Project Plant Power
We are out to harness power from waste
Photosynthesis is the way plants get energy from the sun. By taping this fuel source we can harness this new solar power. The aim of this project is to remove panels from solar power by harnessing the carbon cycle.
Pushing the limits of creation
Darby and I have received honorary prizes in both the Catalyze Klamath and InventOregon prototype competitions. These experiences have given us skills in developing our business model and pitching ideas. It is our dream to one day commercialize this venture.
The testing of our machine has been limited to only a handful of hours. In that time we have learned about the complex dynamic nature of continuous control systems. Each test leaves us with exciting questions and ideas. Darby and I will continue to be students of our creation as we plan to revise and refine our design.
It all started with a road trip with Darby, a fellow mechanical engineering student at Oregon Tech. We were headed to a farm along the border of California and Oregon in search for a senior capstone project.
These farmers gave us a challenge. They explained that massive amounts of waste biomass is burned in the field for disposal. They wished to harness that energy to power the lights in their greenhouses.
Large factory’s, like saw mills, harness the energy within waste biomass by burning the material in a boiler. These systems are great but require a massive facility with expensive components.
The farmers needed a smaller system, sized for the amount of waste produced. With Darby’s background in biomass boiler controls we thought we had this project in the bag.
Here’s How It Works
Rather than burning biomass within a boiler, our system skips the steam entirely.
We are taking old technology and tuning it up to efficiently break down organic material into fuel. This fuel, known as syn-gas, can then be used to run an electrical generator.
How is this Renewable?
Even though our device produces carbon emissions the total carbon footprint remains neutral. Any time you grow something, you pull in carbon and store it underground.This tips the scale on how much carbon is produced when burning something to how much is sequestered when the plant grows. For this reason our system remains carbon neutral.
Completely Automated Control
To make this machine marketable it must operate with minimal human interaction.
To do this our machine needed to be smart, so we installed some brains.
This automated system is comprised of a Programmable Logic Controller and an Arduino Micro Controller. This computer technology is accompanied by a vast array of sensors allowing for data accusation and control.
As we continue to test our machine we can tune our automated controls to maximize performance and efficiency.