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I am a grad student working on my M.Eng. in Geological Sciences. My undergrad degree was a B.S. in Geology from Middle Tennessee State University. This is my first semester working with AguaClara and I am on the Fluoride subteam. Thus far in the semester, we have fabricated a new bottom insert for the reactor that utilizes a sloped geometry which allows a smooth expansion into the reactor and promotes continued circulation at the base of the reactor. At the present time, we are determining the length of PVC pipe that should be used below the weir to accommodate the floc blanket in our reactor. Previously, the reactor had ~61 cm of PVC below the weir, which contained the whole floc blanket, but it seemed like the floc blanket was stable well below this height. Therefore we fabricated a new reactor with only ~5 cm PVC below the weir to test the hypothesis that the reactor did not need a deep floc blanket to effectively remove flocs. However, a floc blanket still formed in the shorter reactor , but and flowed above the weir and into the tube settler and subsequently produced , producing higher concentration of flocs in the effluent. After the optimal system is determined, we will use fluoride and test to see if clay is necessary to improve flocculation
Spring 2017 Contributions
I am returning to the Fluoride subteam this semester.