A
Anonymous
Guest
I don't have bubbles exiting my reactor. I assume that all has been dissolved.
I installed this idea a couple months ago in my Geo reactor to 1) Reduce the C02 gas leaving the rxr, and 2) maximize C02 usage efficiency. It has worked well, cutting my gas usage by 1/2, and helping to prevent "vapor lock" from clogging the effluent line. In my case, I drip 200ml/min eff, but the bubbles are only at 30bpm, and rxr pH is still 6.6 (A.R.M.)! If you want a relatively simply DIY, and you have a "top down" recirculating reactor (like the Geo), then this is for you!
In a nutshell, a second, small recirculation loop is created that allows the gas accumulating at the top of the chamber (normally escapes out the effluent line) to get pulled back into the C02 inlet (in front of the circ pump) and get chopped up again by the pump.
Even though the entire reactor is pressurized from the feed line, the pressure at the top of the chamber is still greater than on the intake side of the pump (chamber bottom).
This first pic shows the mods to the rest of the reactor.
Another tap is added on the other side of the pump inlet; the 1/8" id tubing fitting that goes here should only be screwed in (or cut) so it is flush with the cover. Both the pump return and the effluent line must protrude below the cover about 3/16-1/4" to make sure the gas goes up the second circ loop. For the existing effluent fitting, I just threaded it ALL the way in. For the pump return, I actually glued a 1/4" piece of PVC pipe over the outlet in order to keep the flow from throughing bubbles around.
This pic show's what has to be added to the lid of the rxr.
(1) is a pinch valve, as I wanted to play with the flow in this second loop. It can be left wide open. (2) is the airline tubing that takes the water down to (3) a "Tee" (located below the check valve) which allows the air/water to re-enter the gas line, getting chopped up and forced back into the loop.
Another benefit is that all of the gas coming through the bubble counter is "premixed" with the water in the secondary circulation loop, such that it goes into the pump as small bubbles, then gets chopped even finer. This makes for a constant small gas stream, instead of little "bursts" of C02 getting chopped up.
I hope someone gives this a try, it was 110% worth the time and effort. Lemme know what you think!
In a nutshell, a second, small recirculation loop is created that allows the gas accumulating at the top of the chamber (normally escapes out the effluent line) to get pulled back into the C02 inlet (in front of the circ pump) and get chopped up again by the pump.
Even though the entire reactor is pressurized from the feed line, the pressure at the top of the chamber is still greater than on the intake side of the pump (chamber bottom).
This first pic shows the mods to the rest of the reactor.
Another tap is added on the other side of the pump inlet; the 1/8" id tubing fitting that goes here should only be screwed in (or cut) so it is flush with the cover. Both the pump return and the effluent line must protrude below the cover about 3/16-1/4" to make sure the gas goes up the second circ loop. For the existing effluent fitting, I just threaded it ALL the way in. For the pump return, I actually glued a 1/4" piece of PVC pipe over the outlet in order to keep the flow from throughing bubbles around.
This pic show's what has to be added to the lid of the rxr.
(1) is a pinch valve, as I wanted to play with the flow in this second loop. It can be left wide open. (2) is the airline tubing that takes the water down to (3) a "Tee" (located below the check valve) which allows the air/water to re-enter the gas line, getting chopped up and forced back into the loop.
Another benefit is that all of the gas coming through the bubble counter is "premixed" with the water in the secondary circulation loop, such that it goes into the pump as small bubbles, then gets chopped even finer. This makes for a constant small gas stream, instead of little "bursts" of C02 getting chopped up.
I hope someone gives this a try, it was 110% worth the time and effort. Lemme know what you think!
I am about to do something that is similar to this with my DIY Ca reactor. I add a second chamber (I call CO2 recovering chamber) with a small pump circulation for this chamber in addition to my main chamber. I wanted to use an additional pump because I want to make sure the water is saturated with CO2 and have the highest Ca and CO3- in solution. The output (to tank) is taken form lower third of the chamber while there is a CO2 outlet on top of the chamber. This CO2 outlet leads to the intake arm of the main Ca reactor pump. I am thinking that I may have to add a flow restrictor device in this line to prevent too fast CO2 from disrupts the feed of the pump. This is easily added if need.
I have a large tank with very high Ca demand so I wanted to have the most efficient Ca reactor with the output saturated with Ca at the lowest pH possible. This way, I can control the amount of Ca input to the tank by alter the Ca reactor output rate only. If there is gas buildup in the second chamber then I just decrease the CO2 input. I wanted a much larger volume available for CO2 recovery because I wanted to have more time in adjusting the CO2 input amount.
I think you can lower the level of the drip output by an inches or so, then you can have more room for CO2 collection and preventing waste of CO2 while keep the Ca reactor most efficient and get the most Ca out of your Ca reactor.
I will update once I have my Ca reactor up and running.
I have a large tank with very high Ca demand so I wanted to have the most efficient Ca reactor with the output saturated with Ca at the lowest pH possible. This way, I can control the amount of Ca input to the tank by alter the Ca reactor output rate only. If there is gas buildup in the second chamber then I just decrease the CO2 input. I wanted a much larger volume available for CO2 recovery because I wanted to have more time in adjusting the CO2 input amount.
I think you can lower the level of the drip output by an inches or so, then you can have more room for CO2 collection and preventing waste of CO2 while keep the Ca reactor most efficient and get the most Ca out of your Ca reactor.
I will update once I have my Ca reactor up and running.
....I'm kinda new to the Ca Rxr realm, and have a My Reef single chamber. I have another chamber that was a denitrator that i purchased quite awhile ago...I was thinking about adding this as a second chamber which would be straight flow-through with no additional pumps or CO2 input...it would be connected to the effluent line from the My Reef Reactor, and my thought behind it was to be sure any residual CO2 would react with the media in the second chamber before entering the tank.....and i would assume this second chamber would end up raising the effluent pH as well......
...I'm not sure the second chamber would provide much "benefit", but would it be a bad idea to do this?
...I'm not sure the second chamber would provide much "benefit", but would it be a bad idea to do this?
Playfair-
That's an awesome mod! I have wasted CO2 exiting my K2R reactor. I would like to do a mod like yours to my reactor. From my understanding I would need to drill a hole into the lid, tap the hole and then feed a line to the CO2 input line??
Where can I find the necessary equipment to do this DIY? I would need the tap equipment, the heavy duty hose, the t fitting, the screw in 90 deg part ( I dont know what this is called) and I'm sure a list of other things!
Thanks for any help.
That's an awesome mod! I have wasted CO2 exiting my K2R reactor. I would like to do a mod like yours to my reactor. From my understanding I would need to drill a hole into the lid, tap the hole and then feed a line to the CO2 input line??
Where can I find the necessary equipment to do this DIY? I would need the tap equipment, the heavy duty hose, the t fitting, the screw in 90 deg part ( I dont know what this is called) and I'm sure a list of other things!
Thanks for any help.
IMO, the second chamber would not add much unless you are at or near the max of your Ca reactor output. If you have some circulation in the second chamber and if the effluent line is hook-up such that it retain excess CO2 in this chamber, then you can get more CO2 and CaCO3 to disolve in this chamber thus ensure max concentration of Ca++ and CO3-- in your reactor effluent line.
Some people feel that the second chamber raise the pH of the pH of the effluent of the Ca reactor. IMO, this is wrong. I just use the second chamber as more reactor volume and as a place to make sure that the effluent have the lowest pH possible without testing thus getting max Ca output from my reactor.
Some people feel that the second chamber raise the pH of the pH of the effluent of the Ca reactor. IMO, this is wrong. I just use the second chamber as more reactor volume and as a place to make sure that the effluent have the lowest pH possible without testing thus getting max Ca output from my reactor.
I have my Ca reactor up and running. It work like a charm and increases my Ca in my 400 g tank to 450 over 4 days (from about 300).
I put in the CO2 recovering essentially the same as playfair. As I though, I have to put in a ball valve to limitted the amount of CO2 return to the pump so I don't feed CO2 to it too fast. Now my out put line have no CO2 bubble. The rate of CO2 input is much slower for the Ca output (as compair to my last Ca reactor that did not have the CO2 recovering loop.
I put in the CO2 recovering essentially the same as playfair. As I though, I have to put in a ball valve to limitted the amount of CO2 return to the pump so I don't feed CO2 to it too fast. Now my out put line have no CO2 bubble. The rate of CO2 input is much slower for the Ca output (as compair to my last Ca reactor that did not have the CO2 recovering loop.
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