air delivery method

[mrjuice]

Just a thought I had, wonder if anyone has ever come across anyone else trying this

Instead of having an air pump running constantly 24/7, has anyone tried using an air compressor into a storage tank, say kept 100 PSI and then have a regulator bleed off air at 3-5 PSI, the air compressor would kick back on when pressure drops to X PSI. This way it only runs intermittently, short term power outages would not matter.

Yes i know an air compressor consumes more power but I havent tried doing any numbers yet. For small systems this probably isnt suited, more for larger systems. Was wanting to hear some thoughts to see if its worth considering.

[keith_r]

air blowers are used in larger systems, in small systems, a regular air pump is just much more efficient at a fraction of the wattage/horsepower of a compressor

[GaryD]

Hi mrjuice,

The only way that your compressor thing would work out financially was if the compressor had to charge the air line for some other (more pressing) purpose.......and that the aeration of the aquaponics system was an extension of that.

Air pumps are inexpensive and use relatively little power when compared to water pumps. My suggestion is that you go with air pumps.

Gary

[cedarswamp]

Just a thought I had, wonder if anyone has ever come across anyone else trying this

Instead of having an air pump running constantly 24/7, has anyone tried using an air compressor into a storage tank, say kept 100 PSI and then have a regulator bleed off air at 3-5 PSI, the air compressor would kick back on when pressure drops to X PSI. This way it only runs intermittently, short term power outages would not matter.

Yes i know an air compressor consumes more power but I havent tried doing any numbers yet. For small systems this probably isnt suited, more for larger systems. Was wanting to hear some thoughts to see if its worth considering.

If you're refering to a regular air compressor, be aware that the air will contain oil vapor.

[Ravnis]

Thought of it and started doing the math and it became apparent it was not a cost benefit although the power outage might be beneficial. Air compressor are typically only 10 % efficient. which means 90% of the energy was wasted. Not to mention the extreme noise during tank pressuring cycles.

I don't remember who, but a forum member did just that. Used a soaker hose attached and weighted at the bottom of the tank to aerate. He used an oiless compressor if I remember correctly.

An small air pump or pumps will use much less electricity and a car battery or such could power them with an inverter if needed.

[timo]

I understood that while utilizing a UVI model, 80% of power consumption came from aeration. My initial thought was inefficient use of the pump. wouldn't you be able to almost, if not completely, eliminate the need for additional aeration if you utilized spray bars, venturies, and waterfalls in the system? None of these would require additional power consumption and they could add massive amounts of aeration.

[GaryD]

Hi Timo,

Not all of that aeration happens on the fish production side of things......much of it occurs in the raft troughs where waterfalls and similar devices are not practical.

Gary