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Title: Education and Technical Support of Prosthetics and Orthotics Education in Latin America (Semester Unknown) IPRO 309: Orthotics and Prosthetics Edu in Latin America IPRO 309 Project Plan Sp07
Creator: Bagby, Allison, French, Elise, Gracia, David, Maksimowicz, Peter, Morley, Michael, Pellico, Christopher, Prabhu, Vinit, Rife, Carolanne, Sedacki, Karen, Valls, Nil
Date: 2007-05, 2007-05
Description: Primary Objective The primary objective of this IPRO is to support the development of the first International Society of Prosthetics and...
Show morePrimary Objective The primary objective of this IPRO is to support the development of the first International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) accredited Category 3 program in Latin America. Secondary Objectives The secondary objectives are necessary for accomplishing the primary objective. To ensure that the program will be accredited, many guidelines must be followed; these guidelines have set the secondary objectives as follows: • Develop several educational modules concerning common diseases and their orthotic treatments • Develop several low-cost demonstrations and hand-outs to compliment the educational modules • Carefully follow ISPO requirements to ensure accreditation • Translate all material to Spanish for use in Latin America • Develop a three day short course to be presented at a Prosthetics and Orthotics conference at Bogotá, Colombia in May 2007 • Work with educators in Colombia to develop a program similar to IPRO 309
Deliverables for IPRO 309: Education and Technical Support of Prosthetics and Orthotics Education in Latin America for the Spring 2007 semester
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Title: Design a Novel Mobile Process for Remediating PCB Contaminated Soils (semester?), IPRO 345: Design Novel Mobile PCB Contaminated Soil IPRO 345 IPRO Day Presentation F06
Creator: Barragan-perez, Katya, Hmadouch, Ahlam, Rivera, Robert, Okwudi, Charlotte, Polena, Sotiel Sam, Witthoueft, Jonathan M., Popoola, Dolapo, Bir, Suman, Taylor, La Shawna, Kirk, Justin M., Bussmann, Vito A.
Date: 2006-12, 2006-12
Description: Design a mobile fluidized bed process that desorbs Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) and other toxic materials from identified contaminated areas
...
Show moreDesign a mobile fluidized bed process that desorbs Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) and other toxic materials from identified contaminated areas
Deliverables for IPRO 345: Design of Novel Mobile Process for Remediating Contaminated Soils for the Fall 2006 semester
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Title: Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Simulation, Design, and Implementation (semester?), IPRO 326: Hybrid Electric Vehicles IPRO 326 Poster F04
Creator: Bastrzyk, Marta, Hittie, Thomas, Hudik, Theresa, Johnson, Chad, Mohammad, Mahdi, Naqvi, Ali, Reinhard, Paul, Sadiq, Sadia, Stano, Jeffrey, Waliczek, Gregory, Washington, Tiana
Date: 2004-09, 2004-12
Description: The IPRO 326 Project aims at systematically testing both parallel and series vehicle configurations of the Hummer and HMMWV (High-Mobility...
Show moreThe IPRO 326 Project aims at systematically testing both parallel and series vehicle configurations of the Hummer and HMMWV (High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) to find the optimum hybridization factor specific to each configuration. An additional objective of the team is to work in coordination with Ph.D. students to simulate a hybrid electric bus system that is scheduled to have practical implementations by the end of the year. The team will also review research papers published from other universities to prepare for the upcoming FutureTruck 2005 competition, which involves designing more energy-efficient trucks with hybrid-electric drive trains. All vehicle simulations and structured testing will be performed using ADVISOR, as well as other software packages available in the Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory at IIT. Related work done by previous student teams shall be reviewed and integrated into this project.
Deliverables for IPRO 326: Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Simulation, Design, and Implementation for the Fall 2004 semester
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Title: Impacts of Sulfur Capture Technology in Coal Power Plants (sequence unknown), IPRO 302 - Deliverables: IPRO 302 Final Report F09
Creator: Contreras, Abraham, Dickman, Justin, Enadeghe, Gregory, Garcia Rodriguez, Hector, Haddad, Michael, Kyle, Ryan, Mongillo, Michael, Murphy, Ryan, Shonubi, Oluwaseun, Swillum, Bryce, Wolber, Brian, Worthon, Terrika
Date: 2009-12
Description: The IPRO team was investigating the net impact of sulfur capture technologies used in current and next generation power plants in the United...
Show moreThe IPRO team was investigating the net impact of sulfur capture technologies used in current and next generation power plants in the United States. It planned to use this knowledge to determine which sulfur capture technologies produce the greatest benefit for industry and society and to find the marketability of the sulfur byproducts created in these power plants.
Sponsorship: Sargent & Lundy, LLC
These are the deliverables for IPRO 302: Impacts of Sulfur Capture Technology in Coal Power Plants from the Fall 2009 semester.
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Title: Large Scale Structure Design (Semester Unknown) IPRO 315: Large Scale Structure Design IPRO 315 Poster3 Sp08
Creator: Brady, Brian, Butkovich, Paul, Chung, Chun, Dominikowski, Marek, Herbert, Greg, Hussaini, Muddasir, Magdel, Irina, Mallinger, Nicolle, Omeralovic, Enis, Palma, Jennifer, Rathakrishnan, Malar, Ratnani, Shoaib, Russeva, Diyana, Russo, Ben, Shim, Mary, Sisay, Mary, Varhegyi, Aron, Velichekov, Veselin
Date: 2008, 2008-05
Description: The plan for this IPRO is to develop a design for a large scale parking garage that can accommodate about 500 cars. The objective of this...
Show moreThe plan for this IPRO is to develop a design for a large scale parking garage that can accommodate about 500 cars. The objective of this project is to develop a design that goes beyond the standard parking systems used today. Rather, the attempt is to have a design which is more representative of “parking garages of future.” And as such, such features as quick handling of incoming and outgoing cars, efficiency in storage and aesthetics are considered in design. The building will be completely self-sufficient and will have to incorporate the architecture of the various buildings on campus. The design could have separate entrance and exit ramp towers, ramps incorporated with parking, or the futuristic design may be automated. An automated system will include a vehicle elevator of lift system to move the vehicle so the driver does not have to. The structure could be built with reinforced concrete or steel. The design will also include accessibility following the requirements set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Deliverables
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Title: Designing Affordable Energy, Water, And Shelter Solutions For The World's Poor (Semester Unknown) IPRO 325: DesigningAffordableWater,Energy, and ShelterSolutionsIPRO325FinalPresentationSp09
Creator: Khalil, Shezami, Lee, Sang Hwa, Leposavic, Milos, Lee, Jeonghun
Date: 2009, 2009-05
Description: There are currently around 40 million people living in urban slums without adequate water and sanitation in India. In addition, there is no...
Show moreThere are currently around 40 million people living in urban slums without adequate water and sanitation in India. In addition, there is no sewage system in urban slums and water is not being recycled. In a particular slum in Mumbai that we are looking at, people need to walk to the foothill 2km away in order to get water. It takes a lot of time to carry su cient amount of water for a family for daily use. Water obtained in this way is primarily used for washing. Since there is no private place for people to wash, people often wash themselves on the street and the water is simply wasted. Our team attempted to address two main issues for this semester. Firstly, we tried to provide people with clean and private facility for washing while allowing the water to be recycled. Secondly, we tried to make transporting water easier and more e cient by developing a device that allows you to carry water on your back.
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Title: Fab Lab (Semester Unknown) IPRO 333
Creator: Brassil, Michael, Lamonica, Regina, Luciani, Joseph, Ly, Christine, Martinez, Jessica, Martinez, Michael, Murman, Patricia, Ptak, Treyson, Reyes, Ivan, Villa, Jacqueline
Date: 2008, 2008-12
Description: Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) were started as a community outreach program by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to provide...
Show moreFabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) were started as a community outreach program by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to provide digital fabrication tools for rapid prototyping to the general public. The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (MSI) has partnered with this IPRO to further develop their existing Fab Lab. IPRO 333 has been assigned the task of working with the Fab Lab administrators to design methodologies for furthering the use of the laboratory and determining its end goals for both the museum and the community. Once these goals are established, we will support them with a list of projects that we will create and execute. By working with the lab directors to broaden the possible uses of the lab, we hope to encourage hands-on learning in local schools. This will promote membership at MSI and involve the community in science and technology programs and education. To accomplish this, we have broken into two teams, each of which will focus on a different audience. The first team will be responsible for designing and creating programs for more advanced and knowledgeable users of the equipment specific to the Fab Lab, such as the students enrolled in the Science Achievers program as well as museum members; the second team will be responsible for designing and implementing programs for less advanced users with more constrained timeframes, such as visiting families or groups of school children.
Deliverables
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Title: Design and Economic Evaluations of Biorefinery Operations (semester?), IPRO 347
Creator: Niekoo, Abbasian, Agose, Daisy, Arguijo, Susanna, Hogan, Brian, Jung, Minsuk, Pelae, Raisa, Roberts, Ben, Kyaagba, Tor, Macdougall, Chris, Malacina, Adam, Michael, Adam, Michael, Henry, Demarah, Daniel, Newberg, Phil, Ocwieja, Sarah, Patti, Julie, Vann, Adam, Keen, Andrew, Woo, Hyun, Zarate, Nyah
Date: 2006-05, 2006-05
Description: The IPRO team was successful in designing a process that converts biomass into liquid fuels for transportation. The biomass chosen was cow...
Show moreThe IPRO team was successful in designing a process that converts biomass into liquid fuels for transportation. The biomass chosen was cow manure because of two main reasons. The abundance of cows in southern Wisconsin provides an ideal place for the process to be built. Also, because most other types of potential biomasses currently have uses, manure was favorable. The process was split into three sections: gasification, gas clean-up and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactor.
Deliverables for IPRO 347: Design and Economic Evaluations of Biorefinery Operations for the spring 2006 semester
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Title: Design of Coal Desulfurization Processes to Improve the Environment (semester?), IPRO 346: Coal Desulfurization IPRO 346 Final Report F06
Creator: Mcdowell, Amy, Benegal, Salil, Doellman, Tony, Keen, Andrew, Kisiel, Greg, Maratt, James, Ogunride, Ranti, Olmos, Oscar, Toe, Myint
Date: 2006-12, 2006-12
Description: The objective of this IPRO is to choose an appropriate method (or combination of multiple methods) for desulfurizing coal before combustion...
Show moreThe objective of this IPRO is to choose an appropriate method (or combination of multiple methods) for desulfurizing coal before combustion takes place in a furnace for energy production. Three methods will be researched in order to find the best way of desulfurization- physical, chemical, and biological. Whichever method(s) is found to be the most effective at removing sulfur from coal will be chosen. After this decision the group will move forward and design the process equipment; later an economic assessment will be done to cost the equipment. All of the group’s goals will be completed within this semester.
Deliverables for IPRO 346: Design of Coal Desulfurization Processes to Improve the Environment for the Fall 2006 semester.
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Title: Community Leadership in Bronzeville Public School (Fall 2003), IPRO 303: Community Leadership in Bronzeville Public School IPRO 303 Fall2003 Final Presentation
Creator: Coogan, David
Date: 2003, 2003-12
Description: The goal of this project is to implement a parent involvement program in three of Bronzeville's public schools: Beethoven Elementary School,...
Show moreThe goal of this project is to implement a parent involvement program in three of Bronzeville's public schools: Beethoven Elementary School, Hartigan Specialty School, and Woodson North Middle School. Research in the field of education has long shown that parental involvement can boost academic achievement, even in neighborhoods with a high concentration of poverty. Although Bronzeville has many poor schools, the aforementioned schools were selected because they have either been placed on academic probation, as a result of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, or have experienced a significant drop in attendance, as a result of the CHA Plan for Transformation. To positively effect the parents whose children attend these schools, last semester's IPRO team researched and designed a parent involvement program, in conjunction with the principals, teachers, and parents at the three schools and our community partners, The Grand Boulevard Federation (GBF) and IIT's Office of Community Development. This program calls for the construction of a parent's resource room filled with supplemental curricular materials, ongoing workshops for parents on helping children with their homework, after-school enrichment activities for children, adult education classes for the parents, and increased communication between teachers and parents regarding student performance. See www.iit.edu/~ipro303s03 for more details. Community out-reach workers from the GBF will recruit parents into the program, using brochures and handouts designed by the IPRO team. Together, they will assist each school build-up their parent resources. Ongoing, informal assessment will be conducted, both in terms of parent needs and program effectiveness. Central to the entire project will be a consensus-based, communicative practice in which the principals, the teachers, the outreach workers, the IPRO team, and a core group of parents jointly determine the most effective ways to involve parents in their children's education.
Sponsorship: IIT Collaboratory for Interprofessional Studies in collaboration with the IIT Office of Community Development, Grand Boulevard Federation, Hartigan Speciality School, Beethoven Elementary School and Woodson North Middle School
Deliverables
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Title: Kalleidos (Spring 2011) IPRO 303: KalleidosIPRO303MidTermPresentationSp11
Creator: Rakauskaite, Ausrine, Siver, Ben, Pyrkh, Hanna, Kovacs, Hilary, Jewell, John, Jin, Keojin, Arroyo, Marcos, Michael, Mark, Koto, Melanie, Curran, Morgan, Kushaare, Rishi, Ri, Sujin, Liu, Xiaochen
Date: 2011, 2011-05
Description: “Over the last few years there has been an explosion of different websites that allow average person to contribute different content such as...
Show more“Over the last few years there has been an explosion of different websites that allow average person to contribute different content such as pictures, comments, stories and reviews about places around them. While there are many companies that focus on aggregating such data into common stream - complexity of interpreting such data in a meaningful actionable way remains a challenge for many companies including NAVTEQ.” [Appendix B]  Identify new content from real time feeds which include 1. Points of Interest and their attribution (e.g. Hours of Operation, Languages Spoken at locale, etc…) 2. Any associated content (e.g. events, relationships to other Points of Interest (e.g. same owner, etc…)  Create visualizations based on this content - some basic examples could include 1. Hot/Not So Hot real estate areas (new construction, sales) based on agent and broker social media updates 2. High/Low crime areas based on social media stream 3. Hot/Not city zones based on number of people tweeting/updating Facebook/checking in/etc… in certain areas, parties, POIs.
Sponsorship: NAVTEQ
Deliverables
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Title: Web-Based Supervisor, Management and Leadership Training (semester?), IPRO 306
Creator: Allen, Kelleny, Chandrasekharan, Nivedita, Engel, Jeff, Greiling, Michael, Hays, Julian, Hofland, Andrew, Kadzban, Adam, Lagiglio, Michael, Lee, Florence, Mehr, Andrew, Moss, Elizabeth, Segal, Jason
Date: 2007-12, 2007-12
Description: The primary purpose of the Interprofessional Project (IPRO) 306 team is to enable a group of students from diverse cultural, economic, and...
Show moreThe primary purpose of the Interprofessional Project (IPRO) 306 team is to enable a group of students from diverse cultural, economic, and academic backgrounds to work towards a common goal and conjointly succeed. The secondary purpose of the IPRO 306 team is to develop a topical web-based supervisory, management, and leadership program. In pursuing our objectives, we will gain familiarity and understanding of the best training methods, the most significant and universal leadership traits for organizational effectiveness, and an appreciation for our own unique strengths on an interdisciplinary team.
Deliverables for IPRO 306: Web-Based Supervisor, Management and Leadership Training for the Fall 2007 semester
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Title: Widget Applications to Enhance the Tru2Way Consumer Experience (sequence unknown), IPRO 312 - Deliverables: IPRO 312 IPRO Day Presentation F09
Creator: Alsharief, Yagoob, Aulfata, Muluken, Curtis, Christopher, Dhewaju, Anusuya, Mooney, Kevin, Mutyaba, Kevin, Ndoping, Marco, Onaissi, Samah, Peterson, Naomi, Siwek, Steven, Wallace, Sean, Yi, Won-jae
Date: 2009-12
Description: The IPRO teams objectives are to provide Comcast with feedback from an outside perspective, allowing them to see where their Tru2Way system...
Show moreThe IPRO teams objectives are to provide Comcast with feedback from an outside perspective, allowing them to see where their Tru2Way system needs additional attention or support.
Sponsorship: Comcast
Deliverables for IPRO 312: Widget Applications to Enhance the Tru2Way Consumer Experience for the fall 2009 semester
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Title: Monitoring of multivariable dynamic processes and sensor auditing
Creator: Negiz, A., Cinar, A.
Date: 1998-10
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Description: Industrial continuous processes are usually operated under closed-loop control, yielding process measurements that are autocorrelated, cross...
Show moreIndustrial continuous processes are usually operated under closed-loop control, yielding process measurements that are autocorrelated, cross correlated, and collinear. A statistical process monitoring (SPM) method based on state variables is introduced to monitor such processes. The statistical model that describes the in-control variability is based on a canonical variate (CV) state space model. The CV state variables are linear combinations of the past process measurements which explain the variability of the future measurements the most, and they are regarded as the principal dynamic dimensions. A T-2 statistic based on the CV state variables is utilized for developing the SPM procedure. The CV state variables are also used for monitoring sensor reliability. An experimental application to a high temperature short time (HTST) pasteurization process illustrates the proposed methodology.
Endnote format citation
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Title: Green Building (Semester Unknown) IPRO 335: GreenArtStudioIPRO335Brochure2Sp09
Creator: Antol, Marcin, Balkany, Grahm, Block, Shawn, Campbell, Brittanie, Hart, Carl, Hodgson, Ashley, Korbus, Tracy, Limpinyakul, Jutarop, Lis, Tom, Llakmani, Anton, Macklin, Brandon, Mcguire, Luke, Modi, Nishant, Nguyen, Linh, Nigamatzyanov, Tagir, Palomo, Kaye, Ramey, Ronald, Saracino, Anthony, Socher, Daniel, Tan, Sophia, Williams, Jeremy
Date: 2009, 2009-05
Description: The teams’ task is to demonstrate the interdisciplinary cooperative requirements as needed to fulfill a mission of sustainability. This IPRO...
Show moreThe teams’ task is to demonstrate the interdisciplinary cooperative requirements as needed to fulfill a mission of sustainability. This IPRO simulates an actual building development within the Chicago City limits. Specifically a green building development, which means that there is an increase in efficiency of the resources used while the building is constructed, operative, and removed.
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Title: A Recyclables Business Model for IIT (Semester Unknown) EnPRO 352: ARecyclablesBusinessModelForIITEnPRO352PosterF10
Creator: Wright, Sarah, Fraser, Linnea, Kim, Joseph, Mccabe, Mary, Goduco, Mike, Ramirez, Hugo, Vega, Daniel, O’toole, Bill, Shin, Eddie, Cumar, Raghuveer
Date: 2010, 2010-12
Description: contain the employees necessary to run and maintain the multiple programs which will be controlled by the Student Recycling Business. This...
Show morecontain the employees necessary to run and maintain the multiple programs which will be controlled by the Student Recycling Business. This business will also be in charge of creating events which will help to get the students, staff and faculty of IIT more involved in the recycling process. For prolonged success, the marketing component of any business plan is possibly one of the most essential. Within a student-run business, the need for campus support is enough motivation to implement an effective marketing strategy to advertise the products and gain an appropriate reputation. In terms of recycling, to achieve desired results for a specific objective requires that the target audience is fully informed. Thus, an awareness campaign must be introduced before any expected business success is observed. As shown by the provided data, the large diversity on campus has and most likely will always remain a unique attribute of IIT. Not only do the ethnicity and gender size vary from one category to the next, but the large demographic range (age) that is not presented due to unattainable information is also a significant factor in target marketing. Having language barriers and large generational gaps makes it difficult to impose a single marketing strategy all over campus. A successful marketing plan will overcome these obstacles with ideas that integrate all backgrounds and avoid cultural seclusion.
Sponsorship: IIT
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Title: AXISYMMETRICAL JET FORCED BY FUNDAMENTAL AND SUBHARMONIC TONES
Creator: Raman, G, Rice, Ej
Date: 1991-07
Publisher: AMER INST AERONAUT ASTRONAUT
Description: A circular jet was excited simultaneously by two harmonically related tones. The results of this excitation on jet behavior are reported for...
Show moreA circular jet was excited simultaneously by two harmonically related tones. The results of this excitation on jet behavior are reported for three pairs of Strouhal numbers [St(D) = f*D/U(j) = 0.2 and 0.4, 0.3 and 0.6, 0.4 and 0.8]. For each case, the initial phase difference between the two tones was varied in steps of 45 deg for one full cycle, and the amplitude of the fundamental and subharmonic tones was varied independently over the range of 0.1-7.0% of the jet exit velocity. Several results of this study agreed with other published findings, such as a critical amplitude or the fundamental being required for subharmonic augmentation and the initial phase difference being critical in determining whether the subharmonic is augmented or suppressed. In addition, the detailed documentation or several aspects of this phenomenon, measured in the same experimental facility in a controlled manner, brought out two important points that had eluded previous researchers. First, at high levels of the fundamental and subharmonic forcing amplitudes, the subharmonic augmentation is independent of the initial phase difference. Second, two-frequency excitation is indeed more effective than single-frequency excitation in jet mixing enhancement. Higher spreading rates seem to go along with higher subharmonic levels.
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Title: Creating a Contemporary and Dynamic Science Fair Bank for Chicago Public Schools (Semester Unknown) IPRO 330: Creating a Contemporary and Dynamic Science Fair Bank for Chicago Public Schools IPRO 330 Brochure Sp08
Creator: Baldwin, Leah, Campbell, Keith, Diaz, Rocio, Gim, Yewon, Pak, Angela, Parrillo, Anthony, Steward, Shane, Tate, Joshua, Ten Eyck, Patrick, Totlebe, Aimee
Date: 2008, 2008-05
Description: IPRO 330 has one clear and main purpose: to increase high school student interest in Science and Mathematics in Chicago Public Schools. This...
Show moreIPRO 330 has one clear and main purpose: to increase high school student interest in Science and Mathematics in Chicago Public Schools. This is a very lofty and broad goal, so IPRO 330 has chosen to use the Chicago Public School Science Fair program as a vehicle to achieve this purpose. IPRO 330 is a continuing IPRO, meaning that we have a foundation and a base of work that has already been accomplished. As a result, one of the project goals of this team will be to obtain in-depth feedback from professionals within IIT, from Chicago Public Schools, and certainly from other professional education venues as well. Specifically, we will be looking to obtain feedback from the three most involved sources in high school students’ lives: students, teachers, and parents. This may be the most vital part of our project, because we want to make sure that our projects and guides are of high quality and high interest to high school students. IPRO 330 has an existing bank of Science Fair projects and guides which are located on the website sciencefair.math.iit.edu. In an effort to make our website more effective and more appealing, we will have team goals to create more Science Fair projects, and guides which will target areas that Chicago Public High School Students typically have trouble addressing, such as data analysis. We feel like the guides are a way to really implement more mathematics into the Science Fair program as a whole. In addition, there will be a group of students in our IPRO focused on improving the website and implementing new projects. IPRO 330 will address these objectives by first having all members, including faculty advisors, attend and judge a Chicago Public School Science Fair. This will allow everyone working on this project to get a better sense of what we are working on, make some contacts with teachers and Science Fair Coordinators, and even get feedback from students who used the website as a resource for their project. After this initial phase, the group will break up into three teams, an infrastructure team, a communication team, and a project and guides team. In these sub teams, IPRO 330 will be able to more effectively deal with more specific issues that arise
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Title: Solid Fuel from Biomass for Cogeneration (Semester Unknown) IPRO 349: Solid Fuel from Biomass for Cogeneration IPRO 349 Final Presentation Sp08
Creator: Mikesell, Jonathan, Dlugosz, Anna, Heffernan, Joseph, James, Joshua, Vassi, Anna, Yap, Ying Bing, Yeap, Xin Yi, Chacko, Serena, Ruidera, Ryan, Stanfield, Terrance
Date: 2008, 2008-05
Description: Renewable energy is one of the most important and widely researched topics today. It is classically defined as any form of energy coming from...
Show moreRenewable energy is one of the most important and widely researched topics today. It is classically defined as any form of energy coming from any naturally replenish-able source. This may include everything from solar to wind power, as well as biomass or biofuels. When considering biomass, or any (living or recently-dead) biological material, the chemical energy of the molecules is generally collected through combustion. The area of liquid fuels from biomass has especially gained much notoriety and support in recent years. This is due to the lower emissions and clean-burning nature of these fuels when compared to more traditional approaches, as well as the obvious renewable nature of the starting material. While vegetable oils or animal fats can be used as a replacement for diesel fuels, corn, switchgrass, or other grains are more widely used to produce ethanol for use in common combustion engines. Today’s E85 fuel is sold to customers with a chemical makeup of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The use of solid biomass as a direct supplier of energy, however, is an area still left relatively unexplored in this growing field. In theory, and as preliminary research suggests, harvesting energy directly from solid biomass may be considerably more efficient than gathering it from its processed liquid counterpart. In fact, some studies suggest that the energy acquired from burning ethanol is up to 67% lower than is contained in the plant cellulose from which it is derived.[1] There are, however, several other factors besides energy projections to consider when looking at the economic and market viability of such an approach. For example, one of the main advantages of liquid fuels over solid is the ease of transportation and storage. Additionally, the feasibility of developing a whole new process of biomass collection and processing must be balanced with economic and logistical constraints. This includes not only careful analysis of energy and cost balances, but also in-depth examination of all equipment, manpower and environmental limitations. IPRO 349 was established to examine these (and many more) considerations in the viability of sold fuel from biomass. Specifically, we have narrowed the scope of our research to biomass derived from corn stover (leaves and stalk left in the ground after harvesting) within the state of Illinois. Illinois was chosen because it is currently the largest producer of corn in the nation.[2] Corn stover has been shown to have an energy content of 5,290 Btu/lb. wet, and 7,560 Btu/lb. dry.[2]With such an approach, it may be possible to utilize what would otherwise be considered “waste” to produce useable, renewable energy. For the purposes of this project, cogeneration, or the simultaneous generation of both electricity and useful heat will be examined.
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