Calibration of Peristaltic Pumps

CHE 308: Jr Chem Lab

Group 2.1
Mariela Gonzalez – The Chief Engineer
Ashley Shega – The Methodologist
Rebecca Jensen – The Experimentalist
 Table of Contents

I.Introduction Pg 3

II.Experimental Protocol Pg 4

III.Theory Pg 6

IV. Results Pg 7

V. Discussion Pg 8

VI. Summary Pg 11

VII. References Pg 12

VIII. Appendix Pg 12
 Calibration of Peristaltic Pumps

Introduction

A peristaltic pump, also known as a roller pump, is used for transferring a wide variety of fluids.

An electric rotor is used to compress the flexible tubing as it rotates. This creates a vacuum which

allows the fluid to be drawn through the tubing. Though our experiment involved using distilled water

for the procedure, this method is primarily used to pump sterile and/or clean aggressive fluids since

there is no cross contamination when employing this technique. It has been deemed successful in many

industries. For example, chemical and food processing, agriculture, and a wide variety of research not

limited to labs.

The peristaltic pump can be regulated to provide high

and/or low fluid flows, making this instrument very lucrative in

any field of study. The pump has been designed to be

customized depending on the relevance of the research or the

definitive industry for which it is utilized. Compatibility is one

key factor the pump has become so prominent. The tubing is

manufactured such that the elasticity allows it to maintain the same

circular cross sectional area after extensive application.

Other key factors include cost-effectiveness, compatibility, easy to

operate, and requires very little maintenance. The most important

factor, however, may be the accuracy in which peristaltic pumps have

been calibrated.

Calibration of an instrument is performed by using a set of

operations specifically in accordance with the instrumentation in question. The values acquired during

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this process are compared with other known values for the purpose of finding and adjusting any errors

that may be found during calibration of the instrument in question. In our case, our instrument is the

peristaltic pump.

There are several reasons the calibration process is a valued asset in any industry. The

process guarantees that instruments are constructed to specifications in accordance with the national

and international measuring standards. This provides the public with a product of high caliber. It also

provides the public with the knowledge that manufacturers are providing its customers with high

quality, systematically tested, and calibrated instrumentation they can trust. Moreover, the value of the

product increases.

In order to maximize the effectiveness of a peristaltic pump the materials selected must be of

optimal quality. Many formulations of these materials are available to industries worldwide. The wide

range of usage allows for this instrument to be one of the most lucrative in the transferring of viscous

and/or liquid fluids.

Experimental Protocol

The purpose of this experiment is to obtain timed values of flow rates using the peristaltic pump

technique. The values are then used to ensure the readings from the peristaltic pump are consistent and

therefore ensuing a high level of accuracy for the instrument.

For our experiment, the equipment included a set of pumps with two tanks filled with distilled

water, two sets of graduated cylinders of 50mL and 500mL, a stopwatch, computer, and a

potentiometer.

Since time is a very important aspect of this experiment, more than one value has to be

considered. The goal is to acquire as much data as possible in order for the calculations to yield

accurate results. Once the experiment has been completed, by using an excel spreadsheet and Mat-lab

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programming, certain calculations will be performed. The results will be accompanied by a set of

graphs using the estimated flow rates vs. the settings (%).

The first step was to record a flow rate from the computer when the dial was set to a percentage

while the tubing connected to the pumps remained stationary. Next, the first pump setting was chosen .

These settings varied from zero to one hundred percent. Once the setting was chosen the dials were

locked to ensure the reading would be accurate. The dials on both the peristaltic pumps were first set at

twenty percent. These were raised in increments of twenty until reaching one hundred. The 50mL

graduated cylinder was used for the first two readings and the 500mL graduated cylinder was used for

the rest. The dials were raised in increments of twenty until reaching one hundred. Therefore, five total

timed readings were obtained. Readings were recorded for both of the pumps at the same time.

Therefore, each run will include a reading for pump one and pump two for the same timed values. Once

the stopwatch was started the pumps were switched on simultaneously. The readings for the 50mL

graduated cylinders were at about the same level of 45mL and for the 500mL, they were at about

450mL. The times and volumes were recorded for both runs. Finally, the procedure was repeated

starting at one hundred percent and lowering the dials until reaching zero percent. The values are

recorded in tables Run #1 and Run #2. In conclusion, all of the information obtained during the

experiment was recorded in a lab notebook for future reference.

Run #1:
Time(min, s, P1: (mL) P1: (cm³/min) P2: (mL) P2: (cm³/min) Settings (%)
ms) Our Values Comp Values Our Values Comp Values
60 (s) 0 0 17.4
*4:28 (03) 43 17.1 46.5 18.7 20
*1:25 (22) 46 33.9 41.5 33.5 40
8:12 (87) 437.5 50.7 411.5 50.5 60
5:51 (62) 446.5 67.5 417.5 67.3 80
4:41 (56) 462.5 82 437.5 82 100

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Run #2:
Time(min, s, P1: (mL) P1: (cm³/min) P2: (mL) P2: (cm³/min) Settings (%)
ms) Our Values Comp Values Our Values Comp Values
4:26 (44) 487.5 82 411.5 82 100
5:56 (44) 452.5 67.5 424.5 67.3 80
8:13(06) 445.5 50.7 413.5 50.5 60
*1:24 (25) 45.5 33.9 41 33.8 40
*4:38 (65) 45.5 17.1 37.5 17.1 20
60 (s) 0 0 17.1
• Measurements and calculations based on 50mL graduated cylinders.
• Note: the milliseconds included in these tables were not used in spreadsheet or matlab calculations.

Theory

For this experiment, the mathematical analysis utilized an equation of ordinary least squares to

fit collected data to a set of parameters and then using those parameters to graph the data. This is the

best method, in this case, for deriving the values acquired with respect to error analysis because it

minimizes the sum of the squares in the problem. Using the Excel Spreadsheet program, all of the

information acquired was plotted using the linear mathematical model:

This linear equation is the simplest in form and, through linear regression, is intended use is to

plot data utilizing the best fit method. The estimation here produces realistic coefficients for A and B.

When using this slope-intercept model, other equations were derived that helped in determining

important factors such as % error with respect to time and volumetric flow rate. It is necessary, that for

the given set of data points, a certain number of parameters be found that fits the acquired data. The

error propagation for the data was determined using:

Where E is the error and F(p) and x are the parameters.

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The approximation of Error in F was then calculated by using this formula:

From this it is concluded that the error propagation in the volumetric flow rate can be calculated using:

We can also approximate the error in flow rate given as:

The final equation for finding the error for the flow rate will be:

Moreover, when running the mat-lab programming, a standard deviation was used to retrieve a

value that would yield a percentage of about one hundred for confidence intervals. Since there is

uncertainty during any experiment, this confidence level will never be one hundred percent. These

calculations will provide a number of significant figures that can be reported will be a product of using

these final equations:

Results

There are several errors to be taken into account during this experiment. First, while a

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stopwatch was utilized for timing purposes, there were two people stopping the pumps. The reaction

time between two separate individuals will be different causing some error in the values of the flow

rate measured. During this experiment some of the runs were restarted when both the pumps were

clearly initiated at different times. Also, recording data can sometimes be extremely overwhelming if

there are many numbers to be recorded, which was the case for in this experiment.

Other errors could be caused by faulty instrumentation. For example, the tubing in the system

has been acutely and excessively used contributing to poor flow rate measurements. Furthermore, four

different graduated cylinders, with two distinct flow rates, were used which could also add to improper

measurements.

Discussion

One reason for the low percentage in error may be the selection of having close to the same

reading for the volumetric flow rate for each run. For the 500mL graduated cylinder, readings were

taken close to 450mL each time and for the 50mL graduated cylinder, the readings were taken at around

45mL. When taking measurements and readings for any standardized research, consistency is crucial

for acquiring accurate data. Repetition of the measurements taken provided these accurate and

consistent results proving error to be low. This is proven to be true in these graphs of the calculated

residuals for DAU vs Settings for pump 1 and 2 and Experiment vs Settings for pump 1 and 2:

DAU vs Setting Pump 1

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Exp. vs DAU Pump 1

Exp. vs Setting Pump1

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 DAU vs Setting Pump 2

Exp. vs DAU Setting Pump 2

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 Exp. vs Setting Pump 2

Summary

The importance of calibrating equipment is a critical aspect applied in many areas of industry

and research. The data acquired can be compared to previous recorded data. This ensures that a more

accurate and high quality product, or instrument, can be developed for future application. The vast

application of peristaltic pumps calls for this particular instrument to be of very high caliber. Therefore,

the benefits of this instrument includes the customization made available for the different industries,

simple clean-up and interchangeable parts, quick operating system, and very cost-effective. Two of the

most important factors for using peristaltic pumps are that there is no cross-contamination and it can be

used to transfer a variety of viscous and non-viscous fluids.

In the end, the calibration experiment for such instrumentation gives data that can be compared

and used to provide a better quality product.

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References

Coleman, David, and Lynn Vanatta. Statistics in Analytical Chemistry: A New American Laboratory

Column. Pittsburgh: American Laboratory, 2003.

Coleman, David, and Lynn Vanatta. Statistics in Analytical Chemistry: Measurement and the Real

Number Line. Pittsburgh: American Laboratory, 2009.

Coleman, David, and Lynn Vanatta. Statistics in Analytical Chemistry: Calibration Design. Pittsburgh:

American Laboratory, 2003.

Cole-Parmer Technical Library. Peristaltic Pumps - Not Just for Labs Anymore. Retrieved on October

7, 2010, from http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo.asp?htmlfile=PPumps_AmyE.htm&ID=580.

Appendix

This section includes information on calculations and graphs used to acquire lab results.

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