The air-lift pump is a well-established method for vertical transport of liquids and solid-liquid mixtures. The objectives of the present study are to evaluate the performance of a pump under predetermined operating conditions and to optimize the related parameters for the use of the pump for two-phase mixtures of air and water when a compressor is readily available. This paper is focused on the general mathematical functions applicable to air-lift pump installations. The effect of various design parameters on the performance of air-lift pump is presented. A user-friendly computer program is developed on the basis of the optimization of influencing variables. This program will be useful for the design and installation of an air-lift pump handling air-water mixtures. A comparative study of an air-lift pump with a centrifugal pump handling two-phase mixtures is also discussed in the paper.

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Airlift pumps are finding increasing use where pump reliability and low maintenance are required, where corrosive, abrasive, or radioactive fluids must be handled and when a compressor is readily available. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the performance of a pump under predetermined operating conditions and to optimize the related parameters The effects of design parameters viz. mass flow rate of air, immersion ratio, diameter of rising main etc. on the performance of airlift pump are presented. The larger diameter of rising main is found to be suitable for high flow rate of water. The injecting device used in the system has considerable effect on the performance of the pump. The paper is focused on the general mathematical expression to determine the effective diameter of nozzle applicable to air lift pump installations in the diameter range of 25.4 mm ≤ d ≤101.6 mm.The various types of flows are visualized in the rising main of a pump and the corresponding airlift pump performance is analyzed. It is observed that the slug flow is more predominant for improving the performance of the pump.

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