Abstract. Many rural farming areas are located far from a reliable electricity supply; hence, obtaining a reliable source of water for crops and livestock can prove
to be an expensive venture. A water pump operating on the water-hammer
effect requires no external power source and can serve as an effective means
of pumping water to a higher altitude once a reliable supply is available. A
low-cost small water-hammer head pump was designed to operate on the water-hammer head
effect created by the sudden stoppage of a flowing fluid. This design
consisted of an inlet section followed by the pump body, a pressure section
and an outlet. The experimental set-up for testing the water-hammer head pump was
designed with a variable head input and an adjustable head output. For each
test configuration, a total of 10 samples of pump supply water and pump exhausted
water were collected. The water samples were collected for 30 s in each case.
The results showed a non-linear variation of water flow with respect to pump
outlet height. The pump was capable of delivering water to a maximum height
of 8 to 10 times the height of the input head. The pump operated at average
efficiencies of 26 %, 16 % and 6 % when the delivery height was 2, 4 and 6 times the input head height, respectively. There was a 5 %
incremental decrease in pump efficiency as the delivery height increased in
increments of the corresponding input head height.
Development of a System to Measure Radius of Curvature and Speed of Hammer Head during Turns in Hammer Throw
