Nanditha's Individual Contribution Page

Summer 2009 Contributions

I am a member of the DesignTeam. As a new member of AguaClara, I have spent the past few weeks learning a lot about the plant, what it looks like, it's different components, and getting a basic idea of how it works. I have also learned how to use MathCAD to do calculations and coding with different variables.

Andrew Sargent and I are on the sub-team working on the Automated Materials List. The goal is to have to have the list output to the user the total amount of materials needed and their prices based on the plant specifications entered by the user. My partner and I used the Variable Naming Guide as a starting point to find the variables needed to calculate the necessary areas, lengths, and volumes, and searched through many of the plant's component's MathCAD files to find the right variables. I calculated the total volume of concrete needed to construct sections of the plant including the entrance tank, the sedimentation tank, the floc tank, the entrance and inlet channel tanks. I also calculated the total amount of ferrous cement needed to construct the inlet slopes in the sedimentation tank and updated the code to calculate the volume of the floc baffles and the number corrugated sheets needed to construct the lamella. Together, Andrew and I were able to calculate the total volume of concrete required to construct the plant. In addition to the concrete, we calculated the length of pipe needed for the weirs, sed plate frame, and launders.

We created the Materials List Design Program to explain what the Automated Materials List was and list the Program Inputs and Outputs. We updated the Variable Naming Guide with all the variables we had created to describe the different volumes and pipe lengths of the plant. Also, an important part of our task was organizing the MathCAD file so it was more understandable and sectioned off into the different types of materials.

Since the mid-term we have primarily been working on fine-tuning equations and making our work more understandable to the user. Based on feedback from Matt, Monroe, and Heather, we updated many of our MathCAD equations. I gained a better understanding of the geometry of the inlet drop chimneys and was able to calculate the volume of those, as well as correct the equations for the inlet and exit channel tanks, floc baffles, and flocullation tank. We learned that the foundation should not be included in the volume of the plant's channels and tanks so we updated those equations to reflect that. We continued to work on improving our new wiki page to give the user a better understanding of how the materials list is calculated and what it's purpose is.

Most importantly, we updated and formatted the Variable Naming Guide so that the Design Tool now outputs our 18 variable Materials List. This is the final product of this task. Since then, we have emailed the engineers in Honduras to receive feedback on our work and to learn what would be helpful to change and what can be added in the future to make the Materials List most useful to the user.

On the side, I have also been in contact with the Cornell Alumni Magazine about getting publicity and raising funds for AguaClara.

Overall, this summer was a great learning experience for me. Working on the Materials List allowed me to learn about the geometry and functions of the majority of the components of the plant, and I feel like I have a greater understanding of the AguaClara project as a whole.

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