Team:Cornell/notebook/drylab/week 12

Entry:

Today marked the first full team meeting of the fall semester. It was good to see the old members who did not stay over the summer, such as Jim, Charlie and Bill. Jim informed us that the team would be restructured a bit; people had to choose between dry lab and wet lab. Thus, dry lab lost Chie and Tina, who have been in both subteams over the summer. Additionally, Dan introduced new rules for dry lab for the fall semester. Starting now, we have to log in our hours on a weekly chart, and work for a minimum of 6 hours per week or until the completion of the assigned task. Since the project team counts for 3 course credits, the grades will reflect how well members execute their responsibilities and contribute to the team.

On a lighter note, Dan showed everyone how the solar panel attaches to the Pelican case. Four surrounding L-brackets prevent the panel from shearing off the case, while military velcro between the panel and case impede the panel from lifting off the case. Personally, I think that the velcro is an ingenious idea as it allows users to separate the panel with the right amount of force. Additionally, three filters that Dan ordered the previous week sat in the case, ready to be hooked up to the system. Although they seem a bit bulky, the filtration units have meters that indicate when the cartridges are full of debris. Furthermore, the cartridges can be easily removed and replaced.

With the funding received from ConocoPhillips, we are looking to buy a device that will mix the food and analyte water that will be fed into the bioreactor for the Schewanella. Through a bit of research, we concluded that the simplest option would be an inline static mixer, a tubelike structure with chambers to mix the passing solution. We also needed to account for pressure drop, a detail that we realized dry lab overlooked all summer. After finding our system has laminar flow, we used an online resource to match our flow rate to approximately 0.033 milliliters per minute. The low flow rate means there will be a negligible pressure drop if we choose a maximum number of elements or mixing fins. Rest assured, our microscopic pets, food and analyte water will be well mixed before served.

#mixer #food #pressure drop #tubing #reunion #welcome back