[OzIA]

I finished and tested the belt drive system on the CFC. The take-up motor is a 12 v 2 RPM (reduced to 1 RPM by belts). It doesn’t generate a lot of torque but it seems to be enough. Currently the felt moves at a snails pace (under .1 in / sec) but as the roll moves to the take-up spool the speed will increase to just under .5 in per sec as it nears the end of the roll. This is better (slower) than I was able to achieve with the gear drive but I wish I had gone with the gears. With that system, I had the motor mounted on the lid. When installed, it sat on the take-up spool gear and the weight of the lid kept things engaged. I did have to add some weight and near the end of the roll, there was some slippage as the speed increased. This produced a loud thumping sound as the lid went up and down, when the gears slipped. This did alert me that the roll needed to be changed but it always annoyed me. The good thing about the gears option was, it was much easier to change the rolls. I just took the lid off and lifted the spools from the slots. Now, with the belt drive, I will need to removed the motor or dis-engage the belt in some way, to get the felt off the spool.

I added three floats on the bioreactor input side, at different levels. I anticipate needing to trigger actions based on water levels, such as stirring the bio-balls. As water is pumped into this area, by the process pumps as well as the flush pumps these floats will provide feedback on how clogged the reactor has become.

I also added a snail guard near the take-up spool. I am hoping this will knock off the young trochus snails before they get pulled out of the water with the felt. With the version two sump, most of these would get wrapped up in the take-up side before i noticed and would die.