All current test results! Chamber + Membrane Airlifts!

[Pssymon]

Good day,

Here you will find all relevant test results as measured by Marc, Gino and Guyke.
All tests were done with Marc's quarantine pond test setup using an ultrasonic flow meter.
The flow was measured at the inlet to the collector (not in the Airlift) to prevent inconsistencies due to air bubbles in the flow.

I will post some pictures of the device used and the setup at Marc's place below the test results.

Results:

Pressure chamber Airlift:

Pump------Diameter rising pipe--------Length rising pipe--------Litres per hour-------consumption-------watt/m³
SLL20----------------110---------------------------170---------------------15.000----------------9 watt------------0,6 watt
SLL20----------------110---------------------------145---------------------20.000---------------12 watt------------0,6 watt
SLL30----------------110---------------------------170---------------------22.000---------------17 watt------------0,7 watt
SLL40----------------110---------------------------170---------------------24.000---------------32 watt------------1,3 watt


Zenkoi membrane disk Airlift (24cm) with 250mm to 125mm reduction:

Pump------Diameter rising pipe--------Length rising pipe--------Litres per hour-------consumption-------watt/m³
SLL40----------------125---------------------------205----------------------24.000---------------28 watt---------1,16 watt
SLL50----------------125---------------------------205----------------------27.000---------------35 watt---------1,29 watt
ELS120--------------125---------------------------205----------------------42.000--------------107 watt---------2,54 watt


Membrane disk Airlift made by Gino (24cm disk) with 250mm to 160mm reduction:

Pump------Diameter rising pipe--------Length rising pipe--------Litres per hour--------consumption-------watt/m³
SLL40---------------160----------------------------175----------------------22.500----------------28 watt----------1,24 watt
SLL50---------------160----------------------------175----------------------25.000----------------35 watt-----------1,4 watt


Disk Airlift made by Guyke with 160mm to 110mm reduction:

Pump------Diameter rising pipe--------Length rising pipe--------Litres per hour-------consumption-------watt/m³
SLL30---------------110---------------------------155----------------------21.000----------------19 watt----------0,9 watt
SLL50---------------110---------------------------205----------------------23.000----------------36 watt---------1,56 watt
ELS 80-17----------110---------------------------205----------------------30.000----------------55 watt---------1,83 watt


Disk Airlift made by Guyke with 250mm to 110mm reduction:

Pump------Diameter rising pipe--------Length rising pipe--------Litres per hour-------consumption-------watt/m³
SLL50---------------110---------------------------205-----------------------23.000---------------40 watt---------1,73 watt
ELS80-17-----------110---------------------------205-----------------------35.000---------------66 watt---------1,88 watt

Thanks to Guyke for the original chart.


Pictures:

Ultrasonic Flowmeter


Quarantine pond



Placing collector




Finished setup

[Pssymon]

Videos for the most efficient tests:

9W 15.000 litres:



12W 20.000 litres:

[xberg]

Hi,
I'm so glad to discover these great experiments! I was really missing the scientific approach up until know.

A few questions:
- with the pressure chamber the results were better (ie more water) with a depth of 140 rather than 170: why is this?
- with the pressure chamber why was the power consumption LESS at 170 than 140: why?

How does the system with the pressure chamber work? I see a huge 300mm pipe and 2x 110mm connecting that 300mm pipe with the pond. Is the bottom horizontal 110mm pipe bringing water in the 300mm pipe, there is an extra vertical 110mm pipe inside the 300mm pipe that airflows water back into the pond through the top 110mm horizontal pipe?

[Pssymon]

Hi,
I'm so glad to discover these great experiments! I was really missing the scientific approach up until know.

That's good to hear!

A few questions:
- with the pressure chamber the results were better (ie more water) with a depth of 140 rather than 170: why is this?
- with the pressure chamber why was the power consumption LESS at 170 than 140: why?

Different air pumps have different 'sweet spots' where the performance in combination with an airlift will go up, sometimes at the cost of efficiency. The results may seem counter intuitive but as far as I'm aware they are all correct. These results show the same efficiency per Watt, it's just a documented effect that happens with that particular pump at those particular depths. I can't give a more in depth analysis at this time.

How does the system with the pressure chamber work? I see a huge 300mm pipe and 2x 110mm connecting that 300mm pipe with the pond. Is the bottom horizontal 110mm pipe bringing water in the 300mm pipe, there is an extra vertical 110mm pipe inside the 300mm pipe that airflows water back into the pond through the top 110mm horizontal pipe?

You understood correctly. The 300mm pipe is the collector in this case. This is needed simply to have a watertight space deep enough for the airlift inside to work properly. The lower connecting pipe is the inlet for the collector. The airlift inside draws water from the bottom of the collector and pumps it upwards, into the upper connecting pipe which leads back into the pond. In a real life pond application the lower pipe would be connected to the last compartment of your filter, and ideally the first compartment of your filter would be connected to one or more bottom drains.