Abstract
This paper presents experimental studies on the optimization of air–water flow in an airlift pump. Airlift pumps use compressed gas to verticall transport liquids and slurries. Due to the lack of theoretical equations for designing and predicting flow regimes, experimental investigations must be carried out to find the best condition to operate an airlift pump at high efficiency. We used a new air injection system and different submergence ratios to evaluate the output of a simple pump for vertical displacement of water in an underground mine. The tests were carried out in a new device with 5.64 m height and 10.2 cm circular riser pipe. Three air-jacket pipes, at different gas flows in the range of 0.002–0.09 m3/s were investigated with eight submergence ratios. It was found that with the same air flow rate, the most efficient flow of water was achieved when an air jacket with 3 mm diameter holes was used with a submergence ratio between 0.6 and 0.75. In addition, a comparison of practical results with two theoretical models proposed by other investigators showed that neither was able to accurately predict airlift performance in air–water flow mode.
Highlights
An airlift pump is a device for transporting slurries and liquids using compressed gas injection
2015; Khalil et al 1999; Neto et al 2008; Parker 1980). In this experiment, compressed air was blown parallel to the outer wall of the air jacket and did not hit it directly. This method avoids reducing the initial energy of the compressed air, allows the use all of the holes embedded in the air jacket, and creates an even entry of air into the riser pipe
Parker’s result cannot be generalized to all devices since Parker considered only one submergence ratio (α = 0.55). It can be inferred from Fig. 3(1, 2), under certain conditions of air flow and submergence ratio, that air jacket P 1, with smaller and more drilled holes, had a greater effect on the pumping efficiency compared to the other mixers, as long as the compressed air was injected parallel into the manifold
Summary
An airlift pump is a device for transporting slurries and liquids using compressed gas injection. Air–water flow experiments were performed to study the efficient operation of airlift pumping by air injection with eight submergence ratios (the ratio between the immersed length of the riser and its total length) at different air flow rates. The performance of the pump depends on the flow rate and pressure of the incoming air, the submergence ratio, and the friction of the fluid with the pipe wall.
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