Air-powered water circulation systems for ponds, lakes, municipal water tanks, and other bodies of water

摘要

An air-powered water circulation system for ponds, lakes, municipal water tanks, and other bodies of water having a draft tube extending along and about a vertical axis between upper and lower end portions and supported by a flotation arrangement with the upper end portion slightly below the water surface. A pneumatic, air flow arrangement is then provided to supply pressurized air from an aft pump to a plurality of submerged air pipes positioned within the draft tube below the upper end portion thereof and extending inwardly from a submerged manifold toward the interior of the draft tube. In operation, pressurized air is supplied from the air pump through an air delivery conduit to the submerged air manifold and into the submerged air pipes where it is discharged as air bubbles through series of discharge holes extending along the pipes to create an overall circulation pattern in the body of water.

主权项

1. An air-powered water circulation system for ponds, lakes, municipal water tanks, and other bodies of water having a surface and sides depending downwardly to a bottom, said system including:
a draft tube extending along and about a substantially vertical axis between upper and lower end portions and having an inner surface extending along and about the vertical axis substantially between said upper and lower end portions, a flotation arrangement adjacent the upper end portion of the draft tube and supporting the upper end portion thereof adjacent and below the surface of the body of water, a pneumatic, air-flow arrangement for supplying pressurized air above ambient from an air pump to a plurality of submerged air pipes positioned within said draft tube below the upper end portion thereof, said submerged air pipes extending inwardly from a submerged air manifold extending substantially about said vertical axis adjacent the draft tube, said manifold being in fluid communication with said air pump and said air pipes wherein said pressurized air is supplied from the air pump through said manifold to said air pipes, said air pipes respectively extending inwardly of said manifold into the interior of the draft tube forming an array of air pipes, said air pipes respectively having at least one series of discharge holes in a first portion thereof extending along the respective first portions of the respective air pipes wherein said pressurized air supplied from said air pump through said manifold into said air pipes passes out of the discharge holes therein to create bubbles in the water in the interior of the draft tube to reduce the density of the water in a first zone adjacent to and above the respective air pipes and extending to the surface of the body of water wherein denser water in a second zone below said first zone moves upwardly through the draft tube from the lower end portion thereof toward the first zone and past the air pipes reducing the density thereof and thereby creating an overall, air-powered circulation pattern in the body of water passing up through the draft tube from the lower end portion to the upper end portion, substantially radially outwardly of the upper end portion substantially about said vertical axis toward the sides of the body of water, downwardly through the body of water, and substantially radially inwardly of the vertical axis toward and into the lower end portion of the draft tube wherein at least some of the first portions with the series of discharge holes therein of some of the air pipes extend substantially radially inwardly from the manifold into the interior of the draft tube and are inclined upwardly at an acute angle to the horizontal from the manifold into the interior of the draft tube.