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Hi-tech research develops lo-tech scheme to bring electricity to thousands in Third World
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Nick Barber
Nottingham Trent University
nick.barber@ntu.ac.uk
0115 8482650
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Nottingham Trent University

    Technology of the past is being turned on its head by researchers at The Nottingham Trent University to give villagers in developing countries a better future.
    They have hit on an ingenious new plan to provide electricity to remote rural areas using one of the oldest pieces of technology – the standard pump.
    The idea of producing electricity by switching round the pump’s traditional water-raising function to create a small water turbine is nothing new. However, the system has hardly ever been used successfully due to the problem of finding the right pump for each different site.
    Now Nottingham Trent’s Dr Arthur Williams has been awarded a British Council grant to fund the project that could eventually bring electricity to many of the 80,000 villages in India that still have no power supply.
    His research will provide vital data to enable the pump system to be used efficiently in a wide range of locations.
    Dr Williams and colleagues in the School of Engineering have joined forces with their counterparts at Karlsruhe University in Nottingham’s twin German city.
    The grant will enable experts from both institutions to collaborate through a series of exchange visits. Nottingham Trent is working on computational methods while Universität Karlsruhe carries out laboratory testing and fieldwork in India.
    Senior lecturer Dr Williams, who has been working with the pump technology for 15 years, said different sites would need specific types of pump and research would enable the correct pump, from a huge variety of different types, to be chosen for each village site.
    His key partner in the project on the Karlsruhe side is Punit Singh from India, who has set up an experimental test rig and has modified the pump to improve performance.
    Dr Williams explained: “What we are trying to do is improve an existing technology that has not previously been used very much because of technical problems.
    “The reason for doing it is to make it possible to select the correct pump for any particular village site accurately.”
    A 3-D computer model of the pumps is to be constructed by PhD student Arnaldo Rodrigues, who will start at Nottingham Trent in September. This will be used to gather data that would be impossible to obtain any other way.
    Another element of the project involves Dr Williams working to set up a supply agreement with an Indian pump producer.
    Explained Dr Williams: “No pump company has ever been interested in testing their pumps for this kind of use, as there is no market at the moment. So a big part of the work at Nottingham Trent is looking at how to develop that market.
    “There are 80,000 villages in India without access to electricity. A lot of these are in hilly or mountainous areas so don’t have grid electricity. The pump system is a much more effective alternative to solar power - at a minimal cost and with low running costs.”
Reference URL : http://www.ntu.ac.uk