Characteristics of Air-Lift Pump for Conveying Solid Particles

Abstract

This was an investigation of the characteristics of an air-lift pump system for conveying solid particles. The experiments used vertical pipes of the following dimensions: 26mm I.D.×7.86m (L) and 40mm I.D.×7.86m (L). The solid particles were spheres of uniform sizes: 6mm or 10mm diameter. The working fluids were air and water. The ranges of the variables studied were as follows: submergence ratios were 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8; volumetric flux of air was from 0.1 to 12.3m/s; volumetric flux of solid particles was from zero to 0.14 m/s; particle density was either 2540 or 3630kg/m3. The investigators used a momentum equation to correlate the discharge flow rates of the solid particles and water with the supplied air flow rate. This report presents the comparative data and calculations.