The miniGaLF is IDEC`s entry level GaLF model designed for companies, universities, research institutes and people who want to learn about ultrafine bubble technology. The miniGaLF provides a lot of possibilities to design your own ultrafine bubble application as it is easy to fit and retrofit in existing machines and processes. In the simplest setup just connect the miniGaLF to your water tap and add a gas source either from a compressor or a gas cylinder with pressure regulator and you are ready to go. In the more advanced setup, you can add a recirculation system to make higher concentrations of Ultrafine bubble water, which we call -Plus. The -Plus version requires a check valve a pump, a recirculation tank and depending on the pump you might need an inverter.

Why recirculate?

When you connect the miniGaLF straight to the water fossett, the number concentration of Ultrafine Bubbles in 1 ml after 1 pass (1-minute run with 7.5 liters’ tank) are 70~80 million bubbles per ml. Measurement done with NanoSight at IDEC R&D facility using city tap water. When you want higher concentrations of bubbles i.e. 100 million or more than two or more passes of the water through the miniGaLF via water recirculation needs to be set-up. We call this the miniGaLF -Plus version.

For the miniGaLF -Plus model, the user needs to prepare a pump, a water tank with a water inlet and outlet and a check-valve to protect the pump and tubing. Depending on the pump you select, you might have to add an inverter box.

The miniGaLF can handle all non-corrosive gases such as, air, O2, N2, CO2. The miniGaLF is not suitable for use with ozone for disinfection applications. The miniGaLF produces bubbles intermittently, during operation it takes in only water or gas, during the gas intake which lasts about 5 seconds, the bubble generator releases no bubbles and water. After gas intake there will be a production cycle of about 45 seconds of ultrafine bubble or micro bubble water. Depending on the model.

The components

When the user application requires air as ultrafine bubbles, the easiest way is to buy an air compressor, the air compressor requires a small tank, since the tank less models are not able to deliver enough air during the gas intake period. We recommend to buy the compressor locally online or in a home and hardware store.

To protect the tubing and the pump install a check valve, during the gas intake period, the miniGaLF doesn't take in any water, while the pump keeps running this will built up a lot of pressure in the tubing and shortens the life time of the pump. We recommend installing a Swagelok check valve SS-8CPA2-RT-3 , when the pressure is getting to high in the system, the check valve will open and divert the water into the re-circulation tank.

For the pump it's required to have the following general specifications a minimum head of 30 meters, (300 kPa) but it's recommended to have a 20% extra capacity and a flow of 7.5 Liter / minute. Two pumps with the correct specifications are the Lowara PM21 which runs on single phase 220 V 50 Hz, this recommended for European and a lot of Asian countries. For Japan and the United States the right choice is a Nikuni pump

When you feel after reading this blog post that the plumbing and electrical work for the additional components is too overwhelming we recommend looking at the improved ultrafineGaLF standard lab model as this unit is an all in one solution. Doesn't need a compressor and has a pump inside.