Water Pumping Technology Research Articles

Potential for using Solar-Powered Water Pumping Technology for Irrigating Sugarcane in Sri Lanka

Purpose: Price hike of petroleum and the non-coverage of national electricity supply in plantation sites are some shortcomings against implementing lift irrigation projects in highland sugarcane plantations. Solar energy can be used as an alternative energy source for diesel or national electricity dependent water pumping technology. The present paper demonstrates the potential of using solar-powered water pumping technology for irrigating sugarcane in Sevanagala, Pelwatta, Hingurana, Kantale, and Kilinochchi, in Sri Lanka. Research Method: The study was conducted in Sevanagala, Pelwatta, Hingurana, Kantale, and Kilinochchi, sugarcane growing areas. Technical and economical evaluation was carried out to characterize the usability of solar powered water pumping technology respective to conventional furrow irrigation and drip irrigation under different water sources i.e., tube-wells, agro-wells, small water tanks, and runoff water harvesters. Solar irradiance (W.m⁻²) and cloud cover (%) in each location were used to estimate the solar energy variations. NASA–MERRA-2 data set (GMAO, 2015) was used to derive solar irradiance for the period of 10 years from 2010 – 2019. Findings: The solar irradiance and insolation in the sugarcane plantation sites are sufficient to operate solar-powered water pumping systems. The solar irradiance and insolation in study area ranged from 218.2 kW.m⁻² to 225.4 kW.m⁻² and 5.34 kW.h.m⁻² to 5.48 kW.h.m⁻² respectively. The solar technology will greatly reduce the operating costs of irrigation, despite the high initial costs. Kilinochchi and Kantale area showed the highest and lowest profitability in using solar powered irrigation respectively. Nevertheless, Sevanagala, Pelwatta and Hingurana show medium potential for implementing solar powered water pumping systems for irrigations. Research Limitation: Limited availability of data on temporal changers of cost incurred on the irrigation practices and the fluctuation of market price of the solar powered water pumping systems were significant constraints experienced during the study period. Originality/ Value: The results of this study are highly useful for decision makers in both plantation and national level in implementation of productivity improving programs in sugarcane plantation areas in Sri Lanka.

Study on Sustainable Well Water Pumping Technology to Melt Ice in Winter for the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project

In order to improve the water delivery capacity of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in winter, the technology of pumping well water to melt ice was previously adopted to improve the water temperature of the channel. In order to protect the local ecology and channel water quality during the process of pumping and recharging, this paper has analyzed the optimal limit to the range of groundwater level fluctuations and groundwater temperature fluctuations. The Baiquan Underground Reservoir was considered as the research object, and a three-dimensional numerical model of hydrothermal coupling was established. Correlation analyses of pumping and recharge capacity with various factors, and between temperature changes after recharging and various factors, were carried out with a view to protecting local water quality. The single well pumping and recharging scheme was optimized by genetic algorithm. The quantitative estimation formula of pumping and recharge water capacity, and the well depth, permeability coefficient, initial water level, and duration of continuous pumping and recharge, as well as the recovery water level variation formula, were established under the limitation of water level fluctuation. The quantitative relationship between horizontal maximum diameter, L, and the recharge flow rate, the continuous recharge duration, vertical maximum depth, H; and the well depth, temperature change rate, K, and the recharge water temperature, were obtained. The results showed that the permeability coefficient and soil thermal conductivity had little effect on the temperature field change. Additionally, recharge should be carried out in summer, when the temperature of recharge water is above 14.8 °C. When the number of pumping or recharging times, n, is two, the total amount of pumping or recharging during the operation period reaches its maximum. Compared with continuous operation during the operating period, this report found that the total amount of pumped water would increase by 1.1 × 106 m3, and the total amount of recharge would increase by 7 × 105 m3.

Standalone photovoltaic array fed induction motor driven water pumping system

Due to the absence of energy transmission lines connected to the water pumping sites in remote areas, problems related to the electrical power outages and the environmental degradation caused by fossil fuel. For this one of the most conceived solutions is the photovoltaic water pumping technology which has the advantage of being sustainable and respectful of the environment to supply water to rural areas. To ensure the need of water, especially for domestic use and small communities, in this article, the photovoltaic energy system for autonomous water pumping using the induction motor was presented, particularly adapted to the isolated regions. Pumping system consists of four photovoltaic (PV) panels, boost converter, inverter, induction motor, centrifugal pump and a storage tank. In this study, the output power of a PV solar cell is fully used by proposing the P&O algorithm, where it is used to follow a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique. The recommended system is designed, modeled and simulated on the MATLAB/Simulink platform. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is observed with variable solar sunshine.

Climate-Smart Initiatives in Sri Lankan Agriculture Sector: Experience and Perspectives in Solar Powered Water Pumping for Sustainable Crop Production

The availability of low cost and long-lasting water pumping technology is a dream of every farmer. In Sri Lanka, fuel or electricity-powered water pumps are used to irrigate thousands of hectares of field crops, Vegetables, and fruits. Based on the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) survey conducted in the year 2000, there are about 50,000 agro-wells in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. More than 110,000 pumps are used to pump water from those wells. The fuel cost is the biggest burden for the farmers, which results in a high cost of production. The use of solar energy for water pumping is a promising alternative to conventional electricity and fuel-based water pumping systems. Solar-powered water pumping is based on photovoltaic (PV) technology that converts solar energy into electrical energy to run a DC or AC type water pump. This paper presents a comparative analysis of economic and environmental benefits associated with solar water pumping systems against fuel-based water pumping systems. The analyses were based on practical experience over 50 acres of land cultivated for export-oriented Green Cucumber by 100 members of Tempitiya Farmer Organization in Ampara District of Sri Lanka. It concluded that the solar water pumping system is advantageous compared to a fuel-based pump in terms of economic and environmental aspects.

Dynamic security of islanded power systems with pumped storage power plants for high renewable integration – A study case

This work consists in assessing a real islanded power system from a dynamic security point of view, to support the planned installation, in the near future, of a hydro power plant with pumped storage, aiming to increase the integration of renewable energy. The analysed hydro power plant will include a Pelton turbine as it is a high-head hydro facility. Due to economic reasons, the adopted water pumping technology consists in fixed speed pumps coupled to induction motors with direct grid connection. It was possible to verify through detailed simulations of this power system's time domain behaviour that, even though the expected installation of this new power plant will bring additional frequency stability constraints, a robust technical solution may be found dealing with the new constraints without increasing the complexity of operation in this islanded power system. The conclusions obtained from this specific case are also valid for similar isolated power systems, namely when hydro pumping stations are being considered to increase time-variable renewable generation penetration.

PV water pumping systems for domestic uses in remote areas: Sizing process, simulation and economic evaluation

Abstract PV water pumping technology is recognized as a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to provide water for domestic use. The appropriate design and smooth operation mostly rely on available solar irradiation, domestic water demand and appropriate configuration of the proposed system. Therefore, the aim of this work is to examine an optimum PV system configuration that is capable of supplying a solar submersible pump system to fulfill domestic water needs of five isolated houses located in a Moroccan remote area. A detailed approach for the design of an optimized PV water pumping system based on real water usage data is proposed. Besides, system design work and performance assessment were carried out based on hourly climatic conditions. Overall, two approaches were investigated for an optimum design of the proposed system. Annual simulations indicated that the direct coupling, as a first option, appears to be unfitting configuration for water pumping in this case. In turn, results proved that second system including a MPPT DC converter with less PV arrays could pump more water and its performance remarkably surpassed the direct coupling configuration. In addition, economic analysis has shown that proposed systems are cost competitive against the conventional water supply methods.

Solutions for adapting photovoltaics to large power irrigation systems for agriculture

The adaptation of the mature PV water-pumping technology to large power irrigation applications requires the problems associated to PV power intermittencies and matching PV production with the irrigation needs to be resolved. This paper presents the innovations developed, implemented and tested in a PV irrigation prototype installed in a real well at an Irrigator Community in Alicante, Spain. The innovations eliminate the intermittences due to passing clouds, reducing the PV power by 80% in just few seconds without batteries, just using control algorithms in the frequency converter, avoiding water hammers and overvoltages. A North-South horizontal axis tracker has been used to extend the number of hours of irrigation per day and to provide daily constant profiles of PV power during the irrigation period. Moreover, the use of this tracker allows the nominal power of the PV generator to be reduced by 45% as compared to a fixed structure for the same volume of water. The analysis of the economic feasibility of the prototype compared with the cost of grid electricity shows savings of 60%. This prototype has been operating in the South of Morocco delivering more than 235 m3/day for the last three years.

Economic optimization of photovoltaic water pumping systems for irrigation

Photovoltaic water pumping technology is considered as a sustainable and economical solution to provide water for irrigation, which can halt grassland degradation and promote farmland conservation in China. The appropriate design and operation significantly depend on the available solar irradiation, crop water demand, water resources and the corresponding benefit from the crop sale. In this work, a novel optimization procedure is proposed, which takes into consideration not only the availability of groundwater resources and the effect of water supply on crop yield, but also the investment cost of photovoltaic water pumping system and the revenue from crop sale. A simulation model, which combines the dynamics of photovoltaic water pumping system, groundwater level, water supply, crop water demand and crop yield, is employed during the optimization. To prove the effectiveness of the new optimization approach, it has been applied to an existing photovoltaic water pumping system. Results show that the optimal configuration can guarantee continuous operations and lead to a substantial reduction of photovoltaic array size and consequently of the investment capital cost and the payback period. Sensitivity studies have been conducted to investigate the impacts of the prices of photovoltaic modules and forage on the optimization. Results show that the water resource is a determinant factor.

Economic Viability of Solar Photovoltaic Water Pump for Sustainable Agriculture Growth in Pakistan

Pakistan is an agricultural country where 25% of total land area is utilized for cultivation of crops. But this sector is drastically affected by energy crisis currently worrying the whole world. In current article solar PV technology utilization for sustainable growth of agriculture sector of Pakistan is presented. Water pumping is major energy consuming operation of agriculture field that may be shifted to solar energy based electricity. This work elaborates the economic feasibility of PV solar powered water pump systems, simulated in RETScreen international software developed by Canadian Energy Center for five major agricultural cities of Pakistan named; Multan, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Rahim-Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. The weather condition and geographical information of sites are imported from NASA reported software database. Solar PV water pump system viability is estimated on the basis of economic determinants like NPV, IRR and payback periods. Simulation outcomes predict that installation of single 4.48kW DC-solar PV water pump will result into 7-8 MWH electric power savings and 1.2-1.4tCO2 greenhouse gases emission reduction produced due to combustion of fuel for generating base-case electric power. Commercial implementation of solar PV water pumping technology can be a milestone to figure out energy and economy related agricultural issues and reducing environmental concerns.

Early Water Pumping Technology in Australia

The supply of water for mining and pastoral stations was vital to the development of the Australian economy. There is very little remaining fabric of the early technology, and a study has been made of the stationary equipment designed and manufactured by the early foundries in Adelaide from 1843, who supplied pumps, engines and pump sets to increase the capacity of station stockholdings and productivity of the land in SA and NSW. While wind power was available, 1830s steam technology from England was developed for the Australian environment and purchased by landowners eager to capitalise their properties, and improve capacity and profits. These pump sets were operating until the introduction of oil engines in the 1890s, and were substantial installations in their own right, requiring site staff to operate and maintain them, and a supply of spare parts. There is sufficient archaeology from remote pastoral stations and wells to establish the significance of the engineering heritage and record this technology, which has not been published to date.