82

3.6 ROTARY POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT PUMPS

There is a group of devices which utilize the displacement principle for lifting or moving
water, but which achieve this by using a rotating form of displacer. These generally
produce a continuous, or sometimes a slightly pulsed, water output. The main advantage
of rotary devices is that they lend themselves readily to mechanization and to high speed
operation. The faster a device can be operated the larger the output in relation to its size
and the better its productivity and cost-effectiveness. Also, steady drive conditions tend
to avoid some of the problems of water hammer and cavitation that can affect
reciprocating devices.

Centrifugal pumps, which use a different principle and are described later, have in fact
become the most general mechanized form of pump precisely because they can be
directly driven from internal combustion engines or from electric motors. But rotary
positive displacement pumps have unique advantages over centrifugal pumps in certain
specialized situations, particularly in being able to operate with a much wider range of
speeds or heads.

Some types of rotary positive displacement pump have their origins among the earliest
forms of technology (eg.the Archimedean Screw), and even today lend themselves to
local improvization. In the past, industrially manufactured rotary pumps were less
successful than centrifugal ones, possibly because they suffered from a number of
constructional and materials problems. But modern, tougher and more durable plastics
and synthetic rubbers may well be an important factor in encouraging the manufacture of
a number of new types of rotary positive displacement pumps which could be
advantageous in some situations, as will be described.

3.6.1 Flexible Vane Pumps

Here a flexible toothed rotor is used, generally made of rubber, Fig. 45. This is very
simple in concept, being like a revolving door, but it can involve both considerable
friction and significant back leakage. It cannot therefore be considered as an efficient
type of pump. On the positive side, it will readily self-prime and can achieve a high head
at low rotational speeds. Much will depend on the quality of the rotor material and the
type of internal surface of the casing so far as both friction and durability are concerned.

Another similar type, developed recently by Permaprop Pumpen in Germany, has an

endless rubber toothed belt which is driven around two pulleys; (see Fig. 46). As it
curves around a pulley, the teeth on the belt spread apart and increase the volume
between them, thereby drawing in water. The diagram shows how both sides of the
chamber simultaneously pump in opposite" directions, and suitable channels in the
casing direct the water. The advantages claimed by the manufacturers are, inter alia,
that it can run on "snore" indefinitely - (i.e. pumping a mixture of air and water), it will
readily self-prime and suck water up to 8m and lift it a further 45m under the power of a
small portable single cylinder engine. It is therefore a much more versatile pump than
the equivalent centrifugal pump, but it is more complicated and expensive.
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Fig. 45 A flexible vane pump

Fig. 46 The Permaprop tooth pump

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3.6.2 Progressive Cavity (Mono) Pumps

None of the rotary pumps so far reviewed lend themselves to being lowered down
boreholes; in fact their main selling point is as suction pumps. However, the "progressive
cavity" alias "progressing cavity" alias "Mono" pump (after its French inventor,
Moineaux), (see Fig. 47) is unique in being a commercially available rotary positive
displacement pump that readily fits down boreholes. This is a great advantage because
positive displacement pumps can cope much more readily with variations in pumping
head than centrifugal pumps. Therefore, any situation where the level may change
significantly with the seasons or due to drawdown, or even where the drawdown is
uncertain or unknown, makes the progressive cavity pump an attractive option. It also
has a reputation for reliability, particularly with corrosive or abrasive impurities in the
water. The reasons for this relate to good construction materials combined with a
mechanically simple mode of operation.

Fig. 47 shows that this pump consists of just a single-helix rotor inserted in a double-
helix stator. A single helix is rather like a simple spiral staircase while a double means
two intertwined helixes. The stator helix is usually made from chromium plated steel or
from stainless steel with a polished surface finish, and is circular in cross section and fits
accurately into one of the two helices of the stator. The stator is usually moulded from
rubber or plastic and the cross-section of its internal helix is oval, similar to two circles
similar to the rotor abutting each other. A feature of the geometry of this type of pump is
that the empty second start of the stator is divided into a number of separated empty
voids, blocked from each other by the solid single start rotor. When the rotor is turned,
these voids are screwed along the axis of rotation, so that when "he assembly is
submerged, discrete volumes of water will be trapped between the single start rotor helix
and the inside of the double start stator in the voids and when the shaft is rotated these
volumes of water are pushed upwards and discharged into a rising main.
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Fig. 47 Progressive cavity or 'Mono' pump

Schematic cross-section to illustrate principle of Archimedean screw

Pumps of this kind are usually driven at speeds of typically 1000 rpm or more, and when
installed down a borehole they require a long drive shaft which is guided in the rising
main by water lubricated "spider bearings" usually made of rubber. Although friction
forces exist between the rotor and stator, they are reduced by the lubricating effect of the
flow of water, and they act at a small radius so that they do not cause much loss of
efficiency. Progressive cavity pumps therefore have been shown to be comparably
efficient to multi-stage centrifugal pumps and reciprocating positive displacement pumps
under appropriate operating conditions. Their main disadvantage is their need for
specialized components which cannot be improvized and their quite high cost; however,
high cost is unfortunately a feature common to all types of good quality borehole pump
and is usually justified by the need to minimise the frequency of the expensive procedure
of removing and overhauling any pump from a deep borehole.
 86

The progressive cavity pump can be "sticky" to start - i.e. it needs more starting torque
than running torque (similarly to a piston pump) to unstick the rotor from the stator and
get the water that lubricates the rotor flowing. This can cause start-up problems if electric
motors or engines are used, but certain improved versions of this kind of pump include
features which reduce or overcome this problem.

3.6.3 Archimedean Screw and Open Screw Pumps

The progressive cavity pump is one of the more recent pump concepts to appear, while
the Archimedean screw is one of the oldest, yet they have a number of similarities.

Fig. 48 illustrates a typical Archimedean screw pump (and an animal-powered version is

shown in Fig. 97). The traditional version of this pump, built since before Roman times
and still used in a similar form in Egypt, is made up of a helix of square cross-section
wooden strips threaded onto a metal shaft and encased in a tube of wooden staves,
bound like a barrel with metal bands.

The Archimedean screw can only operate through low heads, since it is mounted with its
axis inclined so its lower end picks up water from the water source and the upper end
discharges into a channel. Each design has an optimum angle of inclination, usually in
the region of 30°1 to 40 °, depending on the pitch and the diameter of the internal helix.

The principle is that water is picked up by the submerged end of the helix each time it
dips below the surface, and as it rotates a pool of water gets trapped in the enclosed
space between the casing and the lower part of each turn. As the whole assembly
rotates, so the helix itself screws each trapped pool of water smoothly further up the
casing until it discharges from the opening at its top; the water pools move much as a
nut will screw itself up a bolt when prevented from rotating with it. This is also analagous
to the trapped volumes of water screwed between the rotor and stator of progressive
cavity pumps.

Traditional wooden Archimedean screws of the kind just described have been tested and
found to have efficencies in the region of 30%.
 87

Fig. 48 An Archimedean screw. Two men are needed if the water head is more than 0.6
metres (See also Fig. 97 for an animal-powered version) (after Schioler [24])

The modern version of the Archimedean screw is the screw pump, Pig. 49. This consists
of a helical steel screw welded around a steel tubular shaft, however unlike an
Archimedean screw, there is no casing fixed to the screw, but it is mounted instead in a
 88

close fitting, but not quite touching, semi-circular cross-section inclined channel. The
channel is usually formed accurately in screeded concrete. Because of the clearance
between the screw and its channel, some back-leakage is inevitable, but the total flow
rate produced by a screw pump is so large that the backflow is but a small percentage.
Therefore modern screw pumps can achieve high efficiencies in the region of 60-70%.

Their primary advantage is that the installation and civil workings are relatively simple,
compared with those for large axial flow pumps necessary to produce the same volume
of output (which would need a, concrete sump and elaborate large diameter pipework as
in Fig. 66). Also, the screw can easily handle muddy or sandy water and any floating
debris, which is readily pulled up with the water.

Probably the main disadvantage of screw pumps is that an elaborate transmission

system is needed to gear down an electric motor or diesel engine drive unit from
typically 1500 rpm to the 20-40 rpm which is normally needed. Mechanical transmissions
for such a large reduction in speed are expensive and tend to be no more than 60-70%
efficient, thereby reducing the total efficiency of the screw pump, including its
transmission to about 50-60%. Screwpumps also present a safety hazard by having a
potentially dangerous open rotor and should therefore be fitted with mesh guards.
Finally, they cannot cater for much change in level of the water source, unless provision
is made to raise or lower the entire unit and also the maximum head that can be handled
will not exceed much more than 6m in most cases, and will normally be no more than 4
or 5m for smaller screw pumps.

Fig. 49 Cross-section through an open screw pump

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Fig. 50 Hydrostatic pressure pumps

 90

3.6.4 Coil and Spiral Pumps

These pumps use a similar principle to the Archimedean screw except that they run
horizontally while the Archimedean screw is tilted at about 30°. The coil and spiral pump
family, if fitted with a suitable rotating seal, can deliver water to a greater height, typically
5-10m, above their discharge opening. Fig 50 A shows a spiral pump and B shows a coil
pump.

Both these pumps work on the same principle, involving either a spiral or a coiled
passage (in the latter case a coiled hosepipe serves the purpose) rotating on a
horizontal axis. One end of the passage is open at the periphery and dips into the water
once per revolution, scooping up a pool of water each time. Due to the shape of the
spiral or the coil, sufficient water is picked up to fill completely the lower part of one turn,
thereby trapping air in the next turn. The pools of water progressively move along the
base of the coil or of the spirals as the pump turns, exactly like an Archimedean Screw.
However, when acting against a positive head, the back-pressure forces the pools of
water slightly'. back from the lowest position in each coil as they get nearer to the
discharge; so they progressively take up positions further around the coil from the lowest
point. The maximum discharge head of either type of pump is governed, by the need to
avoid water near the discharge from being forced back over the top of a coil by the back
pressure, so this is still a low head device.

The spiral pump has to be designed so that the smaller circumferences of the inner
loops are compensated for by an increased radial cross section, so it would normally be
fabricated from sheet metal; the coil pump is of course much easier to build.

This type of pump was originally described in the literature as long ago as 1806 and has
attracted much fresh interest recently, with research projects on it at the universities of
California (USA), Salford (UK), Los Andes (Colombia) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania),
[16]. Although historically the coil pump was used as a ship's bilge pump, today it is
finding favour for use in river current powered irrigation pumps by, for example, the
Royal Irrigation Department of Thailand (see Fig. 153) and also similarly by
Sydfynsgruppen and the Danish Boy Scouts for an irrigation project in south Sudan, with
support from Danida and on the Niger near Bamako in Mali, under a project supported
by the German aid agency BORDA. Chapter 4.9 deals with some of the practical
applications of this device.

The advantages of these devices are their inherent mechanical simplicity combined with
the fact that, unlike an Archimedean screw, they can deliver into a pipe to a head of up
to about 8-10 m, making them more versatile. The only difficult mechanical component is
a rotary seal to join a fixed delivery pipe to the rotating output from the coil. They are
ideal for water wheel applications due to the low speed and high torque needed, (which
is where most of the research effort appears to be concentrated).

Their main disadvantage is that their output is small unless rather large diameter hose is
used, being proportional to the capacity of the lower part of one turn of hose per
revolution. A simple calculation indicates that a significant and not inexpensive length of
hose is needed to produce an adequate coil pump, (e.g. just 20 coils of only 1.5m
diameter needs nearly 100mm of hose). Supporters of this concept argue that its
simplicity, suitablility for local improvization and reliability should compensate for these
 91

high costs, but this type of pump has so far not been popularized successfully for
general use and it does not exist as a commercial product.

Fig. 51 Paddle-wheel or tread-wheel

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3.6.5 Paddle-wheels, Treadmills and Flash-wheels

These devices are, in effect, rotary versions of the simple scoop; however instead of one
scoop being moved back and forth, a number are set around the periphery of a wheel,
(Fig. 51). Like the scoop a paddle wheel is only useful for very low lift pumping, such as
flooding paddy fields at no more than about 0.5m height above the water source.

The simplest version is the paddle-wheel in which an operator walks directly on the rim,
turning it so that it continuously and steadily scoops up water and deposits it over a low
bund, (Fig. 51). In its basic form the paddle wheel is not very efficient since a lot of the
water lifted flows back around its edges. Therefore an improved version involves
encasing the wheel in a closely fitting box which not only reduces the back-leakage of
water but also slightly increases the head through which the device can operate.

Paddle wheels have been mechanized in the past, although they are unusual as water
lifting devices today. Many of the windmills used in the Netherlands to dewater large
parts of the country drove large paddle wheels, which when mechanized and refined, are
usually known as flash wheels. Flash-wheels function best with raked back blades, and
the best had measured efficiencies in the range 40-70%. Small straight-bladed paddle-
wheels are probably only 10 or 20% efficient, but have the virtue of being simple to build
and install in situations were a lot of water needs to be lifted through a small head. They
are occasionally used on traditional windpumps, as shown in Fig. 110.

3.6.6 Water Ladders and Dragon-Spine Pumps

The main disadvantage of the paddle wheel just described is that to lift water through a
greater height a bigger wheel is needed. The water ladder was developed to get around
this problem by taking the paddles and linking them together in an endless belt which
can be pulled along an inclined open wooden trough or flume (Fig. 52). The endless belt
is driven by a powered sprocket, at the discharge end, and passes around a free-
wheeling sprocket at the lower end. The lower end of the trough or flume is submerged,
so that the moving paddles in the belt, which almost fill the cross section of the flume,
push water up it. In many ways this method of water lifting is analagous to a screw pump
which also pushes water trapped between the blades of a mechanism up a flume. As
with the screw pump there is some back-leakage, but with a well-built unit, this is but a
small fraction of the high flow that is established.

The water ladder is still very widely used on small farms in S E Asia for flood irrigation of
small fields and paddies from open streams and canals or for pumping sea water into
evaporation pans to produce sea salt. In China it is known as a "dragon spine" or dragon
wheel" and in Thailand as "rahad". In most cases it is made mainly of wood, and can
consequently easily be repaired on-farm. It is one of the most successful traditional,
high-flow, low-lift water pumping devices and is particularly applicable to rice production,
where large volumes of water are sometimes needed.

On traditional Chinese water ladders, the upper sprocket is normally driven by a long
horizontal shaft which traditionally is pedalled by from two to eight people working
simultaneously; (Fig. 52). The treadles are spaced on the drive shaft so that one or more
of the operators applies full foot pressure at any moment, which helps to smooth the
torque output and keep the chain of boards tensioned and running smoothly.
 93

Fig. 52 Water ladder or Chinese 'Dragon Spine' pump

 94

Versions of it have been mechanized by using windmills (see Fig. 111), (in Thailand as
well as China), or a buffalo sweep (China) or with small petrol (gasoline) engines.

Water ladders range in length from 3 to 8m and in width from 150 to 250mm; lifts seldom
exceed 1.0 to 1.2m, but two or more ladders are sometimes used where higher lifts are
required. A rough test made in China with a water ladder powered by two teams of four
men (one team working and one resting) showed an average capacity of 23m3/h through
a lift of 0.9m [1]. Further details of Chinese water ladders are given in Table 6.

Table 6 SPECIFICATIONS OF CHINESE "DRAGON-SPINE" WATER LIFTS

Specifications of
products Weight Volume
Dimensions of of Factory
Name of
Length of water timber price Notes
product
of trough intake lift used (yuan)
(m) (height x (kg) (m3)
width) (m)
1.5 0.18 x 0.14 18 0.2 46
1.8 0.18 x 0.14 20 0.2 50
Single man 2.0 0.18 x 0.14 22 0.2 57
hand -turning
water lift 2.3 0.18 x 0.14 24 0.3 64
3.0 0.18 x 0.15 30 0.3 76
3.5 0.18 x 0.15 35 0.3 80
Two men 2.3 0.25 x 0.20 50 0.3 93
treadling water
lift 3.0 0.25 x 0.20 55 0.4 106
3.5 0.25 x 0.19 70 0.5 126
Four men 4.1 0.25 x 0.19 75 0.5 138
treadling water
lift 4.7 0.25 x 0.19 85 0.6 151
5.3 0.25 x 0.19 105 0.7 165
3.5 0.25 x 0.19 335 1.1 609 Wind sail
Wind powered 4.1 0.25 x 0.19 345 1.2 622 wheel 4-6m
water lift of in diameter,
diagonal web 4.7 0.25 x 0.19 350 1.2 635 coupled with a
member water
lift

Remarks: The products in the table are made by Chengqiao Water Lift and Agricultural
Tool Plant, Hangjiang Commune, Putian County.

Tests on a traditional wooden water ladder powered by a 2-3hp engine were carried out
in Thailand in 1961 [16]. The trough was 190mm deep by 190mm wide and the paddles
were 180mm high by 150mm wide and spaced 200mm apart; note that the clearance
was quite large, being 20mm each side. The principle findings of this study were:
 95

i. the flow rate is maximized when the submergence of the lower end of the flume
is 100%
ii. a paddle spacing to paddle depth ratio of approximately 1.0-1.1 minimizes losses
and maximizes output
iii. the sprocket speed has to be kept to less than 80 rpm to avoid| excessive wear
and frequent breakage
iv. the average efficiency of this device was 40%

It is possible that if a smaller clearance had beer: used between the paddle edges and
the trough, a higher efficiency 'may have resulted; no doubt the optimum. spacing is
quite critical. If it were too small, friction would become excessive and possibly cause
frequent breakage; of the links, while if too large, brick-leakage becomes excessive and
reduces the overall efficiency.

3.6.7 Chain and Washer or Paternoster Pumps

The origins of this type of pump go back over 2 000 years, and they work on a similar
principle to the water ladder just described except that instead of pulling a series of
linked paddles through an open inclined flume or trough, a series of Linked discs or
plugs are pulled through a pipe (Figs. 53, 84 and 96). As with the ladder pump, they lend
themselves to human, animal or mechanical prime-movers and are most commonly
powered by either a team of two to four people or by a traditional windmill.
 96

Fig. 53(a) Chinese Liberation Wheel chain and washer pump - an animal-powered
version is shown in Fig. 96

Fig. 53 (b)A view of a hand-operated liberation pump

As discussed in more detail in the next sections covering the use of human and animal
power, a major advantage of this kind of pump is that it requires a steady rotary power
input which suits the use of a crank drive with a flywheel, which is a mechanically
efficient as well as a comfortable way of applying muscle power. It also readily matches
with engines and other mechanical prime-movers.

The main advantage of the chain and washer pump is that it can be used over a wide
range of pumping heads; in this respect it is almost as versatile as the commonly used
reciprocating bucket pump as it is applicable on heads ranging from 1m to over 100m.
For low lifts, loose fitting washers are good enough to lift water efficiently through the
pipe, since back-flow will remain a small and acceptable fraction of total flow. At higher
lifts, however, tighter fitting plugs rather than washers are necessary to minimize back-
leakage; many materials have been tried, but rubber or leather washers supported by
smaller diameter metal discs are commonly used. Most chain and washer pumps have a
bell mouth at the base of the riser pipe to guide the washers smoothly into the pipe. With
higher lift units where a tighter fit is needed, this is only necessary near the lower end of
the riser pipe; therefore the riser pipe usually tapers to a larger diameter for the upper
sections to minimize friction (see Fig. 53 ).
 97

The capacity of a chain and washer pump is a function of the diameter of the riser pipe
and of the upward speed of the chain. For example, four men are necessary to power a
unit with 6m lift and a 100mm riser tube, [1].

Chain and washer pumps have been, and still are in very widespread use, especially in
China, where industrially manufactured pumps of this kind are commonly used and are
often known as "Liberation Pumps". They represented in development terms in China a
major improvement over more traditional and primitive water lifting techniques and an
interim step to modernisation using powered centrifugal pumps. Two to three million
Liberation Pumps were used in China at the peak of their use in the 1960s [17]. The
following performance characteristics relate to typical chain and washer pumps used in
China:

motive pumping discharge efficiency

power head rate (pump only)
2 men 6m 5-8m3/h 76%
donkey 12m 7m3/h 68%
3kW(e) motor 15m 40m3/h 65%

This indicates that the chain and washer pump is not only versatile, but also rather more
efficient than most pumps. It also has an important characteristic for a positive
displacement pump of generally needing less torque to start it than to run it, which
makes it relatively easy to match to prime-movers having limited starting torque.