Session: 10-02: Alternative Energy Conversion Technology (including Wind, Geothermal, Hydro, and Ocean)

Paper Number: 130599

130599 - An Innovative Hydraulic Ram Pump System 

Abstract: 

Water is one of the sole means of our survival. Without water, species would cease to exist. Access to basic water services has been a significant component in societal advancements over time, but to achieve water accessibility, these services depend heavily on the electrical and mechanical infrastructures throughout each stage of water delivery systems to achieve a near-consistent supply of readily available quality water. As we may take this commodity for granted in the developed countries, there still exists great hardship in accessing viable water sources in a multitude of underdeveloped parts of the world where inhabitants usually travel to a primary water source such as a lake, river, or pond, typically located at an elevation lower than their living place. Since delivering water to higher altitudes above the common water sources requires pumping infrastructures; the absence of such facilities creates great difficulties in underdeveloped regions as the scarcity of available water causes large impacts on hydration, sanitation, agriculture, and other water-based necessities. To combat the aforementioned issues, the installation of a hydraulic ram pump system can effectively serve as an energy-independent solution for delivering water to communities that face persistent struggles to obtain essential water needed to survive. As a ram pump requires no external sources of conventional energy and can be created with minimal capital cost, such a system is a viable, sustainable method for the delivery of water to regions that would typically be impractical without the traditional technology used in developed countries. The goal of the proposed research is to design, develop, and evaluate the performance of an innovative hydraulic ram pump system for an energy-independent solution to improve water accessibility. A waste-water collection device capable of performing accurate measurements for volume flow rate at the pump’s flapper-valve location, a measurement significant in the determination of overall pump performance. Since commercially available water measurement configurations are not directly applicable to the hydraulic ram pump, a customized design is currently under evaluation. From the prior studies, a 3/4 in flapper valve, 5 ft 9 in water source head, and 10 ft delivery head were selected for the proposed study. The existing hydraulic ram pump system has been updated accordingly to complete the proposed work. Preliminary experiments with some backpressure at the waste valve showed promising results, indicating recyclability of the wastewater back to the source tank is highly feasible. The study is in progress to gather detailed performance data with the revised ram pump system.

Presenting Author: Ashokkumar Sharma University of Arkansas At Little Rock

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Ashokkumar M Sharma is an associate professor in the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has over 21 years of broad experience including academic, research, and industry. He has been extensively involved in thermal-fluid research areas including bioenergy, biofuels, bioproducts, and hydraulic ram pump. He led several bioenergy projects including design, development, performance testing, installation and commissioning, and modeling and simulation. He has over 21 peer-reviewed research publications, and 43 scientific conference presentations, and has developed one invention disclosure. He is a member of several professional organizations (ASME, AAS, AEE).

Authors:

Ashokkumar Sharma University of Arkansas At Little Rock
Cody Capocelli University of Arkansas
Trevor Dady University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Mohammad Ashikul Alam University of Arkansas at Little Rock