EVALUATION OF WATER PUMPING SYSTEM: Dedicated Power Generation for Centrifugal Pumps for Pumping Water

The content of this book discusses the activities developed in the plant of a pumping unit supplied by electricity from wind energy, to enable the extraction of water from wells. The unit has a wind turbine (1 kW-220 Vac), a load controller, a water pumping system from the well to a raised reservoir. The electric power to drive the pumping system comes both from the wind turbine and through the conventional electric network. It is also discussed about a configurable piping where it is possible to submit the pump to various hydraulic loads for operational tests. The developed plant was able to pump, on average, 4,318 L/day of water with a maximum value of 10,698 L/day at an average wind speed of 3.84 m/s. The average yields achieved were 10% (Wind / Hydraulic) and 41% (Electric / Hydraulic) for a speed of 6.5 m/s. Actions are suggested in order to make feasible the small electric systems for pumping water from wells.