Design of an off grid Photovoltaic system

Abstract: During the half century of development from a laboratory discovery to plants capable of producing up to half a million tons of desalinated seawater per day, Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology has undergone rapid transition. This transition process has caused signification transformation and consolidation in membrane chemistry, module design, and RO plant configuration and operation. From the early days, when cellulose acetate membranes were used in hollow fiber module configuration, technology has transitioned to thin film composite polyamide flat-sheet membranes in a spiral wound configuration. Early elements – about 4-inches in diameter during the early 70s – displayed flow rates approaching 250 L/h and sodium chloride rejection of about 98.5 percent. One of today’s 16-inch diameter elements is capable of delivering 15-30 times more permeate (4000-8000 L/h) with 5 to 8 times less salt passage (hence a rejection rate of 99.7 percent or higher). This paper focuses on the transition process in RO module configuration, and how it helped to achieve these performance improvements. An introduction is provided to the two main module configurations present in the early days, hollow fiber and spiral wound and the convergence to spiral wound designs is described as well. The development and current state of the art of the spiral wound element is then reviewed in more detail, focusing on membrane properties (briefly), membrane sheet placement (sheet length and quantity), the changes in materials used (e.g. feed and permeate spacers), element size (most notably diameter), element connection systems (interconnectors versus interlocking systems). The paper concludes with some future perspectives, describing areas for further improvement.

Introduction: This manual provides guidance and criteria for the design of small water supply, treatment, and distribution systems. For the purpose of this manual, small water systems shall be those having average daily design flow rates of 380 000 liters per day (l/d) (100 000 gallons per day (gpd)) or less. However, the use of the term small is arbitrary, there being no consensus in the water supply literature with respect to its meaning. Regulations regarding the acceptability of a water source, degree of treatment required, and the monitoring requirements are not based on flow rates, but rather on a water system classification relating to the number of people served and for what period of time. Figure 1-1 provides a flowchart for system classification. Refer to Chapter 3, paragraph 3-4b for the appropriate nomenclature.

ABSTRACT Sustainable and effective treatment of landfill leachate has become one of the most important environmental problems due to the fluctuating composition and quantity, as well as its high concentrations of pollutants. High-tech solutions applied for the leachate treatment are expensive and energy consuming, and in addition they are not suitable at many landfill sites, especially those in rural areas. Hence there is need to develop novel and sustainable low-energy systems for the effective treatment of landfill leachates. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are inexpensive simple to operate and they have the potential to remove not only organic carbon and nitrogen compounds, but heavy metals. This study focussed on the design, development and experimental investigation of a novel CWs for the treatment of landfill leachate. The CWs employed dewatered ferric waterworks sludge (DFWS) as the main substrate. The overall aim of the study was to design and assess the novel configuration of the CWs, whilst also contributing to advancing the understanding of pollutant removal from the landfill leachate in the CWs, through the development of models to explain the internal processes and predict performance. The key design and operational variables investigated were: the primary media used, i.e. the DFWS, and the wetting and drying regimes. The CWs was configured as 4- stages in series which was operated for 220 days. Thereafter, an additional unit was added due to clogging and the CWs was operated for 185 days in this second period. Results and experimental observations indicate that the chemical treatment processes (adsorption and precipitation) contributed to the clogging. The DFWS used served as adsorbent for heavy metals removal in the system. Results of heavy metals, organic matter (COD), ammonia and total nitrogen removal indicate average removals of 99%, 62%, 83% and 81%, respectively in first period; and 100%, 86%, 90% and 82% in second period, with an average heavy metals loading rate 0.76 g m-2 day-1 , organic loading rate 1070 g m-2 day-1 , ammonia loading rate of 178 g m-2 day-1 and total nitrogen loading rate 192 g m-2 day-1 . Results were supported through mathematical analysis using STELLA model for heavy metals transformation in CWs and numerical modelling using HYDRUS CW2D, which enhanced understanding of the internal processes for organic matter and nitrogen 3removal. The result from STELLA modelling showed that up to 90% of the removal of heavy metals was through adsorption, which is highly significant. While HYDRUS CW2D results showed that the main path of nitrogen removal was through simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. Overall, results have shown that CWs design has great potential for reduction of metals and nutrients in landfill leachate. Results of this study can contribute to future CW research and design for landfill leachate treatment, through the increased understanding of long-term pollutant removal in these systems. In time, this may result in the wider application of CWs for landfill leachate treatment to better protect the environment.

Abstract: The primary purpose of this project is to investigate the engineering design process and use it to design a disposable water bottle for mass production that is aesthetically pleasing, structurally sound, market appropriate and financially viable. It is the intention that the water bottle, complete with branding, will go on sale in the Australian market. In the past decade bottled water has grown to become a major seller in the Australian beverage market. With many resources spent on the marketing and sales of a disposable water bottle, this project endeavor's to design a bottle tailored to its target demographic from the ground up. Largely in depth survey research from select focus groups within a target demographic will assure the accuracy of the specifications and the direct relevance to the intended consumer. An engineering design approach ensures that the bottle will not only be rigorously designed to heavily researched specifications but also computationally tested to guarantee the success of the completed product.