Montmorillo-Knights
Senior Design - LSU - Team #1
Bench Scale Model
Recap:
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The Bench Scale model's conception was in the summer of 2017. Daniel Schmidt (team member) was in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) through the Center for Computation and Technology (CCT) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) at LSU when construction began. The model was designed for a small scale slug flow regime producer with a simulated riser. The model was built within about 1 week. It was used to obtain initial experimental data for use as results in the REU. Its usefulness was intended continue into the 2017-2018 school year for our senior project.
Initial Details and Construction:
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The model consists of a wooden frame on caster wheels. The wheels are for easy maneuverability when showcasing the work. Its base is a 3x6 platform. With a 1.5 inch ID schedule 40 PVC pipe serving as the production pipe and well. It uses a 1 GPM pump and common household Husky Auto/Home inflator. A Dwyer air flow meter with a valve was used to provide variable air output. It was equipped with 2 Prosense pressure sensors with 0 - 30 psig range and a paddle wheel flow meter. These sensors are attached to a Arduino mega which was coded with C++ to translate the data.
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Initial Results
The model delivered on being able to record data about slug flow. The model was then painted and showcased at the Summer Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF). Below is a video of it creating slug flow.
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Update: January 27, 2018
Derek Staal (team member) began construction on the electronic valve that would be used on the bench scale model during the end of 2017. His work led him to build two separate prototypes for the valve. After which he determined the increased speed and sleeker design of the latest valve should provide the best performance. He also was working with the Arduino interface for the ability to adopt a relay into the model.
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He cut and dropped in the valve. He and Daniel Schmidt worked on the wiring and programming necessary to have all parts working together for a bump test. A bump test is needed for designing the PID control parameters.
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After some headaches, frustration, and multiple days, the valve and relay components were successfully adopted to the existing model. Derek is still currently working to tidy up and make permanent connections for the electrical components.
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All Videos
Bump test was ran for the model. The results will be used for the PID control section. We also installed the back drop. Please see the video to the left for a look at slug flow in the model.
Update: February 3, 2018
Update: February 11, 2018
The model is undergoing tests for the PID portion of our project. Updates concerning that can be found in the PID project page. The only update about the bench model is that we have some potentiometers on order to be installed onto the water pump so we can have variable speed. The construction of the bench model is complete so all further updates about the bench model will be experimental data processing and we will trick it out. We plan on installing light strips and corresponding music so stay tuned!
Update: February 25, 2018
A GUI was programmed using MATLAB. The GUI gives us the ability to read and write data easily. Also incorporated into the GUI is the controls for the PID. The bugs are still being worked out on it but it is already leaps and bounds better than using the Arduino IDE. With this milestone completed we are set to do nothing but data gathering for the bench scale model.
Update: March 12, 2018
Lights have been installed on the bench scale model. We are using the lights as a tool to help in the visualization of the slugs. We have a video of slug flow with the lights. We also had a minor issue with coding the flow rate. We are working to fix that issue soon.
Update: March 19, 2018
The bench scale model data was gathered over this past week. The team put together the data into charts and formulated the first draft explaining the results, hopefully for a conference paper. The bench model worked out beautifully and we will be working when we return from spring break to clean it up for our final presentations in early April. This part of the journey is completed!
