The Experimental Rig - Essay Example

The water flow duct is rectangular in shape and has the size 3500mm long by 1000mm wide and a depth of 1500 mm with a tank that has a capacity of 70 liters. The closed-loop system is designed to hold water and the rectangular supply tank is connected to a centrifugal pump. Water is pumped by the centrifugal pump, from the supply tank, into the PVC pipes with 2 inches size, then through the transparent channel and into the supply tank again. The centrifugal pump is a two-stage self-priming type and it has the capability to drive the water from the tank.

The rectangular channel of the experimental rig has been designed and fabricated in such a manner that there are four transparent polycarbonate plates with dimensions ( which have been used to fabricate the channel. Acrylic was selected for fabrication of all sections of the channel, due to strength and transparency in addition to acrylic welding are soften the plate surfaces so they merge, and the molecules between the two pieces become one which gave much more strength to the channel and prevents leakages.

Four pressure tabs are placed at the bottom surface of the channel used for the measurement of pressure drop. These tabs made the test sections were placed after two sections in order to get full turbulence flow. The pressure drop of the rig has been taken for section. The experimental rig has a flow duct made from 2’’ PVC piping across the system. It has a plate cover that is 120 mm wide by 120mm height by 2000 mm long. This cover plate is made from polycarbonate material. The flow duct also has six 2’’ ball valves that are strategically located at the points of entry and exit of the water and are primarily to regulate the flow of water.

The rigging system is supplied with 240 volts of alternating current and in this regard, the experimental rig has 2’’ female sockets. The pressure transmitters are connected parallel to the pressure gauges. Since the pressures of the experimental rig that are mainly experienced at the entrance and the exit are basically low, a vacuum pressure cell has been connected to the pressure gauge. It is important to note that all the pressure transmitters are calibrated using the dead weight pressure gauge tester.

The experimental rig also has a flow meter that is located in the flow duct. It basically records the amount of water flowing through the rig before it proceeds on to the pressure transmitter. The control panel located away from the flow duct allows the control and recording of any data that is transmitted from the rig including the rate of flow and the pressure and any anomaly in the system can be noted and dealt with in order to allow a smooth flow of the water. The primary path of the rig starts from the water supply tank through the 2’’ ball valves that allow the entry of the water and are situated on the pump.

If an attempt is made to increase the flow rate by closing the valve, the water will flow back to the tank and therefore the valve must remain open. The second valve allows water to flow through at a rate of between 4 and 16 cubic meters per hour. The pipes used in the rig are primary of the PVC type.