...
Spring
...
2008
...
Experiment
...
(Sara
...
Schwetschenau
...
,
...
Kevin
...
Borden,
...
T.
...
David
...
Mcevoy)
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{float:right|border=2px solid black|width=200px} {anchor:Sludge Judge}[!Pilot Plant- Sedimentation Tank^IMG_1085.jpg|width=200px!|Pilot Plant- Sedimentation Tank^IMG_1085.jpg] h5.Sludge Judge Results after one week - notice The thicker sludge seen at the bottom {float} |
The
...
first
...
sedimentation
...
tank
...
containing
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket
...
has
...
been
...
constructed.
...
Flocs
...
enter
...
the
...
tank
...
and
...
do
...
not
...
appear
...
to
...
be
...
breaking
...
up,
...
so
...
it
...
has
...
been
...
determined
...
that
...
our
...
entrance
...
pipe
...
was
...
large
...
enough.
...
The
...
hydraulics
...
are
...
working
...
correctly
...
and
...
the
...
water
...
levels
...
are
...
as
...
calculated.
...
We
...
also
...
measured
...
the
...
flow
...
rate
...
of
...
the
...
sedimentation
...
tank
...
and
...
the
...
sludge
...
hopper,
...
and
...
both
...
were
...
very
...
close
...
to
...
the
...
design
...
rates.
...
Over
...
the
...
past
...
week
...
we
...
have
...
been
...
observing
...
how
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket
...
has
...
been
...
forming.
...
Sludge
...
has
...
been
...
piling
...
up
...
slowly
...
and
...
a
...
suspension
...
of
...
flocs
...
has
...
begun
...
to
...
form.
...
By
...
the
...
end
...
of
...
the
...
first
...
week
...
it
...
was
...
very
...
clear
...
that
...
a
...
thin
...
floc
...
blanket
...
had
...
formed
...
in
...
the
...
tank.
...
Although
...
some
...
floc
...
were
...
noticed
...
to
...
still
...
be
...
making
...
it
...
up
...
to
...
the
...
effluent
...
manifold
...
a
...
large
...
number
...
of
...
flocs
...
were
...
being
...
captured
...
by
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket.
...
The
...
flocs
...
forming
...
the
...
blanket
...
were
...
relatively
...
large,
...
up
...
to
...
5
...
mm
...
in
...
diameter.
...
The
...
top
...
of
...
the
...
blanket
...
was
...
forming
...
around
...
the
...
level
...
of
...
the
...
sludge
...
hopper.
...
This
...
tells
...
us
...
that
...
the
...
hopper
...
is
...
successfully
...
controlling
...
the
...
level
...
of
...
flocs
...
in
...
the
...
tank.
...
Hopefully
...
with
...
more
...
time
...
for
...
development
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket
...
performance
...
will
...
improve
...
as
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket
...
thickens,
...
and
...
the
...
smaller
...
flocs
...
noticed
...
toward
...
the
...
top
...
of
...
the
...
tank
...
will
...
be
...
captured.
...
It
...
was
...
observed
...
that
...
upward
...
flow
...
through
...
the
...
tank
...
seemed
...
slightly
...
faster
...
in
...
the
...
front
...
corner
...
of
...
the
...
tank
...
by
...
the
...
effluent
...
manifold.
...
Upon
...
tank
...
draining,
...
it
...
was
...
observed
...
that
...
the
...
sludge
...
at
...
the
...
bottom
...
of
...
the
...
tank
...
formed
...
a
...
conical
...
shape.
...
The
...
evenness
...
of
...
the
...
conical
...
shape
...
demonstrates
...
that
...
flow
...
seems
...
to
...
be
...
flowing
...
uniformly
...
out
...
of
...
the
...
inlet
...
and
...
up
...
through
...
the
...
tank,
...
and
...
thus
...
the
...
slight
...
increase
...
in
...
flow
...
noticed
...
at
...
the
...
top
...
of
...
the
...
tank
...
is
...
not
...
significant,
...
and
...
it
...
is
...
not
...
leading
...
to
...
a
...
large
...
amount
...
of
...
scour
...
at
...
the
...
bottom
...
of
...
the
...
tank.
...
Flow
...
irregularity
...
is
...
a
...
concern
...
because
...
it
...
is
...
one
...
of
...
the
...
main
...
causes
...
of
...
blanket
...
instability
...
and
...
poor
...
blanket
...
formation.
...
Future
...
Research
...
The
...
goal
...
of
...
this
...
project
...
is
...
to
...
determine
...
the
...
most
...
efficient
...
method
...
of
...
sedimentation.
...
The
...
two
...
technologies
...
that
...
have
...
been
...
considered
...
are
...
floc
...
blankets
...
and
...
lamella.
...
There
...
are
...
some
...
concerns
...
about
...
building
...
a
...
sedimentation
...
tank
...
that
...
relies
...
solely
...
on
...
a
...
floc
...
blanket.
...
It
...
takes
...
time
...
to
...
build
...
up
...
a
...
floc
...
blanket
...
that
...
works
...
well,
...
especially
...
if
...
the
...
incoming
...
water
...
has
...
a
...
low
...
initial
...
NTU.
...
Also
...
if
...
an
...
improper
...
alum
...
dose
...
if
...
given
...
to
...
the
...
flocculator
...
for
...
any
...
amount
...
of
...
time
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket
...
may
...
disappear,
...
removing
...
the
...
only
...
method
...
of
...
sedimentation.
...
Having
...
some
...
addition
...
settling
...
mechanism
...
such
...
as
...
lamella
...
would
...
help
...
with
...
with
...
settling
...
during
...
the
...
times
...
when
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket
...
is
...
not
...
performing
...
well.
...
It
...
is
...
the
...
goal
...
of
...
this
...
project
...
for
...
this
...
summer
...
and
...
the
...
upcoming
...
semester
...
to
...
determine
...
the
...
reliability
...
of
...
floc
...
blankets
...
and
...
determine
...
how
...
difficult
...
would
...
be
...
to
...
maintain
...
a
...
floc
...
blanket
...
even
...
during
...
times
...
when
...
turbidity
...
is
...
low,
...
if
...
alum
...
is
...
not
...
being
...
dosed
...
correctly,
...
or
...
if
...
only
...
small
...
flocs
...
are
...
being
...
produced.
...
Other
...
research
...
projects
...
include
...
developing
...
methods
...
that
...
would
...
encourage
...
faster
...
formation
...
of
...
floc
...
blankets.
...
Other
...
ideas
...
included
...
adding
...
a
...
mesh
...
fabric
...
filter
...
at
...
the
...
top
...
of
...
the
...
tank
...
just
...
below
...
the
...
launder
...
to
...
capture
...
an
...
tinp
...
floc
...
that
...
escape
...
above
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket.
...
This
...
mesh
...
would
...
also
...
allow
...
for
...
higher
...
V
...
up values
...
to
...
be
...
used
...
the
...
nesh
...
would
...
act
...
a
...
secondary
...
capture
...
for
...
the
...
smaller
...
floc
...
not
...
captured
...
in
...
the
...
blanket.
...
Also
...
given
...
that
...
φ
...
floc is
...
the
...
major
...
factor
...
affecting
...
sludge
...
blanket
...
formation,
...
techniques
...
to
...
affect
...
φ
...
floc could
...
also
...
created
...
stronger
...
and
...
better
...
floc
...
blankets.
...
Possible
...
modifications
...
of
...
the
...
floc
...
blanket
...
tank
...
include:
...
lowering
...
the
...
continuous
...
flow
...
sludge
...
removal
...
rate
...
to
...
minimize
...
water
...
waste,
...
optimizing
...
floc
...
blanket
...
performance
...
by
...
modifying
...
the
...
blanket
...
height
...
and
...
installing
...
a
...
clay
...
solution
...
feed
...
to
...
increase
...
inflow
...
turbidity
...
to
...
better
...
mimic
...
conditions
...
in
...
Honduras.
...
After
...
construction
...
of
...
the
...
lamella
...
sedimentation
...
tank,
...
research
...
will
...
be
...
done
...
to
...
see
...
if
...
anything
...
can
...
be
...
done
...
to
...
improve
...
setting
...
in
...
this
...
design.
...
We
...
also
...
want
...
to
...
analyze
...
the
...
possibility
...
of
...
forming
...
a
...
floc
...
blanket
...
underneath
...
the
...
lamella.
...
The
...
combination
...
of
...
these
...
technologies
...
seems
...
like
...
a
...
viable
...
option.
...
Inline
...
Turbidity
...
meters
...
can
...
hopefully
...
be
...
procured
...
to
...
test
...
the
...
outgoing
...
turbidity
...
from
...
each
...
sedimentation
...
tank.
...
This
...
will
...
allow
...
testing
...
how
...
well
...
sedimentation
...
tanks
...
perform
...
over
...
time
...
and
...
during
...
various
...
conditions,
...
such
...
as
...
performance
...
of
...
the
...
flocculator
...
and
...
raw
...
water
...
turbidity.
...