Effect of Flapper Valve on the Performance of a Hydraulic Ram Pump

Abstract

Water supply is one of the imminent challenges in the coming age for mankind. The hydraulic ram pump is an eco-friendly and very cost-effective technology that can feasibly transport water from nearby water resources (such as lakes, streams, and rivers) to remote places for daily water needs. The goal of the present work was to investigate the effect of flapper valve size on pump performance. It was hypothesized that the decrease in the flapper valve size would impose more flow resistance at the waste-valve outlet diverting more water flow towards the ram pump inlet, which will increase the amount of water to the delivery tank. Based on the previous study, four flapper valve sizes (1-inch, 3/4-inch, 1/2-inch, and 1/4-inch) were selected for this study. Experiments with riser tubes were carried out using the selected flapper valve sizes. Results confirmed that the flapper valve size has a considerable influence on performance of the hydraulic ram pump. The 3/4-inch flapper valve displayed the maximum pump’s volumetric (21.7%) and energy (38.9%) efficiencies, followed by 1-inch, 1/4-inch, and 1/2-inch sized flapper valves. The flow capacity of the studied hydraulic ram pump system for 3/4-inch valve was found to be 1121 gal/day.