Jen Weidman's Individual Contribution Page

Spring 2013

I am was a member of the Demo Plant Team . This semester, we are first working to get a well-functioning and easy-to-assemble demo plant for the India trip. Then, we will work to fine tune the demo plant and replicate the final product, so that AguaClara has five fully-functioning demo plants in all. Some major changes we hope to achieve successfully include standardizing the coagulant dosing, fixing elevation differences, stabilizing the flocculator, correcting tube lengths, and creating instructions to make demo plant assembly much easierduring the Spring 2013 semester. Our first goal was to assemble a complete, well-functioning demo plant to use in demonstrations throughout the Spring. We had new fittings made for the Stacked Rapid Sand Filter (SRSF) , and successfully implemented and tested them with backwashing. To improve assembly and start-up time for the demo plant, we re-labeled the frame parts to make them easier to read; I also made a backdrop with the layout of the plant to facilitate assembly. Additional work for the semester focused on fine-tuning the demo plant and compiling all useful information. As a result, we addressed elevation difference issues in the plant, adjusted tubing lengths to reduce head loss and achieve the ideal plant flow rate, calibrated the coagulant dose controller, and started a new chemical mixing system. We hope that our updated users manual for the new plant design, which includes many troubleshooting tips, and the detailed drawings, will help future demo plant teams to successfully make and implement additional demo plants.