www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org
NEXT MEETING____________________________
Monday, October 26 - Noon – DOUBLETREE HOTEL, First Floor
(
“World-Wide Web-Based Engineering Student
Laboratories” - Dr. Jim Henry and
Alan Voss
Dr. Jim Henry, UTC Professor of chemical and
environmental engineering, and Alan Voss, a TVA retiree, recently traveled to
Through a web interface, students in
Dr. Oleg Gasparyan, the collaborator in
The work in
Dr. Henry and Mr. Voss will talk about the technical
aspects of this project and the cultural, political, geographical and
gastronomical aspects of the visit to
FUTURE MEETINGS________________________
Monday, November 2 – Noon – “Rethinking the Nature and Fate of Our Universe”
Speaker: Dr. Robert Marlowe, UTC Professor of Physics
Monday, November 9 – Noon – “Air Permitting Process for the New Volkswagen Plant”
Speakers: Bob Colby, Director,
Monday, November 16 – Noon – “A
Speaker:
Mike Scott, Project Co-ordinator, TVA,
Monday, November 23 – Noon – “New Events and Activities at
Speaker: Henry Schulson, Director at
Monday, November 30 - Noon – To be determined.
Monday, December 7 – Noon – “Are Lithium Batteries the Answer for
Advanced Vehicles?”
Speaker:
Mark Hairr, UTC CETE Research Program Director
Monday, December 14 – Noon – To be determined.
Monday, December 21 – NO MEETING
Monday, December 28 – NO MEETING
PREVIOUS MEETING_______________________
Dr. Frank Jones introduced Senior Honor Students Trip
Dacus and Jennifer Lewis, who described how micro chemical processing technology
is used for production of biodiesel fuel.
The heterogeneous catalysis simplifies the separation and purification
steps.
One major challenge addressed by the students was to
find out if fatty acids, which produce soap in current processes, would be a
problem for the heterogeneous micro chemical system. Three biodiesel molecules are produced
for every oil molecule, and one biodiesel molecule is produced for every free
fatty acid using a metal or metal oxide catalyst.
Trip Dacus briefly explained that he had to harvest
algae oil and extract the oil himself.
A broad variety of feedstock is ideal.
A micro reactor system includes micro sized channels,
a heat source, and a large surface area.
Trip and Jennifer tested several catalysts. A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) 10
Tesla Unit was used to determine product composition. The students tested corn oil, olive oil,
algae oil, and other oils with impurities.
Jennifer Lewis explained why micro scale testing was
used. Diffusion time decreases as
the channel diameter decreases.
The research team has an optimized design and is
ready to build a micro reactor on silicon discs.
The UTC Research Team submitted a grant request to
DOE. Over 2,000 requests were
submitted by colleges and universities, and the UTC request is one of 200 still
in the running.
ITEMS OF INTEREST_______________________
The Chattanooga Engineer's Club meets
at the DOUBLETREE HOTEL,
Looking for details on a local society
meeting? Links to local engineering societies are available to you at:
http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/engineer
QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS______________
If you have any questions, items that
would be of interest to the Chattanooga Engineers Club, or suggestions for
future programs, please contact Joe Robbins by e-mail at jrobbins@robbinsbohr.com or by phone at 423-756-4430. You can find membership application
forms, references to future programs, historical data, and other info at:
http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org.
To receive future meeting announcements by email, join the Chattanooga
Technology Organization mailing list at: http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org/email.