Lifting Device Using Renewable Sources of Power - Term Paper Example

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN OF WATER LIFTING DEVICE USING RENEWABLE SOURCES OF POWER Summary: Agriculture being a dominant occupation among developing nations require the usage of water which may be available either as flowing over land or ground water. Most of the areas wherein flowing water becomes a scarcity, farmers are forced to utilize water available underground. Most of the third world countries experience acute shortage in providing sufficient electricity supply round the clock. This may be due to local, seasonal or any other reason. Tapping ground water requires usage of electricity to drive motors which in turn help aid pumps in lifting up water to the fields. The present report focuses on development and usage of a similar water lifting device which uses a renewable source of energy like the solar energy in place of conventional energy source. Several designs were tested before arriving at the present design. SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION: Most of the third world countries depend on agriculture to sustain their population and earn revenue through export of their production to other countries. Agriculture requires usage of water either from a river or through ground sources. Ground water being dominantly available requires specialized tools to lift the water to the fields for the purpose of irrigation. The present report focuses on development of a water lifting device that could a eco friendly without compromising on the economic parameters of design. The objective is to achieve a fairly good amount of acceptable proportion in the design of water lifting device with regards to sustainability. Two methodologies have been tested for the same. Use of naturally available sources of energy that can be renewed was made in the design of water lifting device. In areas, where sun light or solar power was in abundance, solar powered devices where used to power up the pumps that lift water. In cases, where animal and organic waste was in abundance, design of power sources that work using organic waste as fuel was utilized. SECTION 2 SPECIFICATION: Type Solar energy powered pump Pump type Submerged pump with surface motor Pump specifications Suitable for testing conditions. 1kW capacity considered Solar Cell specification Silicon solar cells - 50 Per module (100mm dia cells)- 20 modules Yield output of 50W per module at full strength of sunlight equal to 1000W/m2 Type Biomass energy powered pump Pump type Submerged pump with surface motor Pump specifications Suitable for testing conditions. 1kW capacity considered Biomass Electricity obtained from mini stations operating on organic waste as fuel Capacity of Biomass Depending on the amount of organic waste, capacity is determined. SECTION 3 Description of the Final Design: Two design strategies are tried out with regards to conditions prevailing in the testing areas. Two testing conditions were used. 1. Areas with surplus solar energy: 2. Areas with surplus organic wastes Help was solicited from FAO Corporate repository for arriving at design of the system. Section 3.1: In condition 1, use of photovoltaic cells was adopted, refer Figure 1 below. In both the cases, similar type of motor or pumps was used. Figure 1 An array of photovoltaic cells was used to provide sufficient power to run a motor of a specified capacity (look for specifications in section 2). Care was taken in arriving at the best combination of photovoltaic cells. Since photovoltaics are costly and the amount of investment that goes into purchasing the units defeats the very objective of cost minimization in the short run, photovoltaics developed from locally available sources with good output were utilized. Please refer to section 2 for output specifications. The design resulted in an environmentally friendly output as the source input used now is a natural one compared to earlier ways wherein fossil fuels were used and resulted in pollution. The design is economical as locally available sources of photovoltaics were used with higher output and lower maintenance. The maintenance frequency in this case is 20 years for the photovoltaics. According to a technical paper by Alsema, E.A; Wild- Scholten, M.J.de (Sept 2006), Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are now in the range of 25-32g/kWh and this could decrease to 15g/kWh in the future. As such this design gives a very good boost to sustainable designing. Section 3.2: In the second condition where in abundance of organic waste is a source, advantage has been reaped out from developing biogas plant at mini and macro level to drive the pumps meant for lifting water. The energy output derived from this plant varies based on the amount of organic waste available for anaerobic decomposition. Figure 2 Methane component of the gases is basically made use of to produce energy that drive plants producing electricity which in turn drives the connected motor and pump. In the present case, a small pit sufficient enough to hold 50 to 100 kgs of organic waste was developed and the gas produced out of anaerobic decomposition is carried on through pipes to small units that boil water to produce steam which in turn drive small local turbines and generate electricity. The cost involved here was meant to development of turbines alone. At a mini scale this setup can be useful on long term and return on investment can be realized on long term usage of the setup. Figure 3 SECTION 4 SECTION 4.1: Design Evaluation: Solar panels in the design required accurate sizing of arrays so as to arrive the given duty to drive the motor and pump. Usage of such kind of design also requires the sizing for "critical month" when the system experiences heavy loading thus requiring more energy (Kenna, J.P. and Gillett, W.B, 1985). Sizing of the panels was done to match the demands from a typical critical month on records. Certain areas where there was abundance of sunlight and organic waste, the design of energy sources included a combination of the designs mention in Section 3 The designs detailed out in Section 3 resulted in environmentally friendly by reducing the smoke pollution earlier created by usage of petrol or diesel driven pumps by almost 95%. And economical friendly due to low maintenance. SECTION 4.2: Section 4.2.1 Definition of Sustainability Sustainability can be defined as the capacity of a system to hold up the purpose and function unabruptly even on application of forces that affect its well being. Sustainability is derived from a Latin word sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus, up), Onions, Charles, T. (ed) (1964). The term sustainability assumes a global character for several reasons. For instance, taking the case of our Mother Earth itself, it's not difficult to understand the term sustainability when one asks, how did the planet enable life for such a long time The is a classic example of sustainability. The processes that run are the vital parameters that really affect the way earth sustains life. The water cycles, photosynthetic processes, processes in biological systems, carbon cycle are some of the few instances that one could quote to define life sustenance by earth. It's the nature's design of these processes that is the key in understanding the sustainability of life on earth. The above example drives one to conclude that it is the process in any system that determines the level of sustainability. And it is of utmost importance to design these processes so that they would pave way to sustainability Use of the term sustainability has been used mostly referring to Humans for quite sometime and has resulted in facts that sustainable development requires a proper reconciliation of the "three pillars" of sustainability viz., environmental, social and economic. UNGA (2005). Section 4.2.2: Sustainable Design A design wherein one takes care of effects on Environment, Social and Economical conditions that the design may have either directly or indirectly is called a "Sustainable Design". McLennan, J.F (2004), stated the definition of sustainable design as follows, "The intention of sustainable design is to eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design". Sustainable design is a design that relates consciously to environment, social, ecological and economical parameters. A design having a deficiency in any of the parameters mentioned previously cannot be a called a sustainable design. One may have a process that is economically feasible, but if it consistently has an impact on the environment, then that cannot be called as a sustainable design. Earlier designs of systems that have resulted in economic crisises and depletion of natural resources and damage to the ecosystems have paved way to ideas of sustainable design. Sustainable design is a policy and its application to various problems is relevant at all levels of ecology. One can realize design sustainability in small objects found in the day to day use to very large objects like buildings, towns, huge mechanical structures and so on. As such it can be understood that there are no boundaries or little hindrances to arrive at sustainable design of systems. Sustainable design is not restricted to any field. It's applicable to almost all the processes and to any system in vogue now. All that is required is the way the ideas are put upon the design process to arrive at a final output that would have a favorable effect on the "three pillars" without compromising in any parameter. Sustainable designs could be accomplished with renewable resources so that the impact on the environment is nullified or minimized and thus provide for a healthy natural environment. At the same time it should be noted that the design under consideration does not have a impact on the other parameters that are vital to fulfilling the definition of sustainability. References 1. Alsema, E.A.; Wild - Scholten, M.J. de; Fthenakis, V.M. Environmental impacts of PV electricity generation - a critical comparison of energy supply options ECN, September 2006; 7p. Presented at the 21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Dresden, Germany, 4-8 September 2006. 2. P.L.Fraenkel (1986), FAO Irrigation and Drainage papers, pg 311. 3. Kenna, J.P. and Gillett, W.B., I.T.Power/Halcrow (1985) , Handbook on Solar Water Pumping, World Bank, Washington DC and I T Publications, London. 4. Onions, Charles, T. (ed) (1964). The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p.2095 5. UN General Assembly (2005). 2005 World Summit Outcome Resolution A/60/1, adopted by the General Assembly on 15 September 2005. 6. McLennan.J.F (2004, September 16 - last update), "The Philosophy of sustainable Design", Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_design (Accessed: 2010, January 7). Read More