CHSUB
"Certified Hobby Expert"
It is very simple: if your daily nitrate production is 0.5ppm each day and the nitrate level to maintain is 1ppm, the total system volume has to pass the reactor every 2 days, otherwise the reactor will not be able to remove 0.5ppm daily. If the nitrate level to maintain is 0.5ppm the total system volume has to pass the reactor daily! How the reactor will remove the quantity of nitrate when it is not entered? How can a sulfurreactor maintain a low nitrate level when there is not enough water containing nitrate entered to remove the production?; In 20 day's? Than one has a very low daily nitrate production. To maintain 1ppm with a flow of the total volume/ 20 days the maximum nitrate production daily can be only 0.05ppm/day which means that after 100 days your level will build up to 6 ppm when no denitrator is used. Why using a denitrator? If you want to maintain 0.5ppm the daily production can be only 0.025ppm on a 20 day basis. One does not need a sulpur-denitrator for nutriënt poor systems!! But it will reduce nitrate.
Using 1% reactor flow will be +- 4.2l/h/ liter sulfur to pass the total volume daily. A flow between 2l/h/ liter S and 5l/h/lS is normal flow when operating a correct sized sulfurdenitrator for a natural reefaquarium system.
Why do you process less water when the level increases? The level increases because the daily production is not removed. Maybe there is not enough space to increase the flow. Is this a 1% reactor?
I can understand your methodology and calculation, and it seems ideal in an abstract sense. Nitrate X is created daily, and the sulfur reactor removes that daily nitrate production X by having the system's total volume pass through the filter daily. However, ime, it is impossible; the reactor would need be many times larger than 1%, maybe 15%.
I have a large reactor, controlled with an ORP controller and a dosing pump. When the ORP inside the reactor gets to -200 the dosing pump turns on, I processes about 15 gallons of water per day. The dosing pump turns on and off several times in a 24 hour period depending on ORP levels. Currently, daily nitrate production exceeds total denitrating capacity; over time nitrates rise and less water is processed through the reactor. High nitrate input slows the reactor. This only makes sense, as higher no3 needs more dwell time to reduce no3. I will agree that lower no3 input allows more DT water to be processed, but because the dwell time is reduced; not for the simple reason of the "œarmy" needing more no3 to stay alive. I would like to see ORP readings in your reactors and no3 input and effluent levels. I can't image water passing through the reactor, as quickly as you claim, and it reducing the no3 to zero; regardless how low the input no3 level is.
sulfur reactor....~.75% or +2 gallons of sulfur
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ORP controller....note the negitive value -218
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