Water pumps are often used for many continuous hours, and as a result, they account for a large part of the CO2 emissions of general-purpose products. Therefore, it is desirable that the fuel consumption of such pumps be improved.In order to make such an improvement, computational fluid dynamics was used to develop water pump specifications that would adjust the working performance and enhance the efficiency of such pumps.The water pump developed herein was targeted at users of three-inch pumps doing irrigation work with low head (lifting height) in Southeast Asia. The researchers forecast that the new pump could improve fuel consumption by more than 20% compared to a current model within the operating range of the market, thanks to adjustment of the pump performance in line with the needs of the target market, enhancement of pump efficiency, use of a low-displacement engine, and adjustment of air-fuel ratio. The effect was then confirmed by testing.
Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.27 No.1 (30 - 36)