String Digester - Fall 2018

Rosalie Krasnoff, Zsofia Szegletes, Madeline Garell, Antonio Martinez

ABSTRACT:

The string digester team’s objective for the Fall 2018 semester was to continue research on designing a new wastewater treatment system to eliminate problems associated with current trickling filters. To improve consistency in wastewater treatment, experiments were conducted using strings to optimize surface area. The long-term goal of this team is to create an efficient wastewater treatment system that will perform secondary and tertiary treatment on domestic wastewater. Initial tests involving different string materials, biofilm growth, and string spacing helped define design parameters for the construction of a functioning string digester.

UASB - Fall 2018

Ian Cullings, Ananya Gangadhar, Cara Smith, Nina Blahut

Abstract:

Since Spring 2017, the AguaClara Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) Team has been working on a detailed design of a pilot-scale UASB reactor. A UASB reactor treats wastewater anaerobically and produces biogas as a byproduct. Working towards that goal, the team has created Python code to record the design process and calculations for this AguaClara UASB.

During Fall 2018, the team continued design work on the UASB with the goal of completing a full design. The team also began researching flow patterns through the UASB to optimize treatment and prevent preferential pathways.

Humic Acid - Fall 2018

Matthew Lee, Vanessa Qi, Carolyn Wang

Abstract:

The Fall 2018 Humic Acid Team will focus on testing the effluent humic acid concentration changes as coagulant dosage increases for influent humic acid at 5mg/L, 10mg/L and 15mg/L trials. The new AccuView spectrophotometer will be used to measure the flow absorbance and corresponding species concentrations will be calculated from recorded absorbances with Beer's Law. The team expects to develop better understanding of humic acid concentration changes through the overall experimental system and how humic acid particles interact with clay particles inside the sedimentation model. This research will help AguaClara gain more knowledge of how Natural Organic Matter (NOM) interacts with coagulant in water.

StaRS Filter Theory - Fall 2018

Barbara Oramah, Lainey Reed, Emily Spiek

Abstract:

Stacked Rapid Sand Filtration is the last stage in an AguaClara treatment plant. The filters are used to further reduce the turbidity of water to meet EPA standards of 0.3 NTU or less. This semester, the Stacked Rapid Sand (StaRS) Filter Theory team constructed 3 StaRS filters with sand of varying sizes. These filters will be used in future experiments to analyze how specific parameters, including sand grain size and coagulant dosage, affect filter performance. The StaRS Filter Theory team has spent the semester compiling a manual so that future teams can run experiments and reconstruct experimental filters if necessary.

Fluoride Auto - Fall 2018

Fluoride Automated System

Tigran Mehrabyan, Janak Shah, Samba Sowe

Abstract:

The Fluoride Auto subteam seeks to develop a sustainable, inexpensive fluoride removal system for implementation in upcoming AguaClara plants in India. Using the apparatus developed in previous semesters, the team continued running experiments testing how various concentrations of PACl affect fluoride removal. The team then analyzed the variability of the Langmuir isotherm generated by the summer 2018 Fluoride team. This analysis factored into the overarching goal of developing a model to predict an optimal coagulant dosage given both influent and target effluent fluoride concentrations.

Sensor Development - Fall 2018

Dana Owens, Lawrence Li, Lois Lee

Abstract:

The objective of the Sensor Development subteam is to develop sensors to monitor water quality during the water treatment process in Aguaclara plants. In previous semesters, the subteam developed a working prototype for an in-lab fluidized bed solids detector and also made progress towards prototyping a submersible sludge blanket detector. This semester the subteam also worked on finalizing a product-level version of the in-lab fluidized bed solids detector with a more intuitive user interface.The subteam will also work on finishing and determining the best prototype for the sludge blanket detector.