Venturi Aeration/Oxygenation

So I've got one of these Mazzei venturi injectors laying around from a skimmer project on my Reef Fish tank that I'm not using anymore.



I've also got an oxygen bottle and airstone setup, but I've been wondering lately just how efficient the airstone is at getting the O2 into the wort and achieving a saturated wort.


It just seems that the stone gives a small contact area in the wort and the inline ones like morebeers help, but I think a better system can be made.



My thought is to pump through my plate heat exchanger, through a gate valve for flow control, to the mazzei and then into the fermenter. Instead of just hooking the O2 to the mazzei I'll put a tee in where one leg of the tee will be connected to the O2 line and the other will be open to pull in more air. I don't want to restrict the input to the mazzei with the low O2 flow, so the open leg of the tee should increase aeration.

And the picture to explain my blabbering.



I know there is a max solubility limit of O2 in the wort so I'm just trying to hit that level in the most efficient manner. Until I cen get a real cylinder of O2 and be done with these little red ones, I'd like to use the pure O2 the most efficiently.

Thoughts, Comments, Criticisms???

I think that would work just fine, I do that exact thing without the O2 and haven't had an issue.

How is this better than just using O2? If your pulling a vac on the bottle it should supply more gas... The other issue is it would be diluting the O2 concentration slowing down O2 absorbtion.

The regulator is going to limit the amount of O2 flowing so it won't actually be pulling more from the bottle. With the tee it would only give a greater volume of O2 in contact with the wort, but I'm not sure that the increase in total O2 will yield give a faster uptake or saturation. I'm more shooting for a decrease in the use of O2 cylinders by getting a more efficient interface between the wort and O2, either that from the bottle, or the combo of bottle and air.

The tee is just an option and can be eliminated it it isn't going to benefit the system.

wyazz, what is your wort flow rate and any idea on O2 flow rate?

If I do a 1 gpm flow rate through the injector any idea what O2 rate is needed for saturation?

I do the same thing without the O2, kinda. I just connected a polysulfone "T" into the silicone tubing from the pump outlet about 12" from the outlet end. I pump from the BK into the fermenter and it aerates just fine.

WPStrassburg said:

wyazz, what is your wort flow rate and any idea on O2 flow rate?

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Re-read my above post, I don't use O2 so I don't have a flow rate for that. I just crack my ball valve open enough to cool my wort down in to the 60's with my plate chiller. The venturi tube is at the end of my line dropping in to the fermenter.

wyzazz said:

I think that would work just fine, I do that exact thing without the O2 and haven't had an issue.

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