Date of Award

8-2021

Degree Name

MS in Mechanical Engineering

Department/Program

Mechanical Engineering

College

College of Engineering

Advisor

Jennifer Mott Peuker

Advisor Department

Mechanical Engineering

Advisor College

College of Engineering

Abstract

An existing water filtration system at the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) wastes approximately 25 gallons of water per day rinsing out solid waste under light load. To reduce CIMWI’s water and energy consumption, an automated system was designed and built to recover the rinse water and return it to the existing filtration loop. Models for fluid system requirements, basic energy needs, and photo- voltaic energy generation were created to aid in component selection. Basic sensors and electronics were programmed in Python for use with a Raspberry Pi single board computer to collect and process water recovery data over time. Pump automation and data acquisition energy needs were met with a 100W photovoltaic module, pulse width modulation (PWM) charge controller, and an absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery. A prototype system, $732 in total cost, was installed and was found to recover 19 gallons of water over the initial 30-hour testing period under light load. Models and software developed for this project could be adapted to aid in the creation of similar water recovery systems.

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