DESIGN OF A LOW COST

OFF-GRID HYDRAULIC RAM

PUMP FOR SMALL HOLDER
FARMERS IN REMOTE
AREAS
NAVIGATOR NAMULU(BAE/20/SS/009)
ODALA MANKHOKWE(BAE/17/SS/010)

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PRESENTATION CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Literature review
3. Methodology
4. Product Design specifications
5. Conceptual Design
6. Conceptual evaluation
7. Detailed design
8. Budget
9. Conclusion
10. Gantt chart
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 INTRODUCTION-
BACKGROUND
According to Mohammed(2007), a hydraulic ram pump is a water
pump powered by hydropower.

It takes in water at one head (pressure) and flow rate, and deliver
water at its outlet at a higher hydraulic head and lower flow rate.

 The device uses the water hammer effect to develop pressure that
allows a portion of the input water that powers the pump to be lifted
to a point higher than where the water originally started.

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INTRODUCTION-PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Many farmers in remote areas of Malawi rely on rainy season to
cultivate crops making them planting crops once every year.

Electric and fuel powered pumps are very expensive that many small
farmers cannot manage to purchase. These pumps also need
technical knowledge to operate and maintain.

To address this problem and improve food security in these regions,
there is need to design a low cost off-grid irrigation hydraulic ram
pump for farmers in remote areas.
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INTRODUCTION-OBJECTIVES
Main objective
To design a low-cost off-grid hydraulic ram pump for small holder
irrigation systems in rural areas.

Specific objectives
1. To conduct comprehensive literature review
2. To design low cost off grid hydraulic ram pump
3. To manufacture a low cost hydraulic ram pump
5. To test and evaluate the performance of the hydraulic ram pump

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INTRODUCTION- PROJECT SCOPE

The prime mover of the pump is only the gravitation flow of water
from either a river or a stream

The pump does not include any complex control systems like the use
of remote controlling operation, use of electricity and solar systems.

Analyzing the performance of the pump using simulation tools

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LITERATURE REVIEW-REVIEW
FINDINGS
According to young (1998) a hydraulic ram pump is a fully automatic
device that uses the energy of the flowing water from sources such as
springs, stream or river to pump water to a height above that of the
source of the water

In terms of the structure, a hydram is just a simple unit made up of

two moving parts namely; the waste valve (impulsive valve) and the
delivery valve (check valve). The unit also consists of an air
vessel(chamber) and an air valve as shown in figures 1 and 2.

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EXISTING HYDRAMS

•
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Figure 1: shows a metallic hydram 8
EXISTING HYDRAMS cont.…

Figure 2: shows a hydram with a PVC air chamber

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OPERATION

• figure 3: cross section of a hydram

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LITERATURE REVIEW-REVIEW
FINDINGS cont.…

In the first place the waste valve is open(lowered) due to its own
weight and the delivery valve is closed under the pressure caused by
the water column from the outlet.

The water in the inlet pipe starts to flow under the force of gravity
and picks up the speed and kinetic energy until the increasing drag
force lifts the waste valves weight and closed it.

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LITERATURE REVIEW-REVIEW
FINDINGS cont..
 the momentum of the water flow in the inlet pipe against the now
closed waste valve causes a water hammer that raises the pressure in
the pump beyond that pressure caused by the water column pressure
down from the outlet.
This pressure difference now opens the delivery valve and forces
some water to flow into the delivery pipe. Because is being forced
uphill through the delivery pipe further than is falling downhill from
the source, the flow slows, when the flow reverses, the delivery check
valve

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 LITERATURE REVIEW-REVIEW
FINDINGS cont.
Meanwhile, the water hammer from the closing of the waste valve
also produces a pressure pulse which propagates back up the inlet
pipe to the source when it converts to a suction pulse that propagates
back down the inlet pipe.

This suction pulse, with the weight or spring on the valve, pulls the
waste valve back open and allows the process to begin again.

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LITERATURE-TECHNOLOGY GAPS
 more loss of water on the waste valve(s) leading to slow pressure
build
 They are prone to corrosion since the pump housing and valves are
made of steel. This reduces life span of the hydraulic ram pump.
 Water from hammer effect of spring causes back flow of water
from inlet pipe after collision.

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METHODOLOGY

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 PRODUCT DESIGN SPECIFICATION
PARAMETERS SPECIFICATION
Supply head 1.5 m - 2 m
Delivery head 10m – 15 m
Drive pipe 2m long, 32mm diameter
Delivery pipe 19.05 mm diameter
Bed slope 13.3% - 15%
Supply discharge 46.31L/min
Delivery discharge 7.722 L/min
materials PVC
Power 0.076kW – 1kw
Efficiency 30% - 45%
Field size 10000
Chamber volume 10 litres
Safety standards Design and testing of pressure
vessels to withstand operating
pressures
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 CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
Concept 1: single line hydraulic ram pump

Concept 2: spring-loaded accumulator hydraulic ram pump

Concept 3: vacuum assisted hydraulic ram pump

Concept 4: three ways hydraulic ram pump

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05/10/2025 figure 4: single line hydram 181
SINGLE LINE HYDRAULIC RAM PUMP
Advantages Disadvantages
It is easy to design, understand and It has limited flow rate
maintain. It can create vibrations and noise.
It uses less components hence low
If not properly designed, water
cost
hammer effect can cause damage.
It is easy to install due to its single
May not be suitable for
pipe design
applications requiring high pressure
It has low maintenance cost
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05/10/2025 figure 5: spring-loaded accumulator hydram 201
SPRING-LOADED ACCUMULATOR
HYDRAULIC RAM PUMP
Advantages Disadvantages
 No air dissolution as compared to air chambers  Reduced efficiency due to reduced spring
which lose air over time since the springs
force overtime
maintain consistent pressure
 Maintenance challenges as the spring is
 More reliable for systems requiring steady
weaken due repeated compression and
pressure
expansion
 The accumulator reduces energy losses by
 The system is costly
cushioning pressure spikes hence allowing more
 Its complex as it requires expertise to
water to be pumped per cycle
 Adaptable to variable flow rates properly tune the spring
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 figure 6: vacuum assisted hydram
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VACUUM ASSISTED HYDRAULIC
RAM PUMP cont.…
Advantages Disadvantages

It improves performance in weak or

Not ideal for high volume needs
variable water flow sources.

It has high lift capability to push water Proper sizing ,valve adjustment
to greater height than convectional and vacuum tuning are needed
ram pumps due to enhanced pressure for optimal performance.
from vacuum priming.
Once set up, it runs continuously
without manual intervention
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THREE WAYS HYDRAULIC RAM
PUMP
Description

This consist of one pipeline as an inlet which diverts into three ways.
Each diverted way has one swing valve and one waste valve. From
these two ways, pipes are diverted upward from the space between
swing valve and waste valve. These lines are connected upward to
form one line which is connected to air chamber and outlet pipe as
shown in figure 7 below.

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•05/10/2025 Figure 7: three ways hydram 251
THREE WAYS HYDRAULIC RAM
PUMP
Advantages Disadvantages
 It has high maintenance costs due to more
 It has high flow rate
components it has.
 Flow distribution can reduce  It is not easy to design, understand and

vibrations and noise. maintain

 Flow rates in each pipe might not be
 It can achieve higher pressures
evenly distributed.
 It Can be adjusted to
 Can have high cost of initialization due to
accommodate different flow
rates and pressures more components required
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CONCEPTUAL EVALUATION

Involves comparing each generated concept according to criteria

needed as shown in table 2.
Each concept is weighted out of 5 with 5 being best and 1 being worst
The concept with highest score is ranked 1, the second from highest
is ranked 2 and so on.

The winning concept is the one which is ranked 1

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CONCEPT EVALUATION- table 2
Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3 Concept 4
(single line ram pump) (spring-loaded (vacuum assisted ram (three ways ram pump)
accumulator ram pump)
pump)

Criteria Weight Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score

head 25% 4 1 3 0.75 4 1 4 1

Discharge 10% 4 0.4 4 0.4 4 0.4 3 0.3
Weight 5% 4.5 0.225 3 0.15 3 0.15 2.5 0.125
maintenance 10% 4 0.4 3 0.3 4 0.4 2.5 0.25

Durability 5% 3 0.15 2.6 0.13 3 0.15 3 0.15

Cost 20% 4.3 0.86 3 0.6 4 0.8 3.5 0.7
efficiency 25% 4 1 3 0.75 3.9 0.975 2.8 0.7
Total score 4.035 3.08 3.875 3.225
Rank 1 4 2 3

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 DETAILED DESIGN-MATERIALS
SELECTION
table 3
PART MATERIALS REMARK

Gate valve PVC Low cost

spring Stainless steel corrosion resistance

Pressure Gauge Stainless steel Corrosion resistance

joints PVC Easy to seal and install

Air Chamber Plastic bottle jar Low cost

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DETAILED DESIGN - CALCULATIONS
PARAMETER FROMULA CALCULATED VALUE

Supply discharge = 46.31 l/min

Delivery discharge = 7.722 l/min

power P= 𝜌𝑔𝐻 0.076KW-1KW

efficiency eff= 100% 30%-45%

Bed slope 13.3%-15%

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BUDGET
Requirements Specifications Quantity Price (MK) Supplier
Supply pipe 3m long, 32mm 1 14 ,500 Poly plast
outside diameter
Pvc T-Joints 32mm internal x2 41,250 Poly plast
diameter
Horse pipe 19.05 mm x1 89,840 Flowtech limited
internal diameter,
30m long
Joinery pipes 32mm outer x4 24,725 Poly plast
diameter
Swing valve 32mm internal x1 50,670 Macsteel MW
diameter
Air chamber 10 litres water jar X1 5,000 Poly plast

Check valve x1 53,785 Macsteel Mw

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BUDGET cont.…
Gate valves 32mm and 19.05 x1 each 49,880
internal diameter

Pressure gauge 210 bar x1 160,000 Macsteel

Transport 30,000
Waste valve x1 164, 000 amazon
TOTAL 684,050

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CONCLUSION
• The project has highlighted the solution for the irrigation challenges
small holder farmers face in off grid remote areas. Among others we
came up with different designs and modifications of the already
existing hydraulic ram pump where we introduced an accumulator,
swing valves, vacuum, and also increased the number of channels of
the waste valves. The concept that proved to be of low cost and of
less complexity was chosen as the winning concept.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
• The hydraulic ram pump is indeed a solution for small-holder farmers
living in off grid remote areas as replaces the need for pumps that
uses fuel and electricity.
• The pump is environmental friendly as it has no impacts of pollution
to the surroundings
• The hydram do not demand more technical expertise to handle and
maintain hence are easily adapted by the local small-holder farmers

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GANTT CHART

49,880

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REFERENCES

Yang K. (2014). Design And Hydraulic Performance Of A Novel Hydraulic

Ram Pump.
White F. M. (2011). Fluid Mechanics (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Young B.W. (1998). Generic design of ram pumps,” Procedia Inst. Mech.
Eng., vol. 212.
Mohammed S. N. (2007). Design and Construction of a Hydraulic Ram
Pump.

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