Chattanooga
Engineers Club Newsletter
http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/
NEXT
MEETING____________________
Monday
September 20
–
Mr. Gordon Smith III (Tripp) - The Lighting Gallery
“Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill”
Gordon
Smith will give an overview of the oil exploration and development process,
well design, petroleum reservoirs. He will use videos that BP has made
available to illustrate the process of drilling the relief well and capping the
original well. Since time is limited, he will show the key parts from each
video and take questions from the audience.
Gordon
Smith has a BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a
MBA from Southern Methodist University. He has worked as a Petroleum
Production and Drilling Engineer for Chevron, and as Chief Engineer for the Pitts
Energy Group. Later he served as Vice President, Oil and Gas Division, North
American Royalties and as CEO of Griffin & Griffin Oil Exploration.
FUTURE
MEETINGS ____________________
Monday
September 27
–
Richard Parsons - Engineering Services
“Geothermal
Heat Pump Installation at Riverview Animal Hospital”
Richard
Parsons will discuss the advantages of ground source heat pumps in general, and
the installation at Riverview Animal Hospital in particular.
Richard
Parsons is General Manager and Partner at Engineered Services Co-Operative,
LLC. He has 35 years experience in the Heating Ventilation and Air
Conditioning (HVAC) industry, including 5 years as a service technician and 20
years in design of HVAC systems. He has been responsible for systems designs
including steam, chilled water, natural gas systems (mixed gas), refrigeration
(low and high temperature applications), building controls, industrial
mechanical ventilation, geothermal system design and solar thermal system
design.
Monday
October 4
–
Dale Bradshaw– Consultant to NRECA
“Carbon
Capture and Sequestration.”
Monday
October 11
–
No Meeting - in Observance of Columbus Day
Monday
October 18
–
Dr John Rather - Rather Creative Innovations Group
Inc.
“Superconductivity,
a Transformative Technology”
Dr
Rather will describe some of the important uses of superconductivity, with a
special focus on MagLev applications.
Dr.
Rather earned a BS from UT, and an MA and PhD in Astronomy at UC Berkeley.
Early in his career, Dr. Rather performed hands-on research work at the Oak
Ridge and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and the National Radio
Astronomy Observatory. In his mid-30s, he progressed to senior management
positions that included two Vice Presidencies in the aerospace industry.
Subsequently, he held Senior Executive Service appointments in the U.S.
Government that required deep, comprehensive knowledge of science and
technology. After a decade in medical and microelectronic research in an
academic setting, he founded RCIG in 2006.
Monday
October 25
–
TBD
PREVIOUS
MEETING____________________
Monday
September 13
–
Dale Bradshaw – Consultant to NRECA
“Algae
for CO2 Capture”
(Dale’s program was prepared by Craig Miller.) Coal-fired
power plants produce large amounts of CO2. To add CO2 capturing
systems may more than double utilities power production costs. Storing CO²
and removing SO² is very expensive, and may add as much as $65.00
per megawatt hour for plant cost. In addition, about 30% of the
energy-produced output may be consumed in the CO2 capture process.
Utilities may convert CO2 back into oil and useful chemicals. Exxon
is spending $600 million making commercial grade algae.
Algae can be much more efficient than corn or other crops for
ethanol production.
For comparison, some productivity rates per acre are listed below:
|
Ethanol made from corn |
15 gallons |
|
Ethanol made from soybeans |
48 gallons |
|
Ethanol made from safflower |
102 gallons |
|
Ethanol made from rapeseed |
127 gallons |
|
Ethanol made from algae in a pond |
1835 gallons |
|
Ethanol made from algae in a bioreactor |
8500 gallons |
To capture CO2 from a 100-megawatt coal plant would
require 18,000 acres of land supporting algae production.
CHATTANOOGA
ENGINEERS CLUB — CORPORATE SPONSORS_____________
We gratefully acknowledge the corporate sponsorships listed
below.
2010 — Robbins & Bohr, LLC
2009 — Coca—Cola
2008 — Alstom
2008 — Chattanooga State
MEETING
LOGISTICS_______________________
The
Chattanooga Engineer's Club meets at the DOUBLETREE HOTEL,
407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402. Free parking may be available
in the gated parking lot on the south side of the Hotel. Plan to arrive before
11:30 a.m., if you intend to park in the limited space available. Late
arrivals may need to pay for parking on the street or in a nearby public
parking garage. Lunch is $14. If you do not plan to purchase a lunch,
please use the chairs around the perimeter of the room, and not those at the
round tables. The Doubletree charges the club for lunch if you sit at the
round tables.”
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 Ralph
Boroughs by e-mail at rdboroughs@gmail.com or by
phone at 423-227-0412. 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.
Links
to local engineering societies are available to you at: http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/engineer/
For
a calendar of local technology related events see: http://chatc.org/