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How course is set up

This experiment is one of the experiments of course 1 in the second year of the undergraduate student lab at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA). (see Overview of Students Laboratories). The students perform this experiment in 4 afternoons in the lab. They are supposed to spend 4 hours for preparation and writing the report   Schedule for guidance and students activities: First 4 hours in the lab: Students read parts of the relevant topics and are introduced in the experimental set-up. Reading the instructions of the apparatus and applying these instructions in real practice need help of the tutor. Students do some preliminary measurements with the experimental set-up and determine k (hydraulic conductivity) using Darcy's law. So they will get some ideas about the value of k in dependence of the diameter of the granules and the volumetric throughput (Q). Second 4 hours in the lab: Students are introduced in the Ultrasonic Water Level Monitoring to get accurate values of the difference h in water level between tank and sample tube. Students measure the effective porosity e of the used sample(s) and could make an estimation of the permeability k with the help of the Koseny-Carman equation. k is a kind of normalised k (see equation 2.8 of the theory) and so k could be calculated form k. Darcy's law is only a phenomenological description of a phenomenon and the measured quantity k is not an intrinsic quality of the sample. Using the Koseny-Carman equation the calculated permeability k of the sample is assumed to be an intrinsic quality of the sample. This difference between the measured k (hydraulic conductivity) using Darcy's law and estimation of k (the permeability) using the Koseny-Carman equation needs attention by the tutor and should be a point of discussion in the workplan. Students prepare their workplan. accuracy's Third 4 hours in the lab: Workplan discussion between students and tutor. Determination of definite experimental problem and planning of activities. Interesting is to investigate the dependence of k on the volumetric throughput (Q), and to choose the appropriate experimental conditions to vary the volumetric throughput in such a way that you will find deviations of the straight line for k versus Q. Fourth 4 hours in the lab: Final measurements. Interpretation of results. Homework: Writing report.

Maintenance Requirements

The main maintenance is to refresh the water each two month to prevent growth of algae.

Software Suggestions

No software is used in this experiment.

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