YOGYAKARTA – Faculty of Engineering UGM in cooperation with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, have installed a technology to channel water by a pump that uses a turbine. The pump specially designed to channel the water from 100-200 meters underneath uses waterflow energy. The facility built at the Faculty compound will be made a learning model for students.
Dr. Suhanan, one UGM researcher team, said the technology that uses water pump as turbine has been applied in Seropan and Bribin caves of Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta. They can even be used as micro-hydro power plant for areas whose electricity needs have yet to be procured.
According to the Mechanical Engineering and Industry lecturer of UGM, the pump relies on water potential that is converted into mechanic energy in the rotational axis. This energy is turned to move the next pump to be able to raise the water up to a certain height. “At UGM we use four pumps while the water we use is from the Mataram ditch at a flow of 20-25 meter per second. The four pumps are able to elevate water up to 18 meters,” said Suhanan on Wednesday (2/4).
Suhanan said they use additional technology of a penstock made of wood with a 60 cm diameter. This can be a model for areas that lack of metal materials.
Another team member, Dr. Ir. Agus Maryono, said the wood has a 25 year’s durability and is environmentally friendly. The tool can be used more cheaply by local water companies to channel water from isolated places.
Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M. Eng., D. Eng., the water facility will be made a practicum spot for students, not only from UGM but also other universities.
Vice Rector for Cooperation and Alumni UGM, Prof. Ir. Dwikorita Karnawati, M.Sc., Ph.D., said the development of wood pipe technology and turbine pumps have incorporated state-of- the-art technology and local wisdom. “This technology is one strategic research product in renewable energy that can be used by the wider public,” she said.