JPH02256900A - Bubble pump utilizing electrolytically produced bubble of electrolytic solution - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly flow-transfer solids of various sizes ranging from minute to the size almost equal to the inner diameter of a tube by applying the principle of electrolysis to an electrolytic solution to utilize the buoyancy of bubbles easily produced. CONSTITUTION:A cathode 13, a diaphragm 12 and an anode 11 are annularly disposed in an electrolytically producing bubble pump 14 connected via a flange 21 to a water lifter tube 17. When the pump is installed in an electrolytic solution such as seawater, and a dc voltage is applied between the cathode 13 and the anode 14 through a dc power source 23 connected via a cable 22, hydrogen is produced from the cathode and chlorine is produced from the anode in proportion to the amount of the current. The diaphragm 12 is provided to efficiently utilize the hydrogen bubbles. The hydrogen bubbles going up within the annular passage are pushed out through a bubble flow nozzle 16 to the water lifter tube 17 in the flow direction, get together to form larger bubbles 18, push up water column 19 between the bubbles, and lift water through an outlet port 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a water pump for aqueous electrolyte solutions. A relatively large solid group such as manganese nodules deposited on the seabed is collected by introducing a gas-liquid mixed flow from the outside of the solid flow pipe in the flow direction using bubbles generated by electrolysis. Regarding things.

Conventional technology Figure 1 shows an example of a conventional bubble pump, in which air pressurized by an air compressor (1) is pumped through an air introduction pipe (2).
The air is blown into the water tank from an air nozzle located at the bottom of a lifting pipe (4) installed in the water tank (3). The air rises in the water pump (4) under the influence of buoyancy, coalesces into large air bubbles (5), and rises. This large bubble traps a liquid column (6) between the bubbles above and below, rises, forms a piston flow, and can pump water into the upper tank (7) from the discharge port (8). Such a bubble pump has no moving parts other than the air compressor (1), and is therefore very simple and widely used.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a bubble pump, air needs to be blown out from the lower end of the pipe by a compressor;
When the water depth is large, there is a problem in that it requires pressurization of about 1 atmosphere per 10 m of water depth. For this reason, the compressor that pressurizes the water to high pressure is large and expensive, making it difficult to blow out air, especially when the water depth is large.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention solves the above problems by using bubbles generated by electrolysis of an electrolyte aqueous solution instead of the conventional bubble pump that blows pressurized air from the lower part of the pumping pipe with a compressor. The contents thereof will be explained below using FIG. 2 corresponding to the embodiment.

A cathode (13), an anode (11) separated by a gap g (12) are arranged in an annular manner in an electrolyte aqueous solution, and when a DC voltage is applied between the anode (13) and the anode (11), a current flows from the cathode (13) in proportion to the amount of current. Hydrogen bubbles are generated and float inside the annular channel (15).

From this bubble flow nozzle (16) to the pumping pipe (17)
When the air bubbles are ejected in the flow direction, the bubbles coalesce in the flow pipe to form large bubbles (18), which pushes up the liquid column (19) between the large bubbles and lifts water from the discharge port (20). . Since there is nothing inside the lift pipe (17) that obstructs solid flow, it is possible to flow large solids up to a size close to the lift pipe diameter from the suction port (9) to the discharge port (20). be.

Function: In a bubble pump configured as described above that utilizes bubbles generated by electrolysis of an electrolyte aqueous solution, the cathode (
13) Since it utilizes hydrogen bubbles generated from hydrogen, bubbles can be generated directly by simply using a DC power source, electric wires, and electrodes, without requiring large equipment such as a compressor. Furthermore, since no mechanical operation is required, there is an advantage that there is no mechanical loss. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, since there is no part in the flow pipe that obstructs the flow, it is also possible to transport solids in an electrolyte aqueous solution, such as recovering solids from the seabed.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below based on examples shown in the drawings.

In Fig. 2, an electrolytic bubble pump body (14) connected to a pumping pipe (17) via a flange (10) is provided with a cathode (13), a gap 1I (12), and a pole (11) arranged in an annular manner. There is. This pump is installed in an electrolyte aqueous solution such as seawater, and the DC type 1
(23) and apply a DC voltage between the cathode (13) and anode fi% (11), hydrogen flows from the cathode in proportion to the amount of current.
Chlorine is generated from the anode. A diaphragm (12) is provided to efficiently utilize urea bubbles among these bubbles.

Figure 4 shows hydrogen bubble generation tQg versus current amount I (A).
An example of measurement of (1/m1n) is shown. When the hydrogen bubbles floating in the annular channel are ejected from the bubble flow nozzle (16) into the lift pipe (17) in the flow direction, the bubbles coalesce inside the lift pipe (17) and form air bubbles ( 18), and the liquid column (19) between the air bubbles is pushed up and pumped out from the discharge port (20). A photographic example of the electrolytically generated bubble flow is shown in Figure 5-2.There is nothing in the pumping pipe from the suction port (9) to the discharge port (20) that obstructs solid flow, so the diameter of the pumping pipe is close to that of the internal diameter. Various types of solids can be transported.

Figure 3 shows a solid flow pipe (25) with a curved pipe section using the bubble flow created by the electrolytically generated bubble pump (14) as the driving flow.
This figure shows an example in which solids deposited on the seabed or the like are transported by ejecting them from the outside in the transport direction.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the present invention utilizes the buoyancy of air bubbles that are easily generated by applying the principle of electrolysis to an electrolyte aqueous solution. It has the effect of smoothly transporting solids of various sizes up to a size close to the pipe diameter. For reference, the water immersion rate σ and current ff1I (A
) is shown in FIG. 5.

[Brief explanation of the drawings] Figure 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a conventional bubble pump.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a new view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a measurement showing the amount of bubbles generated by the electrolytically generated bubble pump according to the present invention. For example, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of measuring the pumping efficiency of the electrolytically generated bubble pump according to the present invention. 1: Air compressor, 2: Air introduction pipe, 3: Water tank, 4:
Lifting pipe, 5: Air bubbles, 6: Liquid column, 7: Upper water tank, 8:
discharge port, 9: suction port, 10: flange, 11: annular anode, 12: annular diaphragm, 13: annular cathode, 14: electrolytically generated bubble pump body, 15: annular channel, 16: bubble flow nozzle,
17: Lifting pipe 18: Air bubble, 19: Liquid column, 20: Discharge port, 21: Flange, 22: Electric wire cable, 23: DC power supply, 24: Solid flow pipe having a curved pipe section.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Bubble pump using bubbles generated by electrolysis of electrolyte aqueous solution (2) A device that uses the bubble flow generated by the bubble pump described in item (1) above as a driving flow to eject from the outside of a solid flow pipe in the flow direction to flow solids deposited on, for example, the seabed.