Saturday, 12 May 2012
Hydraulic Ram Pump
Dad mentioned this might be a good thing to look into for the Den....
(this is borrowed content and I hope the original author doesn't mind: http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/Equip/ram.htm#Plans )
The more I read about it the more I agree. It looks like a great way to pump water while being off the grid...
(this is borrowed content and I hope the original author doesn't mind: http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/Equip/ram.htm#Plans )
The more I read about it the more I agree. It looks like a great way to pump water while being off the grid...
How a Hydraulic Ram Pump
works
The concept behind the ram idea is a "water hammer"
shock wave. Water has weight, so a
volume of water moving at a certain speed has momentum - it doesn't want to stop
immediately. If a car runs into a brick
wall the result is crumpled metal. If a
moving water flow in a pipe encounters a suddenly closed valve, a pressure
"spike" or increase suddenly appears due to all the water being stopped abruptly
(that's what water hammer is - the pressure spike). If you turn a valve off in your house
quickly, you may hear a small "thump" in the pipes. That's water hammer.
(4) At some point this pressure (green arrows) becomes low enough that the flapper in the waste valve (#4) falls back down, opening the waste valve again. (Click here to see an actual image of a ram pump for this step.)
(5) Most of the water hammer high pressure shock wave (red arrows) will release at the drive pipe inlet, which is open to the source water body. Some small portion may travel back down the drive pipe, but in any case after the shock wave has released, pressure begins to build again at the waste valve (#4) simply due to the elevation of the source water above the ram, and water begins to flow toward the hydraulic ram again.
(6) Water begins to flow out of the waste valve (#4), and the process starts over once again.
Steps 1 through 6 describe in layman's terms a complete cycle of a hydraulic ram pump. Pressure wave theory will explain the technical details of why a hydraulic ram pump works, but we only need to know it works. (One American company has been manufacturing and selling hydraulic rams since the 1880’s). The ram pump will usually go through this cycle about once a second, perhaps somewhat more quickly or more slowly depending on the installation.
Each "pulse" or cycle pushes a little more pressure into the pressure chamber. If the outlet valve is left shut, the ram will build up to some maximum pressure (called shutoff head on pumps) and stop working.
The ram is quite inefficient. Usually 8 gallons of water must pass through the waste valve for each 1 gallon of water pumped by the ram. That is acceptable for a creek or river situation, but may not be a good option for a pond that does not have a good spring flow.
(Page and images copyright 2007 Bryan Smith. All rights reserved.)
Original link:::: http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/Equip/ram4.htm
PLANS
This information is provided as a service to those wanting to build their own hydraulic ram pump. The data from our experiences with one of these home-made hydraulic ram pumps is listed in Table 4 near the bottom of this document. The typical cost of fittings for an 1-1/4" pump is currently $120.00 (U.S.A.) regardless of whether galvanized or PVC fittings are used.
Table 1. Image Key
All connectors between the fittings are threaded pipe nipples - usually 2" in length or shorter. This pump can be made from PVC fittings or galvanized steel. In either case, it is recommended that the 4" diameter fittings be PVC fittings to conserve weight.
Conversion Note: 1" (1 inch) = 2.54 cm; 1 PSI (pound/square inch) = 6.895 KPa or 0.06895 bar; 1 gallon per minute = 3.78 liter per minute. PR160 PVC pipe is PVC pipe rated at 160 psi pressure.
Click here to see an image-by-image explanation of how a hydraulic ram pump works
Click here to see a short mpeg movie of an operating ram pump
(Note - this is a 6.2 mb movie clip. On slower systems (11 mbps, etc.), it will load "piece-meal" the first time. Allow it to finish playing in this fashion, then press the play button again to see it in full motion with no "buffering" stops. Dial-up users may have to download the file to see it - simply right-click on the link, then select "Save Target As..." to save it to your computer. Downloading may take considerable time if you are on a slower dial-up system.)
Assembly Notes:
Here's how the hydraulic ram pump actually
works, step-by-step:
(1) Water (blue arrows) starts flowing
through the drive pipe and out of the "waste" valve (#4 on the diagram), which
is open initially. Water flows faster
and faster through the pipe and out of the valve. (Click here to see
an actual image of an operating ram pump for this step.)
(2) At some point, water is moving so
quickly through the brass swing check "waste" valve (#4) that it grabs the swing
check's flapper, pulling it up and slamming it shut. The water in the pipe is
moving quickly and doesn't want to stop.
All that water weight and momentum is stopped, though, by the valve
slamming shut. That makes a high
pressure spike (red arrows) at the closed valve. The high pressure spike forces
some water (blue arrows) through the spring check valve (#5 on the diagram) and
into the pressure chamber. This
increases the pressure in that chamber slightly. The pressure "spike" the pipe
has nowhere else to go, so it begins moving away from the waste valve and back
up the pipe (red arrows). It actually
generates a very small velocity *backward* in the pipe. (Click here to see an
actual image of an operating ram pump for this step. Note the drops of water
still falling to the ground in the image.)
(3) As the pressure wave or spike (red
arrows) moves back up the pipe, it creates a lower pressure situation (green
arrows) at the waste valve. The spring-loaded
check valve (#5) closes as the pressure drops, retaining the pressure in the
pressure chamber.
(4) At some point this pressure (green arrows) becomes low enough that the flapper in the waste valve (#4) falls back down, opening the waste valve again. (Click here to see an actual image of a ram pump for this step.)
(5) Most of the water hammer high pressure shock wave (red arrows) will release at the drive pipe inlet, which is open to the source water body. Some small portion may travel back down the drive pipe, but in any case after the shock wave has released, pressure begins to build again at the waste valve (#4) simply due to the elevation of the source water above the ram, and water begins to flow toward the hydraulic ram again.
(6) Water begins to flow out of the waste valve (#4), and the process starts over once again.
Steps 1 through 6 describe in layman's terms a complete cycle of a hydraulic ram pump. Pressure wave theory will explain the technical details of why a hydraulic ram pump works, but we only need to know it works. (One American company has been manufacturing and selling hydraulic rams since the 1880’s). The ram pump will usually go through this cycle about once a second, perhaps somewhat more quickly or more slowly depending on the installation.
Each "pulse" or cycle pushes a little more pressure into the pressure chamber. If the outlet valve is left shut, the ram will build up to some maximum pressure (called shutoff head on pumps) and stop working.
The ram is quite inefficient. Usually 8 gallons of water must pass through the waste valve for each 1 gallon of water pumped by the ram. That is acceptable for a creek or river situation, but may not be a good option for a pond that does not have a good spring flow.
(Page and images copyright 2007 Bryan Smith. All rights reserved.)
Original link:::: http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/Equip/ram4.htm
PLANS
This information is provided as a service to those wanting to build their own hydraulic ram pump. The data from our experiences with one of these home-made hydraulic ram pumps is listed in Table 4 near the bottom of this document. The typical cost of fittings for an 1-1/4" pump is currently $120.00 (U.S.A.) regardless of whether galvanized or PVC fittings are used.
Table 1. Image Key
| 1 | 1-1/4" valve | 10 | 1/4" pipe cock |
| 2 | 1-1/4" tee | 11 | 100 psi gauge |
| 3 | 1-1/4" union | 12 | 1-1/4" x 6" nipple |
| 4 | 1-1/4" brass swing check valve (picture) | 13 | 4" x 1-1/4" bushing |
| 5 | 1-1/4" spring check valve | 14 | 4" coupling |
| 6 | 3/4" tee | 15 | 4" x 24" PR160 PVC pipe |
| 7 | 3/4" valve | 16 | 4" PVC glue cap |
| 8 | 3/4" union | 17 | 3/4" x 1/4" bushing |
| 9 | 1-1/4" x 3/4" bushing |
All connectors between the fittings are threaded pipe nipples - usually 2" in length or shorter. This pump can be made from PVC fittings or galvanized steel. In either case, it is recommended that the 4" diameter fittings be PVC fittings to conserve weight.
Conversion Note: 1" (1 inch) = 2.54 cm; 1 PSI (pound/square inch) = 6.895 KPa or 0.06895 bar; 1 gallon per minute = 3.78 liter per minute. PR160 PVC pipe is PVC pipe rated at 160 psi pressure.
Click here to see an image-by-image explanation of how a hydraulic ram pump works
Click here to see a short mpeg movie of an operating ram pump
(Note - this is a 6.2 mb movie clip. On slower systems (11 mbps, etc.), it will load "piece-meal" the first time. Allow it to finish playing in this fashion, then press the play button again to see it in full motion with no "buffering" stops. Dial-up users may have to download the file to see it - simply right-click on the link, then select "Save Target As..." to save it to your computer. Downloading may take considerable time if you are on a slower dial-up system.)
Assembly Notes:
Pressure Chamber - A bicycle or "scooter tire" inner tube is placed inside the pressure chamber (part 15) as an "air bladder" to prevent water-logging or air-logging. Inflate the tube until it is "spongy" when squeezed, then insert it in the chamber. It should not be inflated very tightly, but have some "give" to it. Note that water will absorb air over time, so the inner tube is used to help prevent much of this absorbtion. You may find it necessary, however, to drain the ram pump occasionally to allow more air into the chamber. (The University of Warwick design (link below, pages 12-13) suggests the use of a "snifter" to allow air to be re-introduced to the ram during operation. Their design, however, is substantially different from the one offered here and provides a location (the branch of a tee) where the addition of a snifter is logical. This design does not. Also, correctly sizing the snifter valve (or hole as the case may be) can be problematical and may allow the addition of too much air, resulting in air in the drive pipe and ceasing of pumping operation. For these reasons we have elected not to include one in this design.)
According to information provided by the University of Warwick (UK) ( http://www.eng.warwick.ac.uk/dtu/pubs/tr/lift/rptr12/tr12.pdf , page 14), the pressure chamber should have a minimum volume of 20 times the expected delivery flow per "cycle" of the pump, with 50 times the expected delivery being a better selection. The chart below provides some recommended minimum pressure chamber sizes based on 50 times the expected delivery flow per "cycle." Note that larger pressure chambers will have not have any negative impact on the pump performance (other than perhaps requiring a little more time to initially start the pump). Some of the lengths indicated are quite excessive, so you may prefer to use two or three pipes connected together in parallel to provide the required pressure chamber volume. Well pump pressure tanks will also work well - just make sure they have at least the minimum volume required.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Beware trouts.....
....I'm comin' for ya's
A few more size 14 black Carter's bugs and i'll be ready to chase you little buggers!
(the small ones are 14's and the bigger ones are 10's)
A few more size 14 black Carter's bugs and i'll be ready to chase you little buggers!
(the small ones are 14's and the bigger ones are 10's)
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Switching gears... or at least attempting to...
After the last couple months of tying nothing but large flashy flies for spring salmon it's time to switch gears and start thinking about brookies and brights ...
(Size 14 Mustad S82-3906B Signature Series)
Carter Bugs on Size 10 Mustad 9672 streamer hooks
Green Machines on Size 8 Mustad R50-94840 dry hooks
Big old hook is Size 3/0 Partridge CS10/1 Bartleet Traditional hooks (one of my main black salmon hooks)
These are rough but i'll get used to tying on smaller sizes soon enough!
(Size 14 Mustad S82-3906B Signature Series)
Carter Bugs on Size 10 Mustad 9672 streamer hooks
Green Machines on Size 8 Mustad R50-94840 dry hooks
Big old hook is Size 3/0 Partridge CS10/1 Bartleet Traditional hooks (one of my main black salmon hooks)
These are rough but i'll get used to tying on smaller sizes soon enough!
The "boys will be boys" Miramichi tour...
Here's the 'boys escape to go fishing and be boys' weekend update with Ethan and his good buddy Nick! It all started a few weeks ago while we were up chasing kelts and Dad suggested we bring one of Ethan's pals along for a weekend of fishing. It was a great idea that we will definitely repeat in the near future! What's a trip to the Miramichi without a stop by a local flyshop for a few last minute supplies?
(Ethan's been there dozens of times, he's just thrilled to have his pal along)
This is probably the least controversial thing the boys were up to while not out fishing.
Other activities included playing with matches, lighting fires, shooting tin cans with bb guns and whittling with hatchets... let's just say the boys were havin' a time :)
Even though the boys seemed to like the other activities more we managed to get a bit of fishing in. Dad managed to troll while running the tiller while I played the role of guide.
The boys/Dad caught a few trout and Dad managed a beautiful salmon. Nick hooked a small salmon but the acrobatics coupled with a reel malfunction broke it off. We'll get him next time Nick!
Fish on!
Miss Blackville:
Suppertime:
Good buddies:
Billy and I managed to sneak off to the river a few times while Dad looked after the tribe
(some pretty funny dialogue here)
Billy managed to get the job done with his new spey rod - he landed 2 salmon and was on cloud 9 Saturday! Way to go brother!
A few random pics
The Den:
Nick's fly:
To sum up, the boys had a great weekend and they're still talking about it at school! They're both eager to get back up and so are we!
I hope you like the pics, gents.
(this entry was originally made on my fishing log at nsflyguy.ca/smf)
(Ethan's been there dozens of times, he's just thrilled to have his pal along)
This is probably the least controversial thing the boys were up to while not out fishing.
Other activities included playing with matches, lighting fires, shooting tin cans with bb guns and whittling with hatchets... let's just say the boys were havin' a time :)
Even though the boys seemed to like the other activities more we managed to get a bit of fishing in. Dad managed to troll while running the tiller while I played the role of guide.
The boys/Dad caught a few trout and Dad managed a beautiful salmon. Nick hooked a small salmon but the acrobatics coupled with a reel malfunction broke it off. We'll get him next time Nick!
Fish on!
Miss Blackville:
Suppertime:
Good buddies:
Billy and I managed to sneak off to the river a few times while Dad looked after the tribe
(some pretty funny dialogue here)
Billy managed to get the job done with his new spey rod - he landed 2 salmon and was on cloud 9 Saturday! Way to go brother!
A few random pics
The Den:
Nick's fly:
To sum up, the boys had a great weekend and they're still talking about it at school! They're both eager to get back up and so are we!
I hope you like the pics, gents.
(this entry was originally made on my fishing log at nsflyguy.ca/smf)
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