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This semester I am continuing work on the ram pump team; the prototype has been installed in Honduras this past winter break and we will use data collected there to govern our design.
Throughout the semester, we were able to re-construct a ram pump from scratch with the following major modifications: first, the head loss system now uses wrapped tubing instead of PVC pipes, so that the system is a lot more complex; second, the overhead drive tank is elevated to better simulate the Honduras parameters; and third, the air chamber piping is designed so that there are separate inlet and outlet pipes.
In the end, we constructed a successful prototype that was able to deliver water all the way through the head loss system. However, due to time constraints and the lack of a working computer (caused by water mishap in the lab), we were not able to conduct any experimentation.