Homemade heat (steam) powered water pump

A while back I was pondering whether it would be possible to pump water using heat alone. Kind of like a thermosiphon, but actually pump a meaningful amount of water. Also I wasn’t after the idea of heating the water per day, simply pumping it. Well after years of head scratching and tinkering I finally came up with something that works.

I’ll post photos below. Basically anybody with 30-40 bucks can go to a hardware store and build this thing for themselves. I believe what’s happening is that when the water in the lower section of the “TEE” is heated, it boils and converts to steam. This steam pushes on the water column above it, forcing the water through the outlet check valve. Once the energy of the steam has been used up pushing the water, it begins to cool and subsequently contract. This contraction creates a low pressure area, which in turn opens the inlet check valve allowing more water in, and then the cycle repeats itself.

One thing to note is that all the air must be bled out of the system before starting. This does very well appear very similar to a fluidyne Stirling engine, however with no air present in the system it definitely is not.

The performance surprises me actually. The water does not actually have to be held in a reservoir above the level of the pumping section. I’ve rearranged it before so that the pumping section is above the water level, I left the inlet check valve at the base of the reservoir to act as a foot valve, and it still works! Yup, this thing does create suction. I’ve closed the outlet off also and managed to build about 10 psi, that was on an earlier model system however and I haven’t since tried it again.

Here’s a video of it pumping.

 https://youtube.com/shorts/tisahnp5ApI?feature=share  

I know it may not be the most efficient method of pumping water, nor the prettiest. But hey, it’s dirty cheap, will pump consistently, requires no electricity.

Anyway just thought I would share!

Isn't this how the first steam powered water pump gradually evolved into the steam engine?

Michael Qulek wrote:Isn't this how the first steam powered water pump gradually evolved into the steam engine?

This is similar, sort of, in a way to Thomas savery’s steam powered pump. Some key and definite differences though. Thomas savery’s pump required a boiler, which this system has no need for. His pump also required someone to be there constantly as the valves for his pump had to be manually operated.

The successor to savery’s pump was the pulsometer pump. It had the advantage of being automatic, much like this system. It had two pumping chambers which would automatically alternate between sucking water in while the other pushed water out. Again though his pump required a boiler to operate.

This system requires no boiler, which I do like to believe is a plus, although most definitely would limit how much pressure head it can achieve. It also only needs one pumping chamber. It is cyclical in its pumping action, like the pulsometer, but unlike the savery’s pump.