An Analysis of the Hydraulic Ram

Abstract

An hydraulic ram is a pump in which the momentum of a driving stream of water undergoing a small head drop is used to pump a small portion of the stream to a head considerably greater than that of the supply. An attempt has been made to identify the features of the ram; the drive head and flow, the discharge (or pump) head and flow, the cycle frequency, and the system efficiency. Analytical results are expressed in terms of the ratio of the maximum drive velocity at drive valve closure to the maximum steady state velocity with the drive valve wide open. This ratio is always less than one. Comparison of the analysis with experimental results gives a numerical correlation of heads and flows. The cycle frequency and system efficiency are not predicted with great accuracy, but the trends are predicted correctly.