Room 152: Research Room

Room: The walls are epoxy coated concrete block and the floor is a specially hardened concrete to prevent water penetration. There is a grate covered trench located along the center of the room. The drain line for the tanks is located within this trench, as is a drain to the sanitary sewer.

Air temperature in this room is monitored, but is not under the Argus™ system’s control.

Aeration: Low pressure air for tank aeration is supplied through black ABS pipe that circles the room. Air is supplied from three 1 hp Gast regenerative air blowers located in room 174.

Power: This room has five 115 V, two 250 V 3 phase electrical circuits. There are two duplex receptacles per 115 V circuit one of each is controlled by the Argus™ system. These are located around the perimeter of the room. Each receptacle is ground fault

protected. If power is lost to a receptacle, check the buttons located in the middle. If one is sticking out, press it back in to reset the power. If power is lost again, report it to Aqualab personnel. A circuit breaker panel is located on the wall in the room. Please do not open this panel without proper authorization.

Lights: Lighting in this room is provided by weatherproof incandescent fixtures. This room has a fully programmable photoperiod (i.e., the photoperiod can be programmed to emulate that found at any latitude in the world or any artificial photoperiod that the researcher requires). At “dawn” the incandescent bulbs slowly ramp up in intensity, and at “dusk” they slowly dim. The time required to ramp to full intensity and the final intensity of the lights is programmable. The Photoperiod Alarm is set to activate if the lights do not turn on or off as the program requires. The lights can be turned on manually from the Argus™ panel located in the hall. An alarm situation will occur if the lights are left on manual for too long.

Recirculation system: Located on the east wall are three pipes, these pipes supply the room with recirculated water of three different temperatures. The recirculation system can be found in room 161 and is composed of a 600V March pump, a PRA rotating screen filter, a gravel bed filter, a Trojan 2 bulb UV sterilizer and three Armstrong plate heat exchangers. The system is controlled by Argus™. To understand more of the function of this system see the section on room 161.

Control System: Argus™ controls and monitors the pump, the make-up water supply, the water temperature, the room’s photoperiod and four receptacles located on the east and west walls of the room.

Flow: The system has three paddlewheel flow sensors, one on each water supply line, that are monitored and alarmed. The pump has a temperature sensor located on the output to monitor and protect from overheating caused be cavitation. 
Make-up water: A paddlewheel flow sensor is integral to the make-up water system. An Ultrasonic level sensor is used to maintain and monitor water level in the sump pit.
Water Temperature: Each heat exchanger has a temperature sensor used to control, monitor and alarm water temperature. 
Photoperiod: A photosensor is located within the room to monitor light operation.

To understand more of the function of each system see the section on room 161.