Pulsating Airlift Pumps for Vertical Farming Applications

The need for food (26.6% increase since the year 2000 according to Statistics Canada 2016) and the cost of energy are increasing rapidly as the world population continues to grow exponentially. Moreover, world-wide demand for fresh water is rapidly increasing while supply is very limited. Agriculture uses 70% of the global fresh water supply as compared to hydroponics that only use 10%. However, these systems require large amounts of energy to operate. Reducing energy cost and improving productivity is critical for the sector to expand. In this project, the new airlift pumping technology developed by FloNergia will be evaluated. This pumping technology operates by air with no moving parts, no lubrication required, no noise or vibration involved and require 50-70% less energy. It improves water quality by circulating water and aerating simultaneously which improves productivity by 10%.

Faculty Supervisor:

Wael Ahmed;Marwan Hassan

Student:

Rashal Abed

Partner:

FloNergia Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Other

University:

University of Guelph