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This is my third semester with the team, and I am returning after a semester break as a an M.Eng student in Environmental Processes. In Fall 2015, I will be working on a new concept of stacking floc blankets to replace sand filters for the treatment of ground water, specifically for the removal of heavy metals: Arsenic and Fluoride. My teammates are Christine Leu, Cindy Dou, and Amlan Sinha, and our advisor is Amiel Middelmann.
We were able to successfully produce a setup for experimentation, and it will be used for next semester's research. Floc blankets have been created in each reactor of the system, but minimal testing has been done with dye, which is our indicator of removal by the system. Our goal for next semester will be to perform more experiments, and optimize our parameters for the best performance, and hopefully cost as well. .
SPRING 2016
This semester, I will be continuing with the Countercurrent Stacked Floc Blanket Reactor research team. Most of FALL 2015 was spent setting up the apparatus with which to experiment, and so this semester the team will spend most of our time experimenting with different variables to see the viability of this technology. We also hope to develop a way to eliminate the use of pumps for transporting flocs from one reactor to the next. Our other major goal for this semester is to apply for an EPA P3 grant for our research with Fluoride removal.