Author
 |
Clark, Ray |
|
Submitted to: Yearbook of Science and Technology
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 9/5/1995 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: An adequate year-round water supply is still a major stumbling block to livestock grazing in many arid regions and about one-third of the world's population do not have a safe and dependable water supply. Many of these people and animals depend on surface waters that are polluted and harmful to their health. New developments with electrical generating wind machines shave provided a new potential for pumping water in remote areas with wind energy. A wind-electric water pumping system consists of a wind turbine that produces AC electric power at variable-voltage, variable-frequency; a pump controller; and a standard utility-grade electric motor and pump. The premise for the wind-electric water pumping system is to allow the wind turbine to operate at variable speed; thus supplying electric power directly to a standard electric motor. For a 17-m (50-ft) pumping head, flow was initiated at a wind speed of 3.0 m/s (7 mph) and a peak flow of 40 Lpm (10 gpm) was recorded at a wind speed of 12 m/s (27 mph) when furling occurred. The peak flows varied from 36 to 41 Lpm (9 to 10 gpm) for all heads tested. The average for the year was 12,534 L/day (3,311 gpd) and all months, except August, exceeded 10,000 L/day (2,612 gpd). A beef cow requires 40 to 50 L/day (10 to 15 gpm); therefore, this pumping system would provide for well over 100 head. I feel that these machines are reliable and robust enough to be installed in remote areas where the greatest need for livestock and domestic pumping occur. This wind-electric water pumping system has consistently performed better than the wind- mechanical water pumping system. Technical Abstract: An adequate year-round water supply is still a major stumbling block to livestock grazing in many arid regions and about one-third of the world's population do not have a safe and dependable water supply. Many of these people and animals depend on surface waters that are polluted and harmful to their health. New developments with electrical generating wind machines shave provided a new potential for pumping water in remote areas with wind energy. A wind-electric water pumping system consists of a wind turbine that produces AC electric power at variable-voltage, variable-frequency; a pump controller; and a standard utility-grade electric motor and pump. The premise for the wind-electric water pumping system is to allow the wind turbine to operate at variable speed; thus supplying electric power directly to a standard electric motor. For a 17-m (50-ft) pumping head, flow was initiated at a wind speed of 3.0 m/s (7 mph) and a peak flow of 40 Lpm (10 gpm) was recorded at a wind speed of 12 m/s (27 mph) when furling occurred. The peak flows varied from 36 to 41 Lpm (9 to 10 gpm) for all heads tested. The average for the year was 12,534 L/day (3,311 gpd) and all months, except August, exceeded 10,000 L/day (2,612 gpd). A beef cow requires 40 to 50 L/day (10 to 15 gpm); therefore, this pumping system would provide for well over 100 head. I feel that these machines are reliable and robust enough to be installed in remote areas where the greatest need for livestock and domestic pumping occur. This wind-electric water pumping system has consistently performed better than the wind- mechanical water pumping system. |
