Modular auger design to prevent clogging in suction

A mechanical design was conducted for a modular auger system that reduces the risk of clogging in suction piping meant to process sargassum seaweed. The auger supports a slurry pump-based system being designed to address sargassum blooms adversely affecting beaches in the Caribbean. By reducing clogging, the auger will prevent damage to the pump and reductions in productivity. A mathematical model of the auger system was created, then a small-scale physical model was built to test the concept. These tests exposed flaws in the mechanical details of the design, but the viability of the concept was shown, so a full-scale design was completed to be implemented as a backup in an extended field test that will be conducted in the Caribbean during the summer 2019.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Leathrum, Travis.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alexander Slocum.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123283

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123283