I'm considering using the flow from the outlet of a spring-fed pond to drive a turbine or water wheel which will in turn (mechanically, or electrically) drive a pump to pump water (very slowly) up a hill.
I'm not thinking of attempting perpetual motion, obviously the driving force has to be greater than the resultant flow, but I wondered if anyone had attempted this, and succeeded?
There is a simpler way, though not sure if it will be suitable for your application. There is a kind of pump, widely used in the Third World, which can turn a large flow with little head into a slower flow but with a much greater head. I am not sure what the generic name for these pumps is - ram pumps perhaps, something along those lines. I'm sure someone else will have heard of them, and can flesh out the bones.
Of course, if you are doing the whole thing for fun and actually want to use turbines etc., well that's different. :-)
Rick
The Centre for Alternative Technology sel a book or two on this subject. Well worth getting.
Search for Hydraulic Ram. I last saw one in Wales about forty years ago.
"Eiron" wrote | Richard Sterry wrote: | > There is a kind of pump, widely used in the Third World, | I last saw one in Wales about forty years ago.
Figures.
Owain
Nigel - why do you want water at the top of the hill ? Answer this and perhaps it will be easier to suggest a means of pumping it up efficiently !
Pete
The ram effect is the best method.
The pumping station in Shrewsbury has one, and a diagram of it's operation on the wall
It's a sealed box with an air chamber as a "pneumatic spring". Large volume airflow from the stream flows into the chamber and stores energy by compressing the air. Water hammer from the valves then gives rise to a high pressure pulse in the output pipe.
Easy to make, if you can weld. More trouble to get them working right. There are a couple of valves in there that need to be adjusted _just_ right. A pub CO2 cylinder is a useful air reservoir, you can either weld up a steel box, or use pipe fittings to make the flow chamber. For a waste valve, I used a beautiful ex-RAF fuelling butterfly valve. Lightweight spring-loaded flapper and very low force to actuate it.
CAT's books didn't work for me. My most useful text was a reprinted Victorian book on them, from Camden Books. Expect about 1/4 efficiency in your first ram, 2/3rd if you persevere. use iron pipe for delivery, not HDPE - pipe elasticity will stop it working !
Eiron wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de:
Kept the Welsh ewes cheerful?
mike
As someone else said, popular in the third world ;-)
Google 'Hydraulic Ram'
If you are in the North East, you can see one in action at "Cragside" (NT property), used to pump water from the stream up to the storage tanks in the house.
A problem then, the top of the hill is 150 metres away.
they are widely ised in iceland.
R
It might be OK if buried; the mass of earth surrounding the pipe would contribute to effectively lowering its elasticity.
Andy.
And, with tongue firmly in cheek (I hope) they may have been used by the aincient Egyptians
Andy
In message , Robert writes
Well they would be, it's cold up there in the winter
In message , Andy McKenzie writes
that ...
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