Mechanical Engineering 310 Documentation 2018-2019
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P a g e | 1 X Y L E M MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 310 DOCUMENTATION 2018-2019 Mechanical Engineering Design Group 416 Escondido Mall Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305- 2203 http://me310.stanford.edu Team Xylem: Adit Desai Fay Nicole Colah Okkeun Lee Tin Jing jie Dai Jiang Mika Julin Nina Saarikoski Samuel Moy Timo Moyer 1 Executive Summary This report summarizes the work completed by the Stanford University (SU) and Aalto University (AU) Teams during the 2018-19 Academic Year for ME310 with our corporate sponsor Xylem Inc. In Autumn Quarter 2018, the SU team explored the concept of a modified drip irrigation system designed to reduce the amount of water lost due to evaporation during irrigation, and an oyster based water filtration system which aimed to replicate the mucus in oysters to trap contaminants to purify water. In Winter Quarter 2019, the SU team explored the concept of a human powered personal and floor-based filtration system, which achieved flow rates of up to 80 times faster as compared to gravity fed methods. In Spring Quarter 2019 after the Winter Break in Aalto University, the SU and AU teams converged on a final product design concept and user, which was a low cost, modular and highly maintainable water filtration system which could remove heavy metals, pathogens and sediments from contaminated waters. The filtration system was designed such that clean drinking water could be provided to rural children in developing countries who did not have access to an electrical supply. A key nature-inspired filtration technology of this system was the usage of microalgae (Chlorella Vulgaris) for batch removal of heavy metals, where literature research reported that small quantities of such algae are able to remove significant quantities (~88%) of heavy metals from contaminated waters within 30 minutes. Lead removal testing conducted by Jessica Moyer, Xylem’s corporate contact, with assistance from the SU team with low algae biomass concentrations reported that more than 50% of all Lead in water was absorbed within an extremely low contact time of less than 5 minutes. This brings Lead concentrations in water to acceptable drinking water standards in developing countries such as India, where the low cost of Chlorella Vulgaris ($0.73/kg) and effective heavy metal removal makes algae a sustainable, long term solution to the drinking water needs of our rural users. A second key feature of the final product is the processing and treatment of algae after heavy metal adsorption through the usage of natural bio-flocculants such as Chitosan, which require 5 times less mass than traditional flocculants to aggregate algae cells into large flocs which settle to the bottom of the dirty water tank. With 0.25g/L of Chitosan added, 90% biomass removal was achieved in 10 minutes which prevents Lead-filled algae from entering the main filtration system, therefore reducing maintenance and backwash requirements for the system. A third key feature is the usage of human power to accelerate the flow rate of contaminated water through the product’s filtration system, where a foot based water pump operated by the user provides high pressure to the water stream in the system for high flow rates. The usage of human power allowed the SU and AU teams to avoid using gravity-fed methods and create a highly compact and modular system for user ease of use and maintenance. The AU team focused on developing the mechanical filtration aspects of the system by specifying the micro and sediment filters to be used. Another key aspect of the final product is the simple backwash mechanism, where the connection of a backwashing syringe to the backwash inlet of the system and the turning of 2 taps to backwash form the only requirements which the user has to meet in order to perform backwash. This makes backwashing simple and easy to carry out by the user to ensure that the filtration systems would be regularly maintained by the user. Finally, water flow rate tests on the entire system with sediment filter, micro filter and GAC in place found that a decent flow rate of 40ml/step was achieved with each user step. Hence to meet the daily drinking water requirement of 1L/day, a low step count of 25 is needed for each child. Therefore, the SU and AU teams have designed a low cost, modular and easily maintainable system which can remove sediments, pathogens and heavy metals from contaminated water while delivering a good flow rate for our user. Figure 1. Team Xylem- STEP2O Section 3 of this report documents the design development process, while Section 4 documents the design requirements of the final product. Section 5 documents the design specifications of the final product and test results, section 6 documents project management by the SU and AU teams, and section 7 documents the reflections by individual members of the SU and AU teams. Glossary Word Definition AU Aalto University Backwash The process of reversing water flow through a mechanical filtration system to remove dirt and particles from the filter Batch filtration The removal of heavy metals by adding microalgae into batches of contaminated water Bioadsorption A physiochemical process that occurs naturally in certain biomass which allows it to passively concentrate and bind contaminants onto its cellular structure. Bioaccumulation The gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other chemicals in an organism Bio-Flocculent A biological substance which is used to aggregate smaller particles in water together into larger clumps, which then settle to the bottom of water tanks by virtue of their larger mass Biomass Dry mass of microalgae per litre of water concentration Capillary Action The tendency of a liquid in a capillary tube or absorbent material to rise or fall as a result of surface tension Chitosan A sugar that is obtained from the hard-outer skeleton of shellfish, including crab, lobster, and shrimp. In this project, Chitosan was used as a bio-flocculent Continuous Filtration The removal of heavy metals by continuously passing water through a microalgae filter Chlorella Vulgaris Species of Micro-algae used to remove heavy metals in this project Critical Experience A prototype used to answer questions about how the users might Prototype (CEP) respond to aspects or elements of a design. One primary purpose of a CEP is to explore a possible design direction Critical Function A prototype that addresses the performance of a critical component of Prototype (CFP) a system. One primary purpose of a CFP is to explore a possible design direction Dark Horse Prototype A prototype that intentionally diverges from the current vision focus (DHP) to explore marginalized design themes. Desalination A process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance Filtration The process of removing small particles from water through a mechanical filter Filter feeding a form of food procurement in which food particles or small mechanism organisms are randomly strained from water Float Valve A one-way valve that is opened and closed by pressure on a ball which fits into a cup-shaped opening Functional Prototype A system prototype that pivots a project direction into the (FcP) convergence phase and can provide a silhouette of what the final product should look like. The CFP helps tease out technical and implementation issues as well as more clearly define the project scope. Funk-tional Prototype A low fidelity prototype for which existing parts have been hacked (FkP) and brought together in a manner that approximates a system without making a costly commitment to any one configuration, technology, or geometry. Granular Activated Chemical filter system which removes taste and bad odour by Carbon (GAC) Filter absorbing chemicals from contaminated water Gravity-fed methods A commonly used filtration method where gravity is used to force water through filtration systems at accelerated flow rates Gravity and Bio-sand A point-of-use water treatment system adapted from traditional slow Filters sand filters. bio sand filters remove pathogens and suspended solids from water using biological and physical processes that take place in a sand column covered with a biofilm Heavy Metals Any metallic chemical element that has a relatively high density and is toxic or poisonous at low concentrations Hollowfibre Mechanical filter system with pore sizes of about 0.1 microns which membrane micro removes pathogens from contaminated water filter Ion exchange The process of replacing a H+ ion with a positively charged heavy metal ion in the functional groups in microalgae cell walls Micro-Algae Found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellular species which exist individually, or in chains or groups. Microplastics Small plastic pieces less than give millimetres long which can be harmful to ocean and aquatic life Pathogens A bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease. Part X The completion of a non-trivial part of the design in its final form PPB Parts per Billion Reverse Osmosis A process by which a solvent pass through a porous membrane in the direction opposite to that for natural osmosis when subjected to a hydrostatic pressure greater than the osmotic pressure Radial Filter A filter that takes in water from the circumference of the filter Sediment Filter Mechanical filter system with pore sizes of about 5 microns meant to prevent larger particles from entering the main filtration system SU Stanford University Turbidity A measurement of the cloudiness of a liquid solution. Using microcontroller sensors, turbidity is a measurement of the amount of light reflected from suspended particles Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Context ...................................................................................................................................