Finite element modeling of flow through ceramic pot filters

Pure Home Water (PHW) is an organization based in Tamale, Ghana that manufactures and distributes ceramic water filters. While many ceramic filter factories manufacture flowerpot-shaped filters, PHW has transitioned from the flowerpot shape, to a paraboloid shape, and finally to a hemispheric filter shape. The PHW factory conducts flow-rate testing as part of their quality control process and has documented a wide range of flow rates for the hemispheric filter as compared to the global standard. This thesis uses finite-element groundwater-flow modeling software to develop models of flow through three different ceramic filter shapes: flowerpot, paraboloid, and hemispheric filters. A sensitivity analysis was then conducted for each filter shape by simulating flow through the filter for a range of hydraulic conductivities. It was found that the hemispheric filter shape produces a higher flow rate than the flowerpot filter for a given hydraulic conductivity, and that the flow rate through the hemispheric filter is more sensitive to changes in hydraulic conductivity.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Kelly, Anna C

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Peter Shanahan.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

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

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82817

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/82817