TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iii LIST OF TABLES . vi LIST OF FIGURES . vii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND .4 2.1 Eyestalk Ablation 4 2.2 Hydraulic Separation 5 2.3 Airlift Technology 7 CHAPTER 3: EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY 8 3.1 Experimental Apparatus 9 3.2 Weir Calibration 13 3.3 Experimental Protocol 15 3.4 Data Analysis 16 3.4.1 Gas Flow Rate Correction 16 3.4.2 Calculation of Power Utilized for Running the Airlift Pump 17 CHAPTER 4: DISTRIBUTED AIRLIFT SYSTEM DESIGN FOR RECIRCULATING SOFT SHELL CRAWFISH PRODUCTION SYSTEMS .18 4.1 Introduction . 18 4.2 Background - Airlifts 20 4.3 System Description . 22 4.4 System Design Rationale 25 4.4.1 Hydraulics and Friction Loss in Loops 25 4.4.2 Air Lift Riser Design . 26 4.4.3 Distribution Pipe Design Rationale . 28 4.4.4 Air Requirement . 32 4.5 Discussion . 32 4.5.1 Airlifts 32 4.5.2 Distribution Pipe 33 4.6 Recommendations . 35 CHAPTER 5: CLOSURE STATEMENT .38 5.1 Conclusions . 38 5.3 Recent Airlift Applications . 39 5.2 Future Work 41 v REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX A: WEIR CALIBRATION DATA SHEETS .46 APPENDIX B: EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS 2″ PVC PIPE 51 APPENDIX C: EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS 3″ PVC PIPE 63 APPENDIX D: DISTRIBUTION PIPE CALCULATIONS 75 VITA 84
