High Volume Non-Traumatic Pump

[herring_fish]

I am a designer that has come up with several products that are sold around the world and I have a few patents. Unfortunately, I don't get royalties so I'm not rich.

I have come up with a second non-traumatic pump that puts out a significant flow rate. My first design was a tower that fit outside the tank. This new one is a more reasonable size that can fit under the tank. The basic design is worked out but I have not produced any yet.

Back to the flow rate. It would be about the same as a standard impeller driven pump but the volume would be higher because it would have a 3, 4 or more inch diameter output pipe so the total flow volume would be substantial.

This moving volume of water pushes out at one end of the tank and pulls from the other. Using and old design, I can slow down and reverse the flow, then turn it back again. I believe that would be and addition to a tank that would be quite pleasing to the eye.

My simple question is, how much of a market would there be for such products. I am thinking that the number of units sold would be comparatively low so that margins would need to be high and therefore they would probably be sold only as premium products.

 

[kikoreefer]

I don't know four inch pipe is huge id need to see a picture of how the design would look

 

[dread240]

considering most people care about the aesthetics of the tank and you're talking twin 4" pipes on both sides of it now, I think the market would be smaller then you'd imagine, but I could be wrong.

Right now between tunze, vortech and now jebao, I don't think tanks have ever been in as good of a flow situation as they are now. Of course you can always improve

 

[herring_fish]

Having a large volume of water moving at once offers the opportunity for more laminar flow. The main pipe can be subdivided into several outlets if desired. Some people would prefer the smaller sized units that would have smaller openings.

The most important part is that the pump is plankton friendly.

I haven't applied for a patent so I can't explain anything about the actual design, just the rough parameters.

 

[noy]

just don't see the utility of this compared to what is already available.

 

[Reef Frog]

Does it have to be that large? Aesthetics and usage of space will make or break the idea IMO. Maybe if integrated into the back chamber of an AIO (all and one) tank design would work, but that too is a smaller subset of the market. It probably would need its own controller, at least as a option. If it has low power consumption, maybe an integrated auto back up system that detects a power outage would be an option some would probably see value in that feature.

 

[herring_fish]

You Might Be Right

You Might Be Right

I guess that I have gotten off on the wrong foot here. This pump can be used just like any other pump with similar size constraints. Like many others, it would have a magnetically isolated motor drive so it wouldn't add heat to the water column. It can use a controller like many other pumps. It simply allows plankton and even small fish to pass through it without damage. It could be scaled up or down almost as much as you want. Perhaps there just isn't much demand for plankton safe pumps, aside from the low volume versions that are air driven.

OK "¦.The reason that I talked about the higher end of the flow volume is because I have a 6 foot NPS mixed tank and I wanted to more closely replicate my personal impression of water flow on the open reef.

I picture a tank full of gorgs, LPS and other corals swaying in unison as the water motion of the entire tank moves briskly to the right with laminar flow. Perhaps this flow would be punctuated by a splash of water, simulating a crashing wave. This motion would gradually slow down until it comes to a complete stop. Then the flow gradually reverses until it is moving briskly in the other direction. All this happens in a cyclical fashion.

As I imagine it, the amplitude would be right direction dominate for part of the day as the tide is coming in. As the day went on, the motion would gradually decrease in amplitude from both directions and then the amplitude would gradually build to be left direction dominate and brisk as the tide goes out. These two cycles could be compressed to fit primarily into my shorter viewing evening.

Now of course this is a fantasy and it would require very high water volumes. Turning propellers on and off would not get the job done. Standard pumps normally don't produce laminar flow and I think that many corals could feed better with the type of motion that is found in the open ocean.

Now, I don't have expectations that my pumping system could fully replicate this fantasy. That would require almost an 18 by 24 inch cross-section of water to be accelerated to several feet per second. From what I read, I might need several yards per second. It's just a matter of how much I want to pay for electricity.

Never the less, the more volume that I can generate the better. 4 inches is a pretty good jet of laminar flow. I have looked up some other patents that reduce the turbulence that occurs when water first comes out of the nozzle. By pulling and pushing at the same time I might get a much smaller band of water flow over the face of the rock where the corals are. Another designer found that redirecting the water using something like an external water switch works better than trying to move the water back and forth inside the tank.

With the advent of the 3-D printer, one can produce very customized systems with little investment, as long as you have good design tools and mechanical knowledge. We are using them at work a lot for prototyping.

"¦but again, this non-traumatic pump could be used much like a standard pump.

 

[BFG]

just don't see the utility of this compared to what is already available.

I have to agree. Wavemakers are currently doing this function. But, it is best if a prototype is created 1st for any comment to be justified. Who knows, you might create a niche product within a niche usage/hobby.

 

[clay12340]

I think if you prototype one and can show an improvement due to lack of plankton damage that you'd have a market for them.

Short of that I think it'd be tough. Take that Dyson bladeless fan idea and make a pipe fitting that is a pump with no moving parts and it'd be pretty neat. However, if it comes at a premium unless you can show a real benefit or have a good marketing department I think it's going to be a somewhat tough sell. I'm sure people who are trying to raise animals with a plankton life stage would love them, but I don't know that the general reef keeper would see much benefit.

The wave idea is interesting, but it seems like the limiting factor right now isn't the inability to make the waves. It just seems like a real pain to deal with the variable water level of anything more than a tiny wave with other tank systems.

 

[herring_fish]

Since this is my own thread, I guess I can hijack it to talk more about the cosmetic aspects of tank water flow. When you are talking about making laminar flow, the Dyson bladeless fan uses a smooth stream of air, coming out of the ring at just the right angle, to push more air, there by getting a lot more total movement than the air "œpump" produces by its self. Of course the pushing stream is powered by blades inside the base. You just don't get to see them.

I built something like that a few years ago. I generated a ring of jetting water to wash off another product on a production line. Unfortunately, it was a miserable failure but I did learn some things from it.

There are some other schemes that I like better. It might look more like a fan jet with no blades. I'm talking about the cowling in the front half of the engine. The fast moving flow that is coming out of the nozzle has a ring around it that directs and controls the water in a way that mixes the two streams so that they don't burble when they slide in with the rest of the water around it. The result (much like the Dyson but simpler) is a laminar multiple of the original water flow.

As for the waves, I have had a dump bucket for years. It makes a nice splash that is adjustable in power but it doesn't create hardly any wave movement in the tank, other than right at the surface.

You are right moving water around can cause problems with the surface washing over the edge. That is why I believe that you have to pull water out as fast as you push it in if you want wave action. All pumps have an inlet as well as an outlet but most people don't use the inlet to their best advantage because the volume of water is too low to affect the whole tank volume. Instead most people, including myself, use localized streams to get what they want, despite the burbling that builds outside of that slim stream. Then the water flow meanders back to the inlet without much to show for all of the work that being done.

 

[muttley000]

To your original question, it seems to me there would be a market with large tank owners that are still doing closed loops. I like the plankton friendly aspect myself.