2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Water is a vital need, and its availability has always played a key role in human existence. Access to quality water is another essential factor in our daily life. The fact is that many inhabitants of the world do not have potable water due to water shortages. Accessibility due to remote or hilly locations is another hardship population still faces. Transporting water to higher altitudes requires pumping infrastructure. In the absence of such facilities, the communities that reside in isolated areas encounter water scarcity affecting drinking, sanitation, farming, and other water-based needs. A feasible solution to transport water to elevated locations can be accomplished by a hydraulic Ram pump, which works on the principle of energy conservation and operates without any power source resulting in a zero or negligible running cost. A hydraulic Ram pump was designed, built, and operated successfully.
Subsequently, considerable improvements were incorporated to improve the performance. Parametric studies were carried out to investigate the performance and optimize the operating parameters. The faulty in the Mechanical Engineering Technology program proposes to utilize the experimental setup in fluid power to carry out two experiments. In the first experiment, the equipment will be used to measure pressure, volumetric efficiency, and energy efficiency. With a few modifications existing setup, students can experimentally determine minor losses as it includes bends and valves already. It will serve as a valuable teaching tool as students can see the importance of designing fluid power equipment while accounting for losses.