Why cant we build a Kalk reactor that doesnt need a stirring mechanism?

[stugray]

Couldnt we build a kalk reactor just like a fluidized bed reactor?

If the top-off water input came in underneath the kalk, wouldnt it get saturated by flowing through the kalk?

It seems that if the flow was slow enough ( top off is slow in my system ) then it wouldnt kick up a bunch of dust as the water flows.

Just a thought.

Stu

[dattack]

Well some people don't really even stir it. They run a line through a close container and get enough saturation of kalk in the chamber.

[petedoc]

Yes we can. I used an RO/DI filter container and it works great.

[MattG]

What you are suggesting is the way the tunze calcium dispenser works. I am running one on my cube because of its super compact size. I think pump/stirbar reactors work much better but in my case the compact size of the tunze won over.

The problem with the tunze type is that you are severely limited in the amount of kalk you can put in. The topoff water doesn't flow through the kalk and break up the outer kalk if a large amount of kalk is used.

[hahnmeister]

I have seen something out of Japan like this....
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/PassiveKalkReactor-Mixer.jpg

It works by using the ATO 'surge' to actually mix the water in the bottom of the cylinder, but then it opens up at the top so the outgoing water doesnt get powder in it. Ive been trying one, works rather well, but you need to size the unit exactly to the throughput rate and top-off time or it can cause problems. Otherwise, its fine. That pic is a little off though... the kalk outlet should be much higher in the reactor... up in the larger diameter area. The key is to have the incoming water provide at least the same cross-sectional flow as a regular kalk reactor in less time, but then not so much, or have a large enough top area so the kalk doesnt go into the outlet. A 6" diameter pipe with a 300gph pump (common for a kalk mixer) has a ratio of 10gph per square inch (300gph/28.26square inches). So if you use a 1" ID pipe, you would want about 9gph at a minimum (1"ID pipe is .785 square inches)... not much. But many ATO's activate only for a few seconds at a time, 10 seconds maybe if you have a Tunze, 30 seconds at most. A kalk mixer has a couple minutes usually. So a 40-50gph top-off is more like it... or even 90gph... like a tunze osmolator. Ive been using the 1" pipe with a tunze, and its been working very well.