energy from the hot streams to be re-used in the process leading to over 40% less external energy consumption. In addition, overall cost (capital and operating) savings of the proposed process is more than 20% compared to that without energy recovery option.

Trois techniques de mesure différentes ont été utilisées pour étudier la distribution des fluides dans un lit fixe : la tomographie à fils, le collecteur de liquide et un ensemble de thermistances. La tomographie à fils, dont la première application dans le cadre des lits fixes est décrite ici, a permis, tout comme le collecteur de liquide, d’obtenir des résultats intéressants concernant l’influence de paramètres tels que la distribution initiale, le type de chargement et les débits de fluides sur la distribution du liquide. L’étude a notamment montré l’importance de bien définir la maldistribution de liquide en termes de la grandeur mesurée et a apporté un regard critique vis-à-vis des consensus généraux concernant l’effet sur la distribution de liquide de paramètres tels que le débit de gaz (dont les expériences ont montré qu’elle dépend du distributeur utilisé) et le type de chargement (l’hypothèse selon laquelle le chargement dense disperse mieux le liquide dans la direction radiale par rapport au chargement lâche n’a pas été vérifié). Une étude réalisée en régime à haute interaction a permis aussi d’observer la relation étroite qui existe entre la distribution initiale et le régime d’écoulement / Three different measuring techniques were used to study the fluid distribution inside a trickle-bed reactor: the wire mesh tomography, the liquid collector and a set of thermistors. The liquid collector and specially the wire mesh tomography, whose first application in trickle bed reactors is described here, yielded interesting results concerning the influence of variables such as the initial liquid distribution, the loading method and the fluid flow rates on liquid maldistribution. Among the main observations, the study illustrates the importance of well defining liquid maldistribution in terms of the measured quantity and prompts to some caution when referring to some “normally accepted facts” like the advantages in terms of liquid distribution obtained when increasing the gas flow rate (which depends, according to this study, on the quality of initial liquid distribution) or when using a dense loading of the catalyst (the hypothesis according to which, compared with a sock loading, dense loading favors radial dispersion was not verified by the study). Also, a study performed under high interaction conditions showed the intimate relationship between the inlet distribution and the flow regime observed inside the reactor

Several types of reactors are encountered in industry where reagents in a gas and a liquid phase need to be catalysed by a solid catalyst. Common reactors that are used to this end, are trickle-bed reactors, where gas and liquid flow cocurrently down a packed bed of catalyst. Apart from the catalytic process itself, several mass transfer steps can influence the rate and/or selectivity of a solid catalysed gas-liquid reaction. In trickle-bed reactors, flow morphology can have a major effect on these mass transfer steps. This study investigates the interaction between liquid flow morphology and mass transfer in trickle-bed reactors from three different angles. The primary focus is on liquid-solid mass transfer and internal diffusion as affected by the contacting between the liquid and the catalyst. First, the contacting between the liquid and the solid in trickleflow, or wetting efficiency, is characterised using colorimetry. Though this investigation is limited to the flow of nitrogen and water over a packed bed at ambient conditions, it provides useful information regarding liquid flow multiplicity behaviour and its influence on the distribution of fractional wetting on a particle scale. The colorimetric study also provides descriptions of the geometry of the liquid-solid contacting on partially wetted particles. These are used in a second investigation, for the numerical simulation of reaction and diffusion in partially wetted catalysts. This second investigation uses numerical simulations to evaluate and develop simple theoretical descriptions of liquid-solid contacting effects on catalyst particle efficiency. Special attention is given to the case where external and intraparticle mass transfer rates of both a volatile and non-volatile reagent affect the overall rate of reaction. Also, since these are not often considered in theoretical studies, some suggestions are made for the evaluation of the particle efficiency of eggshell catalyst. Finally, liquid-solid contacting is investigated in a high-pressure pilot reactor. Wetting efficiency is measured with a useful technique that does not rely on descriptions of particle kinetics or liquid-solid mass transfer rates. Liquid-solid mass transfer coefficients are also measured and results agree well with the colorimetric investigation, suggesting the existence of different types of flow within in the hydrodynamic multiplicity envelope of trickle-flow. Since it consists of different investigations of liquid-solid contacting from different angles, the study highlights several aspects of liquid-solid contacting and how it can be expected to influence trickle-bed reactor performance. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

Com o propósito de avaliar o potencial de intrusão radicular e os efeitos da ocorrência de vácuo nas linhas de irrigação em diversos modelos de gotejadores, quando utilizados em irrigação subsuperficial, foram conduzidos três experimentos em condição de ambiente protegido. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos em vasos: um com a cultura da cana-de-açúcar; e o outro com o objetivo específico de avaliar a possibilidade de estabelecimento da cultura do feijão como padrão de ensaio para experimentos de suscetibilidade de gotejadores à intrusão radicular. Para esses dois experimentos, os tratamentos consistiram de 14 modelos de gotejadores de diferentes marcas comerciais, dos quais 7 do tipo não-compensante e 7 do tipo autocompensante de pressão; os modelos foram instalados em duas profundidades, 0,15 m e 0,30 m do nível da superfície (P15 e P30, respectivamente), e conduzidos em solo sob três condições de enraizamento: a)Úmido, no qual a irrigação era iniciada quando o potencial de água no solo atingia -30 kPa, medido através de tensiômetro, b) Seco, quando o potencial matricial da água no solo atingia -80 kPa e c) Sem cultivo (SC), no qual os vasos foram mantidos sem plantas, sendo utilizados para comparação das vazões determinadas nos vasos com culturas, tanto do experimento com cana-de-açúcar como com feijão, possibilitando, assim, isolar o efeito de outros fatores causadores de variação de vazão dos gotejadores que não a intrusão de raízes. O terceiro, conduzido nos mesmos vasos do feijão após finalizado o experimento inicial, simulou o efeito de 5 níveis de vácuo na vazão dos gotejadores, em função do sucção de partículas do solo. Os níveis de sucção avaliados foram -13, -20, -26, -53 e -80 kPa. Com o propósito de avaliar a capacidade de recuperação da vazão de gotejadores afetados pela sucção de partículas, foi efetuada uma leitura de vazão após 3 irrigações, de 1 hora cada. As leituras de vazão foram realizadas com freqüência mensal, por um período de 90 dias para o feijão, e de 270 dias para a cana-de-açúcar. No experimento com a cana-de-açúcar, os resultados obtidos mostraram diferenças marcantes no comportamento do gotejadores do tipo nãocompensante de pressão daqueles do tipo autocompensante e, dentro de cada tipo, diferenças estatisticamente significativas quanto à suscetibilidade à intrusão de raízes. Quanto ao efeito da intrusão e enterrio, os modelos autocompensantes apresentaram maior magnitude de variação da vazão em relação aos gotejadores não-compensantes, em todos os experimentos conduzidos. Nos modelos mais susceptíveis, observou-se maior nível de intrusão na condição de enraizamento úmido, embora esse comportamento não tenha sido estatisticamente significante na análise efetuada para a leitura de vazão efetuada no final do experimento, aos 270dias. Tanto para a cana como para o fe ijão, não foi observada diferença significativa no nível de intrusão de raízes em relação à profundidade de instalação dos gotejadores. Os resultados obtidos com a cultura do feijão indicam sua inadequabilidade para testes rápidos de suscetibilidade de gotejadores à intrusão de raízes. Evidenciou-se que as estratégias de barreira física devem ser definidas visando não apenas à prevenção da ocorrência da intrusão mas também, depois de efetivada a intrusão, a minimização da possibilidade de a raiz intrusa penetrar no interior da linha lateral de gotejadores, o que ampliaria o efeito da intrusão na malha hidráulica da parcela de irrigação; pequenas adequações em parâmetros da arquitetura ou no processo de montagem dos tubos gotejadores poderiam reduzir essa possibilidade. / In order to evaluate the potential of root intrusion and vacuum damage (flow disturbance) in subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), fourteen emitters were tested on three experiments under controlled environment (greenhouse and vase conditions). The first one was based on sugar-cane crop and the second one based on bean crop, aiming to establish this temporary crop (bean) as a reference plant in a future root intrusion standard test applied to SDI. Among the selected emitters from different manufactures, seven of them were no compensating drippers and the others pressure compensating drippers. The drippers were installed in two different depths: 0.15m and 0.30m from soil surface (P15 and P30) and conducted under three watering conditions: 1. Moist : irrigation started when the water potential in soil reached -30 kPa (tensiometer) 2. Dry, irrigation started when the water potential in soil reached -80 kPa, and 3. No crop / Moist (NOC) where the vases were kept without any crop (Control) with the same irrigation level of condition 1, being possible to isolate other factors than root intrusion, which could disturbed emitters flow rate. The third experiment was conducted after finalizing the experiment with the bean crop (same vases), simulating 5 levels of vacuum in the hydraulic network (condition reached just after closing parcel valves in the field), trying to measure the flow rate variation of emitters, related to particles suctioned from soil. The suction levels evaluated were -13, -20, -26, -53 and -80 kPa for a short time and flow rate was measured just after 3 hours of irrigation, in order to stimulate the self-cleaning processes of emitters before measuring the vacuum-disturbed flow rate. An electromagnetic flow meter was used during all experiment, in order to measure the individual flow rate of buried emitters in vases; flow rate readings were taken every month in the bean crop (90 days cycle) and in the sugar cane crop (270 days cycle). For the sugar-cane experiment, the root intrusion results showed remarkable differences between no compensating and pressure compensating drippers (statistically significant). The self-compensating models showed a larger flow rate variation, compared to the no compensating emitters. It was visually observed for some susceptible emitters a greater level of root intrusion under high soil moistur e content, although this behavior has not been statistically significant at the end of the sugar cane experiment (270th day). There were no significantly differences in root intrusion (either for sugar-cane or bean crops) related to the installation depth of emitters (15 and 30 cm). The obtained results do not recommend the use of a temporary crop (bean) as a reference plant for a standard test related to root intrusion, because it takes at least 6 month to detected significant root intrusion in SDI. The strategy of developing emitters physical barriers against root intrusion, should focus not only in the prevention of entering but also in the minimization of damage related to the intruded root inside the emitter, because in some circumstances it is possible to keep flow rate close to nominal rate even with roots inside the drippers.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo obter informações sobre o desempenho de gotejadores enterrados (irrigação subsuperficial), quanto ao aspecto de variação de vazão em função da intrusão radicular das culturas de citros e café. O experimento foi conduzido em ambiente protegido (estufa plástica) durante o ano de 2001, na Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" / USP, em Piracicaba SP. As mudas de café e laranja foram lantadas em vasos de cimento amianto com 100 L de capacidade, irrigadas por 14 modelos diferentes de gotejadores enterrados (autocompensantes e ormais), em duas profundidades (15 e 30 cm) e em dois níveis de depleção de água no solo (seco e úmido). Foram realizadas cinco determinações de vazões individuais dos emissores, em intervalo de 60 dias entre a primeira e a segunda e de 30 dias entre as demais leituras, utilizando-se um medidor de vazão magnético indutivo com 0,3% de precisão. Os dados de vazão dos emissores foram analisados a cada leitura, através dos parâmetros: a) vazão relativa (QR%), tendo como referência à vazão obtida na primeira leitura e b) coeficiente de variação de vazão (CVQ%) da amostra analisada. Concluiu-se que: a) a intrusão radicular é aleatória, não tendo havido um modelo de emissor que se destacasse quanto à penetração de raízes; b) os níveis de irrigação não apresentaram resultados conclusivos no período analisado, porém, observaram-se evidências de que o sistema radicular é mais agressivo tanto na camada superficial de solo (15 cm) para as plantas bem irrigadas, quanto nas camadas mais profunda de solo (30 cm) para as plantas sob déficit hídrico; c) variações de vazão foram mais evidentes para os emissores a 30 cm de profundidade no cafeeiro; e d) os emissores autocompensáveis apresentaram maior instabilidade de vazão, na presença de raízes e partículas de solo, enquanto os emissores normais tiveram desempenho mais estável. Distúrbios de vazão nos gotejadores ensaiados foram mais pronunciados em determinados modelos de alguns fabricantes, o que evidencia a diferença tecnológica entre as empresas de equipamentos de irrigação analisadas. / This work aimed to quantify drippers performance under subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), regarding the flow variation due to root intrusion under citrus and coffee crops. The experiment was carried out inside a greenhouse during the year of 2001, at the University of Sao Paulo (ESALQ), in Piracicaba SP. Coffee seedlings and orange scions planted in vases with 100 liters of capacity, irrigated by fourteen different models of commercial drippers (self-compensated end regular devices), in two depths (15 and 30 centimeters) and in two soil water depletion levels (dry and humid). It was accomplished five determinations of individual flows, in intervals of 60 days between first and the second readiness and of 30 days among other readings, using an inductive magnetic flow meter with 0,3% of precision. The flow data of the emitters were analyzed for each reading, though the parameters: a) relative flow (QR%), having as reference the initial flow rate measured and b) Flow coefficient of variation (CVQ%) of the analyzed sample. It was concluded that the root intrusion is not related to a specifics model randomly distributed. The irrigation levels did not resulted conclusive results regarding the root intrusion; flow variations were more evident for emitters at 30 centimeters depth under coffee crop. Self-compensated emitters tended to be more unstable, increasing the average flow rate with root and soil particles presence. Regular emitters tended to be more stable, decreasing the average flow rate with root and soil particles presence.

Com o propósito de avaliar o potencial de intrusão radicular e os efeitos da ocorrência de vácuo nas linhas de irrigação em diversos modelos de gotejadores, quando utilizados em irrigação subsuperficial, foram conduzidos três experimentos em condição de ambiente protegido. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos em vasos: um com a cultura da cana-de-açúcar; e o outro com o objetivo específico de avaliar a possibilidade de estabelecimento da cultura do feijão como padrão de ensaio para experimentos de suscetibilidade de gotejadores à intrusão radicular. Para esses dois experimentos, os tratamentos consistiram de 14 modelos de gotejadores de diferentes marcas comerciais, dos quais 7 do tipo não-compensante e 7 do tipo autocompensante de pressão; os modelos foram instalados em duas profundidades, 0,15 m e 0,30 m do nível da superfície (P15 e P30, respectivamente), e conduzidos em solo sob três condições de enraizamento: a)Úmido, no qual a irrigação era iniciada quando o potencial de água no solo atingia -30 kPa, medido através de tensiômetro, b) Seco, quando o potencial matricial da água no solo atingia -80 kPa e c) Sem cultivo (SC), no qual os vasos foram mantidos sem plantas, sendo utilizados para comparação das vazões determinadas nos vasos com culturas, tanto do experimento com cana-de-açúcar como com feijão, possibilitando, assim, isolar o efeito de outros fatores causadores de variação de vazão dos gotejadores que não a intrusão de raízes. O terceiro, conduzido nos mesmos vasos do feijão após finalizado o experimento inicial, simulou o efeito de 5 níveis de vácuo na vazão dos gotejadores, em função do sucção de partículas do solo. Os níveis de sucção avaliados foram -13, -20, -26, -53 e -80 kPa. Com o propósito de avaliar a capacidade de recuperação da vazão de gotejadores afetados pela sucção de partículas, foi efetuada uma leitura de vazão após 3 irrigações, de 1 hora cada. As leituras de vazão foram realizadas com freqüência mensal, por um período de 90 dias para o feijão, e de 270 dias para a cana-de-açúcar. No experimento com a cana-de-açúcar, os resultados obtidos mostraram diferenças marcantes no comportamento do gotejadores do tipo nãocompensante de pressão daqueles do tipo autocompensante e, dentro de cada tipo, diferenças estatisticamente significativas quanto à suscetibilidade à intrusão de raízes. Quanto ao efeito da intrusão e enterrio, os modelos autocompensantes apresentaram maior magnitude de variação da vazão em relação aos gotejadores não-compensantes, em todos os experimentos conduzidos. Nos modelos mais susceptíveis, observou-se maior nível de intrusão na condição de enraizamento úmido, embora esse comportamento não tenha sido estatisticamente significante na análise efetuada para a leitura de vazão efetuada no final do experimento, aos 270dias. Tanto para a cana como para o fe ijão, não foi observada diferença significativa no nível de intrusão de raízes em relação à profundidade de instalação dos gotejadores. Os resultados obtidos com a cultura do feijão indicam sua inadequabilidade para testes rápidos de suscetibilidade de gotejadores à intrusão de raízes. Evidenciou-se que as estratégias de barreira física devem ser definidas visando não apenas à prevenção da ocorrência da intrusão mas também, depois de efetivada a intrusão, a minimização da possibilidade de a raiz intrusa penetrar no interior da linha lateral de gotejadores, o que ampliaria o efeito da intrusão na malha hidráulica da parcela de irrigação; pequenas adequações em parâmetros da arquitetura ou no processo de montagem dos tubos gotejadores poderiam reduzir essa possibilidade. / In order to evaluate the potential of root intrusion and vacuum damage (flow disturbance) in subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), fourteen emitters were tested on three experiments under controlled environment (greenhouse and vase conditions). The first one was based on sugar-cane crop and the second one based on bean crop, aiming to establish this temporary crop (bean) as a reference plant in a future root intrusion standard test applied to SDI. Among the selected emitters from different manufactures, seven of them were no compensating drippers and the others pressure compensating drippers. The drippers were installed in two different depths: 0.15m and 0.30m from soil surface (P15 and P30) and conducted under three watering conditions: 1. Moist : irrigation started when the water potential in soil reached -30 kPa (tensiometer) 2. Dry, irrigation started when the water potential in soil reached -80 kPa, and 3. No crop / Moist (NOC) where the vases were kept without any crop (Control) with the same irrigation level of condition 1, being possible to isolate other factors than root intrusion, which could disturbed emitters flow rate. The third experiment was conducted after finalizing the experiment with the bean crop (same vases), simulating 5 levels of vacuum in the hydraulic network (condition reached just after closing parcel valves in the field), trying to measure the flow rate variation of emitters, related to particles suctioned from soil. The suction levels evaluated were -13, -20, -26, -53 and -80 kPa for a short time and flow rate was measured just after 3 hours of irrigation, in order to stimulate the self-cleaning processes of emitters before measuring the vacuum-disturbed flow rate. An electromagnetic flow meter was used during all experiment, in order to measure the individual flow rate of buried emitters in vases; flow rate readings were taken every month in the bean crop (90 days cycle) and in the sugar cane crop (270 days cycle). For the sugar-cane experiment, the root intrusion results showed remarkable differences between no compensating and pressure compensating drippers (statistically significant). The self-compensating models showed a larger flow rate variation, compared to the no compensating emitters. It was visually observed for some susceptible emitters a greater level of root intrusion under high soil moistur e content, although this behavior has not been statistically significant at the end of the sugar cane experiment (270th day). There were no significantly differences in root intrusion (either for sugar-cane or bean crops) related to the installation depth of emitters (15 and 30 cm). The obtained results do not recommend the use of a temporary crop (bean) as a reference plant for a standard test related to root intrusion, because it takes at least 6 month to detected significant root intrusion in SDI. The strategy of developing emitters physical barriers against root intrusion, should focus not only in the prevention of entering but also in the minimization of damage related to the intruded root inside the emitter, because in some circumstances it is possible to keep flow rate close to nominal rate even with roots inside the drippers.