DTU

Ram Pump Programme

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RELEASE 0 l1Ie name "S I" stan ds fo r a Steel pump with a drive pipe up to 1" in diameter.

hydraulic ram pump

A ram pump is powered by falling water. Water from a stream or spring is diverted and dropped through a drive pipe into the pump. The power of the falling water is used to pump some of the water where it is wanted. The amount of power in the falling water limits how high you can pump, and how much water you can pump. Generally, the more water you drop and the further you let it fall, the more power there will be.

The DTU S1 hydraulic ram pump is a steel machine, using a 3/4" or 1" diameter galvanised drive pipe, that can lift water up to a height of 80 meters. It was designed for water supply to small groups of houses from minor sources of water such as springs and small streams. It is being used successfully in many African countries.

The pump has been designed to be made in small workshops with welding equipment and a pillar drill. A lathe can be useful but is not essential.

In areas where the water source flow varies greatly during the year, more than one pump can be installed, all sharing the same delivery pipe as shown in the drawing below.

Distribution system. for domestic: use. A tank is always recommended.

Delivery pipa. rising ailihe way along lts length (no ups and downs). The pipe should

be buried where possible a nd protected if it has to be above ground.

Use 20mm diameter plastic pressure pipe for the delivery pipe if there is one pump in the sytem, and one size larger if there are two.

Drive pipe. securely fi~e d

Drive tank

Waste water overflow

Pumps secured to a cradle

.. -.,....;;._ ~ into concrete

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AN EXPLODED VIEW OF THE DTU SI PUMP

Snifter valve

PARTS LIST

Air vessel

Pump body

Oelivery valve plate Impulse valve plate Rubber gasket (x 3) Oelivery valve rubber

(diameter 46mm & thickness 3mm) Impulse valve rubber (diameter 40mm & thickness 6mm) Snifter valve rubber

(diameter 50mm & thickness 1 .5 to 2mm)

Impulse valve stem (length 130mm, M8 thread 30mm from top, 60mm from bottom)

Impulse valve stop bar Impulse valve plug Impulse valve weight 6 x 50mm M6 bolls

2 x 70mm M8 bolts

25 x M8 washers

22x M6nuts

4xM8

SOmm bolls

Delivery valve

Air vessel

CROSS SECTION THROUGH ASSEMBLED

DEliVERY VALVE IMPULSE VALVE

"t=1iJ fWd'" J

Cha.mfered side

270mm

PLAN OF PUMP CRADLE

ri) ~ Valve stem lock nuts e

Impulse valve

Impulse valve plate

.... _------- lock nuts

e ...

~ ....... -------- Steel washer

~ .... Plug disc

........ _---

______ Impulse valve rubber

.... ---- Weight disc

To putthe pump together you will need two open ended 13mm spanners.

Pump body

Feet to attach to crad!e

Pump repair

Putting the pump back together Assembly of the pump is shown in the exploded view drawing, but the following important points need to be kept in mind:

m Assembling the delivery valve

Put together the delivery valve plate, the rubber and the boll. Make sure the side of the plate with the cha mfered ho les is on the opposite side to the rubber, and that the rubber is on top.

Screw on the first nut until it is finger tight and then undo it by one turn. Care must be taken not to overtighten the bolt and nuts as this will affect the performance of the valve. Next, screw on the other nul and tighten it up against the first Use the spanners to lighten them firmly together. This will lock them together, and also allow a small up-and-down movement of the bolt and rubber.

~ Assembling the snifter valve

Put the 'sha ped' bolt and washe r together, feed the bolt through the valve rubber, then push this through the pump body. Make sure that the shaped curve of the bolt head and washer align with the curvature of the body.

Screw on the first nut until it is only finger tight. If the nut is 0 n too tight the rubber will curl away from the pump body and will need to be slackened off slightly. Then screw on the second nut and tighten the two nuts firmly together using the spanners. Then check that the rubber has not distorted. If it has, slacken the nuts half a turn and tighten the outer one again.

@] Assembling the air vessel and delivery valve

Align the delivery valve, air vessel, pump body and rubber gasket mounting holes and feed through the bolts. Make sure the delivery valve is the correct way up (the valve rubber facing

upwards) and then tighten the nuts by hand. Use the spanners

WARNING - Before attempting to remove the air to tighten each nut and bolt a little at a time. working around the

vessel, always release the pressure in it slowly. An flange. This will draw the assembly together evenly.

ideal system will have a gate valve or one-way valve I~ Assembling the impulse valve

and a union fitted between the air vessel and the The first parts to assemble are the valve stem, discs and rubber,

bottom of the delivery pi pe and the optional bleed Screw two nuts onto the longer threaded end of the ste m up to

screw filted to the air vessel. With the pump stopped, the end of the thread. Push a steel washer on up to the nuts.

close the gate valve in the delivery pipe to stop it Follow this with the valve plug disc, with the chamfered side

draining back. If a one-way valve is fitted it will close towards the nut. Slide the valve rubber up against this, then the

automatically. Then loosen the bleed screw to release weight disk with the chamfered side facing away from the

the pressure in the air vessel. If none of the above are rubber. Follow this with another steel washer. Screw a nut up to

them until it is finger Ught. Thread on another nut and use the

fitted, the only other way to release the pressure in spanners to tighten the nuts together. This part of the assembly

the air vessel is to loosen each of the a ir vessel fla nge./ is sometimes known a8 the valve plug.

bolts one turn at a time until the water and air escapes Hold the impulse valve plate and the valve plug together, with

through the join at the flange. You wilt certainly get the chamfered side of the plate a pposlte to the side against

wet this way. which the valve rubber presses. Slide the stop bar onto the top 01 the stem and thread II nul loosely on the stem.

Push the two 10 nger bolts throug h the ends of the stop bar and thread two nuts onto each. Use spanners to lock the nuts tightly. AUgn the valve assembly, pump body and rubber gasket and feed through the nange bolts.

Thread on the four washers and nuts by ha nd, then use the spanners to tighten the two shorter bolts that hold down the valve plate. Again care must be taken to ensure that these nuts are tightened evenly. The next step is to ma ke sure the closed valve plug is centred in the valve plate hole before tightening down the two remaining nuts that secure the stop bar. To check the alignment, open and close the valve manually turning the valve plug to make sure it does not catch on the hole in the valve plate.

Now you on Iy need to set the stroke len gth of the valve for the pump to be ready for use.

If the pump stops or starts delivering less water than usual, it may require adjustment or repair.

Look at the pump and if there is no obvious fault start it again if you can. Watch the pump and listen for irregular pumping or unusual noises. A worn impulse valve, for example, is usually obvious because water squirts through when the valve is closed. Some parts of your ram pump may need occasional replacement the frequency of this will depend on how hard the pump is working and on the cleanliness of the drive water.

Tools you will need:

2 x 13mm ring/open end spanners to disassemble and assemble the pump

2 x Adjustable wrenches - to loosen a union joint on the delivery pipe (if fitted)

Taking the pump apart

Depending on the fault it may be necessary to disassemble the impulse valve andlor the air vessel. Before attempting to take apart the pump:

[!J Make sure that the drive pipe valve Is closed and the impulse valve is open. This will allow you to worle: on the impulse valve ONLY.

Ig] Depressurise the air vessel.

/

Checks /

[!J Check the deliVery valve rubber for wear a nd blockage of the valve holes.

@! Check that the snifter valve is in good condition.

@] Remove the impulse valve and check the impulse valve rubber. Check the nuts on the valve stem and check for excessive wear of the ste rn. Raplace things if necessary.

~ Check the pump body is firmly bolted down, then

reassemble the pump, ensuring that all bolts are greased.

,.. Spare parts to keep on the sHe

- impulse, delivery and snifter valve rubbers

- an impulse valve stem

- a few spare MB nuts, bolts and washers

The Development Technology Unit (DTU)

•.• " Department of Engineering University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL UK ;£ Tel: 4-4 (0)1203523122 FAX: 44 (0)1203 418922

Installation nates

The DTU S1 pump should be installed in a properly designed system_ To prevent vibration causing breakages, It should be firmly bolted to a steel frame (called a pump cradle) that is half buried in a concrete base. The cradle is usually made from 40 x 40mm angle iron and will vary in size depending on the number of pumps installed. Hole locations for just one pump are shown on the previous page.

All pipes in the system should be supported firmly, and buried where possible. The drive and delivery tanks should be constructed on good foundations by experienced tradesmen. Pipe joints to the drive tank should alJowthe pipes to move slightly without damaging the tank walls or leaking badly.

Starting and stopping the ram pump

Although ram pumps often start very easily, they can be awkward the first time they are run. To start the pump:

[!]

Make sure that any valve fitted on the delivery pipe is open and then open the drive pipe valve. Water win flow out of the open impulse valve until it suddenly shuts. If it reopens automatically, the pump should continue to run on its own. If it does not, you must prime the delivery system as described in Step 2 alongside.

To stop the pump, hold the impulse valve stem up to close it or shut the valve at the bottom of the drive pipe.

Push down on the top of the impulse valve stem with your foot to reopen it (wear strong boots). Again, water will flow out of the open impulse valve until it suddenly shuts, then push down immediately to re-open the valve. Keep helping the valve to re-open until it will do so by itself_

Tuning for best performance

The DTU 81 can be tuned to adjust performance. This is done by changing the up and down movement of the impulse valve, which is normally set to about 12mm. Tuning is usually done to achieve either the maximum delivery flow or the most efficient use of the drive water available.

Maximum delivery

When there is plenty of drive water available, the pump can be tuned to deliver as much water as possible. To do this, remove all washers from the impulse valve stem so that the valve has as much up and down movement as possible.

WARNING: - this also puts the pump parts under greater stress and makes them wear more quickly.

Low drive flow

If the pu mp uses more drive flow than is available it wlll soon stop. If this happens it must be tuned to use Jess. The impulse valve should be tuned down to use 90-95% afthe water available from the source. To tune the pump down, add washers onto the impulse valve stem so that the valve has less up and down movement. The shorter the stroke, the smaller the amount of drive flow needed, and the less water is delivered. The minimum stroke length is about 7mm.

Routine maintenance

VVhile the pump is running normally, a visit should be made once a week to check that bolts are tight and that there are no leaks. Once a month an inspection of the whole system should be carried out. It is also recommended that a log book is kept to record the checks and repairs that have been made.

Monthly maintenance check list (without stopping the pump):

[] Inspect all the joints to check for leaks. (3) Clean any filters installed in the system.

jgl Check if there is sufficient air in the air ~ Remove excess silt or debree from tanks or from

vesse1. This can be done by listening behind the intake dam or weir if necessary.

carefully to the pump. If there is insufficient ffil Walk along all pipes looking for damage. Also,

air in the air vessel, the pump will be much inspect the tanks for leaks, particularly at pipe

louder than usual. This means that the snifter joints,

valve is probably blocked and will need to be

cleared.

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