User:Abrent/enes100/project2

Write problem/project Goal
The goal of the project is over the 4 available weeks to complete the project, we will create a hydraulic ram pump that will have the potential to push water uphill 200 feet without using electricity.

My First Task
The first week I will research previous designs of the hydraulic ram, their usage and determine what parts would be best to use on our own design.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

Week1 Narrative
I learned as much about the hydraulic ram as I could during week one

The hydraulic ram pump is used to transport water powered by hydro-power. Water flows into one point of the ram at a certain flow rate, and outputs water at a higher hydraulic head and lower flow rate. The ram uses a water hammer principle to develop pressure that allows a portion of the input water that powers the pump to be lifted to a point higher than where the water originally started. The hydraulic ram is commonly used in remote areas, where there is both a source of low-head hydro-power and a need for pumping water to a destination higher in elevation than the source.

Initially, the waste valve is open, and the delivery valve is closed. The water in the drive pipe starts to flow under the force of gravity and picks up speed and kinetic energy until the increasing drag force closes the waste valve. The momentum of the water flow in the supply pipe against the now closed waste valve causes a water hammer that raises the pressure in the pump, opens the delivery valve and forces some water to flow into the delivery pipe. Because this water is being forced uphill through the delivery pipe farther than it is falling downhill from the source, the flow slows when the flow reverses the delivery check valve closes. If all water flow has stopped, the loaded waste valve reopens against the now static head, which allows the process to begin again. A pressure vessel containing air cushions the hydraulic pressure shock when the waste valve closes, and it also improves the pumping efficiency by allowing a more constant flow through the delivery pipe. Without it the efficiency would drop drastically and the pump would be subject to extraordinary stresses that could shorten its life. The optimum length of the drive pipe is five to twelve times the vertical distance between the source and the pump, or 500 to 1000 times the diameter of the delivery pipe, whichever is less. This length of drive pipe typically results in a period between pulses of one to two seconds. A typical efficiency is 60%, but up to 80% is possible. The drive pipe is ordinarily straight but can be curved or even wound in a spiral. The main requirement is that it be inelastic, strong, and rigid. Source:(Wikipedia: Hydraulic Ram)

My Second Task
During the Second week I will gather materials for the Hydraulic Ram and start work on it.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned? During week two I determined and gathered parts and began assembling them for our design.

Week2 Narrative
During week two I created a list of materials needed to construct the hydraulic Ram

1" non return valve-this is needed to make sure that water does not flow back into the water hammer after being pressurized by the pressure valve. 1" pvc pipe- we will use this as part of the check valve that will get rid of waste water. 21" piece of 3" pvc pipe- this is what will lead into the pressure tank 1" swing check valve-this is the water hammer system that with push the water into the pressure valve. water pressure gauges- these will be used to determine the pressure data from the hydraulic ram and determine our amount of sucess. 3" to 1" pvc converter-we will use this to transfer the 3" pvc used on the ram to the 1" pipe we will use for the transfer of the water to the higher position.

These materials were gathered by one of my partners and brought to class, I sorted the parts determining what each was used for and made a model of the ram without attaching the parts with adhesive to see if the design would work. I then took some of the pieces and started assembling them according to our design.

My Third task
Next week I plan to make further progress on the completion of the ram.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
During this week of the Hydraulic Ram project I continued assembly on the hardware for the ram

Week3 Narrative
This week I helped create a compression tank that will be part of the force the ram uses to transport water. I put a bicycle tube into a capped section of pvc pipe that will connect to the Hydraulic ram right after the non-return valve. I also created a container to store water that we will use for the reservoir that will be the entry point for the Ram. I attached a spigot to a buket and used adhesive to create a method of flow for the intake of the ram.

My Fourth task
In the final week of the project I hope to test the Hydraulic ram and achieve a succesful output of 60 percent transfer from input to output.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
During week 4 I acquired hose for the water transportation and tested the Hydraulic ram

Week4 Narrative
I mounted our Hydraulic ram to a wooden board that will span the distance of our water recovery tub. The principle of this is to have the Hydraulic ram mounted to the board, then have the board lie onto a tub so that the water that flows out of the waste valve will be caught and not flood the Engineering room. Despite our best efforts we managed to get the floor marginally wet during testing I also brought the bucket with the spigot attached into the workroom along with 1/2 inch hose to test our Hydraulic Ram. The silicon I used to attach the spigot to the bucket was not water soluble and therefore it leaked even with the attempt to make a seal with plumbers putty. Due to this unfortunate circumstance we had to hold up the hose to the faucet during testing. I had limited success when testing the hydraulic ram and only got it to work properly once. I tried switching on and off the intake valve and the exit valve to changed the amount of pressure that the system was getting in order to achieve a successful ram. I observed that for our Hydraulic ram to work, in theory we need a higher intake to create the right amount and form of pressure to create a flapping motion with the waste valve to create the intended water hammer effect that will create pressure and will achieve success in transporting water. If I had more time I would attempt to fix the bucket and attain proper hosing to achieve a higher intake point for our Ram.