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Delft: Hydraulic Rams
Delft: Hydraulic Rams
RAMS
Consumers guide
P. de Jong
HYDRAULIC
RAMS
p.dejong
delft university of technology
centre for international cooperation
and appropriate technology
page
1. Introduction 2
2. Appropriate water supply 2
3. Hydraulic rams 3
4. Description of hydraulic rams 3
5. Basic Requirements 4
6. Site selection 5
7. Installation and maintenance 7
8. Prices and costs 8
Appendices:
a Operation of hydraulic rams and characteristics 9
b. Results of the comparative laboratory and field tests .. 13
c. Calculation example 16
d. Bibliography 17
e. Adresses of hydraulic ram manufacturers 19
3.Hydraulic rams
The decision to choose rams could be made after surveying the
situation, measuring the available source supply, the obtainable supply
head and the required delivery head as well as some addItional data.
If the basic requirements could be fulfilled and the possible site meets
its criteria (§ 5 and § 6), rams can be considered.
A final aspect of such a decision Is the price of the system (§ 8).
In appendix A the operation of the ram Is described 'Including some
specIfications of the normally used characterIstics. Furthermore, a
comparison of rams In the laboratory and In tlle field, as well as a
calculation example and adresses of manufacturers are gIven In tl).e
appendIces.
5. Basic Requirements
6. Site selection
..L~ ... .. _
a: static head I
(vertical1ift above ram) I
b: friction heed loss +
mi nor losses i
I
suppl y
source I
Uniess the supply water is obviously more than adequate, the source
flow must be measured with reasonable accuracy. The possible change of
flow at different times of the year should be established in order to
determine the minimum guaranteed flow available.
The total daily volume of water required to be pumped can be calculated
according to the purpose of use. For example, if the water is to be used
for domestic consumption, the daily demand may be approximated by:
Water Demand = Users • Per Capita Consumption
A typical per capita consumption could be 40 to 50 litres/person/day. If
The working fall (supply head Hs) is measured vertically from the supply
source level to the output level at the waste valve of the ram. The
pumping capacity varies directly with the supply head.
The supply head can be increased by increasing the input level (e.g. by
selecting the water input further upstream) and/or by lowering the
position of the ram itself (as long as it can be placed on a spot from
which the waste water can be easily drained away, e.g. to a suitable
discharge point further downstream).
The next question to be answered is what pressure head the hydraulic
ram will need in order to lift the water to the storage tank and to
overcome all energy losses. In general this will be equal to:
In a case where the supply water can power only one hydraulic ram.
but the delivery flow does not quite meet the water demand. the waste
water from the initial ram could be used to drive another ram.
Allthough rams do not have fuel costs, expenses for spare parts and
maintenance are most common. There has to be someone available for
regular check-ups and reparations (weekly to monthly). This person
should be trained first.
The percentual breakdown of the total costs leads to the conclusion
that the price of the ram itself is of less importance. A cheap ram with
a low output and a bad performance could throw the whole expensive
system idle.
The risk of drop out of the total system is also rather high when other
parts of the system, e.g. the drive pipe, were not installed very solidly.
Another lesson which could be learned from the total costs overview is
the knowledge on the availability of all materials is essential in order
to make a realistic estimation of the total costs.
-~f
Thus the flow through the waste valve is abruptly stopped, but since the
column of water in the dnve pipe still has a considerable velocity a high
pressure develops in the ram, locally retarding the flow of water.
1£ the pressure rise is large enough to overcome the pressure in the air
chamber the delivery valve will be forced open, which in turn limits the
pressure rise in the ram body to slightly above the delivery pressure.
The front of this pressure rise expands upstream, partly reducing the
flow velocity in successive cross-sections of the drive pipe as it passes.
In the meantime the remainder of the flow passes through the opened
delivery valve into the air chamber. The 'air cushion' permits water to
be stored temporarily in the air chamber with only a comparatively low
nse in local pressure, thus preventing the occurrence of waterhammer
(shock waves) in the delivery pipe.
With the propagation of successive pressure surges up and down the
drive pipe water continues to flow into the air chamber with step-wise
decreasing velocity until the momentum of the water column in the
drive pipe is exhausted.
The higher pressure which now exists in the air chamber will initiate a
reversal flow in the direction of the supply reservoir. This causes the
delivery valve to close, preventing the pumped water from flowing back
into the ram body. The 'recoil' of water in the drive pipe produces a
slight suction in the ram body, thus creating an underpressure near the
waste valve. The underpressure makes it possible for the waste valve to
reopen, water begins to flow out again, and a new operating cycle is
started.
Meanwhile the water forced into the air chamber. is driven into the
delivery pipe to the storage tank at the high level. from which it can be
distributed by gravitation as required.
An air valve or snifter valve is mounted into the ram body to allow a
small amount of air to be sucked in dUring the suction part of the ram
cycle. This air is carried along with the next surge of water into the air
chamber. The air in this chamber is always compressed and needs to be
constantly replaced as it becomes mixed with the water and lost to the
storage tank. Without a suitable air valve the air chamber would soon be
full of water and the hydraulic ram would then cease to function.
Depending on supply head. waste valve adjustment and. to a lesser
degree. on drive pipe length and delivery head the cycle is repeated
with a frequency of about 30 to 150 times a minute.
Once the adjustment of the waste valve has been set (valve stroke and -
if present - tension of the return spring). the hydraulic ram needs
almost no attention provided the water flow from the supply source is
continuous. at an adequate rate and no foreign matters get into the
pump blocking the valves.
#\.2. Cl1aracierisiics
For users of the ram the pumping rate q (output capacity) is the first
consideration, since this should meet their demand.
Given an available source supply the pumping rate q of a hydraulic ram
is determined by the supply head Hs and the delivery headhd.
An increase of supply head Hs increases the pumping frequency (more
beats per minute) and thereby increases the pumping rate q.
Commercially-made hydraulic rams are available in various sizes.
covering a wide range of source supplies. The size of the ram
(traditionally given in inches) usually denotes the nominal diameter of
the drive pipe. The larger the size of the ram the more water is
required to operate the ram and the more water can be delivered to a
higher level.
Efficiency requires some special attention since different expressions
are obtained in product information as well as in literature.
Some give the Rankine equation considering the installation as a whole
and taking the head water level as datum. The useful work done in unit
time, l.e the net amount of potential energy of the water delivered, is
given by pgq(hd - Hs). The net amount of energy used by the ram, l.e. the
change in potential energy of the driving water is given by pgQHs.
The Rankine figure is always the lowest. while the 'trade expression'
yields somewhat higher values; especially at low delivery heads the
difference is significant.
The efficiency curve is most important when the supply source is
limited and waste water must be kept at a minimum. In situations
where there is an . abundance of supply water the efficiency is a
secondary matter. However. efficiency figures give a good indication of
the hydraulic performance of the ram. High efficiency machines are
hydraulically well- designed, 1.e. have fair and smooth waterways and
consequently low energy losses.
It should be standard commercial practice that manufacturers of
hydraulic rams provide comprehensive and reliable information on the
performance characteristics of their rams. Unfortunately this is not
always the case.
For example, some ram manufacturers state that the 'output' of their
rams can be calculated using the simple formula
Q "H.
q =---
h
"0.6
d
The formula is based merely on the rule of thumb which means that
the efficiency of a hydraulic ram is around 60 %. Apart from the fact
whether the specific ram is capable of attaining. this efficiency, it is
unlikely that the use of the formula is correct for all<irrangements of
supply and delivery heads, since it has been found from experiments
that efficiency eventually diminishes as head ratio hd/H. increases.
A more realistic approach is followed by manufacturers recommending
the formula
Q" H.
q=---"Tl
hd
Ithas to be kept in mind that the rather negative picture has been
caused by the field testing procedure. While testing, the output should
be watched continuously. In Rwanda however. weekly to monthly
checks were carried out and there was not enough time to solve
occurring problems immediately. A delay of some weeks in
maintenance or repair of a ram is not a charactertstic of that particular
ram.
Another disadvantage of the procedure followed durtng the field tests
as well as in the laboratory is the use of just one prototype of every
model. Yet It is possible that Just a good or worse prototype is used.
There seems to be no direct relation between price and effiCiency as
can be seen in the table on the following pages. Keeping In mind the
earller statements on the total costs of a water supply system and the
Importance of efficlency, hydraulic rams wIth an efficIency less then
about 55 % are disproportionately expensive.
The schedule on the testing program prevented the investigation of
the newly desIgned rams Mbaraga I and 11. These rams were desIgned
after the unsatisfactory experIences (maIntenance) jn the field test
after finIshing the laboratory tests.
The locally desIgned and constructed hydraulIc rams (Mbaraga I and
n, as well as the ITDG-ram) are, compared to the commercially
available rams, still in a too expertmental stage to judge their value.
Justification for the use of this types could be caused by the specIfic
local sItuation (availability of other rams and materials. transport
problems, construction capacity etc.).
This publication was prepared by the Delft University of Technology - Centre for
International Cooperation and Appropriate Technology (CICAT), as part of a
project financed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Directorate
General for Development Cooperation (Bureau for Research and Technology).
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs or of the Delft University of Technology.
Neither the Ministry nor the University makes any warranty, expressed or
implied, or assumes any legal liability for the completeness of the information
presented.