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View Full Version : New (very unusual) bio-fueled water pump



gaiatechnician
09-20-2010, 12:59 PM
This is bio fuel like you have never seen before. (well, actually you have) but never used this way before. In the prototype (to prove that it works) I use yeast and sugar. But you can use any fermentation that produces gas. So you could use green weeds doing a saurkraut fermentation or the making of beer! It might be of use to power a slow circulation of water among young seedlings or in a kind of drippy moss garden or dripping wall garden without the horrible machine hum that spoils everything.
I did something like this in 1986 (powered by a small stream instead) but the pulser pump was a simpler way to use water power so I abandoned it.
It returns inspired by the windowfarms project. Perhaps some of those people can use it too.
Mine is just a little demo. If people like it, they can make their own and make neater standardized versions of the siphon tube part. Someone could even do it commercially. Everything else is readily available. Pop and energy drink bottles, and bungs and tubes from the wine and beer hobby stores.
Video of the pump prototype is at


or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y1p2pZaYTM
http://blip.tv/file/4142099
The tiny bio powered pump could be stacked to pump much higher. Here is an animation of a similar pump (that ran from vacuum) and how it was stacked to pump much higher. http://nxtwave.tripod.com/suctionpump/liftsandcontrollers.gif
With the the low pressure bio-fueled pump similar stacking can be done.
Brian
Brian

gardengirl72
09-20-2010, 01:52 PM
Very Cool thanks for posting!