Patent Publication Number: US-2023144114-A1

Title: Air-lifting venturi apparatus

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to an air lifting Venturi apparatus installed in a water tank of a fish farm to flow in and lift air. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Demand for fresh fish or seafood that is preferred as health food compared to meat is continuously increasing due to a preference phenomenon for well-being food according to the improvement of the standard of living of the people. Due to such an increase in the demand, indiscriminate overfishing of fish is occurring in coastal waters, and a water quality environment also deteriorates due to an environmental pollution caused by the industrial development, and natural resources of fish population are continuously decreasing. 
     In such a situation, it is expected that the aquaculture industry as a breeding fishery rather than a catching fishery will be more active than before as the industry proceeds in a direction of resolving the mismatch between demand and supply of seafood. However, because shallow sea aquaculture in coastal waters is not stable due to various risk factors such as natural disasters and water pollution as well as various diseases, onshore installation type aquaculture tanks that cultivate various fish species by installing aquaculture tanks on shore rather than in the sea are becoming popular. 
     In general, because water (seawater or freshwater) accommodated in the onshore installation type aquaculture tank is mixed with the leftover feed of fish and fish excretions are mixed with the feed, when the water is left for a long time, the amount of dissolved oxygen decreases, leading to the death of fish in the tank. 
     Therefore, in order to supply sufficient oxygen in the water in the tank, an aberration wheel, an air disperser, etc. are utilized, or liquid oxygen, high pressure oxygen, an oxygen generator, etc. are applied. However, these apparatuses may not be efficient depending on fish species while requiring excessive facility investment, and there is a problem in that aquaculture production costs increase because management and operation of these apparatuses require a lot of cost. 
     One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an air lifting Venturi apparatus capable of smoothly supplying dissolved oxygen in a tank of a fish farm. 
     However, the problems to be solved by the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above problems and may be variously extended within the scope of the technical idea included in the present invention. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, an air lifting Venturi apparatus includes a first inflow pipe extending in the form of a tube to guide inflow of water, a second inflow pipe extending in the form of a tube to guide inflow of air or oxygen, a Venturi pipe comprising a through passage having a neck portion having a diameter smaller than a diameter of an inflow port between the inflow port and an outflow port, wherein the first inflow pipe is connected to the inflow port and the second inflow pipe is connected to the neck portion, a spray nozzle connected to the outflow port of the Venturi pipe, and an air guide extending obliquely from an upper end of the Venturi pipe toward an upper portion of the spray nozzle in a spray direction. 
     The air guide may be configured in a plate shape having a cross-section convexly rounded upward. 
     The air guide may extend to a height close to an upper end portion of the second inflow pipe. 
     The air guide may include a support extending from an upper surface and having one end fixed to the second inflow pipe. 
     The support may include a first support located close to an upper end portion of the second inflow pipe and a second support located close to a Venturi pipe connection portion of the second inflow pipe. 
     The first inflow pipe may include an inflow portion having an open upper portion and extending vertically and a connection portion extending from a lower end of the inflow portion and bent to be connected to the inflow port of the Venturi pipe. 
     A diameter of the second inflow pipe may be formed to be smaller than a diameter of the first inflow pipe. 
     A diameter of the spray nozzle may be formed to be smaller than the diameter of the inflow port of the Venturi pipe. 
     According to the air lifting Venturi apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, air sprayed through the Venturi pipe may stay in the water tank for a longer time, which has the effect of increasing the dissolved oxygen content in the water tank. 
     In addition, when the air bubbles with kinetic energy to rise vertically are moved forward using the air guide, there is the effect of moving the water forward together, which has the effect of accelerating a water circulation necessary for aquaculture. 
     Other aspects, objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG.  1    is a front view showing an air lifting Venturi apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a cross-sectional view showing the air lifting Venturi apparatus shown in  FIG.  1    cut along a plane parallel to the ground. 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view showing an air lifting Venturi apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram for explaining a state in which an air lifting Venturi apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed and operates in a water tank. 
     
    
    
     While the invention will be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit it to those embodiments. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, it will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily carry out the present invention. In order to clearly describe the present invention in the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and the same reference numerals are attached to the same or similar components throughout the specification. In addition, the accompanying drawings are only for easy understanding of the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, do not limit the technical idea disclosed in the present specification, and should be understood to include all changes, equivalents or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. 
     The terms including an ordinal number, such as first, second, etc., may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. These terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. 
     It will be understood that when a component is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another component, the component may be directly connected or coupled to the other component, but other components may exist therebetween. On the other hand, it will be understood that when a component is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another a component, no other component exists therebetween. 
     Throughout the specification, it will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in the present specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, components, and/or parts, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, and/or combinations thereof. Therefore, when a part “includes” a certain component, it means that the part does not exclude other components but may further include other components unless otherwise stated. 
       FIG.  1    is a front view showing an air lifting Venturi apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG.  2    is a cross-sectional view showing the air lifting Venturi apparatus shown in  FIG.  1    cut along a plane parallel to the ground. 
     Referring to  FIG.  1   , an air lifting Venturi apparatus  100  according to the present embodiment includes a first inflow pipe  110  guiding the inflow of water, a second inflow pipe  120  guiding the inflow of air or oxygen, and a Venturi pipe  130  to which each of the first inflow pipe  110  and the second inflow pipe  120  is connected. The first inflow pipe  110  and the second inflow pipe  120  may be elongated in the form of a tube, and may provide passages through which water and air may move, respectively. 
     An air guide  150  extending obliquely toward a front upper portion from an upper end of the Venturi pipe  130  may be formed at the upper end of the Venturi pipe  130  and may extend to a height close to an upper end portion of the second inflow pipe  120 . The air guide  150  may be fixed to the second inflow pipe  120  through a support  160 . The support  160  may extend from an upper surface of the air guide  150  and have one end fixed to the second inflow pipe  120 . The support  160  may comprise a plurality of supports and may include a first support  161  located close to the upper end portion of the second inflow pipe  120  and a second support  162  located close to a Venturi pipe connection portion of the second inflow pipe  120 . 
     Referring to  FIG.  2   , the first inflow pipe  110  may include an inflow portion  112  having an open upper portion and vertically extending and a connection portion  114  that is bent by being connected to a lower end of the inflow portion  112  and connected to the Venturi pipe  130 . 
     The Venturi pipe  130  may include an inflow port  131  and an outflow port  132 , and may have a neck portion  134  having a smaller diameter than the inflow port  131  between the inflow port  131  and the outflow port  132 . Here, the first inflow pipe  110  may be connected to the inflow port  131  and the second inflow pipe  120  may be connected to the neck portion  134 . In addition, the Venturi pipe  130  may further include an injection nozzle  135  protruding to be tapered from the neck portion  134  in a fluid flow direction. In addition, a spray nozzle  140  may be connected to the outflow port  132  of the Venturi pipe  130 . The spray nozzle  140  may have a diffuser structure in which the diameter gradually increases again from the outflow port  132  of the Venturi pipe  130 . 
     The inflow portion  112  of the first inflow pipe  110  and the second inflow pipe  120  may extend vertically downward in parallel with each other. Here, the diameter of the second inflow pipe  120  may be formed to be smaller than the diameter of the inflow portion  112  of the first inflow pipe  110 . The first inflow pipe  110  may be connected to the Venturi pipe  130  as the connection portion  114  that extends from the inflow portion  112  and bent is connected to the inflow port  131  of the Venturi pipe  130 . The second inflow pipe  120  may be fixed to a side surface of the Venturi pipe  130  and may be connected to the neck portion  134  through a lateral passage  136 . 
     As described above, the diameter of the neck portion  134  of the Venturi pipe  130  may be smaller than the diameter of the inflow port  131 . In addition, the diameter of the spray nozzle  140  may be formed to be smaller than the diameter of the inflow port  131  of the Venturi pipe  130 , and may be formed such that the diameter of the spray nozzle  140  is such that the diameter of the spray nozzle  140  gradually increases from the outflow port  132  of the Venturi pipe  130  in the fluid flow direction. 
     The Venturi pipe  130  configured as described above may be utilized as an apparatus for supplying dissolved oxygen in an aquaculture water tank using the Bernoulli principle. Air may flow in through the second inflow pipe  120  due to a negative pressure generated by a flow rate increased when water drawn up by using a pump installed in a breeding water tank (e.g., a recirculating filtration tank) passes through the first inflow pipe  110  and be supplied into the Venturi pipe  130 , and again passes through the neck portion  134  having the diameter narrowing to several millimeters in the Venturi pipe  130 . The flowed air may be mixed with water while passing through the Venturi pipe  130 . The water and air mixed as above may be sprayed again into the breeding water tank (e.g., a fish breeding water tank) through the spray nozzle  140 . At this time, because the air contains about 21% of oxygen component, oxygen contained in small air bubbles strongly ejected from the spray nozzle  140  may be supplied into the water tank, and thus, oxygen may be supplied. In the case of ultra-high density aquaculture, a large amount of oxygen is required. In this regard, an oxygen supply pipe (not shown) connecting the second inflow pipe  120  used for air inflow may be installed and connected to an oxygen storage facility, and thus, pure oxygen may be also supplied. 
       FIG.  3    is a perspective view showing an air lifting Venturi apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG.  3    shows the air lifting Venturi apparatus  100  from an angle at which the shape of the air guide  150  may be better revealed. 
     Referring to  FIG.  3   , the air guide  150  may be formed in a plate shape having a cross-section convexly rounded upward. The air guide  150  in the plate shape may be provided to obliquely extend from the upper end of the Venturi pipe  130  to the front upper portion in the spraying direction of the spray nozzle  140 . Therefore, air bubbles formed in a water tank by air sprayed from the spray nozzle  140  may not move directly above a water surface but may be guided in a direction away from the spray nozzle  140  along the air guide  150  and gradually move toward the water surface. This may allow the air bubbles to stay in the water tank for a longer period of time, and as a result, more oxygen may be dissolved in the water. 
       FIG.  4    is a diagram for explaining a state in which an air lifting Venturi apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed and operates in a water tank. 
     Referring to  FIG.  4   , the air lifting Venturi apparatus  100  according to the present embodiment may be installed so that the Venturi pipe  130  is submerged in a water tank T. When water flows in through the first inflow pipe  110  of the air lifting Venturi apparatus  100 , the flowed water may be transported to the Venturi pipe  130  connected to the first inflow pipe  110 , and according to the characteristics of the Venturi pipe  130 , a negative pressure may be applied to the second inflow pipe  120  connected to the neck portion  134  of the Venturi pipe  130  so that air may flow from an atmosphere A. That is, as the pressure inside the second inflow pipe  120  is lower than an atmospheric pressure, air in the atmosphere A may flow into the second inflow pipe  120 . To this end, the second inflow pipe  120  may be installed such that an upper end portion having an opening for air inflow is exposed above the water surface. In the first inflow pipe  110 , an opening for water inflow may be connected to a water supply pipe (not shown) and may receive water. 
     As described above, the air guide  150  may be formed to obliquely extend from the upper end of the Venturi pipe  130  toward the front upper portion of the spray nozzle  140  in a spray direction. That is, the air guide  150  may extend upward toward the water surface farther away from the spray nozzle  140 . Also, as shown in  FIG.  3   , the air guide  150  may be formed in a plate shape having a cross-section convexly rounded upward. In addition, the air guide  150  may extend to a height close to the upper end of the second inflow pipe  120 , and thus, even when the air lifting Venturi apparatus  100  is installed in the water tank T, the upper end portion of the air guide  150  may be exposed above the water surface. 
     The air guide  150  formed as above may be provided, and thus, air bubbles B sprayed from the spray nozzle  140  may float upward and may move in the water tank T along the air guide  150  in a direction away from the spray nozzle  140 . That is, when the air guide  150  is not provided, the air bubbles B sprayed from the spray nozzle  140  will move vertically toward the water surface due to their nature, but the air guide  150  is provided as in the present embodiment, and thus, the air bubbles B sprayed from the spray nozzle  140  may have the force to move forward by energy generated by colliding with the air guide  150 , and accordingly, form horizontal water currents. When the water currents formed as above are continuously formed at regular intervals in the water tank, the entire water in the water tank may be moved horizontally, and the air bubbles B may stay in the water tank as long as possible. 
     The length of the air guide  150  may be set according to the depth of breeding water in the water tank, and when the air guide  150  has an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the water surface, it may show effects on horizontal water movement and dissolved oxygen supply. 
     The breeding tank needs to supply oxygen to the maximum using limited energy and, at the same time, prevent organic matters from sinking to the bottom by forming moving water currents. In addition, fish in the water tank may feel the flow of water, which may have a favorable effect on growth or survival. Therefore, it is possible to supply oxygen and mix vertical water, as well as form horizontal water currents with the same power, by utilizing the Venturi pipe  130  and the air guide  150 . 
     Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and implementations are possible within the scope of the claims and the description and the accompanying drawings, and it is natural that this also belongs to the scope of the present invention. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
               
                 &lt;Description of Reference Numerals&gt; 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 100: air lifting Venturi apparatus 
                 110: first inflow pipe 
               
               
                   
                 112: inflow portion 
                 114: connection portion 
               
               
                   
                 120: second inflow pipe 
                 130: Venturi pipe 
               
               
                   
                 131: inflow port 
                 132: outflow port 
               
               
                   
                 134: neck portion 
                 135: injection nozzle 
               
               
                   
                 136: lateral passage 
               
               
                   
                 140: spray nozzle 
                 150: air guide 
               
               
                   
                 160: support 
                 161: first support 
               
               
                   
                 162: second support 
                 T: water tank 
               
               
                   
                 A: atmosphere 
                 B: air bubble 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein. 
     The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention. 
     Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.