Development of Wind Powered Water Pump

I. INTRODUCTION

The wind is a clean and plentiful source of

energy. Wind Power is the use of wind’s force
to generate some form of measurable power
or work. Many developing nations are without
feasible methods of obtaining clean, drinkable
water. Obtaining water requires walking long
distances or crossing through dangerous
territory, and this is often riddled with disease.
Additionally, clean water is needed for
agricultural purposes to aid local hunter and
to sell crops for economical advances [25].

Some methods of providing water to areas in

need are by wells, water taps and water
purifiers. Unfortunately, water purifiers can be
more expensive and may not eliminate all Figure.1. Typical windmill water pump [18]
pathogens, wells and water taps all require
time and energy to transport the water to II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
surface. Design requirement for the windmill water
One newer method to deliver water is by use pump for rural application. Proposed volume
of wind power to pump ground water to the flow rate
surface. The availability of power supplies is (Q) =(2.002978×10⁻³m³/sec) or 120.17L/min.
often limited, so some alternate form of Average annual wind speed in faculty roof top
energy is required to convey water from the is (v) = 2.5m/sec
source to a point of consumption. Wind
energy is an abundant source of renewable Proposed height of pump (H) = 30cm or 0.3m
energy that can be exploited for pumping
Acceleration due to gravity (g) = 9.81 m/sec²
water in remote locations. A wind pump is a
windmill used for pumping water, either as a Density of water (ρw) = 1000 kg/m³
source of fresh water from wells. It is one of
Power required to pump the water is given by:
the oldest methods of harnessing the energy
of the wind to pump water [18]. Hydraulic power (Pₕ) = ρw g Q H (Watts) (1)
Most windmills for water-pumping = 1000 × 9.81 × 2.002978 × 10⁻³ × 0.3
applications are of the horizontal-axis variety,
and have multi-bladed rotors that can supply Pₕ = 5.895W
the high torque required to initiate operation
of a mechanical pump. Windmills can also be
used to generate electricity, but electricity-
generating units usually consist of vertical-axis
rotors or high-speed propeller rotors, due to
the requirement for low starting torques.
III. DESIGN PARAMETERS as a result of the unequal pressure on the upper
and lower airfoil surfaces.
Based on the above requirements the length
2. Drag Force (F_D) is due to both viscous friction
of the rotor is designed. The blade profile is
forces at the surface of the aerofoil and to the
then optimized for better performance. Some unequal flow. For an aerofoil, Hansen stated that
of the other design parameters are listed in the lift to drag ratio should be maximized. This is
Table I. the force used to overcome gravity and the Here is
all the text from the photo:
Table.1. Draw parameter for the windmill
water pump higher the lift, the higher the mass that can be
lifted off the ground. Lift and Drag coefficients are
defined as follows:

Lift Coefficient (C_L) = F_L / (½ρv²₀c) (6)

Drag Coefficient (C_D) = F_D / (½ρv²₀c) (7)

Where, ρ is the air density and c is the length of

the aerofoil, often denoted by the chord and the
unit for drag and lift is N/m.

3. Blade chord, selecting Blade chord and profile

NACA 2412, the width of the blade is also called
IV. SIZING ROTOR OF THE WIND PUMP the blade chord. I choose NACA 2412 because the
side facing the wind is flat and makes it easy to
The extractable power from the wind is given by:
construct. It is an effective profile with a good
P_avail. = ½ ρ_a A v³ C_p (2) thickness. A good formula for computing the blade
chord is
Where:
Blade chord (m) = (5.6×R²) / (n×C_L×r×(TSR)²)
P_avail. = Available power of the wind turbine (8)
blade (W)
Where, R = Radius of rotor (m), n = number of
ρ = Density of air (kg/m³) blades, C_L = Lift coefficient, r = radius at point of
computation (m), TSR = Tip speed ratio.
v = Wind speed (m/s)
VI. COMPONENTS OF THE WINDMILL WATER
A = Swept area of blades (m²)
PUMP
C_p = Power coefficient
1. Rotor Blade
Sizing rotor of wind pump is a function of the
Rotor blades are the most important in a windmill
pump head, the extractable power from the wind
powered water pump assembly as it captures
must equal the required hydraulic power, so:
wind. A cup shaped PVC septic pipe material which
½ ρ_a A v³ C_p = ρ_w g Q H (3) proved to be helpful for generation of mechanical
work leading to the generation of water pump. It
Where C_p Power coefficient is 0.3 and density of has high corrosion resistance and abrasion
air (ρ_a) = 1.207kg/m³ resistance properties which proved for working of
windmill blade in adverse environmental
Rearranging gives:
conditions with high wind speeds.
A = (1000 × 9.81 × Q × H) / (0.60 × v³ × C_p) (4)
2. Blade Hub
And the diameter follows from:
The material of the blade hub is wood disc. It is
D = √(4×A / π) (5) used to transfer motion from the shaft to the slider
crank disc.
V. AERODYNAMICS OF THE WINDMILL
3. Slider Crank Disc
1. Lift Force (F_L) is the force used to overcome
gravity and is defined to be perpendicular to the The slider crank disc is made up by a cyclic wood
direction of the oncoming airflow [15]. It is formed which is connected to the shaft at one end and the
other end of the slider crank disc is connected to
the hand pump by means of a connecting rod. The
slider crank disc converts rotary motion.

4. Shaft

The shaft is a component which is connected

between the blade hub and the slider crank disc.
The shaft converts motion of the windmill.

5. Ball Bearing

These are machine components designed to

provide support for rotating elements by taking
pure radial loads, pure thrust loads or a
combination of the two. They are made of inner
and outer radial race with incorporated hardened
steel balls which geometrically have contacts with
the two races at a point.

6. Connecting Rod

The connecting rod connects between slider crank

disc and the plunger. It has length of 2.1m and
pinned at radius of 0.15m to the slider crank and
plunger. Figure.2. Exploded view of the wind powered
water pump
7. Displacement Pump
Table.2. Labels of the explode view of wind
This consists pigmentation cylinder with an inlets powered water pump
pipes and valves at the base. A rubber sealed
piston with a one way valve and water outlets at
the top. Water passes through the top only on the
lifting stroke of the piston. These rely on a piston,
which is close fitting within a cylinder containing
water. By lifting the piston a vacuum is created
which displaces the water up the pipe. A one way
foot valve is needed to stop water from flowing
back into the well or tank.

8. Tower

The tower raises the turbines assembly well above

the turbulent air current close to the ground and
captures higher wind speeds. Tower design is
particularly critical, as it must be as economically
possible, robust, enable access to the turbine for
maintenance and yet not add unnecessary to the
cost of the system. Figure 2, shows the exploded VII. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION TESTS OF THE
view of various components of wind powered WINDMILL WATER PUMP
water pump.
A wind powered water pump with rotor diameter
of 2.14m giving a total surface area of 3.733m² and
average wind speed
of 2.5 m/s at 16 m above the ground level has
been developed using standards from wind energy
handbook. The design head pump is 0.3 m and
flow rate per day 120.179 L/min. The prototype
components were manufactured in the
Department of Mechanical Engineering workshop
and some were subcontracted to small workshops
in Ibadan City, Nigeria. The prototype wind pump
was erected at the faculty of Technology roof top
on campus for testing. (Figure 3) shows a
photograph of the wind pump prototype taken
from side.

Figure.3. Assembly of Wind pump prototype

The pumping performance test consists of

continuous sets of measurements taken every
twenty minutes time intervals. Measurements of
wind speed, flow rate, time and volume of water
discharge were taken i n the same order every
time.
 X. CONCLUSIONS
• A three performance evaluation tests were carried out every 20 minutes
time intervals. The first wind pump set up was tested at wind speed
measurement of 0.8, 1.20, 1.45, 1.80 and 2.10 m/s respectively with a water
discharge of 4.48, 5.66, 6.61, 4.78, 7.81 L obtained respectively in the same
order. The second wind pump set up was tested at wind speed measurement of
1.20, 1.80, 2.00, 2.30 and 2.60 m/s respectively with a water discharge of 3.42,
4.21, 5.44, 6.62 and 8.82 L obtained respectively while the third wind pump set
up was tested at a wind speed measurements of 1.80, 2.20, 2.31, 2.40 and 2.52
m/s with a water discharge of 3.48, 5.10, 6.89, 7.81 and 8.92 L obtained
respectively.
• After comparing the three performance evaluation tests, it can be concluded
from the results obtained that as the wind speed increases the water discharge
also increases.
• All materials used are locally available and at a low cost making the model
economically viable.