Low Head Hydraulic Pumping – Design, Simulation, and Field Validation of Ram and Turbine Pump in Indian River Basin

Abstract

Water energy is essential for economic expansion and human development. Social progress and economic growth depend on meeting water energy needs sustainably. The use of non renewable energy sources for pumping water to high heads from a low head (surface flow or groundwater) has led to a global imbalance, leaving society vulnerable to an uncertain future. The thesis aims to bypass electrical energy for pumping water in a niche region of people near river basins, promoting interdependence and minimizing consumption. Technical engineering solutions applied in this work use the flow from rivers or streams as their primary input energy sources to pump 5 to 10 percent of the water needed for sustenance at higher elevations while returning 90 to 95 percent of the water that is used for pumping back to the stream. This endeavour has the potential to assist around 5% of the world's population who currently live along the river basins. The Taipadar village case study is illustrated, which is situated in the Tiriya river basin of the Chhattisgarh state, Bastar, in central-east India, to demonstrate the implementation of such technical solutions in the real world. The emphasis is given to the effectiveness of converting two hydraulic powers: input river flow and head and output delivered flow and delivery head. Afterward, in this research, the two appropriate engineering solutions of the Taipadar village, namely the Ram pump and Turbine pump, have been examined for their best performance, and monograms have been created to enable technicians and field personnel to develop their customized systems. A detailed comparison of two technologies (i.e., Ram pump and Turbine pump) is made with a discussion of their working principles and the results of tests conducted at a field station in central-east India. The H-Q-D (Head-Discharge-Diameter) chart is also developed to serve as a helpful tool for interpreting the technology concerning boundary circumstances and serves as a roadmap for upcoming innovations in such renewable hydro pumping devices. It is crucial to investigate the technologies' combined or individual overall optimum performance for the system design. To gain insights into the performance of the turbine pump, its blade geometry, represented by the blade thickness to chord length ratio (t/l), is analysed. This study on t/l highlights its effect on the specific speed of the turbine and, therefore, the pumping efficiency. This comprehensive work on t/l is a novel area of investigation that has been previously ignored or overlooked, but its findings have opened up new avenues for optimizing the performance of hydro turbines. The scaling effect of axial flow propellers while maintaining a constant t/l ratio, as well as varying chord lengths and blade numbers, is also addressed. A comprehensive qualitative theory of energy transfer and corresponding loss mechanisms is also provided, along with an analytical method. Moreover, in order to examine the performance of a hydraulic ram, this study analysed the stroke rate of the impulse valve, as well as the valve setting, drive head, and length, using two analytical models. These models (i.e., Tacke and Iversen) have validated the results that show good conformance with matching delivered flow. The analysis of the effect of control variables on input variables demonstrates that the field setup outperformed the lab setup. 4 The thesis, in the end, will provide the fundamentals, design, conceptualization, construction, evaluation, and field validation guidelines for implementing low-head micro hydro pump technologies to deliver water, generate electricity, and, most notably, convince society and policymakers to shift their current reductionist approach. The scaling and design of the turbine pump, pump selection, and flow output estimation with a technical-economic feasibility study procedure are also discussed.