Artificial Whirlpool Generator for Deep Water Oxygen Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for increasing dissolved oxygen levels in deep water bodies, such as lakes and dams, face challenges including low oxygen transfer efficiency due to short air bubble retention, limited surface contact, and high costs for large-scale applications, while conventional water circulation methods incur high installation and operation costs or low water conveyance efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An artificial-whirlpool generator with a whirlpool generating member, position-fixing means, and a swirling flow forming unit that introduces and rotates surface water to form a descending whirlpool, enhancing oxygen transfer and mixing efficiency while minimizing energy waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If air bubbles are used to increase dissolved oxygen in deep water, then oxygen transfer occurs, but retention time is very short and surface contact area is very small leading to low oxygen transfer efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses water jets instead of air bubbles to drive circulation. High-pressure water jets create strong currents that move water from surface to deep layers and back, achieving oxygen transfer through bulk water movement rather than gas-liquid interface diffusion. This hydraulic approach eliminates the limitations of short retention time and small surface contact area of air bubbles.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the pneumatic system (air bubbles) with a mechanical hydraulic system (water jets). The water jet circulation system uses kinetic energy of water to drive the circulation current, substituting the diffusion-based oxygen transfer mechanism with a flow-based mechanism that achieves better mixing and oxygen distribution.
2Quantity of substance
If air supply pipes and air diffusers are installed in lower layer of waterbody, then oxygen is supplied to lower layer, but mixing effect between water and air bubbles is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses water jets to create strong circulation currents that thoroughly mix water throughout the waterbody. The high-velocity water jets from nozzles create turbulence and eddies that enhance mixing far beyond what air bubbles can achieve, ensuring uniform oxygen distribution throughout the water column.
3Quantity of substance
If compressed air is supplied to deep waterbody, then oxygen transfer to deep region is improved, but cost of aeration becomes very costly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses water pressure and kinetic energy from water jets to drive circulation, eliminating the need for expensive compressed air systems. The water jets are driven by pumps that utilize the waterbody's own water as the driving medium, creating a more energy-efficient system compared to compressed air aeration.
4Quantity of substance
If pipe duct is installed between lower layer and upper layer to circulate water, then hypoxia state is solved, but installation cost and operation cost become very costly for large-scale waterbody
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses water jets and circulation currents created by the jets to move water between layers, eliminating the need for complex pipe duct systems and mechanical pumps. The water jets themselves generate the circulation pattern, using the water's own kinetic energy to drive the system, thereby reducing installation and operational complexity.
5Productivity
If twisted rotational blade (propeller) is installed to circulate water, then water circulation occurs, but water conveyance efficiency decreases due to increased resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses water jets to create circulation currents without the mechanical resistance of propellers or twisted blades. The jets directly impart momentum to the water, creating efficient circulation patterns with minimal energy loss to mechanical friction and turbulence associated with rotating components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The artificial-whirlpool generator effectively breaks hypoxia states in deep water layers, restoring benthic ecosystems and improving water quality by transferring oxygen-rich surface water to deeper layers, thus reducing energy consumption and installation costs.
Implementation Method 1
rotates the introduced water in one direction around an axle provided at a center portion of the whirlpool generating chamber to form a whirlpool that descends toward the whirlpool outlet
Implementation Method 2
rotates the introduced water in one direction around an axle provided at a center portion of the whirlpool generating chamber to form a whirlpool
Implementation Method 3
a position-fixing means that fixes the whirlpool forming member such that the entirety of the whirlpool generating member or a portion of the whirlpool generating member, including the whirlpool outlet, is submerged
Data Source
AI summary
An artificial-whirlpool generator includes a whirlpool generating member including at least one water inlet, a whirlpool generating chamber communicating with the water inlet, and a whirlpool outlet that is formed at a lower end portion of the whirlpool generating member and communicates with the whirlpool generating chamber; a position-fixing means that fixes the whirlpool forming member such that the entirety of the whirlpool generating member or only a portion of the whirlpool generating member, including the whirlpool outlet is submerged; and a swirling flow forming unit that forces water in a waterbody to be introduced into the whirlpool generating chamber through the water inlet and rotates the introduced water in one direction around an axle provided at a center portion of the whirlpool generating chamber to form a whirlpool that descends toward the whirlpool outlet.