Floating Flocs Meeting Minutes

Spring 2009 Minutes

April 24, 2009

Working Group: Sand Filter

Accomplishments

• Improved the setup by using larger tubing in order to accomodate the higher flow rates
• Implemented the aeration apparatus (bubble chamber) to supersaturate the water entering the sand filter column; automated the setup again
• Obtained a new, taller plastic column (to replace the broken glass column), pressure regulator, and flowmeter and implemented them into the setup
• Final Report Draft completed.

Metrics

• Ran the experiment with Sand 40 (0.42 - 0.59mm) again at the different expansion levels
• Measured the actual flow rate coming out of the bubble collector for each run
• Performed a sugar test for each run
• The new glass column has a height of ~125cm and inner diameter of ~3cm. The top cap of the column has a 3/8" outlet and the bottom has 1/4" inlet.

Outcomes

• Sugar test still shows that there is a lot of dissolved oxygen present in the water
• Good results and graph for Sand 40
• Cannot run experiment with Glass Beads due to either pressure buildup or flow rate is too fast even with a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min on Process Controller

Issues

• Problem with control pressure in bubble chamber
• Problem with restricting the air from escaping the chamber too quickly
• Problem with Control Processor although the average pressure is used
• Need more control with the flow rate
• Still need to collect data for Sand 30 and Sand 20