The air-lift pump is a well-established method for vertical transport of liquids and solid-liquid mixtures. The objectives of the present study are to evaluate the performance of a pump under predetermined operating conditions and to optimize the related parameters for the use of the pump for two-phase mixtures of air and water when a compressor is readily available. This paper is focused on the general mathematical functions applicable to air-lift pump installations. The effect of various design parameters on the performance of air-lift pump is presented. A user-friendly computer program is developed on the basis of the optimization of influencing variables. This program will be useful for the design and installation of an air-lift pump handling air-water mixtures. A comparative study of an air-lift pump with a centrifugal pump handling two-phase mixtures is also discussed in the paper.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.