Fluoride - Spring 2017

August Longo, Briana Li-Vidal, Michelle Cheng, Victoria Zhang

Abstract

The Fluoride subteam seeks to develop a sustainable, inexpensive fluoride removal system for implementation in upcoming AguaClara plants located in India. After earning an EPA Phase II grant for the Spring 2016 fluoride removal reactor, the subteam seeks to improve fluoride purification by testing lab-scale systems to compare a single reactor with reactors in series. At the beginning of this semester, the subteam identified potential issues with floc buildup at the bottom of the reactor. Thus, a sloped plane bottom geometry was incorporated into the reactor system to encourage recirculation of the flocs. Additionally, experiments with high concentrations of PACl resulted in clogging of the apparatus due to PACl buildup. Clay was incorporated into the influent stream to abate this PACl buildup. Initial testing of fluoride removal with the updated one and two reactor systems provided results that seem to indicate slightly better fluoride removal efficiency with two reactors, but more data collected by future testing is required to make a concrete conclusion.

Floc App - Spring 2017

Christian Rodriguez, Anthony Verghese, Deniz Yilmazer

Abstract:

Turbidity measurements provide the primary source of performance monitoring at many water treatment plants. Turbidity provides an excellent way to measure overall plant performance, but it fails to provide insight into the specific processes that make up the plant. The earliest reduction in turbidity in an AguaClara plant occurs after the sedimentation tank with a time delay of 30 to 45 minutes. This delay makes feedback control challenging especially when raw water turbidity varies rapidly. The floc size and count app comes in to fill this shortcoming by providing an easyto-use desktop application to measure floc distribution in various parts of the plant. The floc app can measure floc size distribution of the flocculated water to characterize flocculation efficiency. Flocculation residence time is expected to be less than 5 minutes in the next generation of AguaClara plants and this will significantly reduce the feedback time to provide guidance for setting the plant coagulant dose.

Fluoride Floc Blanket - Spring 2017

Fluoride Auto — August Longo, Briana Li-Vidal, Michelle Cheng, Victoria Zhang

ABSTRACT:

The Fluoride subteam seeks to develop a sustainable, inexpensive fluoride removal system for implementation in upcoming AguaClara plants located in India. After earning an EPA Phase II grant for the Spring 2016 fluoride removal reactor, the subteam seeks to improve fluoride purification by testing lab-scale systems to compare a single reactor with reactors in series. At the beginning of this semester, the subteam identified potential issues with floc buildup at the bottom of the reactor. Thus, a sloped plane bottom geometry was incorporated into the reactor system to encourage recirculation of the flocs. Additionally, experiments with high concentrations of PACl resulted in clogging of the apparatus due to PACl buildup. Clay was incorporated into the influent stream to abate this PACl buildup. Initial testing of fluoride removal with the updated one and two reactor systems provided results that seem to indicate slightly better fluoride removal efficiency with two reactors, but more data collected by future testing is required to make a concrete conclusion

Anaerobic Fluidized Bed Reactor - Spring 2017

Clare O’Connor, Evan Greenberg, Peter Martin

Abstract:

The initial focus of the Spring 2017 Anaerobic Fluidized Bed team (AFB) was to continue developing declogging mechanisms for the reactors, however it was learned that side-stepping declogging was possible by focusing on steady-state operation of the reactors. Thus, the middle of the semester included design of two reactor set-ups designed to determine the fastest hydraulic residence time (HRT) that could feasibly be used. The new designed showed that not enough was known about the treatment process to move forward productively, so an extensive literature search was performed to gather more information necessary for a possible redesign in the fall.

Ram Pump - Spring 2017

Abigail Brown, Christopher Galantino, Ana Ruess

Abstract:

The purpose of the Ram Pump team is to fabricate a properly functioning hydraulic ram pump, or hydram, for implementation in AguaClara plants. The hydram is designed to deliver outgoing water initially flowing towards the distribution tanks back to the facility for utilization in chemical stick tanks or to collect water at higher elevations for other plumbing needs (toilets in the plant etc.) The team’s main goals for the semester are to determine which parameters are effective in allowing the system to work at minimal driving head as well as developing an audio-based diagnostic system for plant operator use in order to identify specific issues and apply correct solutions.