Summary of Total Project Spending
General Spending Breakdown:
- Compression Subsystem
- The compression stage of our system had the highest overall spending of the three systems. Expenses totaled $1,020.67 with the majority of that amount coming from our Campbell Hausfeld 2-stage reciprocating air compressor, which cost $749.00. Our TE Connectivity Pressure Transducer, at $136.92, was also a considerable expenditure. The remaining purchases included brass piping, various pipe connectors, and thermocouple probes.
- Heat Exchanger Subsystem
- The heat exchanger and its respective components were the next most expensive subsystem. The three most expensive components involved were $171.92-worth of copper piping, a $110.99 StreamLabs Smart Home water monitor, and a $110.99 Leak Detector Monitor. Additional components included rubber pipe insulation, various pipe fittings and clamps, water thermometers, and more, bringing the total Heat Exchanger cost to $844.73. Refer to the image above for a more comprehensive spending breakdown.
- Expansion Subsystem
- The expansion subsystem consists of two primary components: an air motor expansion device and a DC electric generator, which encompassed most of the total spending for this subsystem. The air motor selected was a Grainger 1.8 horsepower motor, which cost $226.00 while the 500 Watt DC generator cost $139.99. The other components purchased were an aluminum flexible shaft coupler, plexiglass sheets, hose clamps, incandescent/halogen light bulbs, and their respective light bulb sockets. The expansion subsystem was completed with a total cost of only $520.73.
- Miscellaneous
- In addition to the components previously highlighted, we spent $229.99 on a Lavex Industrial Utility Cart, which was used for mounting the heat exchanger and expansion subsystems to make them more easily transportable.
Comparison to Initial Anticipated Budget
On November 11th, 2021, we anticipated a preliminary budget of $2,700. This was distributed with $950 for the compression subsystem, $220 for the heat exchanger, $1,330 for the expansion subsystem, and $200 for any additional components. The budget for the compression subsystem was well-predicted, as we only overshot our predicted spending by $70.67. This overshoot was caused by additional brass piping and connectors that were originally unaccounted for. Our greatest disparity between anticipated spending and final spending lies within the heat exchanger budget. The underestimation of the cost of copper tubing, water measurement tools, and other components led us to overshoot our heat exchanger budget by over $600. This money was redistributed from the expansion budget, which ended up being significantly less expensive than predicted.
While we predicted a combined cost of $900 for our air motor and generator, we were able to purchase these components for only $365.99. We also saved money by utilizing data acquisition tools provided by Lafayette College, rather than purchasing new tools. These excess funds from the expansion subsystem made up for the overshoots of the other subsystems, leading to a final project spending of $2,616.12; just below our initial anticipated spending of $2,700.