Monster DIY Kalk reactor design

karimwassef · 10/19/2017, 12:44 PM

My kalk reactor is great. It's been running for years and cost me less than $30

photo 01F863F8-C0E5-4F73-9B45-EE30F1BFEF56_zps980hwgvl.jpg

Current tank volume is ~ 600gals & the reactor is 6" diameter x 24" tall. I refill once every 2 months with about 3 full cups of dry powder.

My future system will be between 3000gals and 6000gals, so I need to upgrade or I'll be refilling every 5 days.

Does it make more sense to go tall or to go wide? Probably both but I'm looking for design controls that would optimize the mixing.

Looking at extremes... if I go shallow but wide, the capacity of the reactor would grow and the mixing volume would also grow (big base) without much of a penalty on the mixer, but newly injected water wouldn't travel any further through the mix to get out at the top.

If I go skinny and tall, the mud can get very thickly compressed making it hard for the stirring motor to run. It would also need to run a lot more to keep everything suspended. Newly injected water would have to travel through a much longer mix section getting more kalk as it goes.

Without much effort, I can just scale both... but since I have a moment to think about it, I thought I'd share my ideas and solicit yours.

Thanks

der_wille_zur_macht · 10/19/2017, 01:37 PM

I can't tell from the photo, but do you plan on having a stirrer or mixing pump? I think you need to just optimize to however it is getting mixed. I don't think a common magnetic stirrer is going to do well after a certain size (diameter or height). Might need a pump or manual stirring.

karimwassef · 10/19/2017, 04:43 PM

mixing MOTOR. It's above the mix and there's a shaft that connects to an eggcrate stirrer.

karimwassef · 10/19/2017, 04:44 PM

karimwassef · 10/19/2017, 04:45 PM

Vinny Kreyling · 10/20/2017, 09:09 AM

Water will only hold so much Kalk.
This can be increased with vinegar by about 50%.
The rest will precipitate out so contact time should not matter that much since it is dosed slowly and constantly being stirred.
I would go larger in diameter. IMHO

karimwassef · 10/20/2017, 09:46 AM

Yes. The point of the reactor is to pass fresh water through a mixing kalk mud. I'm not depending on the water in the reactor supporting all the kalk powder I added. It's about 3 gallons of fluid and has nearly 0.75 gallon of dry kalk powder. It's constantly infusing the fresh water with kalk. The holding volume is just to allow the mud to separate from the clear effluent.

10/19/2017, 12:44 PM	#1
karimwassef Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 11,033	Monster DIY Kalk reactor design My kalk reactor is great. It's been running for years and cost me less than $30 Current tank volume is ~ 600gals & the reactor is 6" diameter x 24" tall. I refill once every 2 months with about 3 full cups of dry powder. My future system will be between 3000gals and 6000gals, so I need to upgrade or I'll be refilling every 5 days. Does it make more sense to go tall or to go wide? Probably both but I'm looking for design controls that would optimize the mixing. Looking at extremes... if I go shallow but wide, the capacity of the reactor would grow and the mixing volume would also grow (big base) without much of a penalty on the mixer, but newly injected water wouldn't travel any further through the mix to get out at the top. If I go skinny and tall, the mud can get very thickly compressed making it hard for the stirring motor to run. It would also need to run a lot more to keep everything suspended. Newly injected water would have to travel through a much longer mix section getting more kalk as it goes. Without much effort, I can just scale both... but since I have a moment to think about it, I thought I'd share my ideas and solicit yours. Thanks __________________ Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape

10/19/2017, 01:37 PM	#2
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	I can't tell from the photo, but do you plan on having a stirrer or mixing pump? I think you need to just optimize to however it is getting mixed. I don't think a common magnetic stirrer is going to do well after a certain size (diameter or height). Might need a pump or manual stirring. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

10/19/2017, 04:43 PM	#3
karimwassef Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 11,033	mixing MOTOR. It's above the mix and there's a shaft that connects to an eggcrate stirrer. __________________ Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape

10/19/2017, 04:44 PM	#4
karimwassef Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 11,033	__________________ Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape

10/19/2017, 04:45 PM	#5
karimwassef Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 11,033	__________________ Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape

10/20/2017, 09:09 AM	#6
Vinny Kreyling Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 7,206	Water will only hold so much Kalk. This can be increased with vinegar by about 50%. The rest will precipitate out so contact time should not matter that much since it is dosed slowly and constantly being stirred. I would go larger in diameter. IMHO __________________ 250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps.

10/20/2017, 09:46 AM	#7
karimwassef Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 11,033	Yes. The point of the reactor is to pass fresh water through a mixing kalk mud. I'm not depending on the water in the reactor supporting all the kalk powder I added. It's about 3 gallons of fluid and has nearly 0.75 gallon of dry kalk powder. It's constantly infusing the fresh water with kalk. The holding volume is just to allow the mud to separate from the clear effluent. __________________ Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape