Airlift pump Calculator

The airlift pump is a pump that can pump water. It can be divided in several parts a schematic overview can be found lower on this page. There is a riser pipe in which the water travels upwards, an air pipe to deliver air close to the bottom of the riser pipe and a compressor to supply the pressurized air. The working principle is that the air delivers an upwards force in the riser pipe. The upwards flowing water can then be collected at the top for further use. To make the airlift pump work a section of the riser pipe must be below the groundwater level. That is needed so that the flow can develop in a water lifting system.

Parameters

Groundwater depth: meter.
Required water volume liters per hour.

Total well depth: meter.

Diameter of the well: milimeters.

Required air volume by the compressor: liters per hour.

Pressure required by the compressor: bar.

Example compressor

The required air volume depends on the amount of water you want. But for a compressor there are more parameters to consider. Such as the Load cycle of the compressor as well as the pressure that is needed. The pressure that is needed depends on the groundwater depth. Thus, if you need only 3 bar of pressure you have a rate of 63 liters per minute with this example pump. Because it delivers 27 liters per minute at 7 bar.

Solar panels

To power the compressor a setup of solar panels is envisioned. When we look to the 12 Volt compressor, it requires 140 Watt to run on full power. Since that is not the case and because the compressor can not run continuously, there is a lower power consumption. When choosing a solar panel setup, it is also important to note that there are only 5 to 6 peak sun hours on average. Furthermore, one need to consider cloudy days. Considering all this there is an example. This 300-Watt solar panel which delivers energy at 12 Volts can be a workable solution to provide the power needed.

Air injection system

To further improve the efficiency the method of injection can be changed. One can change the injection regime for example. Instead of a single injection point one can choose for a dual injection system. Which works better than an axial or radial injection regime.
A more impactful change is to use a pulsating air input. When a 1 Hertz pulse is used the efficiency can improve by more than 50% for an axial injection system. To be able to deliver this pulse a more expensive system is needed. For more information one can read the research of W.H Ahmed et al.