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PLUMBING CONNECTION
SPRING 2015
As you can see, it’s certainly not a straight forward project
and one best suited to someone with a technical trade
background or experience in the construction industry. For a
lot of students, it might prove a mountain too high to climb.
Thankfully a suitable candidate rose to the occasion. Luke
Verstraten decided to further his education at the University
of the Sunshine Coast after successfully running his own
irrigation and landscaping business for over 10 years.
“I graduated from my Bachelor in Environmental Science
Degree in 2011 and I received a university commendation
for my academic achievements. By the time I finished my
undergraduate degree I knew that I had developed a passion
for undertaking research projects that are practical and
relevant with benefits to industry and society,” Luke says.
Since graduating, Luke has worked on several national
and international collaborative research projects with the
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Federal
and Qld), The Indian Ocean Commission, University of the
Sunshine Coast, Griffith University, La Trobe University and
the University of Queensland. While working on a national
research programme 3-year investigation into Soil Carbon
he was able to further his studies by completing his first
class Honours degree.
“I was particularly interested when I first heard about the
AHSCA project as I saw it as having the ability to expand
the current knowledge of roof drainage systems through
realistic physical testing on a scale that has not been
attempted before.
“I was therefore very keen on being involved with this
cutting-edge research project and I immediately applied
for the USC/AHSCA PhD scholarship. Fortunately I was
successful with my application and I am pleased to be
working with my PhD supervisors, Dr Terry Lucke and Dr
Helen Fairweather, who bring to the project a wealth of
experience and knowledge.
“Day-to-day activities will vary throughout the project.
Currently the construction and design of the testing rig
and reviewing of relevant literature are the predominant
activities. This is expected to be completed within the next
two months,” Luke says.
“Once the rig is constructed the experimental phase
will begin and we will start by testing a number of gutter,
sumps, overflow and down pipe configurations at flow rates
of up to 100L/s. To my knowledge this is the first project
globally to investigate conventional gutter systems on this
scale at these flow rates and much of this capacity is owed
to the one off pump designed and built for the project by
Grundfos.
“As data is collected we can begin to analyse the
performance boundaries of roof drainage and develop
models to aid the hydraulic industry in making accurate and
informed performance based design choices.”
The dual pump system, developed by BKB Grundfos sees both pumps able to simulate up to 50L/s.
INDUSTRY RESEARCH