Dear Rupert,
Could you tell us more about those two types of
pumps you mentioned. Who makes them, history, etc.
Could they be produced in Bolivia?
It would be interesting to hear your accounts of
the problems related to ram pump use, especially in
the "third world�. What aspect of installation do
you consider most problematic?
What happened in PNG? Was it written up?
Are the Chinese ram pump users? What do you think of
their machines?
I remember your comments on the Powerpal. Have they
improved their quality control?
All the best,
Ron Davis, www.watermotor.net
--- Evans Engineering <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hello from Cornwall UK,
> It may be of interest to the group to know that the
> 'Hydraulic Ram' was
> first simultaneously invented or the principal
> discovered in 1772 by a
> Bristol Plumber and a certain Whitehurst. I think
> the latter
> demonstrated it to 'The Royal Institution' in
> London. The Montgolfiers
> either improved or discovered the principal a few
> years later in France.
> Then began a number of improvements by Keith, Fyffe,
> Davies and John
> Blake. My own family company Joseph Evans & Sons of
> Wolverhampton UK
> were one of the largest manufacturers in the UK and
> I recently came
> across an 1864 'Evans' ram that was still working
> well. Despite this, I
> don't particularly like rams for rural water supply
> because despite
> their long life if made well, they are difficult to
> install well and for
> farmers to understand. Small obstructions or changes
> to the delivery
> conditions can make them stop for no apparent
> reason. Waterwheel and
> simple turbine driven pumps can work from the far
> more abundant sites
> with as little as 500 mm of drive head. These
> devices are more complex
> but easier to understand and much more flexible
> (since they cannot
> stall, they simply slow down while the torque
> increases) The project in
> PNG as with many others in developing countries was
> an unmitigated
> disaster as far as I know. The funding agency
> concerned paid for the
> rams to be built but not for the installation and
> long term maintenance.
> May I strongly suggest that those who are interested
> in this field,
> don't get carried away with the 'magic' of a 'Ram',
> because like
> 'biogas' plants, they require a bit more care if
> they are to work for a
> 100 years or so. Sorry for the 'ramble' but I
> thought I might stick my
> oar in on this one,
> Bye
> Rupert
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
> Behalf Of ken hall
> Sent: 23 May 2005 09:43
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [microhydro] Re: Portable Ram Pump:
> Good Idea!
>
> Ron:
>
>
> I worked 26 years for an gas and electric company in
> the Engineering and
> Construction department. .I worked on steam plants
> of all types and
> occasionally hydro. Last 15 years there, I was a
> Project Manager. For
> the past 5 years I have been consulting, either on
> Project Management or
> alternative energy/energy conservation. This
> background gave me a
> tremendous knowledge base to build on, as I started
> to learn about ram
> pumps. I really started investigating them and
> working with them after a
> trip to Papua New Guinea in 98. I read everything I
> could find, built
> experimental rams, ran controlled experiments to see
> what would improve
> them, etc. Most of these were focused on limited
> drive head or flow and
> maximizing performance within those limits.
>
>
>
> As far as the Rams falling into dis-use in the 50's,
> I am not sure
> anyone can really answer that. My best guess would
> be that America had
> become more fully electrified just before WWII. Just
> after WWII, the
> electric infrastructure of Europe was rebuilt and
> expanded. As most
> developed countries had electricity available, even
> in rural areas, rams
> fell into dis-use. No one talked about them, they
> did not teach about
> them in engineering schools. Why bother when you can
> plug in an electric
> pump. And the great promise of the day was that
> nuclear power would make
> electricity too cheap to meter. Unfortunately, only
> a few people
> retained knowledge about the rams.
>
>
>
> Fast forward to the 80-90s. Rising energy cost
> spurred a re-interest
> domestically and aid programs to developing nations
> helped some people
> recognize the real need world wide. This triggered
> an effort to find the
> "lost knowledge". I am not sure that we have
> recovered it all, but we
> have made large steps.
>
>
>
> I appreciate the reference to the paper. Haven't
> seen that paper, but am
> well aware of Warwick University and Dr. Thomas and
> the DTU. They have
> many papers on ram pumps and some human powered
> pumps at:
> http://www.eng.warwick.ac.uk/DTU/lift/index.html
>
>
>
> For the rest of the group, I was really impressed by
> Ron's design. It is
> robust, and every maintenance item is accessible.
> The parts that require
> welding, etc have been minimized and could be
> performed in any larger
> city of most developing nations. If, you are looking
> for a steel ram,
> you should definitely take a look at it.
>
>
>
> Oso
>
> davis ron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> May 20, 05
>
> Dear Oso,
>
> Thank you for that well-considered reply
> regarding
> portable rams.
> May I ask how you learned so much about ram
> pumps?
> It sounds as though you have extensive personal
> experience.
> I'm interested in understanding why the ram has
> fallen into disuse since the 1950s. I found a paper
> on
> this that seems very good
> at:www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/
> cv/wedc/papers/20/sessiong/thomast.pdf
>
> Ron Davis
>
>
>
>
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