DIY Sulfur Denitrator

[tmz]

Hi Walter, Enjoyed meeting you at the frag swap. Nice attendance, plenty of nice frags and good conversation and free pizza. Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Gfo saturated with phosphate will equilibriate to a degree with the water around it. So if the water is lower in phosphate than the gfo is,the gfo will put some back as I understand it.I personally would not use exhausted gfo for this reason alone. .

I don't know wether or not the gfo's reaction with hydrogen sulfide would be altered or diminished if the gfo was laden with phosphate. Coating the surfaces with phosphate as would occur with used gfo seems like it would.

I used a small amount on the reactor effluent. and discarded it after the hydrogen sulfide event. Don't know if I had too though.
. Speculatively, I think it probably could have been used longer. Maybe Corry can chime in with some precision on the chemistry.

 

[Corry]

I would go with with "fresh" gfo in any case as even if there is the remotest chance of H2S production I would rather remover it before it goes into the rest of the system. We spend to much time (and money) to chance it for it all to go wrong to save a few bucks.

The chem is slightly more involved and complicated (meaning I haven't a clue, hehehe), jokes, but it is an adsorption process so could well release PO4 (or worse) back into the system as the ferric oxide is "used up" by the H2S

 

[The_Browns]

I converted 2 phosban reactors into a denitrator. I am feeding the reactors with a MaxiJet 1200.

After 7 days 2 drops per second my Effluent is 0 ppm and tank is 20 ppm. I have increased to 4 drops per second and will test again in 7 days

 

[Corry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14722500#post14722500 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The_Browns
I converted 2 phosban reactors into a denitrator. I am feeding the reactors with a MaxiJet 1200.

After 7 days 2 drops per second my Effluent is 0 ppm and tank is 20 ppm. I have increased to 4 drops per second and will test again in 7 days

Hi, do you use a recirculation method or only direct flow? Please could you e-mail me pics to sasolmargate1@telkomsa.net

Living in the 3rd world means all the goodies I need to get is proving nigh on impossible. So have to start looking at alternatives and/or modifications.

Thanks

 

[The_Browns]

Here are some pictures:

 

[Corry]

Hi Mike and Jen,

Fk me that was quick. Looks real simple too.

regards,
Corry

 

[The_Browns]

After one week here are my water test. you can see 0 ppm from the effluent.

 

[erics3000]

that looks like a cool idea..I have a spare reactor but not sure if 2 of them would be able to help 500-600 gallons of total volume??

 

[tmz]

For me at 550 gallons. 3 litres of sulfur and an effluent flow rate of 3 liters per hour dealt with 60/80ppm nitrate to 0 nitrate in about 7 weeks . I used the DIY reactor which is somewaht pressurized and recirculating. Not sure you could get that level of flow with th4e phosban ractors. Maybe,

 

[Steve 926]

The Phos Ban reactor will hold 1 Ltr of sulpher media ( Midwest)
that should get you in the 100 gal. range without a problem. A larger system will require more media & a larger container to hold it.

<a href="http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x152/Steve0926/?action=view&current=DjJr2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x152/Steve0926/DjJr2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

info on this build starts @ http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1288082&perpage=25&pagenumber=25

 

[erics3000]

thanks guys for the info

 

[tmz]

You're welcome.

 

[P_Productions]

How fast do sulfur nitrate reactors eat up your alk?

 

[tmz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14763265#post14763265 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by P_Productions
How fast do sulfur nitrate reactors eat up your alk?

Fast enough to require monitoring and some level of supplementation. I had to dose baking soda several times over the course of a month as mine dropped 1 or 2 dkh. This occurred even though I run a calcium reactor and dose kalkwasser 24/7. How much alk depletion will depend on how much nitrate is being removed and how quickly.

 

[NCNBilly]

I'm actually looking for a small drop in Alk, my system (now that all the cyano, diatom, and most nuisance algae is gone) is up around 10. I have my Ca reactor just barely dripping.

It's amazing now that the NO3 is gone that my pH is normal. I used to dump TONS of alk in the system and could barely keep it at 6-7dkh.

 

[Mr Bojangles]

well I finally got mine up and running. I let it run wide open for 24 hours, then for a drip per second and now my effluent is 0 and I bumped it up to 2 drips per second

The calcium media is on the left

reactor is on left and main tank is on right

 

[launchnukes]

great thread guys. i finally got my denitrator up and running and nitrates are now at 0. I have a little more than 2/3rds sulfur media and a little less than 1/3rd calcium media all in one tube. how often do i have to change the calcium media? and the sulfur?

thanks.

 

[tmz]

It will vary depending on the system. Generally aragonite(calcium carbonate) will last about 6 months. Sulfur about 2 years.

 

[mjpinsky]

ran into a snafu

ran into a snafu

OK guys (and gals)
My denitrator (remember Big Brown?) was running fine from Nov till about a week ago.
Then.... the effluent started slowing down. So... I opened up my output valve, then some more etc till it was wide open. Now my drips are down to 1 per 5 sec. I tried shaking the thing up, figuring it might help. It didn't. Any suggestions before I open the thing up? Has anyone else have this happen to them?
I await your wisdom.................... marc

 

[Steve 926]

remove the valve along with the output line & see if it's just clogged. some of the media fines may have caused a blockage.

You may have to open it & rinse it out with some ro/di water.
Do not use tap water, it will kill off the bacteria on the media & the reactor will take longer re cycle.
I believe that shaking will not help it either, & may worsen it.

Some users of the LSM media have had a problem with media fine's clogging the lines. rinsing it longer would help.

I use a small foam filter on the intake line of the reactor. when I cleaned my reactor after a 9 month run, there was very little accumulation of anything in it. 4 ~ 5 days latter it was up & running again.

I don't strive for 0 No3 in the display, < 5 ppm. is just fine with me & my corals are all thriving.

Good Luck

Steve


:smokin: