Off The Wall

[Off the Wall]

Hello Everyone
I recently started to explore geology sediments as a hobby prospector to learn what is in the world around us and what is in my local rivers. As a result I have been looking for a simple and inexpensive system for metal separation from soils.

Which led me to the interview of a gentleman describing his airlift systems and seeing the balls going up the shoot made me think if one could control the flow rate and the air flow rates to a set diameter and proper classification of particle sizes then one could theoretically separate materials of same size based on the particles specific gravities(Weight). I am learning lots and having plenty of fun

So I have these questions Remember I am very new to this.

Could the airflow and waterflow be adjusted to suck up particles of different weight?
What size of pump would experienced airlift users recommend?
How large have particles (weight) been picked or vacuumed up? Keep in mind I will be using for particles 1/8 inch to microdust 60 mesh
Are their formulas available somewhere that I could be pointed to regarding air lift pumps?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I look forward to learning more about airlift pumping.

[Pssymon]

Hello and welcome!

Interesting to read about your application. Sadly I only have knowledge on the pond applications of airlifts.

I do know it's possible to pump up solid material (to a certain limit of course), but I have no experience with this.

What I can tell you is that a smaller diameter airlift should be able to pump with more force (at the expense of flowrate), as the discharge head with smaller diameter airlifts can be higher.

My suggestion would be to build an airlift with a diameter of around 50mm, at 150-200cm high and experiment with that. I would expect you could increase and decrease the power by using a valve on the air connection. This way you could possibly tune it to just the right amount of power.

I am not sure how powerful your pump has to be. Maybe you can play it safe and get a 60W pump and decrease the output as required.

For any more detailed information you will have to wait for another member to reply I'm afraid.

Greetings!

[Off the Wall]

Thank you for the insight Pssymon