Research Article

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

2019, Vol. 11(9) 1–18
Ó The Author(s) 2019
Design and analysis of wind pump for DOI: 10.1177/1687814019880405
journals.sagepub.com/home/ade
wind conditions in Pakistan

Tauseef Aized , Syed Muhammad Sohail Rehman, Sajid Kamran,

Ali Hussain Kazim and Syed Ubaid ur Rehman

Abstract
The unique thing about this research work is that it is the first comprehensive study out of all its kinds in Pakistan.
Pakistan is an agricultural country and faces dearth of water resources availability for crops. This research work is very
inevitable because it fulfils the water needs and also helps to minimize the energy deficit. This research article represents
the means of wind speed data collection, design of wind-driven water pumping system and analysis of the design under
different wind conditions in Pakistan. Wind speed data for province Punjab and Sindh are collected from Global Wind
Atlas, Pakistan Meteorological Department and World Weather Online. First, design calculations have been made on the
basis of analytical methods. Then proposed design is analysed using ANSYS Fluent Simulation models. Wind energy
input, lift and drag on blades, rotor power output transmitted to the pump and water discharge from the pump have
been calculated and verified from the simulation results. It has been shown that for any rotor size windmill produces
maximum power output when angle between blade chord and axis of blade rotation is in the range of 23°–27°.
Recommended height of windmill tower for 8–12 ft rotor diameter is 35–50 ft. Designed wind pump system can lift the
ground water from 50 ft depth and discharge depends upon the size of windmill used. From the outcomes of the analysis,
different designs having different power output and water pumping capacity have been proposed for different operating
and wind conditions in the country.

Keywords
Pakistan, wind pump, wind energy, windmill design, water pumping system

Date received: 21 May 2019; accepted: 9 September 2019

Handling Editor: James Baldwin

Introduction large pulley having many small water buckets mounted

over a rope.
With an increase in prices of the fossil fuels, world has Renewable energy has always been a key research
been focusing on the new means of renewable clean area for many researchers because of continuously
energy which is cheaper and environmentally friendly. increasing energy demands. Recent development and
Wind energy is one of the most important types of
renewable energy. In ancient days back to 3500 BC,
wind energy was used to produce aerodynamic push to Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and
meet very low energy demands to drive boats.1 As the Technology, Lahore (UET Lahore), Lahore, Pakistan
years passed, there were observed some innovations
and modifications in design resulting from more energy Corresponding author:
Tauseef Aized, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of
needs. First windmill was developed in China and it Engineering and Technology, Lahore (UET Lahore), Lahore, Punjab 54890,
was a vertical axis windmill having long curved metal Pakistan.
strips as blades. Windmill rotor was connected to a Email: [email protected]

Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work
without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages
(https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
2 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

technologies in the field of renewable energy harnessing

has positive impact on public health and environment.
World energy requirement is anticipated to increase
about 15% from 2012 to 2020.1 Horizontal axis wind
turbine was introduced in Northern Europe in middle
ages. It was a modified design using a hub and blades
called sails. Design also used shaft and gears for power
transmission and conversion of rotary motion into reci-
procating. At first, it was used to grind gains and cut-
ting of timber.
Revolution in the design took place in the United
States when more efficient windmill was developed
using previous research work. The purpose of the wind-
mill was to lift the ground water for irrigation, drinking
water for livestock, store surface water in elevated tank
and drainage of the rain water in flood seasons. There Figure 1. Components and working of a wind pump.
were a lot of significant improvements in the design,
that is, self yawing mechanism to ensure that rotor
always faces the wind direction, optimum lift and drag direction. Curved shape of blades helps to harness more
coefficients, safety against damage in high winds or energy when air passes over the sail of the blades. When
storms, efficient power transmission mechanism, devel- all the blades are mounted over the hub, they form the
oped materials and durability, etc. These windmills rotor. When wind passes through the rotor, it rotates to
were manufactured commercially, and technology was produce the mechanical energy. Rotor is connected to a
adopted my different countries like Australia, South shaft which tends to rotate the gears. Transmission sys-
Africa and Argentina and other around the world tem consists of gears, guide wheel, pitman arm and
where wind potential was significant. In all these coun- guide shaft. Pump rod passing through transfer the
tries, windmills were used to meet the water require- motion to the pump plunger. Tower is a high strong
ments when there had been scarcity of water during support holding windmill and gear mechanism. Tower
summer seasons. Thus, this technology played a very must be high enough to surpass the top of nearby trees
important role in economic development of these coun- and buildings to avoid any obstruction in wind path
tries. During 1950s, there has been a decline of this approaching the windmill.
technology due to innovations in the field of engines The practice of traditional windmills for lifting water
and methods to use the fuels efficiently. Now world is was introduced in Holland from the start of 15th cen-
moving again towards the green energy owing to fact tury onwards. The well-known Dutch windmill had
of high fossil fuels costs, limited availability and severe been used for water drainage like drainage of swamp-
climate impacts. In rural areas of developing countries lands and lakes to reclaim new lands for different pur-
like Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, wind pumps have been poses. It was then adapted to other applications such
used to fulfil water requirements. as water supply to storage tanks and irrigation.2 Now
A series of multi-bladed windmill designs for irriga- wind pumps are used globally for different purposes.
tion purpose was developed in the United States in the Smulders3 showed wind pumping can find its place in
19th century. Later on, horizontal axis windmills were different pumping technologies, for example, hand
used for electricity as well. With increasing benefits pumps, solar and engine-driven pumps.
from the technology, more research work was con- Applications such as water supply to small commu-
ducted which resulted in an up-to-date design. Design nities, cattle watering and small-scale irrigation require
of windmill is effective in those locations where wind little power usually, typically ranging from 10 to 250 W
speed ranges from low to moderate. For high wind of hydrodynamic power output uninterruptedly. There
speed locations, aerofoil design of the blades is used are plenty of regions around the world with enough
and such type of wind turbines is used for electricity wind power resources for wind pumping as moderate
production. This technology has helped in reducing the wind speeds suffice the purpose.
emission and dependence on non-renewable energy. Water is a primary need of mankind as it is equally
All the components and working of the wind pump important and used for all types of domestic uses, life
are shown in Figure 1. Windmill is a multi-bladed rotor on earth and sea, and for cultivation of crops. So there
which is mounted on a hub. There may be 8, 16, 18 and is need in most of the rural areas where water should
24 blades depending upon the wind parameters and be lifted from the ground depth or from river and
design. Multiple blades in the form of curved blades ponds to supply for the crops. Though scope of using
(sails) are rigidly mounted at some angle to the wind wind for irrigation purposes is old, its importance in
Aized et al. 3

field of renewable energies can never be underesti- available options. Finally, it was also showed that the
mated. Ultimately such kind of mechanism is required water elevation has a major impact on the economic
which can lift water from ground using wing energy.2 feasibility of wind pump technology as compared with
US National Renewable Energy Laboratory that of solar radiations on solar photovoltaic pumping
(NREL) has developed geographical wind map in technology. The results revealed that usually the critical
Pakistan and suggested the utilization of unexploited factors to be considered while making energy manage-
wind energy in the country. Pakistan has a wind poten- ment decisions differ country to country. In Spain, the
tial of 346 GW.1 The city of Hyderabad and Karachi closeness of the electrical grid to wind station makes it
along with the streak of coastal area are the potential the best option. Similarly in Pakistan, limited wind
locations where this kind of systems can operate effi- resources are a there, but they can be harnessed and
ciently. Moreover, southwestern Pakistan is rich in water need can be met by installing wind pumps.
wind resources.4 Atlas5 shows the wind map data of Cruz et al.10 used an integrated approach to find
Pakistan, and these potential areas are expected to play scheduling and the optimal operation of a wind-
a very vital role in fulfilling future energy requirement powered water pumping system. In his approach, he
of the country. performed the modelling the technical operational lim-
In rural areas, wind energy resource is sufficient itations of system and diminished the effect of varia-
enough that it can be used to operate the wind pump tions in wind parameters on the active power output of
system and have potential to replace energy production the wind energy resource. He also showed that a
from fuels as they have high cost and large emissions, mixed-integer linear optimization-based approach
thus securing the environment and future. Wind is the should be used to maximize cost effectiveness and sus-
most important and prominent type of renewable tainability of the system.10
energy. It is available in all locations due to different Peillón et al.11 used a methodology and estimated
temperature zones and resulting pressure variation on balance between water availability and water needs to
different locations.6 La Rotta and Pinilla7 investigated evaluate the feasibility of the windmill-based irrigation
the commercial positive displacement pump for wind- system. To meet the purpose, they include several fac-
water pumping and the evaluated pump performance tors like daily 3-hourly wind speed, greenhouse evapo-
in terms of its overall and volumetric efficiencies. transpiration as a function of planting date of crops.
The technological advancements starting in early Flow supplied by the wind pump was considered as a
1900s in the field of hydro energy systems had bought function of the elevation height or lift. Windmill had
an innovative change world’s energy productions. 2.2 m diameter with eight blades and it required wind
Recently, this kind of systems has become very efficient velocity of 2.77 m/s to start. The system was designed
due to use of highly consistent equipment and many to operate between range of 2.77 and 10.8 m/s. Wind
researcher and engineers believe that they will over- pump had a tower 6 m high tower with a triangular sec-
come most of the energy demand with their overwhelm- tion whose cross section area decreases gradually
ing outcomes. These systems have gained enough towards top. Harries12 also proposed that generation
capacity to store energy in the form of potential energy of electricity using wind energy needs wind speed more
of water.8 than 5 m/s to rotate the turbine but for wind pumps
Dı́az-Méndez et al.9 used a very simple methodology lower wind speeds can be sufficient because most of the
and made a comparison between different renewable wind pumps can operate at wind speed of 3 m/s and
technologies in term of effectiveness, cost, reliability, will start furling at speed of about 12–15 m/s.
energy production and installation at particular loca- Ayodele et al.13 conducted a comprehensive study of
tion. Some non-renewable energy sources were also dis- this system. They used 16 years’ daily average wind
cussed to make comparison fairer. In all the systems, speed data obtained from Nigeria Meteorological
the main idea was to supply water for irrigation. For Agency (NIMET) Oshodi, Lagos. The results he
this purpose, they chose three different locations in obtained showed that the wind power densities of the
Cuba, Spain and Pakistan because all these three coun- two different areas range from 165 to 207 W/m2 and it
tries have different environment, coordinates and geo- was sufficient to provide energy for the water needs
graphical backgrounds. The investigation took into between 1900 m3/day to 2300 m3/day for these areas.
account wind resources and availability at locations, The wind speed of these regions was found to be
power capacity, distance to the grid, seasonality, water 2.7 m/s and 9 m/s, respectively. He suggested the use of
storage tank volume requirements and dates of planta- Goulds model submersible pumps in the range of 30–
tion. Comparison was made in terms of cost estimation 50 hp for meeting the water requirements.
and energy associated with each system. The locations Rehman and Sahin14 conducted their research in
where no grid connection is available, the distance to Saudi Arabia with a purpose to provide water using
the grid and the wind resource available are key factors wind energy to remotely located areas which did not
to be taken into attention while deciding among have any electricity facility. Small windmills of order
4 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

1–10 kW were selected combination with Goulds 45 J Recently, Wind Power Potential organization con-
water pump model. Pump used the energy from wind ducted surveys of coastal areas including Sindh coast
and pumped water to locations like Rawdat Ben and southwest belt of Punjab province of the country
Habbas, Arar and Juaymah in Saudi Arabia. Odesola with help of PMD and indicated the existence of a
and Adinoyi15 also tested wind pump setup at wind potential for harvesting wind energy using currently
speed of 1.45, 1.80 and 2.10 m/s with a water discharge available modern technologies.
rate of 6.61, 6.78 and 7.81 L/min, respectively.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is one of the
powerful tools for blade shape analysis of wind Methodology and data collection
machines. Investigation of the system can create an Method to conduct this research can be divided into
opportunity for research into CFD methods that defi- following steps (Figure 3).
nitely allows engineers to simulate complete turbines at
realistic conditions. There is a huge scope for refining 1. Comprehensive study of wind pump, its opera-
the wind-water pumping system with various combina- tion and background
tions of number of designs and using different materials 2. Determine the suitable geographical locations in
for the fabrication of blade which have better stability, the country having sufficient wind potential and
efficiency and cost-effectiveness.16–18 wind parameters from Alternative Energy
In Punjab, southwest region of the province includ- Development Board (AEDB), Global Wind
ing Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Atlas (GWA) and PMD
Lodhran and some parts of Dera Ghazi Khan have 3. Estimation of power requirements and capacity
enough potential to be used for water pumping. All of water pump and calculations of blades size,
these are agricultural areas and demand of water is rotor diameter and swept area, tower height and
high. Wind speed usually has some variation with gear box specifications accordingly
respect to season so wind velocity lies in the range of 4. Measure the characteristics of windmill, that is,
2.5–7 m/s, giving the average of 4 m/s approximately. power and torque using analytical approach
Figure 2 shows the wind map of Pakistan provided by 5. Design and analysis of wind pump model using
Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). Solid Edge and ANSYS
6. Derivation of results and conclusion

Figure 2. Wind map of Pakistan.4

Aized et al. 5

 K1

K V  K
eðLÞ
V

f ðV Þ = ð1Þ
L L

Value of Weibull shape factor K lies between 1 and

3. The area which has very low variations in wind velo-
city has higher value of K. When there are considerable
variations in wind velocity data, value of K is closer to
1. Both Weibull scale parameter L and classified wind
speed V are presented as ms–1.
Similarly, annual wind energy in kilo watt hour
available per unit area is given by
Figure 3. Schematic of methodology.  
1 24 3 365 3 3
E= 3 3 rL G 1 + ð2Þ
2 1000 K
Theoretical study involves a deep investigation of work-
Gamma function G is defined for all complex num-
ing operation of wind pump and current designs used
bers except zero and negative integers.
in the world. The design process starts off with analysis
of the existing windmill designs and their respective
operating condition. This formed a rough idea of the
eventual windmill design that would be modified to the
Meteorological distribution method
Pakistan regions. In order to achieve the optimum Meteorological distribution method states that occur-
design characteristics such as torque and power pro- rence frequency of wind velocity is mainly the function
duced by the windmill, various calculations and struc- of cumulative frequency of wind velocity during a par-
tural analysis would be done as well. Thus, design ticular interval to time. Smaller the interval, greater
modifications of windmill and pumping system to would be the credibility of wind velocity value distribu-
meet geographical wind conditions in Pakistan are tion. Knowing the wind velocity cumulative frequen-
main target. Calculations and results thus obtained cies, occurrence frequency can be given by20
using analytical methods would be used in Solid Edge
to develop a model and validation of results using  Þ = C ðV
f ðV  Þ + C ðV
 + 1Þ ð3Þ
ANSYS.
 ) and C(V
f (V  ) represent occurrence frequency of wind
Wind speed data are collected from GWA, PMD
and World Weather Online, and data are organized for and cumulative classified wind speed, respectively. The
different cities of province Punjab and Sindh in available annual energy of the wind E, per unit area, is
Pakistan. It is very important to evaluate the wind velo- estimated by
city values of the desired regions in order to design a X
1 24 3 365 i3 f ðV i Þ
wind pumping system. In this research study, we inves- E= 3 3r3 V ð4Þ
tigated the wind conditions in Pakistan especially 2 1000
southeast belt of Punjab and suburb regions in Sindh Applying the statistical techniques on available wind
province. All these areas have enough wind availability speed data gives us close prediction of wind speed and
per day and large reserves of underground water. Being wind energy data. Vf, Ve and Vm are most frequent,
an agriculture region, wind powered pump finds its energetic and simple mean velocities, respectively, as
large applications in this area. shown in Figures 6 and 7.
Wind speed data of some selected cities are presented
on monthly average basis and yearly average for a par-
ticular year in Table 1 and Figures 4 and 5. Design of wind pump
Wind speed is never constant all the time; instead, it
varies in different time of the day. In this study, two It is very important to evaluate the wind velocity values
different wind speed distribution methods have been of the desired regions in order to design a wind pump-
applied to find out the average wind speed for a partic- ing system. In this research study, we investigated the
ular city. wind conditions in Pakistan, especially southeast belt
of Punjab and suburb regions in Sindh province. All
these areas have enough wind availability per day and
Weibull distribution method large reserves of underground water. Being an agricul-
ture region, wind-powered pump finds its large applica-
According to Weibull, wind speed distribution is gov-
tions in this area.
erned by the following equation20
 6
Table 1. Month-averaged wind speed data for different cities of province Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan.19

Name of city January February March April May June July August September October November December Yearly avg.

Rahimyar Khan 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.5 3.1 5.3 5.3 5.2 3.8 2.5 2.6 2.5 3.6
Bahawalpur 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.9 3.5 4.3 4.2 3.9 3.4 2.4 2.2 2.2 3.0
Sadiqabad 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.1 3.8 4.6 4.5 4.0 3.5 2.6 2.4 2.4 3.2
Rajanpur 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.1 3.6 4.2 4.2 3.7 3.3 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.8
Khan Pur 2.5 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.8 4.6 4.5 4.1 3.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 3.2
Bahawalnagar 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.3 3.1 2.8 2.5 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.8
Fort Abbas 2.3 2.5 2.7 3.0 3.6 4.3 4.1 3.6 3.3 2.5 2.2 2.2 3.0
Chishtian 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.4 4.0 3.7 3.4 2.9 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.8
Rojhan 2.7 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.6 4.2 4.1 3.7 3.1 2.5 2.5 2.6 3.2
Yazman 2.4 2.5 2.7 3.0 3.6 4.4 4.4 3.9 3.4 2.4 2.2 2.3 3.1
Lodhran 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.4 4.3 4.1 3.8 3.3 2.4 2.2 2.2 3.0
Hasilpur 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.9 3.4 4.1 3.8 3.6 3.1 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.9
Ahmadpur East 2.4 2.6 2.7 3.0 3.6 4.4 4.4 4.0 3.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 3.1
Haroonabad 2.2 2.7 2.8 3.1 3.8 4.8 4.5 3.8 3.7 2.7 2.5 2.4 3.2
Hyderabad 3.1 2.8 3.8 4.7 5.4 7.8 7.9 7.7 6.4 3.5 2.5 2.7 4.8
Mirpur Khas 2.8 2.6 3.6 4.2 5.2 7.5 7.3 7.2 5.8 3.0 2.4 2.5 4.2
Kotri 3.1 2.8 3.8 4.7 5.4 7.8 7.9 7.7 4.6 3.5 2.5 2.7 4.7
Dadu 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.8 2.9 4.8 5.1 4.8 3.7 2.8 2.2 1.9 3.1
Gharo 3.4 3.2 4.6 5.2 6.0 6.9 7.0 6.9 6.1 3.9 3.2 3.3 6.1
Sukkur 2.7 2.5 2.5 3.0 3.3 5.2 5.9 5.4 4.1 2.3 2.2 2.0 3.4
Ghotki 2.7 2.5 2.5 3.0 3.3 5.2 5.9 5.4 4.1 2.3 2.2 2.0 3.4
Jacobabad 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.8 3.3 3.8 4.7 4.0 2.7 2.1 1.9 1.7 2.7
Larkana 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.5 3.0 4.2 4.9 4.4 3.1 1.8 1.8 1.8 2.8
Thul 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.8 3.3 3.8 4.7 4.0 2.7 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.8
Umarkot 3.1 2.7 3.5 4.1 5.0 7.5 7.3 7.2 5.7 3.2 2.8 2.7 4.5
Nawabshah 2.4 2.9 2.4 3.0 3.2 6.0 6.5 6.2 4.7 2.5 2.1 1.9 3.6
Advances in Mechanical Engineering
Aized et al. 7

1. High torque, T
2. High solidity, s
3. Relatively low tip speed ratio l, low rpm v

To drive a reciprocating water pump, high torque is

the basic requirement. Multi-bladed windmills have
high solidity and low tip speed ratio which results in
higher starting torque. There are two choices to set our
target:

1. Set the desired output of the system and specify

Figure 4. Representation of wind speed data of cities in Punjab. all parameter in accordance
2. Analyse how much wind energy is available at
the rotor at specific location and what output
can be attained while considering all impracti-
calities and losses

Keeping in view all wind parameters pertinent to

Pakistan, it is desirable to go for later choice. Taking
different possible value to wind velocity, various wind
pump design specification will be proposed. Schematic
of the major components involved in the system is
shown in Figure 8. Design specifications for all these
components are proposed below.
Figure 5. Representation of wind speed data of cities in Sindh.
Wind energy calculations
Wind speed data of some selected cities are presented Wind velocity of selected regions in Pakistan lies in the
on monthly average basis and yearly average for a par- range of 2.5–5 m/s. For model development, mean wind
ticular year in Table 1. speed of 3.5 m/s is considered

1
Pw = Cp rAV 3 ð5Þ
Basic design requirements 2
Following are the basics requirements for a windmill From chart,20,21 suitable diameter of windmill for
design used for water pumping: given wind velocity is 3 m. Taking windmill diameter as

Figure 6. Wind speed and annual wind energy prediction using Weibull and meteorological distribution methods – Punjab.
8 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Figure 7. Wind speed and annual wind energy prediction using Weibull and meteorological distribution methods – Sindh.

Figure 8. Components of the wind pump under design considerations.

Aized et al. 9

3 m and 3.5 m/s of wind speed, corresponding values of

Pw have been calculated which equals 109 W.

Consideration of losses in system

Wind wheel losses. As per law of inertia, a body will
come to rest when some external force is applied to it.
In this case, external force is mainly due to aerody-
namic friction which gradually stops the wheel or tends
to stop it. A well-balanced and efficiently designed
wind wheel will have an efficiency value of 60%. If this
value is required to increase or frictional losses are
desired to decrease, then surface area of the wheel must
be reduced to offer less friction. But doing this will
decrease the amount of energy acquired from the wind
and much of wind will pass through the wheel unused. Figure 9. Distribution of total wind energy.
It is undesirable. Less parts and light-weight design
structure increase the efficiency, but there are also some system losses. Nowadays, pump cylinder made of
restrictions regarding design failure and materials bronze or brass tubing having polished bore and leather
strength. So the optimum value of wind wheel effi- seals are considered more efficient.20,21 This design has
ciency is taken to be 60%. long life and very less leakage over times. But frictional
loses in the pump are very significant. Thus, with best
Bearing and gears. Bearing and gears are normally most design and excellent material, overall efficiency of the
efficient part of the system, but there are some losses pump is taken to be 75%.
associated with them. Babbitt metal which is durable, For designing purpose, it is required that pump
less wear and has decreased energy losses is used for should lift water to 50 ft height. Thus, mechanical
manufacturing of bearing. Gears with excellent design power available to for pump is calculated as
and very fine finished surface can have 97% efficiency
Pm = Pw 3 hww hb&g hff hp ð7Þ
per mating pair. Amount of energy lost is also depen-
dent on load applied on the wheel. Well-balanced gear Thus, power delivered to pump after considering all
set increases the life of system and cause fewer vibra- above losses is estimated to be 44.26 W. With every
tions, and provides leverage to the system to operate design there are some uncertainties associated with the
under low wind and pump water at high head. Overall system. So we incorporate all these uncertainties so that
efficiency of the bearing and gears system is taken to be system may work even for minimum fluctuating value
95%. of power delivered. So to ensure the minimum possible
output, consider 20% unaccountable losses due to dif-
Fluid friction losses. Whenever a fluid passes through a ferent natural uncontrolled phenomenon; we get power
pipe or duct, frictional loss is accompanied with it 37 W available for pumping. Figure 9 shows distribu-
which is given by Darcy formula tion of total wind energy taken by different compo-
nents due to limitations, losses and useful work.
4fLV 2
Lf = ð6Þ
2gd Water capacity
f is Darcy factor and depends upon diameter and Flow rate from the pump is calculated as
velocity of the fluid. In the above expression, we can
see that friction losses are mainly dependent on fluid Pm = Pl = rw ghQ ð8Þ
velocity and hydraulic diameter of pipe. Fortunately in
So using theoretical knowledge we determine that a
our case, fluid velocity is quite low and hydraulic dia-
windmill having 3 m (10 ft) diameter operating under
meter is large enough to minimize the losses. Thus, by
wind velocity of 3.5 m/s can lift about 250 gallon of
using smooth pipe with enough size, good values selec-
water per hour from a depth of 15 m (50 ft).
tion and avoiding sharp bends will make the efficiency
up to 95%.
Blade design consideration
Losses in pump. Pump is the most important part of the It is the most important parameter to be considered
system which must be considered while estimating the while designing a windmill blade because almost all the
10 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Table 2. Tip speed ratio and design parameters.

Tip speed ratio 1–2 .10

Torque High Low

RPM Low High
Uses Includes multi-bladed windmills and rotors 2–3 bladed wind turbines, suitable for
which are better for water pumping generators for electricity production
Efficiency Low because of rotational wake due to High up to 40% relative to Betz limit
relatively high torque of windmill
Solidity High and contains 12,16, 18 or 24 blades Solidity is low, mostly 2 or 3 blades
mounted on hub
Blade design Simple design, large curved blades Design considerations are very crucial,
thin aerofoil blades are used
Noise Low due to low rotation and less sliding Noise is relatively high
parts
Frictional losses Low frictional and hydraulic losses in pipes Increased as rotational speed
due to low rotational and pump speed,
Low for a well-designed and well-balanced
windmill

other parameters like configuration, rpm and torque

depend upon it. Tip speed ratio l gives the relationship
between blade tip velocity v and actual wind speed V

vR
l= ð9Þ
V
Table 2 shows the different considerations regarding
selection of suitable tip speed ratio.
If the tip speed is high, low chord length is required
which definitely reduces the blade dimensions and
material used. But higher tip speed ratio increases the
aerodynamic and centrifugal frictional loss. To reach
some conclusion, we have to fix some parameters like
rotor size and number of blades, and evaluate the
Figure 10. Blade and rotor designed on Solid Edge.
performance.
A windmill operating a reciprocating piston pump
for water supply requires high torque. Rotational speed 1
is not very crucial for such applications. High torque ABlade = Lb ðLchord1 3 Lchord2 Þ ð11Þ
2
requirement suggests that lower value of tip speed ratio
must be selected to meet the purpose. Using the above-mentioned known values, area of
Threshold tip speed ratio is given by 4p=Nb and in each blade is estimated to be 3.77 ft2 (0.35 m2).
this design number of blades Nb are 16 which make the Solidity s ranges between 0 and 1. For a windmill
threshold tip speed ratio as 0.8. Thus, taking tip speed used for water pumping, value of solidity is high to
ratio as 2, angular speed of blades is found to be achieve high starting torque. For that purpose, condi-
33 rpm. Blades used for the purpose are in the form of tion of s = 0.8 must be met for the smooth operation
curved plates with uniformly variable width having of the system.22 Value of solidity obtained for this
16 in. (0.41 m) and 6 in. (0.16) chord length at the top design is well above the threshold limit for water pump-
and bottom, respectively. Including angle for both ing windmills.
curved ends is 45°. Radial length of each blade is 4 ft
(1.2 m). Blade design and rotor are shown in Figure 10.
For calculation purposes, blades are considered flat Windmill characteristics
because radius of curvature is much larger as compared Actual torque produced by wind force at the rotor is
with arc length given by T = Pw =v and its value is 31.1 N/m2. Similarly,
Nb ABlade toque transmitted to derive pump is 10.6 N/m2.
s= ð10Þ Torque coefficient is the ratio of actual toque trans-
A
mitted to pump and theoretical torque produced. For
Aized et al. 11

Figure 11. Dimensionless (a) torque-speed and (b) power-speed characteristic of wind rotors of mechanical wind pump.22

multi-bladed high solidity windmill its values is 0.24 As mentioned earlier, high torque is required for
(Figure 11(a)). It is important to calculate and relate smooth operation of water pumping system. Therefore,
the power coefficient of the design whose standard gear ratio of 3/2 is used to increase the torque. Now
value ranges from 0.30 to 0.40 (Figure 11(b)). For this consider D1 and D2 be the diameter of driver (pinion)
design, power coefficient equals 0.35 which is compara- and driven gear, respectively. Gear ration is given by
ble with the standard range. the equation
Different design of rotor behaves differently under
specific wind conditions. Modern rotors are designed to D2 3
=
convert wind energy into mechanical work for electric- D1 2
ity generation. Thus, they are designed to possess high
Diameter of pinion is calculated to be 3.15 in. (8 cm)
tip speed ratio. Under low tip speed scenario, they do
which is also called pitch circle diameter.
not perform well and have low value of power and tor-
Angle between common tangent at pitch point and
que coefficient. Contrarily, classic rotors are designed
common normal at the point of contact of two gears is
to operate under low wind conditions and have low
called pressure angle. Standard values of pressure angle
value of tip speed ratio. It enables the classic rotor to are 14½° and 20°.23 Here value of 20° is used. For two
possess high value of power and torque coefficient meshing gears, value of circular pitch or module must
which is the basic requirement of a wind pump to oper- be same, so
ate as shown in Figure 11(a) and (b).
Pc1 = Pc2
Power transmission D2 T2 ð12Þ
=
Power extracted from the wind through rotor is trans- D1 T1
mitted to the pump with the help of a shaft, gears, bear- With the gear ratio of 3/2, number of teeth on
ings and pump rod. All the mentioned components gear and pinion are 24 and 16, respectively. With all the
constitute the power transmission mechanism. Design basic design parameters calculated above, KHK Gears
of gearbox and gear ratio used must match the pump allows creating a complete gears design and simulating
size and number of strokes per hour to meet the desired the results. Figure 12 shows the interface of KHK
water output. Gears designing software.21 All the basic input data are
In windmill power transmission system, gear box has provided to get gear specification like size, strength,
two pairs of meshing gears which transmit the power to force acting on gears and tooth form coordinates.
pump rod with the help of Pitman Arm. When the wind Figure 13 shows the two meshing gears’ design.
energy rotates the rotor, shaft rotates the pinion which Table 3 shows the design specifications of the spur
ultimately drives the larger gear. Pitman Arm pivoted gears used in wind-driven water pumping system.
to the gear converts the rotary motion into reciprocat-
ing motion of guide wheel which moves up and down in
pump rod guide. Pump rod connected to the centre of Pump design
guide wheel thus moves up and down. This up and Selection of pump size is made on the basis of flow rate
down movement constitutes the stroke of the piston of requirement and rotational speed driven to meet the
pump. Gears used in water pumping windmills are usu- desired output.
ally low velocity external spur gears which have teeth Water discharge per stroke is calculated as
parallel to axis of the gear rotation.
12 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Figure 12. Designing of gears using KHK Gears designing software.23

than the stroke length so for safety margin, stroke

length is taken to 4 in. (10 cm).

Simulation setup of the design

Simulation of the designed rotor has been done using
ANSYS Fluent 14.0 by importing the model from Solid
Edge.igs file. First, the 3D computational domain is
defined for single blade. Name selections are created
and mesh is generated. Default mesh is refined using
Global Mess Control which applies settings to whole
mess altogether (Figure 14). Mesh number for this
simulation is 50/inch with more than 107 cells. To make
Figure 13. Two meshing gears, large gear and pinion have 24 the results more precise, double precision method is
and 16 teeth, respectively.
used. For solution, K-omega SST equation is chosen
for viscous laminar model. After setting materials,
water water boundary conditions, solution method, monitors, and
0:905m3 of = 0:015m3 of ð13Þ so forth, calculations are run.
hr min
Number of strokes in 1 min equals to rpm of driven
gear so pump size be such that 22 strokes must deliver Mesh independence test
0.015 m3 per minute Mesh independence or sensitivity analysis is carried out
to apply suitable mesh control to the computation
0:000502m3 domain. Five different mesh controls with cells ranging
Quantity of water delivered per stroke =
stroke between 9 3 106 and 1.4 3 107 have been applied to the
domain. Results show that values become stable, and
Referring standards,24 it is desirable to use 100 mm
very insignificant variation occurs when mesh number
pump for the desired discharge. Minimum stroke length
exceeds 107 (Figure 15).
is calculated as

m3 p Validation of Simulation results

0:000685 = d 2 3 ls ð14Þ
stroke 4
Historical data validation (HDV) method is used to
It is important to note that stoke length can never be validate the results of the simulation. A number of sim-
less than ls = 3:35in (8.5 cm) to deliver the required dis- ilar design analysis and optimization has been done
charge. Normally, pump cylinder length is well larger experimentally in literature.10,12,15,17,20,24 Results
Aized et al. 13

Table 3. Spur gear design specifications.

Normal module 5
Normal pressure angle 20° 0’ 00’
Helix angle 0° 0’ 00’
Small gear Large gear
Number of teeth 16 24
Centre distance 0
modification coefficient
Centre distance 0
modification coefficient
Centre distance 100
Circular pitch (mm) 15.7
Pitch circle diameter 80 120
(mm)
Addendum 2.5
Dedendum 6.25
Tooth height (mm) 8.75
Effective face width (mm) 50
Clearance (mm) 3.75 Figure 14. Meshing of a single blade domain.
Base circle diameter 75.17 112.76
(mm)
Tip diameter (mm) 85 125
Root diameter (mm) 67.5 107.5
Tooth thickness 7.85 7.85
perpendicular to tooth
(mm)
Over pin measurement 92.07 131.77
(mm)
Force acting on gears
Transmitted torque 45.76 68.64
(Nm)
Tangent line force (N) 1144
Radial direction 416.38
force(N)
Thrust Neglected
Material and allowable strength
Material SC37 Figure 15. Mesh independence test.
Rotational speed (rpm) 33 22
Peripheral speed (m/s) 0.138
Life cycles 10,000,000
Direction of load One direction
Load distribution factor 1.17125
along gear tooth
Overload coefficient 1.25
(medium)
Factor of safety 1.2
Allowable tooth root 101.98
bending stress (MPa)
Allowable 6656.22 7663.98
circumferential force
(N)
Allowable torque (Nm) 266.24 459.83
Allowable power (kW) 0.92 1.05
Figure 16. Simulation of one blade to find out the optimum
value of angle of attack.
obtained in this research work are comparable with
peers’ work conducted previously.
value of coefficient of lift is obtained at 19° angle of
attack (a) as shown in Figure 17. But at this value of a,
Results and discussions coefficient of drag also become significant and has
value of 0.18. So such value of a must be chosen at
Optimization of angle of attack which lift and drag values are comparative so that tan-
Simulation of one blade to find out the optimum value gential and axial force acting on a blade are maximum
of angle of attack is shown in Figure 16. Maximum and minimum, respectively.
14 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Table 4. Results of simulations for different values of angle of attack.

Sr. no. Angle of Lift force Tangential force Drag force per unit Axial force per unit
attack (Deg) per unit area per unit area (N/m2) area (N/m2) area (N/m2)
(N/m2)

1 8 11.27 4.33 0.07 14.40

2 10 12.84 5.30 0.15 13.70
3 12 14.11 7.94 0.52 11.80
4 14 15.91 6.41 1.12 9.26
5 16 17.50 6.22 1.34 7.45
6 18 17.42 5.65 1.42 6.51
7 20 16.11 5.05 1.49 5.78

very important to consider because it affects the power

out of the windmill.
From Table 4, it is obvious that a = 10°–13° gives
the best trade-off between tangential and axial forces.
Increasing a beyond 13° decreases the tangential force
and increases the drag effect on the curvature of the
blade.
Figure 19 shows that when the angle between the
chord of blade and plane of rotation is 25°–28°, power
produced from the windmill is the maximum. Values of
angle below or above this range decrease the power out-
put due to corresponding decrease in lift force.

Steady states streamline velocity profile

Figure 17. Representation of coefficient of lift and drag for Analysis shows that velocity of the streams which come
different values of angle of attack. into contact with the blade differs along the length of
the blade (Figure 20). Velocity is the maximum at the
tip of the blades and decrease gradually towards the
To find out the most suitable value of angle of side near hub. But at the bottom tip of the blade, velo-
attack (a), its different values ranging between 8° city is slightly high due to sharp curvature of the blade.
and 20° have been used to calculate corresponding We can see that velocity of the stream at the tip reaches
values of lift force FL = (1=2)(CL rv2 )and drag force about 6.2 m/s and the interior regions have velocity in
FD = (1=2)(CD rv2 ) as shown in Figure 18. Target is to the range of 3.5–4.5 m/s.
keep lift and drag forces maximum and minimum,
respectively, which ultimately affect the tangential and Wind speed, mechanical power and water discharge
axial forces. In all the calculations, wind velocity is As the relation (1=2)(Cp rAV 3 ) suggests, increase in
taken to be 3.5 m/s wind speed would increase the power output and water
discharge as shown in Table 5 and Figure 21. But there
FTangent = FL sin ;  FD cos ; are some losses associated with the system which are
ð15Þ
FAxial = FL cos ; + FD sin ; also increased with the increase in wind speed. These
losses may include frictional losses in rotor bearings,
where ; = } + 108 , angle between chord of blade and gears, fluid friction in pipe and pump.
plane of rotation of rotor.
Seasonal variations and performance
Effect of angle between blade’s chord and relative Performance of the wind pump system is greatly
affected by variations in wind velocity in different
wind speed on lift force and power output months of a year. Fortunately in selected regions in
Tangential component of the lift force is responsible Pakistan, wind blows with sufficiently high speed in the
for the rotation of blade about the axis of rotor. Angle months in which water consumption is high due to
between the chord of blade and plane of rotation is increased summer temperature. To estimate the
Aized et al. 15

Figure 18. Different orientations of blade with plane of rotation.

Figure 19. Effect of angle of attack on lift force and power output.

Table 5. Effect of wind speed on mechanical power and water

discharge.

Wind velocity Mechanical Water

(m/s) power (W) discharge (GPH)

2.5 13.41875 86.6

3 23.1876 150
3.5 36.82105 240
4 54.9632 355
4.5 78.25815 507
5 107.35 694

GPH: Gallons per hour.

Figure 20. Simulation of full rotor having optimum angle of
seasonal variations in the performance of wind pump blades.
due to variations in the wind speed, monthly average
data of all the selected cities in Punjab and Sindh prov-
inces are collected. Performance can be evaluated by
considering power from wind, mechanical power deliv-
ered to pump and water discharge for a specific wind
pump design. As different locations have different wind
speed data, wind pump will perform differently in these
locations. Estimation of wind energy, power delivered
to pump and water discharge are the main parameters
to be considered in this study, so performance of a
wind pump can be characterized by calculating all these
factors. Once the wind speed data are available for a
particular location, all the parameters mentioned previ- Figure 21. Wind speed, mechanical power and water
ously can be determined (Figure 21). discharge.
16 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Figure 22. Effect of seasonal variation in wind speed on performance of the wind pump system – Punjab.

Figure 23. Effect of seasonal variation in wind speed on performance of the wind pump system – Sindh.

It is obvious from Figures 22 and 23 that 6 months 2. Wind pump can perform well under low wind
(April–September) have higher wind speed, thus ulti- speed and estimation of seasonal variations on
mately increased water discharge. This period is sum- performance showed that when water demand
mer season and water requirement for crops is high. is high, wind speed is also high enough to match
Thus, it is blessing from the nature that both water the requirements.
availability and demand are matched in this season. 3. For wind speed of 3.5 m/s, windmill having 10 ft
diameter can deliver about 250 GPH of water for
use in irrigation, livestock and domestic purpose.
Conclusions 4. Analysis of the designed model in ANSYS
Fluent augmented the theoretical results and
Wind speed data in different cities are evaluated and design is validated.
wind pump is designed for Pakistani wind conditions. 5. Blades with different design and dimensions
Following conclusions have been made. have been tested, and the most suitable design is
curved blade with uniformly variable width hav-
1. Southwest regions in Punjab and the most of ing 16 in. and 6 in. chord length at the top and
the cities in Sindh have sufficient wind potential bottom, respectively. Including angle for both
(wind speed ranging from 2.5–5 m/s) that can be curved ends is 45°, and the radial length of each
used for water pumping. blade mounted on hub is 4 ft.
Aized et al. 17

6. Power and torque coefficient of the windmill 8. Bueno C and Carta JA. Wind powered pumped hydro
comes out to be 0.35 and 0.24, respectively, storage systems, a means of increasing the penetration of
which are comparable with standard values for renewable energy in the Canary Islands. Renew Sustain
a multi-bladed windmill. Energy Rev 2006; 10(4): 312–340.
7. Wind speed is not constant over a period of 9. Dı́az-Méndez R, Rasheed A, Peillón M, et al. Wind
pumps for irrigating greenhouse crops: comparison in
time. Keeping the windmill rotor diameter same,
different socio-economical frameworks. Biosyst Eng
that is, 10 ft, wind speed of 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 2014; 128: 21–28.
and 5.0 m/s can deliver 86, 150, 250, 355, 507 10. Cruz P, Pousinho HMI, Melı́cio R, et al. Optimal coordi-
and 694 GPH of water, respectively. nation on wind-pumped-hydro operation. Proc Tech
2014; 17: 445–451.
This research work has revealed that there are multi- 11. Peillón M, Sánchez R, Tarquis AM, et al. The use of wind
ple suitable locations in the country where this system pumps for greenhouse microirrigation: a case study for
can be installed. Wind pumps not only save the envi- tomato in Cuba. Agr Water Manage 2013; 120: 107–114.
12. Harries M. Disseminating wind pumps in rural Kenya –
ronment by limiting the use of fossil fuels but also meet
meeting rural water needs using locally manufactured
the water needs at both commercial and domestic lev- wind pumps. Energy Policy 2002; 30(11–12): 1087–1094.
els. More technological innovations and automation in 13. Ayodele TR, Ogunjuyigbe ASO and Amusan TO.
the field of wind powered water pumping can lead to Techno-economic analysis of utilizing wind energy for
more efficient and reliable system. water pumping in some selected communities of Oyo
State, Nigeria. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2018; 91:
335–343.
Acknowledgements
14. Rehman S and Sahin AZ. Wind power utilization for
We thank all the colleagues whose help has been a source of water pumping using small wind turbines in Saudi Ara-
light for us. bia: a techno-economical review. Renew Sustain Energy
Rev 2012; 16(7): 4470–4478.
15. Odesola IF and Adinoyi LG. Development of wind pow-
Declaration of conflicting interests
ered water pump. Int J Eng Sci 2017; 7: 10341
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with 16. Khan MM, Zaman K, Irfan D, et al. Triangular relation-
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this ship among energy consumption, air pollution and water
article. resources in Pakistan (in English). J Clean Prod 2016;
112: 1375–1385.
Funding 17. Prasad SS and Auradi V. Optimized design of rotor blade
for a wind pump. Int J Renew Energy Res 2017; 2(4):
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, 746–749.
authorship, and/or publication of this article 18. Ming L, Lei T and Shuliang C. Design method of control-
lable blade angle and orthogonal optimization of pressure
ORCID iD rise for a multiphase pump. Energies 2018; 11: 1048–1068.
19. https://www.windfinder.com/#10/29.7924/72.8087
Tauseef Aized https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3820-6077 20. Elamouri M and Amar FB. Wind pumping assessment as
source of renewable energy. Leonardo J Sci 2016; 29:
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18 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

d diameter of drop pipe, m (in.) 

V classified wind speed, ms–1
D1 diameter of pinion, m (in.) V wind speed, ms–1
D2 diameter of gear, m (in.)
a angle of attack (degree)
f Darcy factor
G gamma function
f ðV Þ occurrence frequency of wind
hb&g efficiency of bearings and gears
FD drag force per unit area, Nm–2
hff fluid friction
FL lift force per unit area, Nm–2
hp efficiency of pump
g gravitational acceleration, ms–2
hww wind wheel efficiency
K shape factor 1 \ K \ 3
l tip speed ratio
ls Stroke length of pump, m
L Weibull scale parameter, ms–1
L length of drop pipe, m (ft)
r wind density, kgm–3
Lb length of blade, m (in.)
rw water density, kgm–3
Lf head loss due to friction, m
s solidity of rotor
Nb number of blades mounted on hub
F angle between chord of blade and axis of
Pm mechanical power, W
rotation (degree)
Pw total energy from wind, W
v angular velocity, rad/s
R radius of rotor, m
T1 number of teeth on pinion
T2 number of teeth on gear