Improvement of water recycling system for motorhomes
Alifanova, Ekaterina (2020)
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020083119991
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020083119991
Tiivistelmä
A van that has most of home facilities is called a motorhome. It enables people to travel anywhere since they can live inside the car. However, the water tank needs to be refilled occasionally as well as wastewater must be disposed. This leads to significant limitations in the travelling experience. Quantum Engineering Oy has developed a working prototype for a water-purification system that recycles wastewater and eliminates unnecessary refills and disposal. However, it turned out that their current version of prototype was not able to separate water from soap and therefore reusing the water became impossible: it remained soapy.
The aim of this thesis project was to modify the water-purification system with the main objective of finding a way to separate water from soap. In order to prove the concept, building and testing the prototype was required.
Principles of electrocoagulation (EC) were used in this work. Electrocoagulation is a method of water purification by applying an electric current through metal electrodes that are in contact with the contaminated water. The electric field leads to a release of the hydrolyzed electrode’s ions that form coagulants which remove the soap particles from the water and guarantee success of flocculation.
A working prototype was developed after several iterations. The prototype successfully removed different types of detergents, and the purified water could be reused for everyday purposes after filtration. The technology developed in this work has been patented by Quantum Engineering Oy.
Although, the prototype was successful, further improvement can be achieved by automating removal of foam and sediment, cleaning the electrodes as well as choosing the optimal parameters for the EC unit.
The aim of this thesis project was to modify the water-purification system with the main objective of finding a way to separate water from soap. In order to prove the concept, building and testing the prototype was required.
Principles of electrocoagulation (EC) were used in this work. Electrocoagulation is a method of water purification by applying an electric current through metal electrodes that are in contact with the contaminated water. The electric field leads to a release of the hydrolyzed electrode’s ions that form coagulants which remove the soap particles from the water and guarantee success of flocculation.
A working prototype was developed after several iterations. The prototype successfully removed different types of detergents, and the purified water could be reused for everyday purposes after filtration. The technology developed in this work has been patented by Quantum Engineering Oy.
Although, the prototype was successful, further improvement can be achieved by automating removal of foam and sediment, cleaning the electrodes as well as choosing the optimal parameters for the EC unit.