Team Chocolate
- Paige Gardner
- Grace Mueller
- Shannon Murty
- Nathan Tran
Advisors
Faculty: David Foster, Mark Juba
TA: Jerardo Salgado
Sponsored by
Sarah Lanzafame, Kevin Logsdon
Abstract
This project aimed to design a continuous method of determining the oxygen transfer rate (OTR) in viscous fluids. The sponsor, SPX FLOW, has developed a steady state excess sodium sulfite reaction method to measure OTR using a standard oxygen probe. However this is incompatible with the inert viscosity modifier, polyethylene glycol (PEG). Because of this, Team Chocolate has decided to pursue the option of sodium sulfite detection using a UVC light sensor that can be run continuously with the reaction in place of the oxygen probe. It has been shown that there is an inverse relationship between the sensor’s output voltage and the sulfite concentration. Using the sulfite sensor along with a manual sulfite test kit, it was determined that OTR decreases with an increase in fluid viscosity.