New DIY CO2 scrubber

[FishyPapa]

Well the sodalime finally arrived and I assembled the new scrubber tonight.

It's got about a pound and a half of sodalime and a tube on the inlet to funnel air to the bottom where it's pulled through the media and into the skimmer through the hose.

 

The skimmer intake has a dual intake so one part goes through the scrubber and another to a tube running to a slightly open window.

 

The chamber is designed for a vacuum in the lab and has a 3/4 opening for removing and adding media. I'm anxious to see how the ph is affected now.

 

[OldReefer]

You should see a big pH improvement in a couple days. I ran my air intake outside so don't need to run my reactor anymore. have a big sealed container of the the BRS medical grade CO2 absorbent if you get an urge to try out the fancy stuff.

[Rosco's Reefs]

I'm new to this thread...what was the problem you are trying to solve?

[FishyPapa]

Ross: The pH in my tank was lower than I would have liked and even though I've also extended a tube outside, I wanted the second skimmer intake to get clean air from the inside so I built this to pull room air in and the sodalime holds onto CO2 molecules so they don't go back into the tank. Thereby increasing pH.

I got mine from MedVet

[Origami]

Please keep us updated on both the performance and media longevity / replacement.

 

Bill (OldReefer), if you can chime in on either, please do.

[OldReefer]

I used. BRS reactor and media. I got about 0.2 improvement in pH about 2 days. That held for about two weeks. The media may have lasted longer, but that was how long it took me to drill a hole in my wall and bring a fresh air line to the skimmer. I would say the. CO2 absorbent does a little better on pH than fresh air, but I like not having to mess with the media.

[dave w]

I got a 5 gallon bucket of this CO2 remover a while back because I was going to use it for another project.  If you need any more of this, just let me know.  You recharge it by cooking it in the oven, yes?

[wangspeed]

I got a 5 gallon bucket of this CO2 remover a while back because I was going to use it for another project. If you need any more of this, just let me know. You recharge it by cooking it in the oven, yes?

Not possible to recharge unfortunately.

 

 

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Warren

[dave w]

Well then I am confused.  I thought this is what is used on submarines to scrub CO2 from the air.  I thought they then heated the absorbent to recharge it.  I must have been wrong, either my material is different from what you are using or my information about recharging was incorrect.

[Jim Mc]

I use the BRS stuff as well and experienced about a .2 change.

[Origami]

Not possible to recharge unfortunately.

 

 

--

Warren

 

 

Well then I am confused.  I thought this is what is used on submarines to scrub CO2 from the air.  I thought they then heated the absorbent to recharge it.  I must have been wrong, either my material is different from what you are using or my information about recharging was incorrect.

 

I believe that's true, Dave. However, if I recall correctly, the temperature to recharge the media is very high. 825 C to re-convert calcium carbonate back to calcium oxide media. This is beyond what we can typically do at home.

[wangspeed]

I thought it was more complicated than super heating too.  Doing a quick search, it looks like 925C to convert, plus a proper cooling procedure.

[Origami]

I thought it was more complicated than super heating too.  Doing a quick search, it looks like 925C to convert, plus a proper cooling procedure.

There's a compound of some sort that they used on the Space Shuttle that converted at lower temperatures...

[s2nhle]

Great information. Thanks for sharing.