Ram Pump – Spring 2012

Christine Curtis, Harrison Gill, Teresa Wong

Abstract:

AguaClara plants are driven entirely by gravity. This makes it difficult to provide treated, running water in the plants to fill chemical stock tanks and to provide bathroom service. The Ram Pump sub-team was charged with designing and optimizing a pump to elevate a small amount of water in the plant. The pump works by transferring the momentum from a large amount of water falling a short distance into the potential energy to raise a small amount of water. Initial efforts were focused on designing and building a modular test pump to characterize how ram pumps function and how to optimize performance and ease of construction for specific sites. To accomplish this, we developed a MathCAD document to characterize the testing parameters that we anticipated would most affect the modular pump performance. From these parameters, we were able to collect data regarding cycle time, mass pumped per cycle, and aver- age 􏰃ow of the pump under various configurations. Future teams should explore better data acquisition methods to collect instantaneous velocity data within each cycle. Eventually, decisions regarding the design of the full-scale pump will be made based on experimentation with adjusting these parameters.

Ram Pump, Fall 2015

Priya Aggarwal, Juan Guzman, Joshua Levi Ringquist

Abstract

The ram pump used at AguaClara plants uses gravity and hydraulic principles to operate. The surge in pressure of the water due to the closing of the waste valve is used in the ram pump to lift water to a higher elevation. The ram pump is placed below the water treatment plant and it is used to drive the water to the chemical stock tanks and the restrooms located above the plant. Ram pump design parameters, specifically spring components, check valve type, and air chamber size, were tested to determine their effects on ram pump efficiency. Additionally, the pump needed to be reassembled this semester. The team has changed the design to make it more portable to avoid needing to rebuild the pump if it must be moved again. It is much easier to test different parts of the pump when leaks occur or if a part does not work as it is supposed to with the new setup. The team also tested air chambers and different spring lengths this semester.

Ram Pump - Fall 2014

Abigail Brown, Annie Ding, Pablo Nistal, Kadambari Suri

Abstract:

The Fall 2014 ram pump team is working on expanding and improving upon the work of previous ram pump teams, which includes fabricating and implementing a working ram pump design in a plant in Honduras. The team has completed literature research, fabrication of the ram pump designs to be tested, basic experimentation, and data collection. The literature review has determined that while experimentation done on ram pump components like the spring check valve indicate that these parts will last for decades, the non-ideal conditions of the use of the spring valves in AguaClara plants means that more experimentation is needed to determine how long the valves will last while in use in AguaClara plants. Additionally, the team has found other points of wear within the valve during testing this semester. Ideas for potential improved designs have resulted in the fabrication of air chambers of varying sizes and drive pipes of different lengths and diameters. The most efficient pump model was determined by taking data for different models with varying numbers of weights on pressure within the system and flow rates at various head loss values. The team found that the optimal system for the ram pump is to use as few weights as possible without causing the ram pump to stop, along with either one of the two tested outlet possibilities, and as large an air chamber as desired or available. However, this system does not result in an adequate output flow rate, due to losses within the system. More work still remains to be done - the team is currently working on a vertical system alternative which may eliminate the need for a horizontal drive pipe and may reduce the number of losses within the system that is affecting the output flow for the system currently in use.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Ram Pump - Spring 2014

Ruben Ghijsen, Kelly Huang, Ruju Mehta

Abstract:

The team this semester focused mainly on rebuilding and improving the ram pump and its lab set-up. Major changes to the system from last semester include a more compact head loss system, higher overhead drive tank (to better simulate Honduras parameters), and an attempt to improve the air chamber design, In the end, the team was able to con- struct a working prototype that successfully pumped and delivered water through the entire head loss system. However, due to time constraints, the future team will have to make additional improvements to the system. They include a larger, encased recycling system, and more structural sup- ports to minimize instability. Although the initial run proved successful, additional testing could not be conducted due to computer malfunctions and again, time constraints. Had given the time, experimentation would be conducted regarding the 􏰃ow rate, head loss, reliability, and scaling. Future teams can now focus on these experiments since the prototype is basically complete.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Ram Pump - Fall 2013

Ruben Ghijsen, Madeline Haas, Kelly Huang, Ariel Seidner

Abstract:

AguaClara creates sustainable water treatment plans that are powered entirely from the force of gravity and hydraulic principles, making them completely electric-free. However since plan outlets are located at much lower elevations than the plant itself, this presents difficulties in transporting treated water back into the plant for filling chemical stock tanks and plumbing. The ram pump is an excellent solution because it utilizes the water hammer effect to pump water to a higher elevation than the source water and does not use electricity. Our ram pump is designed to be augmented in an existing plan in San Nicolas, Honduras, where the 750.0 L stock tanks will need to be filled in 3 hours, corresponding to a flow rate of 70.0 mL/s.

Ram Pump, Spring 2015

Pablo Nistal, Kadambari Suri, Larissa Sakiyama, Priya Aggarwal

Abstract

The Ram Pump sub­team was charged with designing and optimizing a pump to

elevate a small amount of water in the plants to fill chemical stock tanks and to provide

bathroom services. A common testing issue has been low effluent flow rate compared to what

is expected at the plant. The Spring 2015 ram pump team has designed a new ramp pump

system which allows users of the ram pump to adjust the size of the spring in the ram pump to

provide for maximum efficiency. The team is working on testing each part of the system,

seeing what can be fixed and changed, and then implementing those changes. The team has

found that ultimately springs of varying spring constants and lengths provide similar flow

rates. The team has also found that an air chamber greatly improves the flow rate of the

system and bigger air chambers provide better flow rate than smaller ones.

Ram Pump - Fall 2016

Javier Paternain Martinez, Christopher Galantino, Luna Oiwa

Abstract

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 goal for this semester is to find a practical method for measuring the pump’s flow rate and efficiency, to determine the effects of adding distribution piping to the bottom of the apparatus, and implement method to solve issues as they arise.

Ram Pump - Spring 2016

Priya Aggarwal, Juan Guzman

Abstract

The Ramp Pump team was created to design, construct, test, and ultimately implement a hydraulic ram pump for AguaClara plants. The Ram Pump is located at the lowest level of the plant and is used to pump water either to a storage tank or directly to chemical stock tanks located at the top level of the plant. The team’s goal for the semester was to finalize designs for a self-contained pump, which is intended to maximize space efficiency. The team confirmed the viability of an enclosed vertical ram pump design over the course of several iterations. The team also redesigned the spring manipulation system and has a design that is ready to be implemented in AguaClara plants.

Ram Pump - Spring 2019

Ching Pang, Cheer Tsang, Alyssa Ju, Iñigo Cabrera

ABSTRACT:

The AguaClara Vertical Ram Pump (ACVRP) is an innovation that will enable water to be pumped from lower elevations to higher elevations using the driving force of falling water. The ACVRP improves on a conventional ram pump design by increasing its space efficiency and decreasing its capital cost. Although a prototype had been built, it did not reach its target pumping efficiency. The goal of this semester was to optimize the ram pump efficiency by finding the necessary forces to open and close the valve at the ideal times.

Ram Pump - Summer 2019

Ching Pang, Alyssa Ju

Abstract:

AguaClara plants contain chemical dosage tanks that require water to make liquid chemical stocks. The AguaClara Vertical Ram Pump (ACVRP) is an innovation that elimantes the need for plant operators to manually displace water up to the dosage tanks. Water is pumped from a lower to higher elevation by harvesting kinetic energy from the treated water flowing out to the community's water distribution system. The design is a modification of the conventional ram pump that allows the waste water to be contained within the pump system due to the inline feature of ACVRP. Compared to a conventional ram pump, the ACVRP is more operator-friendly and requires lower capital cost. Teams from past semesters have determined that the previous version of the ACVRP was inefficient due to a significant amount of head loss. The goal of this summer was to reduce head loss in the design and to determine the efficiency of the improved ACVRP.

Ram Pump - Fall 2019

Ching Pang, Alycia Storch, Payton Hunter

Abstract:

Previous Ram Pump teams have created mathematical models describing velocities, forces, flow rates, headlosses, etc. in the AguaClara Vertical Ram Pump (ACVRP); performed experiments to learn more about what actually happens in the system; and have made redesigns to the setup and ACVRP itself to further improve its efficiency, likeliness to an AguaClara plant, and to increase the ease of assembly and adjustment. This semester the team plans to fabricate a new lab setup that integrates the setup into the work bench for a redesign of the ACVRP, and to further explore ways to improve its efficiency. The team has decided on a new design that eliminates the bottom check valve of the ACVRP and the threaded rod and compression spring that it housed and instead includes an extension spring that will be at the top of the head tank. The extension spring will be connected to a hook on the top of the plate with metal wire rope. It is expected that the functionality and process of the ACVRP will not change but making fine-tune adjustements to the initial and final forces of the spring will be easier to make because there will be easier access to the spring. The team created a materials list for the new parts needed and is currently updating the CAD model to reflect the changes. The team plans to construct the new lab setup and ACVRP design and then to perform experiments as well as improve theoretical equations to further optimize the ACVRP.

Ram Pump - Fall 2017

Priya Aggarwal, Will Lopez, Ana Ruess

Abstract:

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.

Ram Pump - Spring 2017

Abigail Brown, Christopher Galantino, Ana Ruess

Abstract:

The purpose of the Ram Pump team is to fabricate a properly functioning hydraulic ram pump, or hydram, for implementation in AguaClara plants. The hydram is designed to deliver outgoing water initially flowing towards the distribution tanks back to the facility for utilization in chemical stick tanks or to collect water at higher elevations for other plumbing needs (toilets in the plant etc.) The team’s main goals for the 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 - Spring 2018

Maile McCann, Will Lopez, and Steven Lopez

Abstract:

The goal of the Ram Pump subteam is to optimize the pumping efficiency of the hydraulic ram pump, where efficiency is measured in energy of water entering the pump over the energy of the water pumped. The hydraulic ram pump pumps clean water through the plumbing system of an AguaClara water treatment plant, which provides treated water for use in the chemical dosing system as well as sinks and toilets, and saves operators time and energy transporting treated water up by hand. The ram pump system is entirely electricity-free.

A major goal of Spring 2018 was to examine maximum energy efficiency. The value of calculating experimental energy efficiency is that the team is then able to compare the values to calculated theoretical energy efficiency. From there, we can exclude terms in the theoretical calculations to determine the main contributors to inefficiency.

This manual outlines procurement, fabrication, testing, and cleaning of the current hydraulic ram pump model as of Spring 2018.