Ram Pump

Ram Pump

The Fall 2017 Ram Pump subteam worked on mathematically modeling the ram pump's mechanical behavior. Experiments conducted the previous semester proved that the ram pump does not operate as anticipated or desired. Ideally, modeling will explain this unpredicted behavior. With this knowledge, the team will be able to produce a more efficient and effective design. The team found a way to derive the forces involved in the pump, but more work needs to be done to determine what the optimal spring force is for the system. 

Abstract Fall 2016: The purpose of the Ram Pump team is to design and develop a properly functioning hydraulic ram pump, or hydram, for implementation in AguaClara plants. The hydram can be used to deliver water from below the facility back to the top for utilization in chemical stock tanks or to collect water at higher elevations for alternative uses. The team's main goals for this semester are to determine which parameters are effective in allowing the system to work at minimal driving head as well as developing an audio-based diagnostic system for plant operator use in order to identify specific issues and apply correct solutions.

Ram Pump

A modular prototype of a ram pump has been designed for data collection and ease of testing design alternatives. The pump has been installed in a hydraulic testing facility and initial testing has been done to determine ram pump efficiency at various drive flow rates and delivery heads. Ram pump design parameters, specifically check valve weight, check valve type, and air chamber size, need to be tested to determine their effects on ram pump efficiency. Using data collected from these experiments, our pump design and construction methods will be evaluated and optimized for implementation in an AguaClara plant.Current & Future Research

As of Fall 2013, the ram pump team conducted thorough research and collected significant data to improve the delivery flow rate. Before data was collected, our team constructed a head loss system consisting of twenty 1m vertical tubes connected to each other with 1m horizontal tubes. The head loss system provided the team with a measure of the vertical height that the water is being pumped to. Using easy data, the head loss was collected for each trial and could be easily changed by reducing the size of the head loss system. The previous summer’s ram pump, which is the AguaClara model number one, was optimized by changing the weights and springs and weights of the waste valve, changing the check valve to a spring valve, and changing the size of the drive pipe. However, the maximum flow rate that was obtained was 18 mL/s, significantly smaller than the flow rate needed for the water treatment plant in Honduras.

To improve our delivery flow rate, the team decided to analyze a commercial ram pump. A RIFE Davey Ram Pump was purchased and set into the system to see how the current AguaClara model could be improved. After conducting various trials, the team found that the location of the components of the ram pump with respect to one another significantly increased the delivery flow rate as the commercial ram pump obtained a flow rate of 26 mL/s. The team took these findings and created the AguaClara model two, which has the waste valve placed at the end of the setup, instead of at the beginning. Now, the water will flow through the drive pipe, be stopped by the waste valve, and the pressure surge created, the ‘water hammer effect,’ will push the water through the check valve and into the air chamber. From the air chamber, the water is pushed back down, but the check valve is now closed so the water is forced out to the delivery system. After conducting one trial with the AguaClara model two, the team found that the new setup created a tremendous increase in flow rate, as a value of 28 mL/s was reached.

Further research: After a semester of experimentation, the team has identified the appropriate direction in which to proceed. It is now clear that the new ram pump should take on a more compact form, in which all components (waste valve, check valve, air chamber) should be all closer and more directly connected to one another. The team has created a new preliminary setup, taking into account the aforementioned considerations. In the first run the new setup demonstrated impressive results suggesting that the recommended path proved to be correct. However, further documentation of the setup is needed since barely one trial was taken. Of course, the setup can be continued to be improved by implementing more of the outlined considerations, such as the dual tubing in the air chamber or properly securing all components, but in no way limited to these.

To kick off the fall semester of 2016, the team will work with the model that was refined last semester and develop an efficient method of calculating the flow rate of the system. To do this, the Bernoulli principle of incompressible fluids, as well as the Ideal Gas Law, will be applied with the data obtained and then compared with the previous method (effluent receptacle and timer). The team hopes this will allow smoother collection of data moving forward with the project. Furthermore, the team wishes to observe the effects on the pump once distribution piping is added to the waste valve. The addition of the elbow may have had adverse effects such as unintended vacuums and other complications. Lastly, a more compact and secure ramp pump with respect to its components is a goal for the team. With this in place, the union collar design may be modeled using AutoCAD.

Team Members

Javier Paternain

Luna Oiwa

Christopher Galantino

Juan Guzman

Email Team

	Challenges	Tasks	Symposium	Final Presentation	Final Report	Zip File
Fall '17
Spring '17
Fall '16
Spring '16
Fall '15
Spring '15
Fall '14
Spring '14
Fall '13
Summer '13
Spring '13
Fall '12
Spring '12