Undergrad Water Tank Overflow Air Piston concept/question

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion focuses on calculating the minimum piston weight required to push air from an air tank into a supply tank, thereby purging water through a discharge pipe. Participants discuss the gravitational potential energy (GPE) changes involved in moving water from a lower tank to an upper tank, emphasizing the need to account for the weight of the piston and the pressure generated by the air. Key calculations include determining the pressure needed to overcome the weight of the water column and the relationship between piston area and pressure exerted.

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  • Understanding of gravitational potential energy (GPE) calculations
  • Familiarity with fluid dynamics principles, particularly pressure and force relationships
  • Basic knowledge of pneumatic systems and air compression
  • Ability to perform calculations involving pressure, area, and force
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  • Study "Pneumatic Systems Design" to understand air-driven mechanisms
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  • Investigate "Air Compression Techniques" to optimize air tank usage in fluid transfer
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Engineers, fluid mechanics students, and anyone involved in designing pneumatic systems or optimizing water transfer mechanisms will benefit from this discussion.

  • #31
Hi Russ sorry for the delay. It can, but not by any major scale, so we are stuck.

But, could you confirm my calcs below IF we were to pump air from a compressor into the supply tank to force the water up the pipe:

Assume we need min 20 psi min
Tank volume is 279 cu ft
Air is incompressible

Compressor specs (values taken from commercial comp online)
PSI40
CFM @ 40psi15.4
Volts230
AMPS25
Time to fill Supply Tank (mins)6
Power (watts/hour)5750
KWh used0.61

So it would take the above compressor 6 minutes at 40 psi to fill the supply tank and purge the water up thru the outlet line ?

I know there will be issues with some water not being able to purged, but the overall volume should be using these values correct ?l
 
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  • #32
And I get the min 20 PSI from the weight of the water in the column/the column area (279 lb/12.2 sq in), and used a 40 psi compressor value to account for compression of air etc
 

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