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For additional challenges, see suggested challenges our team did not address this semester.

Computational Fluid Dynamics

CFD 3D Floc Tank Simulation Challenges for Fall 2009

Subteam Leader: (Wenqi has graduated, but can help with training new members)

Number of team members needed: 2~3

Important team member skills:

• Fundamental fluid mechanics
• Basic idea of flocculation mechanisms, easier to learn with fundamentals of fluid mechanics
• Rough idea about computational fluid dynamics or numerical methods, but not a must
• Previous experience with FLUENT is great, but not a must
• Basic programming skills, C is great but not a must at all (sometimes we will use C to write some user-defined-function)

Challenges

The long-term goal of the CFD team is to help augment our understanding of hydraulic flocculator, and together with other research teams, to provide for a guideline for design and operation of hydraulic flocculators.

• More simulation for 2D performance parameter analysis: we had some encouraging results and possible future topics are:
  • Further analysis for the current data: change within one flocculator from baffle to baffle, etc.
  • Simulations with different Reynolds number
  • Other ways of varying the geometry: different numbers of baffles, baffle spacing, etc,that encoutered in design
  • Further develop the formulation of parameters
• Extend to 3D model:
  • Improve convergence, to which energy dissipation rate is very sensitive
  • Congifuration of parallel computing for 3D simulations
  • Modify the mesh: check the regional convergence of the mesh, coarsen the mesh in some region
• Validation
  • Sensitivity analysis of other parameters when necessary
  • Find some experimental data to compare (or some better idea?)

Floating Flocs

Subteam Leader:

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Number of team members needed:

• 3-4 members

Important team member skills:

• Process Controller (can be trained)
• Microsoft Excel
• MathCAD

Challenges

Details of the experiments that have been planned can be found on the Floating Flocs Fall 2009 Tentative Experiments page.

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If the cause of floating flocs is shown to be something other than supersaturated water, the team may still focus on stopping flocs from floating; however, other approaches may be developed that are specifically tailored to actual cause of the problem.

Rapid Mix

The rapid mix research project's goal is to determine if inadequate mixing in the rapid mix unit is responsible for the residual turbidity at the end of the AguaClara treatment process. This can be accomplished by adding some additional turbidity after the rapid mix process to see if those colloids have a significant effect on the settled water turbidity. If a large fraction of the colloids that didn't go through the rapid mix end up in the effluent, then it suggests that colloids that aren't properly exposed to aluminum hydroxide in the rapid mix process could also end up in the effluent. The next phase of this research would be to experiment with different rapid mix designs.

• energy dissipation rates
• residence times
• sequence of mixing units where each mixing unit has an alum feed
  

Outreach

Challenges for Outreach Fall 2009

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Number of team members needed:

• Minimum of 2-3

Important team member skills:

• Good written and oral skills
• Ability to work closely with P.R. when finding Fundraising Contacts
• Good analytical skills for choosing grants and reviewing previous budgets
• Adaptability to the different requests of different organizations when looking at Requests for Proposals (Grant Writing term meaning grant application)

Challenges

• Submit the Ford Foundation Online Form
• Pursue contacts within Ford Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Analyze former AguaClara budgets for the budget update.
• Continue working on the Grant Text Modules Page.
• Update the Grant Short List as grants are submitted

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Number of team members needed:

• 4-6

Important team member skills:

• Adobe Photoshop to aid graphics design
• Adobe Illustrator to create brochure layout
• Effective communication skills
• Leadership skills
• Knowledge of advertisement, business, media communications
• Creativity and ingenuity

Challenges

• Get more team members involved with presentations
• Try to pull together a fact sheet for presenter. Those would be good additional info to present other than the ones already on the slides. 
• demo plant suite case maintenance
• Edit the Wiki to weed out outdated information
• Update the brochure with new projects
• Ensure continued bi-annual updates through newsletters
• Enforce the standardized Wiki format by constant updating (not just at the end of the year)
• Translate Wiki into Spanish including navigation menu as well as content
• Assign specific subgroups within PR such that different types of PR can be accessed more efficiently. I.E possibly set up subgroups of PR that deal with local pr, state/national pr, campus pr, student assembly/RSO/greek life/ sports team pr.
• Broaden the medium for pr. I.E. radio, newspapers, magazines, journals, pamphlets, brochures, banners, t-shirts, stickers, posters,etc.
• Establish a calendar of pr events in August that seeks to promote the project itself while incorporating pr events that surround fundraising, presentations, etc.
• Draw in students from business, entrepreneurial majors, marketing, advertising, etc.
• Integrate the PR team with the AguaClara student group by establishing it as a subset of the group itself.
• Work with Partnership for Honduran Health on campus to continue planning their health survey of our technology.

Rapid Mix

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• energy dissipation rates
• residence times
• sequence of mixing units where each mixing unit has an alum feed