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Spring 2012 Contributions
This semester I will be working worked on the Demo Plant team to design a demonstration plant that can be used to present to the processes used in an AguaClara plant. My team would like to have the plant finished by mid-April so that it can be presented at the EPA P3 Competition. I am, along I worked with Miree Eun and Meena Selvanathan , specifically working to build the Stacked Rapid Sand Filter that will be implemented in the plant. So far this semester we have completed calculations and most of the design work. We are now looking to begin fabrication. Our subteam started from scratch in February by doing theoretical calculations to determine the exact dimensions of the filter and then began fabrication in mid-March. With the help of lab technicians in Hollister, we were able to construct a SRSF in time for the EPA P3 competition in late April. My teammates and I were able to test and adjust the filter so that it both filters and backwashes well enough to clearly show the purpose of the SRSF and how it works. I helped research ways to fabricate the filter, specifically the slotted pipes, which took a lot of extra time to build. I also helped adjust the filter to fit better with the rest of the plant by constructing a freefall column before the filter and a clearwell after it. Furthermore, I have helped document the design of the SRSF as well as the rest of the plant in a MathCAD file, and I have helped write a user manual for the entire plant.