Optimal design and performance analysis of hydraulic ram pump system

Abstract

Hydraulic ram pump is an automatic water-pumping equipment generally used to pump drinking and irrigation water in mountainous and rural areas having short of power. In the past, it has been analyzed and optimized by fabricating various prototypes and conducting experiments and comparisons. This process is time and labor consuming and detailed flow features cannot be determined except efficiency, discharge, and period. In this paper, a method for the optimal design and performance analysis of hydraulic ram pump system with numerical simulation and physical experiment is presented to shorten the number of prototypes and develop high-performance product. The proposed evaluation indexes include head loss coefficient, drag coefficient, eccentric distance of pressure, and velocity distribution uniformity. Two types of structures, named front-enlargement and back-enlargement, were initially designed. According to the numerical simulation, the latter one has lower head loss coefficient and drag coefficient, larger eccentric distance of pressure and higher velocity distribution uniformity and was adopted in the novel hydraulic ram pump. Then, the design theory and method on adjustable and high-head experimental platform have been developed, so that the delivery head can be easily controlled and regulated in laboratory. Experiments were carried out for the delivery heads of 2.0 m and 2.7 m and comparisons were conducted with other products. The results show that, when the delivery head is less than 50 m, the efficiency of the new product ranges from 50% to 70% while the delivery flow is the largest. Its application in Liangshui River, Beijing, indicates that the novel hydraulic ram pump is a practical tool in fountain sight and for irrigation purpose without external power input.

Performance of Hydraulic Ram Built With Different Volumes of PVC Air Chambers

“…Regarding the assembly of the ram pump, Guo et al (2018) proposed a method for the optimal design and performance analysis with numerical simulation to reduce discharge losses, increase efficiency and shorten the number of prototypes, and develop high-performance product. In this method, the valves become more easily controlled and regulated in the laboratory, as well as monitoring the flow of liquid inside the device and the pressure distribution.…”

Structural design and parameter optimization on a waste valve for hydraulic ram pumps

“…The diameter of valve disc is 120 mm, and the flange thickness is 20 mm. According to equation (1) and equations (10) to (12), the valve opening should satisfy 25 mm s 37 mm. When a waste valve is tuned, other factors such as the available water discharge and durability, should also be considered.…”

“…Thus, it was adopted. 1 A diffuser should be used for the back-enlargement flow passage, and its shape affects internal flow pattern. If the diffusion angle is smaller than a certain value, the mean velocity will decrease as the cross-sectional area increases.…”

“…It converts the low-head potential energy of a large volume of water into a small highhead potential energy without external energy input. 1 Therefore, the pump provides a reliable water-lifting solution and constitutes a sustainable alternative to motor-driven pumps for areas located far from the distribution grid. [2][3][4] Energy conversion is achieved through the high water hammer pressure induced by the periodic closure of a waste valve.…”

Preliminary Study on Various Shaped Models of Delivery valve in Hydraulic Ram Pump – Experimental Results

“…Moreover, diameter of the drive pipe affected the quantity of water flowing through the impulse valves and efficiency of the pump [14]. A back-enlargement on the hydraulic ram model was proposed to decrease head loss and drag coefficient [15]. It would increase uniformity of the water flow then improving its overall performance.…”