Pilot Plant Sedimentation Team Goals

Fall 2008 Team Members

Fall 2008 Goals

Organize Pilot Plant wiki (12/12/08)

This task will be going on throughout the semester

Fix leaks in plant leveling tank and pipes in order to run tanks. (10/09/08)

Write Midterm Progress Report (10/14/08)

Try to form floc blanket without lamella in second tank to determine if pipe inlet is interfering with blanket formation. (10/19/08)

This will be done by running both sedimentation tanks until a floc blanket forms.
The turbidity of the effluent will be measured to see what, if any,difference there is between the tanks. (10/23/08)

Construct weirs (10/27/08)

Make a new weir for the plant leveling tank so that it can run at 70 m/day (currently, the holes on opposite sides are interfering with eachothers flow). Trim the current weirs to account for increased flow rates through the plant, so that they will not overflow onto the floor.

Determine whether or not it is possible to form a floc blanket given the current lamella dimensions we have (11/14/08)

If no sludge blanket has formed on the lamella tank, but there is a blanket the control tank, compare effluents to see which is more effective. Brainstorm about the design of the lamella, and talk with Monroe or Sara to see what might be a good parameter to change. i.e. the height of the lamella in the tank, the spacing between lamella, the length of the lamella themselves, etc. and discuss whether changing this parameter should even affect the tank at all, or if another route should be taken
If a sludge blanket has formed on both tanks, compare the effluents to see if there is any difference in the NTU measurements of the water.
If there is no sludge blanket in either tank, it can be assumed that flocs are not forming properly. Check the alum dosing to make sure that it isn't too high or too low, and return the next day to check on the tanks. Repeat as necessary until the situation fits a different one of these three categories.
While testing/waiting is take place, work on the methods section of the wiki and also reorganizing the wiki according to the guidelines. Also, talk with Alissa to see what needs to be corrected on our wiki page.

Sludge blanket height (11/21/08)

If a sludge blanket occurred in the previous week in both tanks, measure the height of the blanket in the tanks by the layer of clear water at the top. I am assuming that the level of the blanket will be fairly high, maybe even submerging the lamella. If this is the case, we will want to play around with the height of the sludge blanket, since the lamella are not designed for this kind of interaction with the sludge blanket. We will try to lower the height of the sludge blanket by opening the drainage valve at the bottom of the tank a little bit. If the blanket responds accordingly, we will want to see if it will remain at that height, or just resume its previous height by checking on the level of the sludge blanket the following day. If this is successful, we will continue to lower it more until the sludge blanket no longer responds in the same manner. During this time, we will be measuring the effluent to see what the best height of the sludge blanket is for the clearest water.
If a sludge blanket has not occurred in the previous week in the lamella tank, begin to play with a siphon to see if we can form a sludge blanket at a lower height, by continuously draining some of the water from the height we desire (similar to Matt Hurst's experiment). Do calculations for a tube diameter for this siphon so as to obtain a flow of about 1% of the total flow out of the sedimentation tank.
In spare time, work on the glossary of term and contact page for the Cornell University Water Filtration Plant Operators.
Make sure that the problems that we have observed/encountered (the pump clogging, the unlevel trough, etc) have some sort of solution in process.

Write Final Report and prepare presentation (12/12/08)

Final Presentation (12/03/08)

Wiki Report Revisions and Final Team Evaluation (12/19/08)