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The water entering the aerator and leaving is maintained at a constant rate throughout the experiment via manually controlled pumps. The flow entering the sand filter column was adjusted so that a 50% expansion was met. The water is allowed to flow through the sand column, where bubbles can form. When bubbles grow large enough in the filter, they can float up to the top and out through a tube into the bubble collector. Throughout the duration of the experiment, the bubble collector will go through refilling cycles. Initially, an air valve at the top of the bubble collector will open and the water effluent valve located at the bottom of the bubble collector will close, allowing the collector to fill like a sitting column of water. Once a maximum height is reached, the air valve will shut off and the water valve will open, resulting in a partial vacuum at the top of the collector. This causes the column of water in the bubble collector to be suspended. As bubbles enter the collector, gas in the bubbles fills the partial vacuum, allowing the water column to slowly leave the collector. Once the minimum water level in the collector is reached, the apparatus refills.

For each emptying period of the bubble collector, data is collected via Process Controller. Analysis of the data collected can be quantified as a gas removal rate (see below)by taking into consideration the cross sectional area of the collector and the flow rate through the system. Please see the results and discussion for each experiment by clicking the links below.

Results and Discussion

Experiment 1 - Replicate of the Previous Sand 40 Experiment

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