Spray Injection Protein Skimmers
AquaC's Patent Process Relies on Brute Force
Jason Kim of AquaC discusses the spray injection skimmer technology he developed in 1998.
“[Spray injection] is the patented process (U.S. Patent Numbers 6,156,209 and 6,436,295) that I developed in 1998, and it is the air injection method that all of the AquaC skimmers rely on,” says Jason Kim, president of AquaC. “It was a very novel idea at the time, even though a lot of people smacked their foreheads and said, 'Why didn't I think of that?’”
As discussed in the previous two articles in this protein skimmer series, the goal of skimming is to produce skimmate, and the production of skimmate is dependent upon the skimmer that can produce the most small bubbles and provide the longest contact time. Keeping that in mind, here is how Kim describes spray injection technology.
“The best way to illustrate how spray injection works is to imagine that you're washing your car—you've got a bucket full of soapy water and a garden hose with a high-pressure stream of water. If you direct the flow of water down into the bucket, and use your thumb to force the water into a spray, you'll generate a ton of air bubbles and foam. As the spray of water shoots into the bucket below, the turbulence and force of the spray generates a tremendous number of tiny air bubbles. When it comes to skimming, foam is a very, very good thing!”
AquaC skimmers have a special cloverleaf shaped injector responsible for generating that powerful spray, which is then directed downwards into the skimmer body. When the spray collides with the water inside the skimmer chamber, a massive amount of air bubbles is created. From that point on, the AquaC skimmers work just like every other skimmer on the market—the air bubbles react with proteins and fish waste, rising up in a thick foam through the chamber where the skimmate is finally collected inside a cup and discarded.
“The spray injection method has several advantages over other types of skimming,” says Kim. “First and foremost is the fact that spray injection generates the greatest amount of air flow for a given amount of water flow. In other words, if you are given a pump rated at X gallons per hour to drive a skimmer, there is no other method (venturi, downdraft, needle wheel, etc.) that can generate as much air flow as a spray injection skimmer.”
Kim has run extensive comparative tests, and, according to him, AquaC’s bold statement has been borne out conclusively again and again. In addition to producing more skimmate, the spray injection technology is also great because it generates a lot of air and water flow that is particularly important for large reef aquaria, where oxygen exchange is critical.
In conclusion, Kim points out that “the spray injection method is mainly one of brute force rather than finesse—lots of air and water flow yields good performance.”
According to Kim, the most popular AquaC model is the Remora hang-on, which, at $165, is AquaC’s least expensive model. The Remora is designed to hang off the back of a tank and requires no special plumbing or a sump. The AquaC EV Series skimmers represent the high-end line. The EVs are designed for larger tanks up to 2,000 gallons in size.
Additional Resources:
Kim on Protein Skimmers - Jason Kim Walks the Aquarist through the Basics of Skimming (Part 1)
Venturi and Needle Wheel Skimmers - Two of the Most Popular Skimming Technologies Explained (Part 2)
Spray Injection Protein Skimmers - AquaC's Patent Process Relies on Brute Force (Part 3)
