Plankton Counting Instrument
1 Project Overview
With an increase in carbon dioxide awareness, oceanographers look to free-floating microscopic organisms in marine ecosystems to study carbon fixation. Phytoplankton, an organism who lives in iron nutrient waters, fix approximately as much carbon dioxide as terrestrial plants, greatly affecting the global carbon cycle. Monitoring the distribution and time-rate of change of phytoplankton biomass is critical not only to understanding the global carbon cycle and the resulting effect on global warming, but also to gain deeper understanding of marine ecosystems and biological interactions. This project will allow scientists to quickly and accurately take a measurement of the quantity and size of phytoplankton life in a water sample.
The aim of this project consists of designing, constructing, and testing a Phytoplankton Coulter Counter with multiple sizes of tubes, which samples the size and quantity of plankton per sample volume. Plankton, contained in a medium of water, are pumped through a small aperture, while a microprocessor monitors the impedance over the aperture. The plankton, being non-conducting particles, displace the conductive liquid when they pass through the aperture. The impedance of the liquid, measured by two non-corrosive electrodes, will increase proportionally to the volume of the particles passing through the electrodes.
The multiple tubes allows us to sample different sizes in our range at the same time, doing three tests in parallel. Each of these tubes will give us an output of that specific size range of plankton, so our output will consist of 3 graphs being plotted in real time. In order to prevent clogs, we will have circulating water in the holding tanks. We will also have a way to flush the system in the case of a clog.
There is no marketed device with an adjustable aperture for use in measuring phytoplankton density in seawater samples. The device we are designing will be compact and easy to use in order to make it more marketable.
Minimum Requirements
-Accurate and Precise
-Non-corrosive
-Outputs Results
-Detect Range of Plankton Size
-Clog Resistant
-Cost Effective
-Compact Design
2 Needs Identification and Background Research
3 System Requirements and Desired Features
4 Design Solutions
5 Top Level Block Design
5.1 AC Rectifier
5.2 Voltage Regulator
5.3 Filter
5.4 Circulation Tank?
5.5 Propeller?
5.6 Main Valve?
5.7 Coulter Module
5.8 Water Pump?
5.9 Waste Reservoir?
5.10 Electrode Sensors
5.11 Current Source
5.12 Amplifier
5.13 Signal Filter
5.14 Microprocessor
5.15 Fluid Controller
5.16 Programer?
5.17 Laptop?
5.18 Graphical Display
5.19 Chassis
9 Members of the Group and Contact Information
10 Latest Updates
11 Reference Documents
12 Submitted Documents
References
