Lexie Gardner: Environmental Engineering Week Two

And just like that, week two is over! This week was a little more mellow than last week, but by no means less exciting.

The anemometer I worked with

On Monday, I worked with an anemometer and got it reading correctly for a future experiment that will be happening on the Student Union roof. After that, I continued working with the Arduino boards, getting the timestamp to read accurately once again as well as finding a way to properly and easily graph the data we collect. That afternoon, the new Arduino equipment came in so Spencer and I then worked with our new temperature sensors to get them hooked up to Arduino boards.

Tuesday we continued our work with the Arduino boards and attempted to tackle getting the Xbee shields communicating. However, we discovered that we needed a new part to get them working so we were then tasked with getting one Arduino board to collect data from multiple temperature sensors. That night, Nayra took me to one of her favorite restaurants (and a Salt Lake City must) B and D Burger.

Wednesday there was a lull in projects that we could work on so we continued to remodel Brian’s classroom space by taking down a whiteboard and working with T.V. monitors that will be placed around the room. That afternoon, we calibrated our temperature sensors so they all read within an acceptable range of each other.

On Thursday we worked with Eric in his lab. He explained his current experiment and gave us some data to analyze. He is performing triaxial shear tests on rock core samples to see how they behave when stress is applied.

The rock samples we work with

To do this, the rock is placed in a flexible plastic jacket with plugs on either end and surrounded by a fluid that acts as the pressure constant. To eliminate variables, the rock and fluid are kept at a constant temperature of around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. A piston is then lowered onto the top of the sample and pressure is applied first at 100 psi then 300 psi then lowered back down to 100 psi. If the rock does not fail, the pressure is increased to around 3,750 psi. It is held constant at this pressure for two weeks to see how the pressure will affect the rock over time. Also surrounding the rock is an apparatus that measures the growth in the diameter of the rock as pressure is applied. Eric then gave us data from previous samples and we graphed it to see how different rocks react when pressure is applied. Thursday night, Valerie’s sister, Viv, and niece, Shelby, arrived in Salt Lake City for a visit. They took me out for another Salt Lake City staple–Hokulia Shave Ice.

Our new Arduino Board and Xbee set up

Friday, our new part for the Xbees arrived so we worked on getting them configured to be able to transmit data. That afternoon, Aaron took us over to the lab to give us the rundown on an experiment we will be performing next week involving measuring the mass flux of CO2. The goal is to get mass flux values of CO2 at different velocities that can then be applied CO2 coming out of the vent on top of Student Union. With this data, we can then hopefully measure how much CO2 is exiting the vent due to human causes.

Saturday, Valerie, Nayra and I took the train downtown and met Viv and Shelby at the Farmers’ Market. The Salt Lake City Farmers’ Market has an amazing spread of fresh local produce, crafts and jewelry, and a diverse selection of food trucks.

The Mormon Temple in Temple Square

We then went to Temple Square, home to the biggest and oldest Mormon Temple, and walked around. After grabbing a quick lunch at the mall, we walked down to the Planetarium and looked at all of the fascinating exhibits. That night after dinner, we went to the Sports Complex and went skating–a highlight for me as I am never able to skate in the summer.

I cannot wait for more adventures with my host family and am excited to keep learning from all the amazing people I am working with!