Performance analysis of air-lift pump design

Abstract

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.

Water delivery capacity of a vacuum airlift – Application to water recycling in aquaculture systems

“…It generates a vertical movement of the fluid (often water but sometimes a mixture of liquids and solids). The principle is that the presence of gas bubbles decreases the average gas-liquid density and creates the driving force of the pump (Awari et al, 2004). Airlift pumps are often used in difficult pumping operations such as deep-sea mineral mining, estuaries dredging, coal extracting or in oil, chemical or radiochemical industries, because they are reliable for lifting corrosive and/or toxic, explosive, volatile or viscous substances.…”

“…In recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), water is usually circulated by pumps but airlifts are increasingly widely used (Mozes et al, 2004;Blancheton et al, 2007;Mamane et al, 2010). Airlifts are easy to build, simple to use and economical: Energy costs of airlift pumps for water transport and aeration are 35 % lower compared to standard pumps when used with low head systems (Reinemann, 1987;Awari et al, 2004;Kassab et al, 2009;Roque d'Orbcastel et al, 2009). In addition, in spite of their 80 % efficiency, pumps have a limited lifetime and require more maintenance than airlift pumps (Kassab et al, 2007).…”

“…This ratio has to be set above 0.7 to obtain an efficiency comparable to other pump types (Kassab et al, 2007). When the submergence ratio is too small (low immersion or high lift), water flow is almost null and the working cost of the pump is high (Parker and Suttle, 1987;Loyless and Malone, 1998;Awari et al, 2004).…”

“…Several models were investigated based on empirical studies (Loyless and Malone, 1998;Awari et al, 2004), but the accuracy of their predictive value is still limited and varies according to the specific configuration of each system (geometry, type of air injector), to the characteristics of the liquids (Loyless and Malone, 1998) and depending on what the airlift pump is used for (Wurts et al, 1994). Although the geometry of the airlift pump seems to be simple, the theoretical study of its performance appears to be complicated (Kassab et al, 2009).…”

Improvement of the Microalgae Harvest by the “Foaming-Scumming” Function of an Airlift Column

“…In addition, this study tries to understand the close relationship between these phenomena, its environment and the microalgae cell. These studies were conducted on the operation of an Airlift column in aquaculture, mainly in freshwater [1]. However, other researchers [2] are interested in studying saline water.…”