The project that I will be working on for the 2009-10 school year at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology will be called the Green Marina. It involves remodeling a local marina to make it more “green,” as in environmentally friendly. Marinas have a history of causing pollution in the bays and oceans they are near. Sludge and oil seep off the boats and drain into the water. The water-life around the docks is strongly affected by these hazardous wastes. The aim of this project is to rid of all those wasteful materials using teams of a structural and civil engineer that will both design a more efficient marina.
My position in this project is the position of the structural engineer. My job is to redesign everything from the shoreline out to the breakwater. This is mostly concerning the docks and pile-ons. I have plans to design the pile-ons using different materials besides wood. Also I have ideas on the drainage in the area. Some marinas have leaking fuel from the boats that all drain towards the water, most marinas have an incline to the water, and I have ideas on how to fix this problem.
In conclusion, after a year of work, each team will be able to have a plan, design, model and presentation on a redesigned “green” marina. With recent contact with my mentor, Mike Danko, I have taken upon his advice in omitting the boat crane idea due to financial and feasibility problems. Also the fueling station will be modified. Instead of having slips where the boats will enter, it will be a dock with pilings that a boat can dock into and re-fuel. The current drawing indicates problems in navigating to the slip because strong gusts of wind or currents could cause the operator to damage his/her boat or the dock. I have been introduced to a new idea which uses aeration device that has bubbles to cancel out frequencies from boat motors that harass marine life. Also an aeration device can be used to disperse leaked fuel. It is feasible to use solar cells to harness the suns energy to power these devices. These will be new addendums to my final solution. Below is an image of my final revised solution (Figure 1), labeled in color:
Figure 1= my revised and final solution.
This sketch was roughly hand-drawn and also not to scale. Below is my most recent image of my final solution (Figure 2) that I have drawn on AutoCAD.
Figure 2= my most recent image of my final solution.
The Green Marina project fits into the Systems Engineering II course because of the systematic steps preemptively taken in completing this project. The entirety of the course is scheduled, organized and already planned and we as students are supposed to go along these plans. We are given rubrics that outline all that must be completed in order to achieve the highest grade.
When the question is raised on whether or not my design is an invention or innovation, I would say it is an innovation. It is not an invention because I am not creating any new technology but instead I am applying it to maximize the benefits to the environments around the marina.
The Green Marina project’s type of system would be represented as an open system. This is because of the many variables that can be taken into account in the project. The aspect of the project I am working on is the Structural Engineer. This will require me to do the structural components.
Types of Engineering
Many types of engineering are used in everyday projects. In the Green Marina project the types of engineering that are involved in this design include Agricultural, Civil, Construction, Environmental, Hydrodynamics, and Mechanical engineering. Agricultural engineering will be used to determine soli mechanics and slope of terrains to benefit the marina. Civil engineering will be used to plan and layout all the buildings in a certain flow. Construction engineering will be used in the take-off schedule aspects of the project. Environmental engineering is obvious because it involves benefiting the environment around the marina. Hydrodynamics will be taken into account because of the docking and water flow affecting the boats in the marina. Mechanical engineering will be used for the specified aspects of my marina involving fueling and solar power.
Type of Manufacturing Needed
The type of manufacturing needed for this design involved in this end product will in a “real” situation involve the Putting-out system, mass production, and the American system of manufacturing. These are all chosen because building a marina will need mass production in order to have all the parts for docking and bulkheads. The putting-out system and American system of manufacturing will also be needed because of the large-scale production of parts and materials in order to construct a successful marina.
Manufacturing Categories
In order to construct my design several manufacturing categories are involved. For example, Construction will be the most evident type of manufacturing. I will need to have docks, bulkheads, and pilings. Also I will be using plastic and pneumatic manufacturing. My marina is particularly environmentally friendly because I am addressing the fueling station. This specific area will have PVC tubing around the fueling docks, under water, and will have air compressed through the tubing. The PVC tubing will be perforated so that when air is pumped through the tubing, bubbles will rise out of the PVC pipes. These bubbles will act as a continuous barrier so that spilled fuel around the fueling station will not spread throughout the entire marina.
Science Concepts
Creating the marina will require me to use science concepts in the project design. My aspect of the Green Marina project is working as the structural engineer. I am addressing all the “wet” portions of the marina. One science concept that I will be applying to the project is very important is soil mechanics (Figure 3).
When the question is raised on whether or not my design is an invention or innovation, I would say it is an innovation. It is not an invention because I am not creating any new technology but instead I am applying it to maximize the benefits to the environments around the marina.
The Green Marina project’s type of system would be represented as an open system. This is because of the many variables that can be taken into account in the project. The aspect of the project I am working on is the Structural Engineer. This will require me to do the structural components.
Types of Engineering
Many types of engineering are used in everyday projects. In the Green Marina project the types of engineering that are involved in this design include Agricultural, Civil, Construction, Environmental, Hydrodynamics, and Mechanical engineering. Agricultural engineering will be used to determine soli mechanics and slope of terrains to benefit the marina. Civil engineering will be used to plan and layout all the buildings in a certain flow. Construction engineering will be used in the take-off schedule aspects of the project. Environmental engineering is obvious because it involves benefiting the environment around the marina. Hydrodynamics will be taken into account because of the docking and water flow affecting the boats in the marina. Mechanical engineering will be used for the specified aspects of my marina involving fueling and solar power.
Type of Manufacturing Needed
The type of manufacturing needed for this design involved in this end product will in a “real” situation involve the Putting-out system, mass production, and the American system of manufacturing. These are all chosen because building a marina will need mass production in order to have all the parts for docking and bulkheads. The putting-out system and American system of manufacturing will also be needed because of the large-scale production of parts and materials in order to construct a successful marina.
Manufacturing Categories
In order to construct my design several manufacturing categories are involved. For example, Construction will be the most evident type of manufacturing. I will need to have docks, bulkheads, and pilings. Also I will be using plastic and pneumatic manufacturing. My marina is particularly environmentally friendly because I am addressing the fueling station. This specific area will have PVC tubing around the fueling docks, under water, and will have air compressed through the tubing. The PVC tubing will be perforated so that when air is pumped through the tubing, bubbles will rise out of the PVC pipes. These bubbles will act as a continuous barrier so that spilled fuel around the fueling station will not spread throughout the entire marina.
Science Concepts
Creating the marina will require me to use science concepts in the project design. My aspect of the Green Marina project is working as the structural engineer. I am addressing all the “wet” portions of the marina. One science concept that I will be applying to the project is very important is soil mechanics (Figure 3).
Figure 3= A surveyor addressing soil mechanics.
In constructing the marina, I will be having pilings drilled into the water’s floor. There are methods to determining the quality of soil. One is by plate-bearing tests and the second is by density tests. The first type of test is where heavy weights are placed on the earth’s surface. The soil tester will see how much the load tilts or moves. This measures the soil stability and settlement. In order to accurately place the pilings in the marina, surveyors will need to analyze the soil so that it is sturdy and dense.
Technological Concepts
The aspects of my marina that are considered technological concepts are the devices I will be using for the pneumatic aeration device to limit oil spreading to the entire marina. This aspect uses an air compressor, as seen in figure 4, to pump air through PVC piping, as seen in figure 5.
Technological Concepts
The aspects of my marina that are considered technological concepts are the devices I will be using for the pneumatic aeration device to limit oil spreading to the entire marina. This aspect uses an air compressor, as seen in figure 4, to pump air through PVC piping, as seen in figure 5.
Figure 4= Here is a group of large air compressors that I will consider using
for my technological aspect of the marina.
Figure 5= Pictured above is perforated PVC piping with air pumped through it. You can tell that air is being pumped through the piping because of all the
bubbles coming out.
This is clearly a technological aspect of my project because it involves aeration, pneumatics, and the construction of a pneumatic boom. What this piece of technology does is if there is oil spilled in a specific area, oil spill cleaners will place underwater air compressors at the bottom of the body of water, as you can see in figure 6.
Figure 6= Diagram of air compressor being used as a bubble curtain to contain oil spill.
The spilled oil or fuel floating at the surface is then contained. If I can do this in my newly designed marina by having compressed air pumped through PVC piping, figure 5, in a large rectangular barrier around the fueling, as seen in figure 1 and 2, my marina will be making steps to being a more environmentally friendly marina.
Mathematical Computations
At the moment, I have not encountered any mathematical equations or computations in order to be successful with my marina. Some very basic equations I have used however include the Area equation, which is length x width. I have used this for setting up my AutoCAD drawing, as seen in figure 2, by finding the absolute maximum size to draw on so that it is to scale. Also speaking of scale, my AutoCAD drawing, as seen in figure 2, is drawn completely to scale. The scale is 1”= 150’. This scale has allowed me to draw my rather large CAD drawing on a smaller scaled, but by still being very accurate. The third mathematical computation that I have decided I will need to use in the future is Archimedes Principle of Buoyancy (Figure 7).
Figure 7= Archimedes Principle of Buoyancy.
The principle specifically says, “Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object- Archimedes.” This verbal principle then translates into the verbal equation: apparent immersed weight = weight – weight of displaced fluid.
Summary
To bring the STEMM report to a close, I am working on the Green Marina project as the structural engineer. The type of design that I am constructing is an innovation because I am not inventing anything new however am utilizing certain inventions to innovate a better cleaner marina. The types of engineering that will go into this are Agricultural, Civil, Construction, Environmental, Hydrodynamics, and Mechanical engineering. The types of manufacturing involved are the Putting-out system, mass production, and the American system of manufacturing. My final design solution, pictured in Figure 2, will use different aspects of technology and science to function at its best. It involves using pneumatic aeration devices to contain oil spills around the fueling docks. The most significant aspects of technology, science and math are soil mechanics, pneumatic air compressors to contain spilled oil and the Archimedes principle of Buoyancy for the future construction of my marina. In conclusion, there are many aspects of this project that are involved including technologies, mathematics and scientific studies in order to make this marina work. It’s a daunting task, but with today’s technology and willpower, anything’s possible.
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