lime hopper spray water

[chumet1]

Good day fellow engineers

set-up shown in image below has blockage challenges at the eductor area (actually at pipe attached after eductor). my suspicions are that ring spray water is not adequate enough to wash down the settled lime powder on the hopper, but i dont know the calculations to prove my hypothesis. as far as process parameters are concerned there is enough ring spray water delivered.
please assist me with design calculations used to determine the amount of water to be used for wash down.

 

[ashtree]

Instead of trying to calculate it why not just try different amounts of water?

Is the ring spray of water there to wash the lime in or is to start the dissolution process? Maybe no water might work as well provided the limme hopper was clean and shiny.

Regards
Ashtree
"Any water can be made potable if you filter it through enough money"

 

[gerhardl]

My thought: Is adding water sufficient to solve the problem? If you, for instance at start up, have an excess of lime or too small amount of water, could this probably lead to lime clumping and layer sticking to walls, solidifying and not easy to dissolve?

Is your problem clogging i clumps or layer on walls, or both?

Suggestions:
Water added parallell to wall at opposite points to make suction swirl
Make 'clumptrap' with drainable well with separated inlet/outlet
Visual inspection or somehow mechanical/electronical warning
Recycling of water if water cost or amount is a problem

 

[crshears]

Perhaps an agitator to hasten the lime dissolution process; once had a pH adjustment system [written about in another post] where the agitator was pitifully tiny for the amount of lime to be dissolved; posed major issues...

CR

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." [Proverbs 27:17, NIV]

 

[EdStainless]

You need an idea of how much lime is being washed out.
One thought is to make sure that the line isn't too large.
You want to keep velocities high, but not choke the eductor.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[bimr]

What you have described is a sluicing eductor.

Sluicing Eductor

The operating results will be difficult to predict because of the materials that you are handling. You may have material clumping, bridging, different volumes of sluicing water, effects due to shape of hopper, etc.

Performance chart is listed here:

Performance Chart

Here is a picture of an eductor that was used on a recent project. These eductors are used to sluice media in order to load water treatment vessels with media. This eductor includes a pump to add water pressure.