Effect of Suction Pipe Diameter and Submergence Ratio on Air Lift Pumping Rate

Abstract

The increasingly importance for the uses of the air lift pump in widespread list of fields (mining, nuclear industries, agricultural uses, petroleum industries...etc.) makes it very interested for the researchers to find tools to raise the performance outcome of such pumps. An air lift pump system was setup to study the effect of the suction pipe diameter and submergence ratio on the liquid (water) pumping rate. The system has a lift pipe of (0.021 m) diameter and (1.25 m) length. Five diameters for the suction pipe (0.021, 0.027, 0.033, 0.048 and 0.063 m) with a fixed length of (0.3 m), were tested for each of the submergence ratios (0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) respectively. Results indicate that the higher the diameter of suction pipe, the higher the pumping rate for a fixed submergence ratio. From another side, the higher the submergence ratio, the higher the pumping rate for a fixed suction pipe diameter. Also, under high submergence ratios, high pumping rates were achieved by the use of lower air flow rates compared with those used with lower submergence ratios. The experimental results show good compatibility with the model suggested by Stenning and Martin for the performance of an air lift pump.

Experimental Evaluation of Airlift Performance for Vertical Pumping of Water in Underground Mines

“…As the air–water mixture began to go up the riser tube, a barometer (7) showed a slight decrease in the static water level. This drop, just like that reported by Maliky ( 2014 ), was very small and did not affect the results. To induce circulation of the liquid in the riser pipe, the minimum air velocity was varied at each submergence ratio and measurements began after the airlift operation stabilized.…”

“…Then the drag force between the formed air bubbles and the water helps the liquid phase to move upwards (Pougatch and Salcudean 2008). The most common examples reported in the literature for using this pump are sewage treatment plants (Kalenik 2015), raising liquid hydrocarbons in the oil industry (Clark and Dabolt 1986), shaft and well drilling (Maliky 2014), and mining of minerals from the ocean (Khalil et al 1999).…”

“…Then the drag force between the formed air bubbles and the water helps the liquid phase to move upwards (Pougatch and Salcudean 2008 ). The most common examples reported in the literature for using this pump are sewage treatment plants (Kalenik 2015 ), raising liquid hydrocarbons in the oil industry (Clark and Dabolt 1986 ), shaft and well drilling (Maliky 2014 ), and mining of minerals from the ocean (Khalil et al 1999 ). This type of pump is especially appropriate for situations where other pumping methods face technical problems such as: when the water is corrosive (due to the high cost of repairs for conventional pumps), where it is not possible to filter water and the ability to simultaneous transfer sediment and water vertically is required, where pre-treatment of water by blowing in some useful gas is needed, such as for mitigation of acid mine drainage (AMD), and for pumping sparkling water, especially if the percentage of gas in the water exceeds 14% (Awari et al 2004 ).…”

Analysis and research on the dynamic characteristics of shock absorber based on ADAMS

“…At present, most shock absorber cannot meet the self-locking function and require multiple springs to achieve the action of the mechanism [6]. Multiple springs increase the complexity of the mechanism, and the rigid flexible coupling dynamic model has not been used to study the motion characteristics and operating forces of the cam self-locking mechanism [7,8]. Based on this, this article proposes a mechanism that achieves press self-locking through the combination of wire spring deformation and cam sliding groove, and conducts a rigid flexible coupling dynamic analysis to verify the feasibility of mechanism motion and the effectiveness of self-locking function.…”