Week 9

Week 8

Week 7 - Designated Tasks

Week 6 and Week 7 Goals and Tasks:

Scott - Finish up the information for compatibility for solar panels with the pump and filter system

Michael - Creating the parts of the apparatus in Creo - specifically pump 

Patrick - Drawing filter system in Creo

Katie - Fixing up the blog and working on the tank in Creo 

Alex - Fixing up the blog and working on the tank in Creo 

Laura - Starting rough draft for final proposal and making sure all requirements are followed

Once all of the parts are created in Creo, we will combine them and make a working system.

Tank Information - Continuation of Week 6

  Tank Information:

                After doing extensive research, we came to the conclusion that males need two gallons of potable water per day, while females need one gallon of potable water per day.  This is an average of one and a half gallons of water per person, per day.  Therefore, we would get a 165 gallon tank, which would provide for around 100 people.  The motive for switching from stainless steel to plastic is for a number of reasons.  First, cost and size have a tremendous impact on the tank.  The stainless steel tanks found are cost to size efficient, but the size was comparable to a house.  A big tank would decide the complexity of the filter and the pump system.  Therefore, a smaller tank would be best, since this project will start small and progress can be made if it turns out to be successful in Africa. 

The new plastic tank found is 65 gallons, which is much smaller compared 793 gallons.   One of the benefits of a stainless steel tank is its ability to keep water cool.  However, the water pumped from the Nile into the tank will be warm anyway, and there is not an air conditioning system within the tank, so the ability to keep the water cool is irreverent.  The plastic tank will develop bacteria growth over a long period of time, but since the tank will be completely emptied by the end of the day, according to calculations.  Therefore, the plastic tank will be sufficient for the criteria this project includes.  Below is a picture of the website the plastic green tank is purchased from, totaling to 149.99 dollars.  The 793 gallon stainless steel tank was 880.00 dollars.  By changing to the new plastic tank, over 700 dollars will be saved.  Since the tank is plastic, there will need to be some type of covering the tank can be stored under to be protected from direct sunlight. 

Below is a picture of an autoCAD multiview drawing from the website listed below.  This is the website we would purchase the tank from:  http://www.plastic-mart.com/product/6025/65-gallon-vertical-water-storage-tank-crmi-65vtfwg  

The image below is a picture of the 65 gallon, green tank. 

65 Gallon Plastic Water Tank Price:  $149.99    Part Number: CRMI-65VTFWG   Capacity: 65 Gallons   Dimensions: 24" dia. x 37"H   Weight: 20 lbs.   Ships From: ID   USD Shipping: Calculate Shipping   PDF Drawing: View Technical Drawing   Manufacturer: Custom Roto Mold   Contact Us

65 Gallon Vertical Plastic Water Storage Tank:

• This 65 gallon fresh water storage tank is designed for storage of potable water.

• 65 gallon CRMI water tank is manufactured from Food and Drug Administration approved and compliant linear polyethylene with U.V. inhibitors and designed for the containment of liquids of up to 1.0 specific gravity.
• Tank features a vented lid and comes standard with female threaded inlet/outlets

• 65 Gallon water storage tank can be ordered in green or black polyethylene plastic

Water Tanks are for storage and are not designed to be pressurized. Tanks are designed for water storage use only.
Lid Size: 8"
Inlet: 1"
Outlet: 2"

Polyethylene plastic tanks are preferred for economical and chemical resistant attributes in alage growing system and bio-diesel process and storage.   http://www.tanksystems.com/

These water tanks will last over 25 years and are approved by the FDA for potable water storage.  UV inhibitors are built into the plastic to protect it from the sunlight.  The colors available help to discourage algae growth.  This tank is available through Loomis Tank Centers and also Plastic-Mart; both places sell the tank for roughly the same price.

Website:  http://shop.loomistank.com/product/1003201.1008797.1008799.0.0/LCR65VTFWG/_/CR_65_WTR_24D_X_37H#.UYrM6rWG1ch

Above ground water tanks are UV-stabilized HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) approved for potable water by the FDA. These durable tanks have a long lifespan, are lightweight and are easy to handle.

Features:
• Applications include drinking water, fire protection, irrigation, disaster preparedness, rainwater collection
• Additional fittings can be user-installed to meet your specific needs
• These water tanks are made for above ground storage of water only - Do not bury these above-ground only water tanks
• These water tanks are rated for atmospheric pressure only -Do not use as vacuum or pressure tanks
• 3-year warranty
Specs:
Capacity 65 gal
Diameter 24 in
Height 37 in
Type Vertical
Weight 20 lbs

Week 6

Filter:

- Germicidal treatment of water

- Generate between 185nm and 254 nm of UV light

- Does not remove particles, colloids, or ions

- Exposure length proportional to length and inversely proportional to flow rate

- Dosage decreases logarithmically with distance from lamp

- http://www.filtersfast.com/P-Hydronix-Polaris-UV-1C-110V-UV-Filter.asp?gclid=CM-WlOj5_7YCFcJo4AodrwgALQ

• $58
• 10W lamp
• Flow rate: 1 gpm 

Tasks: 
Alex- will have tank information by Saturday, May 4, 2013

Patrick- will have filter information by Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Fitzy- will have filter information by Thursday, May 9, 2013

Laura- start planning final report that is due week 7

Katie- Continue with Nile River contaminate and start planning final report

Week 5 - Flow Chart

Week 4 - Coming Together with Research

Possible Pumps

Jet Pumps
- used to lift water from ground, via suction pipe 

- can go 25 to 150 feet deep (pretty sure they can go shallower as well)

- centrifugal pump with multiple impellers and diffusers.  Also has jet ejector.

- water passes through jet and gains velocity, but decreases pressure

- increased water speed and the decrease in pressure creates suction

- larger displacement from water to top of tank means less water is moved

- jet helps move water through a tube to the pump higher up

           

Submersible Pumps
- whole pump is submerged, motor and all. 

- does not need to worry about driving water in, it focuses on pushing it out
- impellers pass water to eye of impellers in succession. The water is then passed through a diffuser   which decreases the velocity of the water and converts it to pressure
- Pressure is increased for every impeller that it passes through

Limitations of Pumps
- To get more flow from the pump that the size of the exit of the impeller needs to be increased.
- To get more pressure, also known as head the impeller exit should be decreased
- Ultimately Horse Power is the limitation to a pumps demand.

Solar Panel Information: 

- Solar panels can be made out of different materials and therefore take up different amounts of space
- On average, single solar panels can produce 300 watts of electricity
- Solar panels can be connected to form a solar array, which maximizes current and therefore increases wattage
- Total wattage depends on:

• materials used
• size of the cell
• number of cells in each panel
• number of panels in the array

- You can have the solar panel adjust to follow the sun or stay in a fixed direction

- Typical 185 watt solar PV panel measure 808 x 1508 mm and weighs approx. 15kg

- Will need to use a controller to make sure that battery does not discharge or become overcharged

- Volt*Current= power (watts) 

- Increasing voltage can make system more efficient by reducing energy lost to resistance

- Power*number of peak sun hours in your area= watts-hours

- Three most common types of solar panels are:

• Polycrystalline Panels: made of silicon with many different crystals, efficient, should be used in areas with high sun exposure
• Monocrystalline Panels: made of single silicon crystal, more expensive but more efficient than Polycrystalline
• Amorphous Panels: flexible and easier to work with, works is all daylight conditions: in northern hemisphere, install panel facing solar sought, in southern hemisphere, install panel facing solar north, charge controllers/regulators

- Regulate voltage going into battery during the day

- Protect against battery discharge at night
- Allows more current to flow when charge is low and stops current when overcharged
- Essential if solar panel is being used
- Make sure controller is compatible with the solar panels and batteries in your system
- Batteries:

• Deep cycle batteries meant to be charged and discharged many times and are ideal for use with solar panels
• can be wired together to provide as much storage capacity as needed
• rated in amp-hours- measure of how much current battery can supply in certain number of hours

-Power Inverter- change current from DC to AC (may or may not need depending on what the pump needs)

• Modified sine wave- less expensive than pure sine wave inverters; most things in a household will run fine, but others may be damaged or not run normally
• Pure sine wave- same as AC provided by electrical company; will work for any appliance that you would normally run; will probably need >75 watts of power for pump; can use higher voltage DC pump, but you will need to wire together more than one solar panel to provide the right amount of power

Wiring Solar Panels Together:

-Depends on the voltage of the charge controller

• If the solar panel and charge controller voltage are the same, need to wire them in parallel
• If the charge controller voltage 48V and panels are 24, need to wire in series

- Must also consider the wire that will be used

• more wire means more resistance
• resistance directly proportional to length of cable
• resistance inversely proportional to cross sectional area of cable; can use the resistance in the cable to calculate the voltage drop in the system (V=IxR)