News

SF2-driven Impact Pump installed in 24m deep well in a community compound in Rabour, Kenya

February, 2019

Thermofluidics Engineers have installed our first deeper-well Pre-Series 0 Impact Pump at George Arombe’s family compound, Rabour, Kisumu province, Kenya. The pump is lifting water from a depth of 24m to serve a community of around 60 people. It is powered by a modified Futurepump SF2.

Treadle pump use reported over holiday period

January, 2019

A treadle pump was spontaneously coupled to one of our gamma-uDAHRs in Kenya over the winter holiday period. This coincided with a minor breakage in the Futurepump SF2 drive pump during a time when no staff were on hand to fix the problem. The farmer reported good performance from the treadle-uDAHR combination, though said he was “looking forward” to having his solar pump working again!

uDAHR is re-branded “Impact Pump” in preparation for product launch

January, 2019

Thermofluidics rebrands the uDAHR as “Impact Pump”, as it moves towards production readiness. The Impact Pump will be launched under the brand “Impact Pumps”.

12 months of Impact Pump field trials completed with no failures

January, 2019

Thermofluidics has successfully completed 12 months of field trials of the Impact Pump (gamma prototype) at 2 sites in Kenya and 2 sites in Bangladesh, powered by Futurepump SF2 drive pumps. No Impact Pump failures occurred during any of the trials.

Pre-Series 0, production-oriented uDAHR prototype, UK commissioning complete

December, 2018

UK-based commissioning tests of our new generation of “Pre-Series 0” uDAHR prototypes have been completed in our test well in Beckley, Oxfordshire. The prototype was operated at a typical full solar-pump load for approximately 2000 hours, representing between 1 and 2 years’ typical operation in the field. Although entirely made from machined parts at significant unit cost, the PS0 is one step removed from low-cost mass production processes such as casting, injection moulding, pressing, stamping and extrusion.

Pre-Series 0, production-oriented uDAHR prototype, designs complete and 10 units in production with a further 10 planned

October, 2018

We have completed a set of CAD models and drawings for our “Pre-Series 0” prototype. This improves on the gamma uDAHR, currently in operation in Kenya and Bangladesh, in a number of ways. The PS0 offers larger diameter pipework connections with implied greater hydraulic efficiencies (>80%, c.f. 70-75% previously) without increasing the pump diameter. It self-starts with all drive pumps (c.f. only drive pumps with a significant “unsteady” component to their flow), and auto-recovers from dry-running without the need for re-priming. Accelerated testing also indicates a much longer service interval than the gamma-uDAHR is possible. However, this is hard to prove as no gamma uDAHRs have yet required service!

Endurance testing of key components underway

June, 2018

An accelerated endurance test of key components is underway at the Thermofluidics lab. The aim is to achieve 10,000hrs fault-free running to underpin the robustness of the uDAHR and prove the low-maintenance, long lifespan characteristics that outperform traditional electrical submersible pumps. The test is currently approaching 5,000hrs without failure.

Improved crop yields at field sites

May, 2018

Farmers have reported that cultivated area and yield have both improved since the start of the trials. Examples of crops being grown include tomatoes, potatoes, millet, paw paw, napier grass, vegetables, bananas, passion fruits and lemons.

Remote monitoring at field sites

April, 2018

Remote monitoring and regular communication with the farmer field sites have shown that the pumps are operating well and with minimum intervention at both sites in Bangladesh and Kenya. The next step for the team will be to advance the technology readiness levels and address a wider range of flows and heads.

Phase 2 uDAHR field trials begin with iDE in Bangladesh

February, 2018

In February the Thermofluidics team travelled to Dhaka in Bangladesh to set up the uDAHR on two test sites at working farms with their partner iDE. The uDAHRs were installed in hand-drilled boreholes with depths to water of 7m and 22m and powered by the FuturePump SF2 with PV panels.