Pulser pump

Building and Setting Up the Model

The process is very straight-forward to build this model, as it has very few components. The tricky part comes with setting up the tubes so they stay as vertical as possible.

A video of the model I made, when working, is shown below. Note the bubbles in the tubes that clearly demonstrate that the inlet tube is in the Bubble Flow Regime, and the pumping tube is in Slug Flow.

Cut the Tubes First, the tubes must be cut to the desired length. In this model, the inlet 3/4” tube was cut to be approximately 2.1m long. The outlet tube was also cut to be 2.1m long, so it could be varied to perform different tests The pumping tube was kept long in order to be able to vary the height in the tests described below.
Connect the Separation Container In this model, the three way connector is used as the separation container for the pulser pump. The 1 1/2”to 3/4”connectors were fit snugly into the directly opposing sides of the three way connector. Epoxy can be applied to ensure a tightly sealed fit. The 1 1/2”to 3/8”connector was fit into the three way connector hole that is 90 degrees from either of the other two holes.
Connect the Tubing Connectors First, screw in the compression fitting for the 3/8” connection to the 1 1/2”to 3/8”connector Then, screw in the plastic tube fittings for the 3/4” connection to the 1 1/2”to 3/4”connectors By connecting these before connecting the tubing, the tubing won’t become tangled.
Connect the Tubing The 3/4” tubing should fit tightly over the 3/4” connector. It can be further held in place by tightening a metal clamp around it. The 3/8” compression has a component that goes around the outside of the tubing, a small piece fits inside the tubing to hold it open, then the piece that is around the outside of the tubing can be screwed into the compression fitting already connected to the 1 1/2”to 3/8”connector, holding the tube in place.
Assembly Now all the main components of the pump are connected. The next stage is to set up the pump. First, determine a method of holding the tubes in place. For this, a wooden backboard can be used and the tubes can be nailed to it. In order to have an easily adjustable device, in this experiment the tubes were attached with tape to the support system and wall. Make sure the tubes are vertical, and that the heights of the tubes are as desired. A hose was connected to the top of the inlet tube by inserting both the 3/4” diameter tube and the hose nozzle into a short 1” diameter scrap tube. The hose was used to simulate the flow of the stream. The outlet tube was set to drain into the sink.