News
Events
VideoRecent Projects: Energy/Environmental
Balefill Design And Feasibility Study
Team: Robert J. Courtney, Robert N. D'Angelo, Gregory Haines
Sponsor: Greater Upper Valley Solid Waste Management District
Advisor: Professor Robert Graves
Baling municipal solid waste before land filling can improve density and reduce environmental impact. This study determined the operational design, layout, machinery selection, and economics of a balefill in North Hartland, Vt. A software planning model was developed to determine how design decisions affect tip fees and site longevity. The site's average tip fee was determined to be approximately $65.71, with the first excavation phase lasting 23.3 years based on an initial 50,000 tons of waste and a 1.5% yearly increase factor. This demonstrates that baling waste is a feasible option for waste management in the Greater Upper Valley.
Control of Low-Cost Heliostat
Team: Louis Buck, Philip Croteau, Alexander Latham
Sponsor: Solaflect Energy LLC
Advisor: Professor Kofi Odame
Solaflect Energy, LLC. is a startup company that is trying to compete in the large market of renewable energy, specifically Central Receiver Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). The company's goal is to develop a system that will augment a small- to mid-size institution's steam production at a price less than that offered by fossil fuels and that will be flexible, easy-to-install, and low maintenance. Their control communications and power systems are currently hindering them from meeting their goals. Our team designed a wireless network solution that allows them to maintain different motor speeds on hundreds of heliostats, broadcast the same command to these heliostats, automatically stow a heliostat in the case of network loss, and check the battery charge on any heliostat. We developed fully functional prototypes of the electronics, including the printed circuit board (PCB) design, and we developed a photovoltaic battery charger. Overall, the system represents a 64-percent decrease in cost from Solaflect's current power system over one year and 96-percent decrease over ten years while also adding the benefit of modularization to the heliostats.
Disposable Reaction System for Fibrous Materials
Team: Brett Guenther, Kalistyn Lemke, Nathalie Rivest, Kyle Sherry
Sponsor: Mascoma Corporation
Advisor: Professor Karl Griswold
Mascoma Corporation has developed consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) as a means to effectively and efficiently convert woody cellulosic biomass into an affordable energy source. CBP integrates multiple steps in the biomass treatment process, thereby reducing capital and operating costs. The enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass is a bottleneck in Mascoma's overall research efforts. This project developed and optimized a semi-automated hydrolysis system that will maximize experimental productivity, reduce labor and cost, and is appropriate for mimicking plant-scale production.
This team received the John C. Woodhouse Environmental Engineering Prize in 2010.
Off-Grid Energy At Echo Mountain
Team: Kevin Ellis, Chris Koppel, Kara Pydynkowski, Drew Wenzel
Sponsor: Jerry Petitt '67 Th'69 T'69, Echo Mountain
Advisor: Professor Benoit Cushman-Roisin
Echo Mountain is a small, off-grid ski park near Denver, Colo. Its operations are entirely powered by diesel generators and with the increasingly volatile price of fuel, this business model is becoming too costly to maintain. After performing an energy analysis, the team identified where additional efficiencies could be realized. Computer modeling was used to identify the best generator combination that meets Echo's power needs and to optimize the best alternative energy option based on fuel efficiency and other economic factors.
Regenerative Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Team: Pumi Maqubela '10, Ben Hemani '10, Matt Strand '10, Nils Koons '11
Sponsor: Wendell Smith
Advisor: Dr. Mark Laser
Our sponsor's dream is to implement hydrogen technology to promote the use of renewable energy sources. We worked toward that goal by investigating hydrogen use in a domestic setting and promoting hydrogen research and innovation at Thayer. Our final project objectives were: (a) achieve a very high level of safety compliance to satisfy the stringent requirements of Thayer School's safety personnel and EHS; (b) design and build a self-contained hydrogen fuel cell system capable of generating, storing, and consuming hydrogen on demand to produce electricity; (c) test the efficiencies of each component as well as system-wide tests; and (d) bring Thayer School's facilities up to hydrogen safety standards, enabling future hydrogen-related projects within Thayer. The group was able to construct a system consistent with the one outlined in our specifications, gain approval for outdoor testing, test the system, and set Thayer School on path to facilitate future hydrogen projects.
Solar Racking Development
Team: Jan Gromadzki '10, Yolanda Lin '11, Anastasia Miliano '10
Sponsor: Jeff Wolfe, groSolar
Advisor: Professor Vicki May
In order to reduce the cost of photovoltaic (PV) systems, groSolar, a local installer and distributor, requires a novel mounting solution. The group has designed a product to mount PV panels on sloped residential roofs in order to meet groSolar's needs. Key design specifications include the ability to adapt to a variety of panels, ability to adjust height off the roof, and a low manufacturing cost. The proposed solution is a small mounting foot designed to be secured into roof rafters. The system follows similar installation procedures to current railed systems, so implementing the new solution will be intuitive to installers. The group was also able to prepare a thorough manufacturing plan for groSolar.
