...
This semester, the SRSF Theory team ran several experimental tests on the redesigned filter column and experimental apparatus. PACl dosages were varied between tests in order to analyze the trends in filter performance and head loss in relation to time and the amount of mass being added to the system. Progress towards developing a mathematical model to relate the maximum amount of head loss and the minimum sand pore diameter were in progress during the semester, but were stopped in order to reanalyze a previous hypothesis on the expected trend of head loss. Due to experimental data, several theories were proposed to explain the linearly increasing head loss after filter failure and are currently being assessed for its validity.
Fall 2014
The StaRS Theory team designed experiments to test the hypotheses on water flow through the filter and the resulting head loss. The team analyzed the effluent turbidity and head loss data from Spring 2014 and found that while head loss depends on coagulant dosage, the results vary greatly. The experimental apparatus was rebuilt from the details of the previous semesters. The sand from the filter was removed and sieved so that sand stratification was reduced within the filter column. With the sand outside of the filter, the team tested for head loss across the mesh of the inlet and outlet pipes for the stacked rapid sand filter. In certain experiments, head loss was significant, though the collected data was rather inconclusive. A motion towards a stacked rapid sand filter without slotted pipes, as well as an accompanying experimental model, was recommended.
Spring 2015
The StaRS Theory team will design an apparatus to test the clogging across slotted pipes and evaluate their performance in stacked rapid sand filters. The team will continue to test stacked rapid sand filters with varying coagulant and collect data to create a mathematical model describing filter performance.
| Section | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
...