Rapid Mix Contact Chamber (RMCC)
Spring 2016
The Rapid Mix Contact Chamber team worked to build a contact chamber that allowed for the rapid mixing of raw water and coagulant, improving upon the existing Rapid Mix Tube by providing a larger volume for mixing to take place. The goal of the team was to determine the shape of the contact chamber that would result in the least coagulant loss and to determine the residence time needed to maximize mixing but minimize coagulant loss. The team used mass balance to determine the loss of coagulant to the flocculator walls and used pigging to clean the flocculator in between trials. Mass balance did not end up working for the team. The end up using a tube settler and its performance as a measure for coagulant loss. The results they found were that contact chambers lessen coagulant loss. They found that residence time has the largest effect and surface area to volume ratio has a smaller effect on coagulant loss.Fall 2016
For the fall semester, the Rapid Mix Contact Chamber team worked on assessing the utility of the contact chamber performance in the rapid mixing of raw water and coagulant. The team determined this performing the tests with and without the contact chamber using the coagulant properties which were found. The team ran different tests with a straight flocculator to find the relationship between head loss and nano cluster buildup and to measure the difference in the head loss values when the tests were run with and without the contact chamber. The team found that there was no significant effect on adding a contact chamber for the flocculator studied.Spring 2017
The main goal for the spring semester is to continue testing the utility and role of a contact chamber placed after rapid mix and before flocculation. Last semester's group tested differences in head loss when coagulant was added with and without clay, to analyse whether higher turbidities decreased head loss. From these experiments, the current team will build a flocculator with less head loss, more like what is actually used in an AguaClara plant, and a defined residence time. Another test this semester will include trying to determine whether the coagulant is scoured by the clay or if the free coagulant can be measured even after flocs start forming . Perhaps, measuring the head loss difference in large diameter tubes is not the best way to test for the proportion of free nanoclusters that are not attaching to unwanted particles. In addition, when including a contact chamber , some of the coagulant may be attaching to the walls of the chamber before even reaching the flocculator .
Members Spring 2016
Meng Zu - mz436@cornell.edu
Jillian Whiting - jpw236@cornell.edu
Aditi Athavale - asa85@cornell.edu
Members Fall 2016
Joao Carlos Moraes Filho - jdm424@cornell.edu
Javier Escanciano Cabaneros - je342@cornell.edu
Mythri Krishnamoorthysujatha - mk2446@cornell.edu
Members Spring 2017
Philip Akpan - pa328@cornell.edu
Karin Teuffer - kt428@cornell.edu
Grace Zhang - tz76@cornell.edu
Documents
| Challenges | Tasks | Symposium | Final Presentation | Final Report |
Spring '16 Fall '16
Spring '17 |
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