Pumps – Intensifier – Ram type
Patent
1990-12-11
1993-12-21
Bertsch, Richard A.
Pumps
Intensifier
Ram type
F04F 702
Patent
active
052717216
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to hydraulic apparatus.
This invention has particular but not exclusive application to hydraulic ram pumps, and for illustrative purposes reference will be made to such application. However, it is to be understood that this invention could be used in other applications, such as control apparatus using the hydraulic ram principle.
The pumping of stream, lake or reservoir water for agricultural or domestic purposes has been practiced since before recorded history. Any number of expressions of man's ingenuity have been applied to getting water from a source to a point of use. However, since there is a net energy cost in elevating water against gravity and since the potential energy of the raised water is never recovered, all means of raising the water require energy to be input. In the developed nations, the ready availability of convenient power such as electricity and internally combustible fuels has fostered a pumping technology substantially dependent on such power sources. This technology is of course completely inappropriate for use in third world or developing countries, not only from the point of view of energy supplies but also from the point of view of keeping maintenance up to the hardware.
In areas or applications where power-dependant equipment is impossible or undesirable to use, other means of supplying energy to the task of pumping must be sought. Traditionally, the art of water pumping began with the archimedean screw. This requires manual or other power for rotation and may be powered by the wind via a windmill or by water via a waterwheel or screw. The disadvantage of the archimedean screw is a severe limitation of the obtainable head, at least while retaining the apparatus' general simplicity of construction. Other simple hardware powered by wind or water includes piston pumps.
Wind powered apparatus in general have the disadvantage of being dependent upon the blowing of the wind at adequate energy flux to do useful work. Water powered apparatus are more reliable in this context but are often relatively complex and prone to mechanical failure and fouling. Waterwheels, screws and turbines are also very inefficient and at low heads need to be of very large size to make use of the available power in the water flow.
One relatively recent means of pumping utilizing the energy of a flowing stream of other water head is the use of hydraulic ram pumps. In general terms these pumps utilize the energy of water flowing through an inlet tube to close a gate across the tube. The closing of the gate creates a pressure pulse upstream of the gate, which pressure pulse exceeds the local water pressure. The tube is provided with an outlet upstream of the gate and fitted with a one-way delivery valve, such that the overpressure pulse pumps a quantity of water through the delivery valve. The delivery valve is generally air cushioned with the air supply to the air cushion being provided by a snifter valve adapted to draw air into the tube upstream of the waste gate and thence into the delivery valve. As the overpressure pulse decays the valve closes and the gate opens to allow the bulk of the water to return to the stream or outfall as waste. The cycle is then repeated at a frequency dictated by the velocity of the water flow and the configuration of the gate.
Conventional hydraulic ram pumps generally do not function at heads of less than 900 mm of water. The factors limiting low drive head performance in conventional hydraulic ram pumps include the following:
(a) A conventional waste gate generates considerable head loss, particularly when adjusted for low drive head conditions. This head loss increases the drive head necessary to produce satisfactory fluid velocities in the drive pipe.
(b) The bodies of conventional hydraulic ram pumps create considerable head loss due to a rapid change in flow direction.
(c) Conventional hydraulic ram pumps require a relatively large drive pipe "length to diameter ratio" (called L/D from here on) to operate reliably because th
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Bertsch Richard A.
Koryinyk Peter
Peppermint Springs Pty Ltd
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