University of Pittsburgh

Swanson School of Engineering

MEMS 1065 Thermal Systems Design

Amusement Park Water Slide MEMS 1065 April 11th, 2013

Team Awesome? Michael Brenner Robert Cairns Alan Dum Brent Miller George Vafeas

Abstract:
The purpose of our project is to construct a water slide in an amusement park for all people of different ages and sizes. We have one acre of land to map the slide and include the steps and ticket-selling booth. They will climb stairs to the top of the slide and ride down on a rubber mat. Power will be supplied to a pump that will carry water from the bottom of the slide to the top. Our group began the project by choosing the location, the slide profile, materials and number of lanes. Using Bernoullis Equation, we determined the pump head, minor and major loses and power supplied by the pump. We then found the size of the pump and were able to purchase a pump online that met all of our specification. Our group decided that the slide will be built in Orlando, Florida, be 100 feet long and 75 feet high with two lanes and a single slope. With the calculations complete, the required size of the pump came out to be 8.12 horsepower. We recommend that this must be the minimum power, so we decided upon a pump that supplies approximately 10 horsepower. When building a slide to this magnitude, there are risks and downsides to consider. We must still consider the cost, support structure of the slide and what will be done when the amusement park is closed during the off-season. One of our biggest concerns is that amount of water we will lose due to evaporation and splash.

Problem Description:
The goal of our project is to design a water slide in an amusement park that is fun and exciting for all people of different ages and sizes. The park provides us with one acre of land to plot the slide, support structure, steps and ticket-selling booth. Guests of the water park will climb to the top of the stairs and use a rubber mat to slide down. A pump will be utilized to transport water from the reservoir to the top of the slide at a constant flow rate. When designing the slide we must consider the path, layout, materials of construction, support structure and dimensions of the slide. Additionally, we must determine the pump size, type and location as well as the pipe layout and material. Then, we must choose the mat characteristics and quantity along with what additives required to maintain the water. All of these aspects will contribute to the total cost of the slide and the expected lifespan of the slide, which will all be taken into consideration when creating the final design.

Design Configuration:
The slide will have two inclined lanes that continue into a runoff area for slowing down. Along the runoff there will be grates on the sides to allow water to flow into the recessed basin, in which all the water will flow to a central drain pipe. This pipe will be connected to a strainer to prevent particulate matter from entering the water reservoir. The reservoir will be below the runoff, where the piping will take a 90 turn and enter the side of the reservoir, with dimensions of 9 foot x 9 foot x 5 foot giving a volume of 405 feet3 (approximately 3030 gallon). At any one time the reservoir will hold a minimum of 2000 gal of water, while in the system there will be 1220 gallon, giving a total of 3220 gallon of water used. To add chlorine into the

system, we have a Stenner pump connected to a 30 gallon drum with chlorine. The reservoirs chlorine and pH will be monitored, and the pump will be turned on when the values are below the required levels. The side of the reservoir will have an outlet pipe connecting to the filtration system, but will be stepped down from 8 inches to 3 inches to be able to connect to the inlet. It then goes into the 3 inches inlet of the pump, and then the outlet is 2.5 inches, which will then be stepped up to 8 inches to reconnect to the pipe system. Following that, the pipe continues, then elbows 90 upwards, and continues for 75 feet. At the top it turns again and goes into a Tbranch splitting the flow between the two lanes. On each end of the T-branch there is a ball valve to allow for easy maintenance and control. Before and after the pump, filtration system, and strainer there are gate valves to allow for easy removal of any of those components for maintenance or cleaning. The structure of the slide will consist of four 75 foot columns, two 50 foot columns down the slide, and then two 25 foot columns a farther way down. Each beam is 25 foot long, this makes the 75 foot columns use three beams each, the 50 foot columns use two beams each, and the 25 foot columns use one column each. For each 25 foot section, there will be an x section of beams for structural support. The stairs with then follow along the structure at standard step height for each step. It will be a spiral staircase that rises to the top with an eight inch step height.

A simplified version of the slide is represented by Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Slide Layout The piping schematic is depicted by Figure 2.

Figure 2: Pipe Schematic

Description of Analysis:
Our group started the design process by assuming that our slide will be built in Florida at Walt Disney World, has two lanes, will be constructed out of fiberglass and that the change in velocity of the water is negligible. Using these assumptions, we determined that slide will be 100 feet long, 75 feet high, the flow rate is 100 gallon/min in each lane, the depth of the water at the top is one inch and at the bottom three inches. There will also be a reservoir at the bottom of the slide and a pump that will drive the water to the top where there is a T-branch dividing pipe that will split the flow evenly between the two lanes. With these values, we used found the exit pressure at the top of the slide (P 2), with atmospheric pressure at the reservoir (P1). We then chose a pipe size of 8 nominal schedule 40 made out of PVC. This means that there will be less losses and will not heat up during the summer months in Florida. With the pipe characteristics known, we proceeded to calculate both the Reynolds number using Equation 1, followed by the friction factor (f) which is based on roughness (), diameter (D) and Reynolds number (Re) using the Colebrook Equation, Equation 2. Then using Equation 3, we found the velocity of the water. Using Bernoullis Equation, Equation 4 we calculated the pump head (hp) after calculating the major loss (hf) with Equation 5, and minor loss (hm) with Equation 6. Next, we found the required pump power with Equation 7 and Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) using Equation 8. Once everything was calculated, we were able to begin our search for available pumps.

Results/Recommendation:
Our flow velocity is found to be 1.283 feet/sec. The Reynolds number is found to be 99,300. Based upon this Reynolds number, our friction loss coefficient from the Colebrook equation, equation 2, is .0179 which yields a major loss of .12 feet. The relative roughness value is approximately .00001, from the Moody Diagram. The sum of all of the minor loss coefficients is 3.25 which results in a minor loss of .083 feet. We found that our pump head is 160.2 feet. Based upon this pump head, we find that our pump must have a minimum horsepower of 8.12. We plan to use a slightly greater pump size of approximately 10 horsepower to account for actual operating conditions as opposed to our ideal values. After comparing available pumps with our required flow and head, we found that we actually needed to use a much larger pump of 20 horsepower. We also calculated that our configuration has a maximum net positive suction head of 28.92 feet, thus selected pump must have a required NPSH of less than 29 feet. The final calculated results are depicted by Table 1, as shown below

Table 1: Final Calculations

Re=99,300 =2.034 lb*s/ft2 =1.94 slug/ft3 V=1.283 ft/s d=.665 ft =.000006 ft A= .347 ft2 Q= 200GPM=.445 ft3/s f=.0179 P1=14.696 psi P2= 47.22 psi g=32.2 ft/s2 z1=0 ft z2= 80 ft Kballvalve= .05 Kgatevalve= .15 Kelbow= .3 Ktee=1 K=3.25 Hf= .12 ft Hm=.083 ft Hpump= 160.2 ft Wpump= 8.12 hp =1

Cost Analysis:
Table 2 illustrates all of our calculated parts and total cost to build the slide. Table 2: Bill Of Materials

Item 8" Pipe Rubber Mat Elbow T Fitting Reducer 8-6-4-2.5 Reducer 8-6-4-3 Pump Gate Valve Ball Valve Flange Bolts Strainer Coupling Filtration System Steel Structure Stenner System, 30 gal Chlorine, 53 gal

Distributor McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr McMaster Carr ISC McMaster Carr McMaster Carr Metals Depot US Water Systems HASA Inc. Lincoln Commercial Equipment OUC Fiberglass Concepts

Item Number 48925K46 9310T11 4880K702 4880K122 4880K689 4880K687 8256K46 47815K25 3634K59 4881K237 91345A675 5T0720400R2C 4880K132 5168K277 B2818 410-S3N85MJH HAS-50-109 Pool 63-050

Per Unit $132.76 $7.18 $67.91 $96.10 $201.12 $68.68 $3,837.66 $1,769.72 $627.56 $40.60 $6.36 $3,125.00 $24.72 $1,997.74 $16,605.00 $489.95 $165.95

# of Unit 20 100 5 1 1 1 1 5 2 25 96 1 25 1 1 1 2

Total $2,655.20 $718.00 $339.55 $96.10 $201.12 $68.68 $3,837.66 $8,848.60 $1,255.12 $1,015.00 $610.56 $3,125.00 $618.00 $1,997.74 $16,605.00 $489.95 $331.90

Waterslide Mat Water Fiberglass Slide

$39.75 $1.77 $8,000.00

100 3.22 2 Total

$3,975.00 $5.71 $16,000.00 $62,793.89

The total cost to construct the slide is $62,793.89. Most of the items are a part of the piping system and were purchased from McMaster Carr. The more expensive products, like the steel, fiberglass slide and strainer were bought from Metals Depot, Fiberglass Concepts and ISC, respectively. We also need to fill the reservoir with water, which is supplied by Orlando Utilities Commission at a cost of $1.77 per 1000 gallons of water. With 3220 gallons of water, the total cost for water came out to be $5.71. The minimum water level of the reservoir is 1500 gallons and will be checked daily and refilled as needed. In order to account for this waterslide, Walt Disney World will have to increase their prices by $1, from $89 to $90. With an average of 40,000 guests per day, Walt Disney World will profit off of the slide in two days.

Regulations:
To make sure our slide was in accordance to Florida regulations; we referenced the Florida Administrative Code website and found the sections referring to aquatic attractions. The following regulations impacted our design and operational requirements. We needed to have 5 on either side of our runoff to facilitate exiting, which is regulation 64E-9.011-(2)-(b)-2. The minimum volume of our reservoir is governed by regulation 64E-9.011-(2)-(c)-1, requiring the volume of three minutes of maximum flows (600 gal). The maximum volume that will be running in our system is ruled by regulation 64E-9.011-(2)-(f)-1, requiring that in two hours the entirety of our volume passes through the filter (24000 gal). The addition of a strainer was mandated by regulation 64E-9.011-(2)-(f)-3. Regulation 64E-9.011-(2)-(g) states that there needs to be a disinfection system, so we included a chlorine injection system.

Conclusion:
Our project can be considered a success, because we met all of the criteria. The slide will be 75 feet tall, 100 feet long and 2 feet wide. It will be made out of fiberglass and the support structure will be comprised of structural steel H-Beams. There will be a 46.5 foot long runoff for the rider to slow down and depart the slide. In order to pump the water to the top of the slide, we will be using a 10 horsepower centrifugal pump located at the bottom of the slide. This pump will thrust water through 200 feet of 8 nominal schedule 40 PVC pipe that will run the 100 feet horizontally and 75 feet vertically along the slide. In order to ensure that the water remains clean, we purchased a filtration system and will add chlorine to the water. The guests will be riding down on various colors, blue, green, orange, pink and purple, of 22 inch x 48 inch foam mats. We will purchase 100 mats to accommodate all of the guests. They will enter the ride on the right side of the runoff, then grab a mat and walk up 8 floors of spiral staircase. Finally, they will ride down and exit the ride to the left of the slide. The life expectancy of the filters and pump is 3 years, structure and fiberglass slide and PVC piping is 25 years. This means that the pump will have to be maintained regularly to avoid total replacement. The total cost of construction of the slide is $62,793.89, which will result in a ticket increase of $1 per guest.

Appendices and Attachments: