Ruju Mehta's Individual Contribution Page

Spring 2014 Contributions

I have returned to AguaClara as a member of the Ram Pump Team! Since the Honduras Trip over Winter Break, the team has many new things to focus on and enhance in the Ram Pump design. The plan for this semester was to begin with reconstruction of the Pump, then move onto measuring pump efficiency and seeing if alternative designs could increase efficiency. With our best design, we will experiment with the pump, test wear and tear of the parts, find failure modes, and try to scale the model. As the semester came to a close, we were only able to reconstruct the ram pump. After waiting for parts and technical difficulties with the air chamber and the numerous leaks we were finally be able to run the system a few times. There was not enough time to test the system for flow rate, head loss, efficiency, and durability but rebuilding the pump and seeing it finally run was a huge achievement. 

Spring 2012 Contributions

This semester, I am on the Linear Chemical Dose Controller Team. The main idea of the Linear Chemical Dose Controller(LCDC) is to have one device, the LCDC, to dose three chemicals at different locations in the plant. Two of the coagulant doses will be applied in the  in entrance tank. The third dose, chlorine, will be applied after filtration. 

After creating a working LCDC, we wanted to test it to maximum flow and minimize percent error to no more than ten percent. In order to achieve these standards calibration must occur. We tried different methods to effectively calibrate the system such as changing the height of the constant head tank (CHT), cutting the dosing tube, and sometimes even changing the location (distance away from the LCDC) of the CHT. These different techniques lead to smaller total percent errors in expected flow vs actual flow which is detailed in our report. This was our major concern for this semester; calibration and reducing error. 

Some of our other goals for this semester were to create a parts list and fabrication/calibration guide for the LCDC for the operator. We tried making the guide like a manual, with pictures, so that it would be easy to understand and replicate. The majority of what we did this semester is detailed in the manual so that our steps can be followed the system can be fabricated and calibrated. Hopefully this manual and parts list will allow the operator to make smart variations if a design constraint comes along.