Design, Fabrication and Performance Testing of an Algae Cleaning Machine

Abstract

The objective of this research was to design, fabricate and conduct performance testing of an algae cleaning machine, which can be used in a production process at the community level. The machine is expected to allow easier product quality control and increase the production capacity to match the market demand. The dimensions of the machine are 0.52 m (width), 1.00 m (length), and 1.41 m (height). The machine consists of a stainless-steel tank, which is divided into 2 slots, namely, a flushing-tank and a settling-tank, with the capacities of 88 and 92 liters, respectively. The bottom of the tank is sloped from the flushing-tank to the settling-tank. A ½-hp electric pump is installed at the bottom of the flushing tank to suck up fresh water from the settling tank to a nozzle mounted above the flushing tank to inject the fresh water into the flushing task containing algae. The water injection would create turbulent bubbles that in turn cause the algae to turbulently stir. As a result, soil particles would be removed from the algae fibers; the soil particles would then sink to the floor of the flushing-tank and move along the sloped plate into the settling-tank. The machine has an electrical system, which can be used to control the injection stepping, water changing period and total washing time. The test results showed that the machine could clean algae at 6.2 kg/h and exhibited the water consumption rate of 667.24 liters/hour; the power consumption was 374 W. If the machine is allowed to work for eight hours a day, the return on investment period was noted to be 1.20 years.