Ram Pump

This was a proof of concept test for a new ram pump design from Seattle Pacific University's Alternative Energies class.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• ram
• pump

[mcintirem]

It is only useful where there is a huge water surplus. Its benefit is that it requires no extra energy input.

[bootthefascists]

dumb comment. the people diein of bad water are helped by people designing better pumps. furthermore, running a bunch of water on the ground in seattle is not going to cause any hardship in africa. nobody in africa was gonna get any of that water anyway.  on the other hand, running your mouth like an idiot is likely to cause all kinds of hardship.

[fronhas]

it uses the water hammer principle to create a hydraulic ram!awesome

[benny4x]

this is only new in the way it appears not the way it works ps it would work better with a steel drive pipe as you lose pressure with pipe flex

[BIGMUDDYDOG]

How is this better than the ones invented 200 years ago?

[davidj121]

why not just ues the hose ..........

[bootthefascists]

@jsummer979

i know this was posted a year ago, but i was back here looking at this again and thought i'd respond to your comment.

the problem is that the ram pump requires back pressure to run, so if he opens that stop-cock all the way up the pump will stop. he could have hooked a hose on it and run it up a tree, then told us how high the hose went and then he could show us some delivery flow, but thats probably a hassle :)

[bootthefascists]

@bringerovdeath

no worries, TheDudeRulez09 called me an idiot on this comment board, so i came to look at it and see what i might have said to cause him to do that. Then i was looking at the comments and thought i might as well respond to a couple since the OP never did.

i have a 16 foot drop on my smaller ram pump and i only develop around 50 to 65 psi, so i think this guy is getting pretty good results with his design. i was impressed.

i wish he would discuss his valve design a bit

[bringerovdeath]

@bootthefascists not to be rude but i did post that comment 11 months ago

since then i have learned what benifits a ram pump has. all tho a bit late it was nice that some one bothered to answer my question

[bootthefascists]

actually, looking at this video again, you are developing 30psi from what looks like maybe 3 feet of head. thats pretty amazing. I'd really like to know more about your impulse valve design.

also:

where is the pressure chamber?

what was the delta-z from the top of the supply bucket to the top of the ram pump?

diameter on your drive pipe?

have you further developed this pump design?

[bootthefascists]

@TheDudeRulez09

where does that come from? Are you sure you meant to post that? I have, in my life, said dumb things, but not on this comment thread.

troll much?

[bootthefascists]

@ElitePokerPlayer

yes. but since theres no energy input other than the falling water, its still a win. no electricity, no gas. in fact, they "waste" about 80 to 90 percent of the water that flows down the drive pipe - but its the 10 to 20 percent that goes up the hill for storage that matters, the rest just goes back in the stream anyway.

[bootthefascists]

@bringerovdeath

Actually, they are not very efficient, BUT, since the power used is free, it doesn't matter. The power would have (for example, in a stream bed) moved a little sediment, caused a little erosion, and produced a little heat. Instead, the ram pump uses it to move a little water way up a hill. The point is not efficiency, the point is to get water to a place where it can be used for pressurizing a drinking or irrigation system - *without costing the user any energy or money*.