OceanRevive Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) Here is my new calcium reactor, it is quit different as the traditional design. i just had some time to set it up and tested it out. And got tons of question, as I never had a calcium reactor before. forgive me not having enough time to write all detail up. Here is short description and my questions The patent is submitted and it is quite simple. The CO2 and tank water with controlled speed, mixed in a long and small chamber to have acidic water, then this water will flow or diffuse to 1st chamber which is the main reaction chamber. The effluent will overflow to the 2nd chamber as the inlet water is added into the first chamber. The second chamber is used as the traditional 2nd chamber to consume more CO2 and improve the potency of the effluent. After the 2nd chamber, it overflows out to the sump water. The pros: 1. No unstable pressure in the first chamber, that means the regulator doesn't have to adjust the diaphragm to compensate the downstream pressure oscillation. In another word, this design doesn't need a super expensive regulator to have a stable CO2 inlet. The 1st chamber is open to the air, no back pressure for the regulator. 2. small foot print, as every thing is inside the "box", no pumps, hoses, tubes going outside. 3. No clog issue, as it is overflow the water out, your inlet is your outlet exactly. 4. No noise issue as the CO2 will not trapped inside of the reactor. 5. easy to clean the reactor, just rinse the media in the tap water if too much debris accumulated The cons:1. waste some CO2, how much? i don't know yet. 2. the output needs to be elevated above the sump water level. Question: 1. Is Pro#1 true? I read that from RC but couldn't find the reference. If you can give me a confirmation, that will be cool or different opinion. 2. Talking about the bubble rate, how big the bubble is? Is there a standard? 3. from first week testing, is this data normal? or efficient enough? test 1: 1 bubble/sec, output 1 drip/sec, 6.35ph in first chamber=300dkh test 2: 2 bubble/sec, output 5ml/min, 6.6ph in first chamber=54.8dkh. 4. for test 2 result, how big the tank it can support? the reactor is 8" cube size. I put about 6lbs media in total for 1st and 2nd chamber Edited August 31, 2015 by OceanRevive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanRevive Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Mod, I posted it in the wrong board, please move it to General discussion sorry about that. No the patent is not for sale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 No worries, moved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanRevive Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 No one interested? or I didn't present it well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I read it on the iPhone, hard to process on the small screen. It is interesting for sure! If this solves the regulator issue that would be huge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanRevive Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 need your opinion.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I will take a crack at answering questions, not because I am an expert on CR but just to bump the discussion. Question: 1. Is Pro#1 true? I read that from RC but couldn't find the reference. If you can give me a confirmation, that will be cool or different opinion. I truly believe that a dual stage regulator makes a huge difference in CR stability. At least my current dual stage is light years ahead of my other regulator. 2. Talking about the bubble rate, how big the bubble is? Is there a standard? There are different sized bubbles in different bubble counters. As you are guessing, one cannot really compare from one to another accurately but they get you in the ballpark. More importantly they allow a person to measure change relative to their own system. For example I had one bubble counter that required so much pressure it affected the pressure in my 1 stage regulator (up and down as bubbles released). The new bubble counter has much smaller bubbles but they require almost no pressure at all. 3. from first week testing, is this data normal? or efficient enough? test 1: 1 bubble/sec, output 1 drip/sec, 6.35ph in first chamber=300dkh test 2: 2 bubble/sec, output 5ml/min, 6.6ph in first chamber=54.8dkh. There is a great site for doing calcium reactor calculations and converting from two part equivalent and back. It accounts for flow and effluent DKH http://reef.diesyst.com/reactor/reactor.html 4. for test 2 result, how big the tank it can support? the reactor is 8" cube size. I put about 6lbs media in total for 1st and 2nd chamber 300 DKH seems very high but at one drip per second it is hard to say. That calculator will help answer the question though. I was running my effluent at around 180 mls per minute strictly to prevent clogging of the effluent line. Ultimately the combination of DKH effluent and flow rate I suppose along with stocking will tell a person how big of a tank a CR will support as that literally measures the amount of calc/alk going into the system (rate and concentration) Both effluent and feed lines can be subject to clogging. It looks like to me your design the effluent line being an overflow should never clog, huge plus! Hope that helps, very intrigued! PS: Have any pics or videos of it in action? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.