Clarkson joins in on DANC project
Clarkson University students are helping the Development Authority of the North Country choose between growing tomatoes or harvesting algae with heat from the methane gas-to-energy generators at the solid waste management facility.
Eight undergraduate and masters students in an industrial ecology class during the fall evaluated the viability of using the waste heat to grow tomatoes and algae.
"We try at Clarkson to give students real engineering projects, even as undergraduates, and expect they can do it and work through the real constraints," said Susan E. Powers, a professor in the civil and environmental engineering department who taught the class.
The facility at the landfill in Rodman has three generators that produce 4.8 megawatts of electricity. When a fourth is added, the site will produce 6.4 megawatts of electricity with a byproduct of 23.84 million British thermal units of waste heat energy per hour.
"It was a very preliminary analysis, but both options, from an engineering standpoint, appear to be economically viable," she said.
Algae growth has the advantages of using the heat year-round and having a ready market for the end product, biodiesel production. A tomato greenhouse would only use the waste heat during winter and it would be harder to find an end market.
The students presented their findings to DANC staff on Dec. 1. Creating a business plan, engineering and laboratory pilot facilities would be the next step in the research process, Ms. Powers said. The next step is finding sources to fund those studies.
DANC Chief Executive Officer James W. Wright said those could be a combination of the authority's budget and outside sources.
The two entities joined forces on the project through Carrie A. Tuttle, engineer for DANC and environmental studies masters student at Clarkson.
"This is the first of what I hope will be many examples of the authority working with educational resources in the region," Mr. Wright said. "It brings greater opportunities for the region and fits into our overarching economic development mission."
DANC is pursuing ways to help with workforce development in the region, he said.
"There are a number of activities where the educational resources of the region have advantages that not only the authority, but other organizations, can utilize," Mr. Wright said.
DANC has sought ways to use the waste heat since before the three generators went online in late 2008.
"DANC is to be commended for its commitment to furthering its sustainability efforts," Clarkson President Anthony G. Collins said in a press release.
"Clarkson is excited to have the opportunity to work with this state-of-the-art facility, which shows how sustainability can complement economic development in the north country."
