Water Pumping Windmills Research Articles

Priority of Wind Energy in West Coast of Southern Thailand for Installing the Water Pumping Windmill System with Combining of Entropy Weight Method and TOPSIS

Wind energy potential or quality serve as the primary determinants influencing the decisions of Thai farmers regarding the installation of water-pumping windmills with heights ranging from 9 to 15 m and a cut-in wind speed requirement of 4 m/s, aimed at reducing their fuel costs. To introduce a simplified calculation method as one of their decision-making tools, the combined approach of the entropy weight method with TOPSIS has been introduced to assist them in prioritizing and assessing the wind quality in their respective areas. This study focuses on the western region of Southern Thailand, known for its high agricultural productivity. Initially, only 18 out of the 227 sub-districts with a minimum monthly wind speed exceeding 4 m/s were selected for thorough investigation. Subsequently, the entropy weight method was applied to the monthly wind speed data of these 18 chosen sub-districts to calculate their monthly weight values. These monthly weight values provide a quantifiable characterization of the wind quality in these specific sub-districts, revealing variations in wind quality between seasons, with superior quality during the summer season compared to the rainy season. Following the calculation of monthly weight values, the TOPSIS technique was applied to the wind data in conjunction with these monthly weight values, resulting in the determination of performance scores (Pi) for each of the 18 sub-districts. Pi values were found to vary from 0.0641 to 0.9006. In the final step of the analysis, these 18 sub-districts were ranked based on their respective Pi values, with the implication that sub-districts exhibiting higher Pi values are more suitable for the installation of water-pumping windmills with heights ranging from 9 to 15 m compared to those with lower Pi values.

Steady and unsteady characteristics of circular arc airfoils for water pumping windmills

Accurate airfoil lift and drag data at low Reynolds number, Re, and high angles of attack, α, are needed to analyze the performance of small wind turbines, particularly their starting. In the current study, the steady and unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of circular arc airfoils (CAAs) with and without spars, as used in water-pumping windmills, were examined in a wind tunnel of 1 m2 cross section at Re<106. The tunnel was configured as an open jet and a closed section. The effects of varying geometrical characteristics on the CAA performance were investigated using a combination of thickness, camber, aspect ratio, and airfoil chord-to-tunnel height ratio. Using force transducers, the aerodynamic forces acting on the airfoils were measured directly for both increasing and decreasing α. The decreasing α measurements produce a higher lift–drag ratio than the increasing measurements, mostly in the post-stall region. In addition, “second stall,” was observed at large α in both the open and closed tunnels depending on the Re and tunnel blockage, but was much more prominent in the closed tunnel due to its wall constraining the wake and preventing the flow from switching from one regime to another. It was shown that the performance of all tested airfoils was sensitive to low Re under steady and unsteady conditions. The latter measurements for an airfoil oscillated at reduced frequencies, k≤0.06, are the first for CAAs. Results from this investigation provide a comprehensive airfoil dataset for the accurate blade element theory modeling of CAAs aerodynamic and starting performances.

Reverse Engineering and Design of a Windmill Pumping System suitable for Wind Conditions: A Case Study in a Suburb of Tajoura, Libya

Water-pumping windmills are reliable alternatives to provide water in some areas isolated from the electricity network, especially those with poor wind sources that are insufficient to operate wind turbines to generate electricity. The successful design of windmills for water pumping requires careful study of many variable parameters depending on the wind pattern and topography of the site. However, in this study, the researchers relied on the application of an integrated approach between forwarding Engineering (FE) and Reverse Engineering (RE), with the aim of obtaining a 3D CAD model of a water pumping windmill system.This 3D model will be the basis for manufacturing the windmill prototype that will be installed at a pilot site in a suburb of the city of Tajoura within a research project. The FE activities cannot be neglected when applying RE for the successful manufacturing of the windmills. The wind data recorded at the Center for Solar Energy Research and Studies (CSERS) for several years was used for calculating daily and monthly average wind speed and studying the daily wind pattern. The analysis of the collected wind data showed that the minimum and maximum daily average wind speed at Tajoura varies from 2.35m/s to 4.69 m/s, and theannual average wind speed is 3.24m/s. Among the Forward design, activity is estimating the wind resources available at the site for sizing the system to provide the site water requirements of 5 m³/day. From this point on, a commercial water-pumping windmill of 4.88m (16ft and a standard tower height of 12m were chosen to be the target of a RE application to obtain a CAD model. RE is accomplished in three phases: digitizing the component (part), processing the measured data, and creating the CAD model. To adopt the 3D model for all parts, they must be compared with the original scanned data using Deviation Analysis in CATIA. Afteradopting the 3D models of all the system components, the 3D assembly models were created based on the integrated approach between RE and FE. Finally, it is worth noting that the windmills for water pumping could not be manufactured solely by just applying reverse engineering.

Aerodynamic performance and blockage investigation of a cambered multi-bladed windmill

Windmills for water pumping typically operate at low speed and high torque owing to their multi-bladed nature. This, however, complicates the rotor aerodynamic behavior due to the mutual interaction between adjacent blades and low Reynolds number, Re, operation. While studies on their aerodynamic performance indicate that increasing blade number, N, and airfoil type are critical analysis and design parameters, its low Re behavior with cambered airfoils appears complicated and is still poorly understood. Accordingly, the performance of a windmill model of diameter 0.68 m with 3 ≤ N ≤ 24 identical blades was investigated in two open jet wind tunnels, with different test section sizes: one with high blockage of 36.3 % and the other with a negligible blockage of 4.5 %, for comparison with Blade Element Theory (BET) predictions of thrust, torque, and power. It was found that BET is accurate except at low tip speed ratios, λ where it under-predicts the torque primarily because of the high solidity at high N. Furthermore, the study reveals that high blockage impacts significantly on rotor performance and is a function of N. Overall, the experiment gave a better performance, highlighting the importance of accounting for solidity in aerodynamic performance prediction.

Aerodynamic Analysis of Curved Blade for Water Pumping Windmill

Aerodynamic Analysis of Curved Blade for Water Pumping Windmill

On Blade Arrangement for Multi-Blade Rotors

This paper concerns the blades of multi-bladed water-pumping windmills when they have variable mass and centre of mass. The paper explores blade arrangement strategies that will minimize the eccentricity of the rotor centre of mass and hence any rotor-induced vibration. The number of blades in the rotor is assumed to equal the number made in each production batch, in contrast to the case where a batch of up to 22 blades was optimally matched to produce two- and three-bladed rotors, Hitz & Wood [1]. Using the measured mass and centre of mass of 24 blades for the rotor of a 26 ft Kijito windmill described by Harries [3], three strategies are considered. Random matching of the blades is shown to become increasingly effective as blade number increases. Pairing the blades by ordering in the product of mass and centre of mass, d, followed by random selection of pairs also produces rotors with low eccentricities. The numerical experiments show that the best strategy involving random selection is to pair by ordering, swapping the blades of every second pair, and then randomly arrange the resulting pairs. Finally, a heuristic based on blade pairing is shown to give eccentricities which are high compared to the minimum value determined exactly for 12 blades or less, but apparently low enough to be useful.

Determination of the loads acting on the pump rod of a water pumping windmill

One of the most delicate parts to size in a water pumping windmill is the pump rod. Indeed, frequent ruptures during the exploitation and experimentation of windmills shows that the determination of the real forces acting on the pump rod is quite difficult to evaluate. The calculation of these forces is traditionally achieved by taking as a maximal force the sum of the static loads. The calculation model used in this article takes into account the hydraulic pressure losses, inertia forces and the shock force caused by the water column on the piston. This will make it possible to better know the forces acting on the pump rod and therefore to perform better sizing.

Techno-economic evaluation of water pumping windmills in India

An attempt to develop a simple framework for techno-economic evaluation of windmills for irrigation water pumping has been made. The amounts of water delivered by five somewhat different designs of windmill pumps at different locations have been estimated. The unit cost of water delivered and unit cost of useful energy delivered by the windmills have been estimated. The monetary benefits that accrued to the end-user have been quantified in terms of the amount of diesel or electricity saved. The Net Present Value and Benefit-to-Cost Ratio for the investments made in windmill pumps have been estimated. The effect of fuel price escalation on these measures of financial performance has also been evaluated along with the estimation of the break-even prices of fuels likely to be substituted by windmill pumps.

Safety systems for the ESES 2002 wind pump

The ESES 2002 wind pump, a 4.6 m rotor diameter high-performance water pumping windmill, was tested at four different sites (Cairo, Giza, Wadi El Natroun and El-Tor city on the Red Sea coast) from September 1997 to July 1999. These machines utilize a 3:1 gearbox and a hydrodynamic sealing piston pump. These four ESES 2002 wind pumps were tested by pumping from a motionless water depth of 3 m up to an 84 m deep well. A variety of pump diameter sizes varying from 64 to 1400 mm were used. The water pumped was returned to the well after flowing through a settling storage tank having a capacity of 3 m 3. The instrumentation provided a 16 channel data acquisition system to accurately measure the machine performance, including rotor rpm, number of stroke, starting wind speed, flow rate, tail furl angle and other variables. The results verify that the ESES 2002 wind pump is a robust machine as two machines have been running for 2 years continuously without requiring any replacement parts or major or minor maintenance.

Wind energy development in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, India Institutional dynamics and barriers — A case study

Tamil Nadu state has the distinction of 719 MW capacity windfarms at the end of September 1998 out of the country's total figure of 992 MW. Andhra Pradesh has 58 MW installed windfarms in the state. 1995–96 saw a boom when 282 MW windfarms were set up in Tamil Nadu and capacity in Andhra Pradesh increased by 39 MW. Subsequently there was a steady decline in the windfarm development in both the states. This case study attempted in detail to trace the reasons for the boom and the factors that contributed to the slump in windfarm activity in the states. The role of institutions in determining the effectiveness of National and Regional public-sector initiatives to promote and disseminate wind energy in the two states is discussed in the paper. The study has also looked into the financial, technical, transaction and institutional barriers which inhibit the diffusion of wind energy in the states. Creation of Wind Fund, establishment of co-operative windfarms, setting up of wind estates, linking generation to incentives for optimum production, promotion of reliable water pumping windmills and wind battery chargers for small-scale applications suggested in the paper for rapid growth of wind energy in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The results of the case study may be used to improve public policy intervention in disseminating wind energy in the country. It may also be relevant to multilateral and bilateral aid agencies in their projects and/or programmes to promote cost-effective wind energy technology dissemination in developing countries.

Development of a new small windpump for manufacture in developing countries

IT Power is developing an innovative design of mechanical water-pumping windmill. This article describes this machine, in particular the innovative epicyclic oval reciprocating transmission system, and discusses the results of the test programme carried out to date on the preliminary prototype. The potential and prospects for technology transfer to developing country manufacturers are reviewed.

Optimal mix of technologies for rural India: The irrigation sector

In India and other developing countries, irrigation has received particular attention for stimulating economic growth. Increase in agricultural productivity through better inputs is considered the key to economic development and self sufficiency. Considering the cost increases incurred by the state-run electricity utilities in rural electrification and the uncertainties pertaining to the supply and the price of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, it becomes imperative to identify other options for irrigation water pumping. Much work has been done in recent years in India and elsewhere on the use of alternative technologies for this purpose, and the present work attempts to develop a linear (mixed integer) model for determining the cost-effective technology options at the micro level. The energy required for irrigation is estimated. This is followed by a mathematical description of the developed model. The authors also discuss the technoeconomics of different energy resource and technology options for the irrigation sector. The technologies include solar photovoltaics, water pumping windmills, gasifier and biogas plants coupled to diesel engines operating in the dual-fuel mode, electric pumpsets, and diesel pumps in the independent mode. The developed model is solved for typical conditions that exist in India, and it is shown that there are conditions in which alternative energy technologies make economic sense.

Windmill-irrigation in India

The cost of irrigation water has been computed for two shallow-well, water-pumping windmill designs in India. An empirical relationship for variation of the overall efficiency of the windmills with wind-speed is established. Weibull parameters are computed for Indore, Madras and New Delhi and are used to estimate monthly overall efficiencies, hydraulic outputs and the costs of delivered water. Regions in India where windmill irrigation may be economically preferable to alternative technologies for water-pumping have been identified. The trend of windmill installation in recent years is briefly analysed.

Performance prediction of multivane windmills in India

A method for predicting the useful output from the Apoly 12-PU-500 water pumping windmill (the most extensively used windmill in India) is proposed. The prediction procedure establishes the overall efficiency of the Apoly as a function of wind speed, using performance data of the windmill. Using mathematical properties of the Weibull distribution, an expression for the useful output from the windmill is established. The Weibull parameters of two locations in India, of different agro-climatic characteristics, are used to predict the monthly hydraulic output from the Apoly. The prediction procedure may prove useful for the rational siting of the 50,000 windmills for water pumping planned in India by 2001 A.D.

A low-cost water pumping windmill using a sail type Savonius rotor

A water pumping windmill which can be built largely with materials and skills available in rural areas has been designed and fabricated. The windmill uses a Savonius rotor and incorporates a novel sail-type construction. The pump is of a positive displacement type using the casing of a pneumatic tyre for the pumping chamber. Two prototypes have been constructed and these have indicated a reasonable performance and reliability.

Assessment of energy conservation using solar energy in Kansas

Tables of measured and calculated data which indicate the amount of fossil energy that could be conserved by using solar and wind energy in Kansas are presented. Data include solar energy received; estimated energy consumption; energy available daily from direct use of solar energy for an average home; minimum potential daily and annual energy savings using solar energy for space heating, space cooling, and water heating; energy consumption in pumping irrigation water; possible energy conservation in pumping irrigation water using wind or solar energy; estimated energy conservation using solar energy for space heating; estimated energy conservation using windmills for water pumping; estimated energy conservation using biomass for electricity generation or space heating; and the potential contribution of solar energy to the total energy demand in the U.S. (WHK)