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.
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