Team Dow Electronic Materials Nicholas Bishop, Jessica Harrington, Rachael Lutchmedial, Alexander Stachnik, Anthony Vacaro.

OverviewBackground Information

Project ScopeTo create a system that will consistently and easily

extract liquid raw material from a 330 gallon industrial tote. This system must integrate into the

existing production line and be safely and ergonomically operated by individuals of any

physical strength and stature.

Final DesignConcept Generation

Testing Plan and Validation

Acknowledgements

Metrics

Dow Electronic Materials currently extracts material from a 275 gallon intermediate bulk

container tote by manually inserting an attachment at the top. Upgrading to a 330 gallon tote saves

$250,000/year, but the height of the tote increases

We would like to thank our sponsor, James Romesberg and Dow Electronic Materials, and our advisor, Dr. James Glancey, Steve

Beard, and the rest of the Senior Design Staff.

Prototype

Design Process

Metrics Target Value

Material Loss < 1 gallon (set by Dow)

Lifting Weight < 35 lbs.

Distance of Reach for Operator < 2ft. 5 in.

Height of Operator 4-7 ft.

Permanent Bay Space Occupied ≤ 5 sq. ft.

Temporary Bay Space Occupied ≤ 12 sq. ft.

Cost < $12,500

Time to Setup < 3 minutes

Amount of Residual Material in Tote (depth) < 1 in

Fixture Weight < 200 lbs.

The final prototype was tested both to ensure that all metrics were satisfied. The final prototype will be immediately implemented into Dow’s process. A

complete drawing packet, installation instructions, and path forward will also be given to Dow.

Five different concepts were generated and compared to each other on how well each met the top five wants of the customer.

The Linkage was chosen as the final concept by the team, the sponsor, and Dow’s operators.

With a selected concept, a mock-up was made out of inexpensive materials to demonstrate a proof of concept. While testing,

potential problems arose and respective solutions were developed.

Concerns Comments Solution

Safety Pinching Hazard, Sharp Edges Spring Cover, Linkage Redesign, Nylon Covers

HeightTop of the linkage was hitting the

ceiling, could cause damage or it will not fit in the bay

Created stops so the linkage can not exceed 10‘; implemented a

latch so the linkage can remain in the upright position

Torque and Bending

60'' Output link could not support its own weight, 20'' wand support arm

caused unwanted torque

80/20 T-Slot Construction: Strong in Bending and Torsion

Altered Linkage, only 1 output arm

Wand Placement Wand must enter the hole without touching the tote when plugging

Funnel apparatus to guide wand into tote opening

Adjustability Placement of spring, links, wheels 80/20 T-Slot Less machining, Linear Slider w/ hand brake

Weight Spring must counteract weight of linkage Gas spring

Unwanted Linkage Movement Links were sliding along their pins Added Spacers and Notches

Wand Connection Allow for easy attachment and release, stable while pumping

Two Spring Clamps on a Rotating Plate

Assembly Distance

Device distance from tote is very specific for linkage to work as

designed

Lightweight Locators to guide placement of Linkage

Simple Finite Element Analysis showed that for less deflection in the output link, 1” Double T-slot should be used instead of Single

T-slot for this link.

After several iterations, a final prototype was made out of Extruded Aluminum T-slot with a total cost of $2168. The prototype addresses and resolves all issues encountered

with the mock-up.

Metrics Prototype Value

Material Loss 0.0 gal

Lifting Weight 3.7 lbs

Distance of Reach for Operator 2 ft. 4 in.

Height of Operator 4’ 5” – 7’ 9”

Permanent Bay Space Occupied 0 sq. ft.

Temporary Bay Space Occupied 10 sq. ft.

Cost $2168

Time to Setup 36.4 sec.

Amount of Residual Material in Tote (depth) 1 in.

Fixture Weight 118 lbs.

by 7 in. and the manual process becomes difficult. Dow is seeking a design to improve ease of use and efficiency for this extraction process.