For those of you following Tom Barr's recent contributions in
this thread, or
this one, there are a lot of interesting developments being discussed around injecting very small bubbles into a tank. Circulation of those bubbles is important. If done right, there are claims that this provides great increases in plant growth and health, even beyond the provision of 30ppm of dissolved CO2.
There are multiple methods suggested for accomplishing this. I am particularly interested in
ways to accomplish this in-line. If possible, by modifications to a standard in-line CO2 reactor.
This diagram is a simple pic of a typical setup. I left off fine details on the reactor itself, for there are many varieties out there. I suppose the important things to note about the reactor is that water entering the top, CO2 is entering near the top, and water with dissolved CO2 is exiting the bottom to return to the tank.
In this next diagram, I've tried to show how this might be modified to also add micro-bubbles into the tank.
This assumes the creation of another in-line piece, with a ceramic disc or other micro bubbler, injecting bubbles into the flow of water back to the tank. This is connected to a new port on the top of the CO2 reactor, that would provide pressurized CO2 from the excess gas in the top of that chamber.
I realize upon posting this that at least 2 things are missing from this diagram. First, a check valve in the CO2 line between the reactor and "bubble chamber", to keep liquid out of that line. Second, the bubble chamber needs some kind of port to allow maintenance to the bubbler, whether cleaning or replacement.
The two threads I mentioned previously have a lot of discussion around whether these bubbles will be dissolved as they move through the water, instead of circulating around the tank. The current discussion is around whether that process of dissolving is significantly retarded once the water hits around 30ppm CO2. I'm hoping that's the case, or this will not work at all.
Will this work? Is there a better way? I welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Thanks.