Hi I'm Emily...a third year mech, and technically the client for this project although meeting up has never worked out. I hope this feedback is helpful, you can get my email address from James if you'd like to talk about anything. I just want to stress what a cool opportunity you have here, if your page is good, it could be accessed thousands of times, and help lots of people. Your peers doing regular projects will have reports read by their TA and maybe someone else, seems like a lot of work for so few people.
Suggestions for improvement... An introduction is much better when accompanied by background information. Why would someone care about this? What does a solar water pasteurizer do? Where could I get one of the valves if I wanted one- yeah they come from cars, but if I don't have a car (or would rather the valve stay on my car)how/where would I get one. Who is your target market?
The task is to adapt a widely available thermostatic valve for use in a' solar water pasteurizer. The thermostatic valve that will be used comes from the coolant system in automobiles. This could easily be a single sentence.
Your order is all off here...you haven't explained what valve you're going to use, or why you're testing it. What are you trying to measure? I'd put project requirements before testing. More background information will help to explain how a solar water pasteurizer works, and why a valve is important...remember you can link to other appropedia pages or even wikipediaTesting
To test the thermostatic valves we will use a heating element', 2" ABS piping, a digital thermometer, and a waterproof adhesive.
If people are going to repeat this you're going to have to give more details. When you say heating element, do you mean on a stove or a hotplate or something different entirely.
1. The ABS piping will be cut into three pieces How long are the pieces? attached to the sensitive end of the thermostatic valves.PICTURE!! 2. The heating element will be used to heat the water Where is the water initially located?What temperature do you heat the water up to? Why that temperature? the digital thermometer to record the water temperature as a function of time.
3. The testing will include just general degree-by-degree results, aswell as seeing if the valve is able to remain closed at sustained temperatures near its opening temperature.This sentence is awkward, are you trying to say that you will measure the range of temperatures that the valve is closed for, as well as the amount of time it can spend near its operating limit? Why would you do that? Is it a likely condition that will be faced if it were actually to be used? Why is it important that it stays closed?
'The heating element was decided upon to provide better control of the water temperature.Really? What if I can't carefully control the water temperature when I'm using the sun to heat it? Are your test results still valid? Why or why not?
To alter an existing thermostatic valve for use in a water pasteurization system using simple labour and cheap materials. The device must be readily accessible and easily modifiable.
Currently the most feasible solution is a modified radiator remember who your audience will eventually be...I'm not saying dumb it down, but remember that the average adult american only reads at a grade 8 level. Eg. Currently, the best available solution is a modified radiator valve, since alteration may be difficult it may not meet the requirements of this project. , however alteration may be difficult. Therefore we will attempt to include a testing procedure to determine if the valve is able to perform its This doesn't make any sense here...you say its a solution, but then say you're going to test it to see if it works, was the radiator valve a previously suggested solution? If so, say that., a method to remove the valve from the automobile I think there may be a big problem if people are taking these out of cars, then using them to filter drinking water. Will your design and testing take into account the removal of radiator fluid from the valve? Secondly, does your eventual target audience find themselves with a lot of cars or car parts? Would these valves be purchased by NGO's or governments and given to people? If so radiator fluid is likely not an issue because they probably wouldn't have been in a car. In this case cost becomes an issue. and an inspection method to see if the valve has any flaws.
There are now three possible thermostatic valves.Why did you pick these? Pictures are good, but which is which? What differentiates them?
- Murray Plus 13476 - Murray Plus 13108 - Murray Plus 13069
[edit] Costs
$9.00 each however that is retail price so if bought straight from the factory it would cost less.Why is this not referenced?
[edit] Discussion [edit] What has been accomplished Research of thermostatic valve operation I'm glad you've done your research, but please share it, or at least provide links/references! automobile coolant thermostat to be most viable option through comparison 'You definitely need to expand this part Price of the parts
So you say you're going to modify it. I have no idea how. You definitely need to include this in your report. i'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Hi Emily[edit source]
We are currently working towards our testing phase. This should be completed by Wednesday and at that point we will be able to update the Wiki and alter the procedure to be more specific.
Thanks for the input -Ted