I remember reading this thread quite a while back Esshup. I did glance back up through the pictures also. Yes, it is quite a system. I knew the small pump was just to keep the ice open in one small area.

That pump looks like a Roots style pump. It looks very similar in size to the unit we used to use to blow grain into a 100,000 bushel grain bin. They are high volume, relatively low pressure pumps. Still have the pump but now use a big auger to fill the bin instead. Now the pump sits in a shed. I think ours has a 20hp 3 phase motor driving it. We ran about 10 psi as I recall and if we got up to about 12 we were getting close to stopping up and cleaning corn out of pipes. A smaller 15,000 bushel surge/feeder bin fed it with a VRD motor on an auger. Often ran 24-7 when filling the bin.

Been a while since I read the thread all the way through, but as I recall that pump cycles on and off. That would seem a waste to me as electric motors (especially that size) take a lot of electricity to start up. Seems like a smaller pump/motor that run continuously would be better.

Not sure on what the RPM range of those style pumps are, but a larger pulley and slowing the pump down (with associated smaller motor) might be a possibility also. Seems like the CFM was not sized properly for the diffusers, although I'm sure on a system that size they were likely learning as they went along and probably did not want to undersize. Probably not a lot of previous experience to draw on.

Edit: Ok......I went back up and read the original post. Now I see where only the small system was the one that cycled on and off. So disregard most of what I said. That was the one that used a high pressure compressor where only a low pressure compressor was needed.

Last edited by snrub; 12/20/14 02:11 PM.
John

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