Development of a peristaltic pump based on bowel peristalsis verification of the basic characteristic considered change of motion patterns

Abstract

A pump that is capable of transporting high-viscosity fluids and solid-liquid mixtures is required in disasters such as flood and liquefaction, and in various industrial settings including sewage treatment plants and food plants. Moreover, it should be as easy as possible to install such a pump system. Turbine-type pumps and piston-type pump are often used to transport high-viscosity fluids and solid-liquid mixture fluids. However, these types of pumps have disadvantages. Turbine-type pumps cannot exert a high discharge pressure; piston-type pumps are usually considerably large, because high pressure is needed to transport large quantities of fluid. Furthermore, it can be difficult to arrange the bent pipes required by these systems because of high friction between the fluid and the pipe walls. Hence, an innovative transport system is desired. In this paper, we focus on bowel peristalsis as a model for a mechanism that can transport fluids, such as sludge with little water. We developed a peristaltic pump based on the bowel mechanism by using an artificial rubber muscle and confirmed its capabilities. In addition, we discuss the discharge pressure and solid-liquid mixture transport to verify the basic characteristics of the pump. We confirm that the discharge pressure value is close to the supplied air pressure, and it is possible to vertically transport a solid-liquid mixture that contains a large amount of solid.