subject: Hydraulic Ram Pumps And Their Use [print this page] Hydraulic Ram pumps have been around for many decades and are popular for two main reasons which are; they require no external power source, since they run on water power. And they are extremely simple, with just two moving parts.
The basic idea around a hydraulic ram pump is simple. The pump uses the momentum of a relatively large amount of moving water to pump a relatively small amount of water uphill.
To use a ram pump, you must have a source of water situated above the pump. For example, you must have a pond on a hillside so that you can place the pump below the pond. You run a pipe from the pond to the pump. The pump has a valve that allows water to flow through this pipe and thus build up speed.
The hydraulic ram pump concept was first developed by the Mongolfier brothers in France in 1796. The main virtue is that its only moving parts are two valves, and it is therefore mechanically very simple. This gives it very high reliability, minimal maintenance requirements and a long operation life.
The main parts of a hydraulic ram pump are discharge valve, snifter valve, delivery valve, air chamber. The pumps have a cyclic pumping action that produces the characteristic beat during operation. The cycle can be divided into three phases; acceleration, delivery and recoil.
When the water resource is abundant, the lifted water demand becomes a key parameter in selecting the suitable type and number of the hydraulic ram installed. The hydraulic ram pump (in different types or same types) could be installed in parallel. The greater the number of sets of hydraulic ram pumps installed, the greater the quantity of water that could be lifted. In this case, the water demand changed due to the rising living standard and the increasing population.
