Multidisciplinary Senior Design s8
Multidisciplinary Senior Design
Project Readiness Package
Project Title: / Spirulina Production to Combat MalnutritionProject Number:
(assigned by MSD) / P16488
Primary Customer:
(provide name, phone number, and email) / Jordan Russ
716-341-5153
Sponsor(s):
(provide name, phone number, email, and amount of support) / MSD up to $500
Preferred Start Term: / Fall 2015
Faculty Champion:
(provide name and email) / Jeffrey Lodge, tentative,
Other Support: / In contact with Antenna
Project Guide:
(assigned by MSD)
Prepared By: Jordan Russ / Date 15Jun15
Received By: / Date
Overview
According to UNICEF, malnourishment is the cause of almost half the deaths in children under the age of five [1]. This amounts to 3 million youths lost every year, with the vast majority occurring in developing nations such as India, the Congo, and Ethiopia. As world population continues to rise, nutrient availability must rise to meet it, especially in developing nations.
Spirulina is a blue-green micro-algae, or cyanobacteria, with remarkable nutritional density and growth efficiency [2]. It is a source of all essential amino acids as well as many essential micronutrients such as beta-carotene, iron, B12, gamma-linolenic acid, and fatty acids. When considering protein yield, spirulina produces the same amount of protein as soy in 20 times less area and uses 4 to 5 times less water which can be brackish and unsuitable for irrigation [3]. In addition, it can be grown locally and sustainably encouraging economic independence of rural regions by using low cost inputs. When considered in whole, spirulina is a low cost, sustainable, and efficient source of essential nutrients to areas with minimal land, water, and economic stability. Although clinical studies have had mixed results in regards to its benefits when ingested by humans, field studies in India in 1999 and since indicate that “a dose of 1 to 3 grams daily, over a period of 4 to 6 weeks, could be sufficient to cure young children of 5 years or younger of their mild and moderate malnutrition” [3].
The non-government organization (NGO) Antenna, based out of Switzerland, has been educating and sponsoring small scale spirulina farms in rural areas of India and Africa for over 20 years. Through education and financial endorsement, Antenna has been able to provide locally produced nutritional remedies for malnutrition in Burundi, India, Laos, Mali, Niger, Madagascar and many more. The equipment is very low-tech, requiring minimal initial investment, and utilizing locally available materials.
However, there is still room for improvement. The main limiting factors in algae cultivation are the availability of nutrients, primarily carbon in the form of CO2, phosphorus, nitrogen, and ammonia. CO2 is derived from the atmosphere while the remaining nutrients are taken from the growth media. Maximizing the availability of these nutrients can raise the productivity of the process. The processing, collecting and drying of the algae, is another area where engineering solutions can raise efficiency. This project will assess the above stated variables and provide solutions that raise efficiency, so as to provide more nutrition to areas in need.
Primary Customer Requirements
The proposed engineering solution will:
1. Reduce capital requirements for the production of spirulina
2. Improve spirulina production, meet or surpass current production capabilities
3. Be representative of growth conditions native to India
4. Be operational with minimal training of farmers.
Functional Decomposition
The engineering solution will be capable of executing the following functions or accounting for their function:
* Algae production is a fed batch process, meaning a fraction of the culture will be harvested periodically and the batch will be fed with new nutrient rich media as needed.
Preliminary Engineering Requirements
CR / Engineering Requirements (ER) / Metric / Specification1 / Reduce the financial cost of starting a spirulina farm / EUR/m2 / < 200 [3]
Reduce the financial cost per unit of spirulina / EUR/kg / < 20 [3]
2 / Increase the land efficiency / kg/m2/Year / > 2 [3]
3 / Representative of sun availability / kWh/year/m2 / 1950 [4]
Representative of water availability / m3/person/year / 300 [5]
Representative of media availability / Local fertilizer availability
4 / Simple farmer training process / Days of training / 30 [3]
Constraints
Cost: This technology is designed to meet the nutritional needs of the poverty that has stricken in developing countries. Thus, a major constraint is the amount of capital the proposed solution can cost.
Resources: It is common that the only materials that can be obtained due to cost or availability are locally sourced. The proposed engineering solutions must be replicable with resources from the community it’s intended to serve.
Electricity: Many current spirulina farms do not have access to a power grids, thus any energy requirements may need to be generated through other means such as solar or wind energy.
Space: India has a high density population meaning land availability is extremely limited. Any solution must maximize output per unit area.
Potential Concepts
Increasing Atmospheric CO2 Availability
Photosynthesis requires CO2 and water. In many algae cultivation processes CO2 is the limiting factor in algae growth. By improving the availability of atmospheric CO2 or finding other sustainable sources of it, growth can be improved. This is most commonly accomplished through pond design, or the incorporation of aeration units such as paddle wheels or spargers. There are also manufacturing facilities that produce a large amount of CO2 as waste, such as concrete factories, that could be harvested and recycled into the algae growth cycle.
Improving Growth Media
Currently, growth media is formulated from locally available fertilizers. These fertilizers cost money and are sometimes not reliably available in more rural communities. Waste water retains all the nutrients needed to grow algae, mainly ammonia, nitrogen, and phosphorus. However there are concerns for sanitation and safety when using human waste as an input to another food production cycle. If another step in the process could be incorporated to utilize existing waste as a safe fertilizer for the spirulina growth process, significant resources could be saved. This may entail an algae intermediate that will grow off the waste water and then be harvested, cleaned and broken down to make a slurry for the spirulina to grow in, free from the initial pollutants and bacteria.
Improved Pond Construction
The design of an algae pond has a lot to do with how efficient it will allow the algae to grow. Current high output algae facilities entail a raceway style pond which maximizes space and homogenizes the culture. Incorporating these design characteristics to maximize the fluid flow properties of the culture may be an easy way to improve efficiency.
Improved Algae Processing
The algae must periodically be harvested from the pond at which point a screen of fine gage is used to separate the algae from solution. Once it is in a wet paste form it is dispensed through tubes onto drying racks where it will dehydrate in a solar dryer before it is ground into a powder and packaged for consumption. The harvesting of the algae could possibly be automated with the help of fluid mechanics. With the fluid moving faster around the turns of the pond, the algae particles will gravitate towards the edges of the structure, where collection screens could be located. As the algae grow, it will be collected until equilibrium is reached between algae growth and collection. In addition, solar dryers are often the most expensive component of the processing of algae. There are means of building solar dryers from local materials that may save substantial resources.
Project Deliverable
· All design documents (e.g., concepts, analysis, detailed drawings/schematics, BOM, test results)
· Working prototype
· Technical paper
· Poster
· All teams finishing during the spring term are expected to participate in ImagineRIT
· Process Lifecycle Analysis
· Process Formulated Bulk Material
Budget Information
Forecasted Expenses / CostMaterials for pond construction / $200
Spirulina Culture / $20
Growth Media / $50
Materials for solar dryer construction / $200
Intellectual Property
If a novel pond design or algae process is created there may be reason for IP protection, but as this is a design project and not a research project the focus will be on integration of existing technology not inventing new ones.
Required Resources
Faculty list individuals and their area of expertise (people who can provide specialized knowledge unique to your project, e.g., faculty you will need to consult for more than a basic technical question during office hours) / Initial/dateJeffrey Lodge / JR/15June15
Environment (e.g., a specific lab with specialized equipment/facilities, space for very large or oily/greasy projects, space for projects that generate airborne debris or hazardous gases, specific electrical requirements such as 3-phase power) / Initial/date
Indoor and/or outdoor space where a small scale pond can be maintained under controlled conditions10-20m2 / JR/15June15
Equipment (specific computing, test, measurement, or construction equipment that the team will need to borrow, e.g., CMM, SEM, ) / Initial/date
Incubator, fridge / JR/15June15
Materials (materials that will be consumed during the course of the project, e.g., test samples from customer, specialized raw material for construction, chemicals that must be purchased and stored) / Initial/date
Growth media, fertilizers, waste water, algae harvest / JR/15June15
Other / Initial/date
Anticipated Staffing by Discipline
Dept. / # Req. / Expected ActivitiesBME / 1 / Algae Cultivation, harvesting, and processing
ISE / 2 / Process efficiency analysis, process design
ME / 3 / Pond, solar dryer, design and construction, fluid dynamics analysis, support for algae cultivation, harvesting, and processing
* Skills Checklist:
Indicate the sills or knowledge that will be needed by students working on this project. Please use the following scale of importance:
1=must have
2=helpful, but not essential
3=either a very small part of the project, or relates to a “bonus” feature
blank = not applicable to this project
Mechanical Engineering
/ ME Core Knowledge / ME Elective Knowledge /2 / 3D CAD / Finite element analysis
Matlab programming / 3 / Heat transfer
1 / Basic machining / 1 / Modeling of electromechanical & fluid systems
2 / 2D stress analysis / Fatigue and static failure criteria
2 / 2D static/dynamic analysis / Machine elements
1 / Thermodynamics / Aerodynamics
1 / Fluid dynamics (CV) / 2 / Computational fluid dynamics
LabView / 2 / Biomaterials
Statistics / Vibrations
2 / Materials selection / IC Engines
GD&T
Linear Controls
Composites
Robotics
Other (specify)
Industrial & Systems Engineering
/ ISE Core Knowledge / ISE Elective Knowledge /Statistical analysis of data: regression / Design of Experiment
Materials science / 1 / Systems design – product/process design
1 / Materials processing, machining lab / Data analysis, data mining
2 / Facilities planning: layout, mat’l handling / Manufacturing engineering
2 / Production systems design: cycle time, throughput, assembly line design, manufacturing process design / 1 / DFx: manufacturing, assembly, environment, sustainability
1 / Ergonomics: interface of people and equipment (procedures, training, maintenance) / 1 / Rapid prototyping
Math modeling: OR (linear programming, simulation) / Safety engineering
2 / Project management / Other (specify)
1 / Engineering economy: Return on Investment
Quality tools: SPC
Production control: scheduling
Shop floor IE: methods, time studies
2 / Computer tools: Excel, Access, AutoCAD
Programming (C++)
Biomedical Engineering
/ BME Core Knowledge / BME Elective Knowledge /Matlab / Medical image processing
1 / Aseptic lab techniques / COMSOL software modeling
Gel electrophoresis / Medical visualization software
Linear signal analysis and processing / Biomaterial testing/evaluation
2 / Fluid mechanics / 2 / Tissue culture
1 / Biomaterials / Advanced microscopy
Labview / Microfluidic device fabrication and measurement
Simulation (Simulink) / Other (specify)
System physiology
2 / Biosystems process analysis (mass, energy balance)
1 / Cell culture
Computer-based data acquisition
Probability & statistics
2 / Numerical & statistical analysis
Biomechanics
Design of biomedical devices
References
[1] "Stunting." UNICEF STATISTICS. 1 May 2015. Web. 13 June 2015.
[2] Wikipedia contributors. "Spirulina (dietary supplement)."Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 May. 2015. Web. 16 Jun. 2015.
[3] "Spirulina : The Nutrition Solution for Rich and Poor." Antenna Technologies:nutrition Research: Spirulina. 2015. Web. 16 June 2015. .
[4] Wikipedia contributors. "Solar power in India."Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Jun. 2015. Web. 16 Jun. 2015.
[5] "AQUASTAT." - FAO's Information System on Water and Agriculture. 1 June 2011. Web. 11 June 2015.