Airlift pump system for well--air pump/compressor-W/A/Voltage questions

FranB

 Please, feedback, input, affirmation or corrections, please. Here's what I have so far for an off-grid Solar AirLift water pump Well to 500 Gal holding tank year around and Spring thru Fall solar DC 12V MissouriWind'nSolar heating element. 1st is tackle the airlift system. As y'all say, figure the amps needed 1st. Well, here's what I have. Airlift system will need approx 10 to 35 psi, . So, AMPS needed for that:  Vol. of Air Required per Vol Water Pumped = minimum 0.28 SFM sq ft/min per US Gal, best is 0.18 thus, my air pump should produce .18 X 6 GPM = 1.08 Gal Air Per Min. and for seasonal depth variations make that 3+ Gal Air per Min. Humbly I can live with a production of 350 Gal of water stored per day. The, um, air supply: Cheaper tire air pumps with or without tank won't likely have many life cycle hours in them. Thus, a compressor. Take the CaliforniaAir Compressor 2010a, 1hp, 110V, 8 amps with 2 Gal tank is good in case of water back up in the air hose line it will shut off (ok, can also do air valve @ well head and do without the tank). If I get it a programmable timer switch (S1DXM-A2C60M-DC12V Panasonic Multi-range analog timer + switch--$50) and run it only say 12 min. every hour it should last out the year before maintenance. Such air compressors seem to all take some 2000 W @ start up--there's my problem.

 --- If I do the MissouriWind'nSolar all-in-one controller board (wind power next yr's project) DC system $310, with inverter $560. How many solar panel watts panels would I need? 

 ----Could I as in how then connect that DC water heating element ("As a general rule of thumb, it requires 2.47 watts of power to raise the temperature of one gallon of water one degree in one hour" and wash dishes/clothes 2X/wk.)? 

 ---Would I have enuf watt-amp-volt production to do both?

 ---Maybe it'd be better, cheaper, easier to just hand pump the h2O into the holding tank??

THANKS!! :)

jonr

How deep is the well and what is the water level in it?

It would be far easier and more efficienct to just buy a brush-less submersible solar pump. Chinese ones are $99 on ebay (but no idea if they hold up).

Search ebay for "24V-432W-Solar-Water-Pump-22GPM-Deep-Well-Solar-Submersible-Pump-5000L-H-Machine"

FranB

Jonr, Well is 120'; static water level varies between 50' and 15' (seasonal). I'll look them up Jonr but typical aquaponic pumps are not for lifting much. Airlift pump air psi required will vary some as airlift pump does best when submerged some 30' below static water level, then lift to ground level plus lift to holding tank which is only about 6'. Even with all that lifting, my research shows that a lower, around 10 psi, works best (air to water viscosity). Thanks for input and talking to me.

jonr

If you still want to use air, then use a pneumatic ejector pump (vs small bubbles used by a classic air lift pump).