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RE: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #343
>I have shifted design a couple times. Initially I built a reactor the
>same way I do now, with both water and gas injected from the top. Some
>folks here suggested I inject the CO2 from the bottom, as it could then
>trickle "up" through the submerged media, wheras CO2 from the top just
>"stays there" like the inverted bell designs. What I learned was that
>when you inject CO2 in the bottom, it gets pushed right back out through
>the nearby water exit hole! I changed that design shortly after.
>(The original 1994 design can be seen at
>http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Krib/Plants/CO2/reactor.html for
>comparative purposes. My new reactor is basically the same sort of unit,
>except that the CO2 comes in at the top and the water exits at the very
>bottom.)
>And since I'm at it, the other important factor in CO2 reactor design I've
>seen is water flow. It should not be too slow! Gotta give lots of
>chances for the gas to mix with the tricking water. I had lousy luck
>until turning up the flow rate.
> - Erik
Greetings Erik,
There is a design for a reactor here in Aussie that is cylindrical, about 2 inches
in diameter and about 4 inches long, that attaches to the output of a pump and achieves
CO2 levels in the water of up to 55mg/l - in one pass through the unit (the injected level is
dependent on the flow rate of CO2 into the unit). The big thing is that no bubbles leave the
reactor, all of the CO2 injected is completely disolved. The unit can be operated on just
5psi and boasts flow rates of upwards of 30g per minute. They seem to work really well
on ponds, where large amounts of CO2 are needed. The unit works on the principal of
spinning vortexes of water, the vortexes prevent the gas from escaping and keeps
the gas tumbling, ie remains in small bubbles - doesn't settle out at the top of the chamber.
Marque APD - ANGFA(NSW) <><