Akvopedia-spade, administrator
3,247
edits
Changes
no edit summary
{{stub}}
__NOTOC__
[[Image:ram_hydrolic_pump.jpg|right]]
[[Image:PrincipleHydraulicRam.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Principle of a Hydraulic Ram pump. ]]
[[Image:HydraulicRamChildren.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Children standing around a hydraulic ram pump produced by AIDF, Phillippines ]]
A hydraulic ram pump is a water pump powered by waterwith a height difference. In areas where natural flows exist with a height difference of the water over a small distance, hydraulic ram pumps can be used to transport water to higher grounds without using electricity or fuel, by using . The hydraulic ram uses the energy in the speed of the flow water hammer effect to pump develop pressure that allows a portion of the input water up that powers the pump to be lifted to a much point higher levelthan where the water originally started. Apart from the kinetic energy of the water, no other source of power is needed.
==History and social context==
The hydraulic ram pump was invented in 1772 and widely used in the 19th century, but was side-tracked by the advent of the coal-powered steam engine and later by diesel powered pumps.
==Suitable conditions ==
A hydraulic ram pump is powered by a body of water flowing downhill with a height difference. A general rule of thumb is that the water can be pumped 30 times as high as the available drive head (the height difference of the water driving the pump). So a head of 1 m can be used to pump up water to ~30m, while a 7 m head can pump water up to 210 m.
The capacity of a hydraulic ram depends on the scale of the pump, which is often measured in the diameter of the tube delivering the water to the pump. Pumps exist in the range 1" up to 5".
{{procontable | pro=
- Uses renewable energy sources. <br>
A hydraulic ram has only two moving parts, a spring or weight loaded "waste" valve sometimes known as the "clack" valve and a "delivery" check valve, making it cheap to build, easy to maintain, and very reliable. In addition, there is a drive pipe supplying water from an elevated source, and a delivery pipe, taking a portion of the water that comes through the drive pipe to an elevation higher than the source.
The optimum length of the drive pipe is five-to-twelve times the vertical distance between the source and the pump, or 500-to-1000 times the diameter of the delivery pipe, whichever is less. This length of drive pipe typically results in a period between pulses of one-to-two seconds. A typical efficiency is 60%, but up to 80% is possible. The drive pipe is ordinarily straight but can be curved or even wound in a spiral. The main requirement is that it be inelastic, strong, and rigid; otherwise, it would greatly diminish the efficiency.
====Operation====
====Manufacturing ====
==Cost==
==Movies==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ovPSSOs76U Local Hydraulic Ram pump produced by AID Foundation, Philippines]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIJoowE2tz0 Installation of Hydraulic Ram pumps in Afghanistan by AID Foundation, Philippines]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2nGlnMNXrw Ram pump produced by R.A. Initiatives, Philippines]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_pump | General explanation on wikipedia]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_ram General explanation on wikipedia]
* [http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/aidfoundation | Article on the AID Foundation hydraulic ram, winner of the Ashden Award in 2007]
* [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/research/dtu/pubs/tr/lift/ | Several in-depth articles on the function and construction of hydraulic rams, including detailed drawings of a low-cost and tested design. Development Technology Unit (DTU), University of Warwick, UK]
* [http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/Equip/ram.htm | Low cost self made pump]
* [http://www.judyofthewoods.net/ram_pump.html | another low tech pump design]
==References==
* This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_ram Hydraulic Ram]
{{Joinus}}
