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    Thread: DIY Radial Flow Settler

    1. #1
      Cecil is offline Senior Member
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      DIY Radial Flow Settler

      Forgive me if this has already been posted in this category but I didn't find it. If not, I thought this might be of interest as a solids filter that can easily be built by yourself. It's something I found on the earthen group website and I've posted a link below. Paul of Earthen groups has told me in the past he does not mind sharing this.

      Yes it's aquaculture and aquaponics but I thought if this could be of use to as a filter for koi ponds. I plan on building four of these for each of four aquaculture tanks before going to a centralized rotary drum filter.

      According to a published paper I have read a radial drum filter will remove up to 48 percent of TSS vs. much less for a simple swirl filter, so it appears it would be a good DIY prefilter before a rotary drum filter.






      http://www.earthangroup.com.au/diy-solids-filter/

      Thoughts?
      Last edited by Cecil; 11-10-2013 at 01:28 PM.
      The risk I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math!

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    2. #2
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      Been running one of these on my bottom drain line for 5 months now. I am happy with it.

    3. #3
      Cecil is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      Been running one of these on my bottom drain line for 5 months now. I am happy with it.
      Do you use any other form of mechanical filtration?
      The risk I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math!

    4. #4
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      Been running one of these on my bottom drain line for 5 months now. I am happy with it.
      Bob, would you mind sharing more specifics or a thread link?
      I am considering them for use on the qt and a pond redo next year. Calculating the volume, diameter and so on for the different flows and allowing adequate but not excessive dwell time kind of did my head in.

      Still learning as I go but y'all can call me Marilyn

    5. #5
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      Looks good, exactly what I have in mind for my raceway
      DAN







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      Quote Originally Posted by Cecil View Post
      Do you use any other form of mechanical filtration?
      Not for a prefilter. My pond is for goldfish and is only 800 gallons. I have a S&G filter for fines and bio. The pump is a 3500GPH Evolution ESM. I split the draw between the skimmer (which does not go through the RFS) and the radial flow separator. Then pump it through a split between the S&G and two TPR's.

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      I haven't researched it much at all, but the one thing that I couldn't ever get over, was the flow rate.
      The first drawing suggests about 4000/lph (1056gph)... Is there a way to increase that flow rate?
      Does it offer benefits over a regular SC?
      --Steve



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    8. #8
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      There are multiple studies that show a RFS is more efficient than a swirl vortex. Studies have shown that a container in the shape of a 55 gallon drum peaks around 900 to 1000 gallons per hour. Sure you can flow more than this it will just be less efficient settling the very small particles. This is no different than the flow in vortex or swirl settlers. There is a lot more information on this design on aquaponics sites than you will find on pond sites.

      The design pictured above will work somewhat but is a bad design. It only has a small single collection point for the return water that is off center. Water will always try to flow in the shortest path. The flow dynamics for this setup will be uneven and bad. There are better examples for designs in 55 gallon barrels on the web.

    9. #9
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      Quote Originally Posted by Marilyn View Post
      Bob, would you mind sharing more specifics or a thread link?
      I am considering them for use on the qt and a pond redo next year. Calculating the volume, diameter and so on for the different flows and allowing adequate but not excessive dwell time kind of did my head in.
      Hi Marilyn,
      I got my ideas from links posted here on Koiphen. I can't find the threads now, but from my build thread I did find this link.

      http://www.earthangroup.com.au/diy-b...l-flow-filter/

      I also found RFS's for sale commercially. They had dimensions and technical specs that I could compare to the dimensions of the materials I had available. This took the need to do the calculations away. One thing I took away from the commercial units was a "collector" device. The commercial units use a weir system. I believe they were designed to use a gravity flow, both in and out. I am pump drawing from mine and was concerned about a vortex forming at the outlet. I made a "collector ring" from pipe with smaller holes drilled around it to combat this.

      Here are some links to commercial units.

      http://www.aquacare.com/radial-flow-separator/

      http://www.w-m-t.com/Products/Radial_Flow_Settler.php This site has the most dimensions.



      So far as size of containers, I was limited to using a 55 gallon barrel and a 6 gallon bucket. These are a bit smaller than the dimensions of the commercial units.

      Here is a video of mine that shows the parts and start-up as well as the "collector ring" I made.



      Hope this helps,

    10. #10
      Cecil is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by BWG View Post
      There are multiple studies that show a RFS is more efficient than a swirl vortex. Studies have shown that a container in the shape of a 55 gallon drum peaks around 900 to 1000 gallons per hour. Sure you can flow more than this it will just be less efficient settling the very small particles. This is no different than the flow in vortex or swirl settlers. There is a lot more information on this design on aquaponics sites than you will find on pond sites.

      The design pictured above will work somewhat but is a bad design. It only has a small single collection point for the return water that is off center. Water will always try to flow in the shortest path. The flow dynamics for this setup will be uneven and bad. There are better examples for designs in 55 gallon barrels on the web.
      Do you have any of those links for a better DiY design?
      The risk I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math!

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    11. #11
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      Hi Marilyn,
      I got my ideas from links posted here on Koiphen. I can't find the threads now, but from my build thread I did find this link.

      http://www.earthangroup.com.au/diy-b...l-flow-filter/

      I also found RFS's for sale commercially. They had dimensions and technical specs that I could compare to the dimensions of the materials I had available. This took the need to do the calculations away. One thing I took away from the commercial units was a "collector" device. The commercial units use a weir system. I believe they were designed to use a gravity flow, both in and out. I am pump drawing from mine and was concerned about a vortex forming at the outlet. I made a "collector ring" from pipe with smaller holes drilled around it to combat this.

      Here are some links to commercial units.

      http://www.aquacare.com/radial-flow-separator/

      http://www.w-m-t.com/Products/Radial_Flow_Settler.php This site has the most dimensions.



      So far as size of containers, I was limited to using a 55 gallon barrel and a 6 gallon bucket. These are a bit smaller than the dimensions of the commercial units.

      Here is a video of mine that shows the parts and start-up as well as the "collector ring" I made.



      Hope this helps,
      It does.
      I am 99.9% sure I'll be putting one or two in this next go 'round. I was kind of hoping Dan/powerman would have his done well in advance of my attempts so I could piggyback on any insights as well. I love the idea of using airlifts to clean the settlement out multiple times a day.

      Still learning as I go but y'all can call me Marilyn

    12. #12
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      Quote Originally Posted by Marilyn View Post
      (...edit...) I love the idea of using airlifts to clean the settlement out multiple times a day.
      My advice on this would be to try to get a cone bottom tank for this. In my flat bottom tank, the debris collects all over the bottom and I would be concerned that it wouldn't flush nearly completely. This is what mine looks like when I drain it.

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    13. #13
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      i had experimented with this concept.. in my trails i have found that you need a very big cone area for this to work.. check out this link http://www.w-m-t.com/library/pdf/Rad...er_Diagram.pdf and you will see the cone shape is 2x larger then the round vertical area of the tank. this gives the solids more time to settle out of the main flow area.. another thing to remember is the flow rates are very slow with these units... according to this data sheet http://www.w-m-t.com/library/pdf/Rad..._Datasheet.pdf i am guessing a 55 gallon drum diameter is about 24" and the max flow would be 11.8gpm or 708gph if it is 30" in diameter the max flow would be 21gpm or 1260gph.. if you are placing this unit on a 4" BD you would need 3 units with a 30" diameter or 5 units with a 24" diameter.

      i think they do work when using the correct style tank buy you would need to many of them to get the flow that most desire..
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    14. #14
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      this is one of the trails https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...Solids-removal but like i said in order for it to work you would need a gigantic tank of have several smaller units to get the flow most desire coming from there BD
      Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. - Benjamin Franklin.

      you cant fix stupid no matter how hard you try.

    15. #15
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      Quote Originally Posted by kwickcut View Post
      i had experimented with this concept.. in my trails i have found that you need a very big cone area for this to work.. check out this link http://www.w-m-t.com/library/pdf/Rad...er_Diagram.pdf and you will see the cone shape is 2x larger then the round vertical area of the tank. this gives the solids more time to settle out of the main flow area.. another thing to remember is the flow rates are very slow with these units... according to this data sheet http://www.w-m-t.com/library/pdf/Rad..._Datasheet.pdf i am guessing a 55 gallon drum diameter is about 24" and the max flow would be 11.8gpm or 708gph if it is 30" in diameter the max flow would be 21gpm or 1260gph.. if you are placing this unit on a 4" BD you would need 3 units with a 30" diameter or 5 units with a 24" diameter.

      i think they do work when using the correct style tank buy you would need to many of them to get the flow that most desire..
      I am running 1800ish GPH through a 55 gallon RFS with what I consider acceptable results.

      Quote Originally Posted by kwickcut View Post
      this is one of the trails https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...Solids-removal but like i said in order for it to work you would need a gigantic tank of have several smaller units to get the flow most desire coming from there BD
      I was very interested in your experiment. Unfortunately I think it failed more from a poor design than a too high flow rate. It would have benefited greatly from a vertical weir in addition to the horizontal plate you installed.

    16. #16
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      Interesting stuff guys. I have been toying with the numbers on these for about a year. I figure I'll get a couple of large cone bottomed tanks and sacrifice the top portion of them since the open topped ones are just out of my price range.
      I can get a pretty good deal on the 750g tanks since they mfg them in CA. Shipping becomes less of an issue then.

      I never did come up with what I considered a suitable replacement for the weir. Anything that is not adjustable may like the w-m-t version just isn't practical. I haven't sussed out a good 360 degree version but I figure I can make due with something like this. Sorry the writing is unintelligible, it happened in the resizing.
      Attached Images Attached Images  

      Still learning as I go but y'all can call me Marilyn

    17. #17
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      My advice on this would be to try to get a cone bottom tank for this. In my flat bottom tank, the debris collects all over the bottom and I would be concerned that it wouldn't flush nearly completely. This is what mine looks like when I drain it.

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      You should try and attach a "dome" over your waste line to suck the bottom of the barrel clean just like the bottom drain in the pond!

    18. #18
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      Quote Originally Posted by darrenkoi View Post
      You should try and attach a "dome" over your waste line to suck the bottom of the barrel clean just like the bottom drain in the pond!
      Interesting thought. But then how would the top of the dome be sucked clean?

    19. #19
      Cecil is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      Interesting thought. But then how would the top of the dome be sucked clean?
      If it's rounded enough on the top that shouldn't be a problem.
      The risk I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math!

    20. #20
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      Not for a prefilter. My pond is for goldfish and is only 800 gallons. I have a S&G filter for fines and bio. The pump is a 3500GPH Evolution ESM. I split the draw between the skimmer (which does not go through the RFS) and the radial flow separator. Then pump it through a split between the S&G and two TPR's.

      Hi Bob,

      I remember watching your build thread this summer. glad to see everything completed. I thought you were going for koi, but I guess volume (not filtration capacity) convinced you to go for goldfish? I'm at about 1200 gallons total, but went with the cetus sieve instead of the radial flow, and went for koi. I'm sort of nervous though. I will need to rebuild in a few years.
      Last edited by sjk; 11-25-2013 at 12:50 PM.
      -Brian

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