Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Larvae for Managing Food Waste in Northern Cities
EPA Grant Number: SU836810Title: Larvae for Managing Food Waste in Northern Cities
Investigators: Thorn, Brian , Brownell, Sarah , Purnama, Ria , Carter, Dawn , Win, Shwe Sin , Piscitelli, Alicia
Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017 (Extended to September 30, 2018)
Project Amount: $14,958
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2016) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Sustainable and Healthy Communities , P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Two major goals were established for this project:
- Design and construct a useable prototype for a new continuous feed BSFL food waste reactor that can be easily scaled up based on food waste quantities. The reactor is to be used to test the performance of BSFL in composting food waste from RIT dining services.
- Design and build an industrial BSFL rearing shed using passive house construction methods. criteria. The shed will serve as a stand alone BSFL test facility and will house the food waste reactor. The structure will be “super-insulated” to minimize energy requirements and control air exchange with the environment. These characteristics are needed in order to accurately characterize the energy requirement for a viable BSFL colony and the CO2 and methane emissions generated by the colony.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Reactor design and construction.
Funding for the project was delayed by about 6 months, and because of this a one year extension was approved. This enabled us to deploy two teams of Multidisciplinary Senior Design (MSD), one team during the 2016 academic year (Fall, 2016 through Spring, 2017), and another team for the 2017 academic year (Fall, 2017 through Spring, 2018). As a result, twelve students were able to participate in the design of the reactor.
The initial student team (active from September, 2016 through May, 2017) performed testing with the larvae that allowed the team to become familiar with the BSF life cycle. The team built an insulated test box that was bigger than prior testing containers. This allowed the team to evaluate larger populations of larvae than previously available. A test procedure was drafted to simulate a continuous system. Preliminary testing was performed to better understand the food consumption rates of BSFL under testing conditions. The team conducted experiments to determine reactor configuration with respect to the appropriate mesh size to allow for draining of leachate as well as the geometry of the exit ramps that allow mature larvae to migrate out of the food waste in order to pupate. Figure 1 shows an isometric concept drawing of the BSFL reactor design developed by the 2016/2017 MSD team and the final prototype in the RIT garden. A more complete description of this team’s work can be found at the EDGE website where students document their progress on their projects.http://edge.rit.edu/edge/P17422/public/Home.
Figure 1: Concept drawing of proposed continuous BSFL reactor (left) and final reactor in the garden (right).
Testing in the RIT garden over the summer revealed a few issues with the P17422 composter design: 1) the bottom layer removal drawer was very difficult to push through because of bunching of material in the composter; 2) the design requires large larvae populations to operate correctly; 3) larvae were not able to use the exit ramps and pupated in the reactor; 4) the operating footprint was quite large to accommodate the sliding drawers and required the shed to be resized; and 5) there were ergonomic issues for researchers including difficulty seeing into the reactor when standing on the ground and the weight of the drawers. Results from the initial project team were passed to the current BSFL team, which has been active since September, 2017. The 2017/2018 team is working on both improving the reactor and developing the environmental control and monitoring system for the breeding shed. Figure 2 delineates their assigned tasks.
Figure 2: Functional Architecture for the 2017/2018 MSD team which includes mechanical, electrical, biomedical, and industrial systems engineering students.
The current team has engaged in substantial revision and refinement of the BSFL reactor. The team conducted experiments with a wooden prototype and concluded that the original system for removing the bottom layer of composted material could be improved by incorporating a sliding “scissor guard” to aid in compost removal. In addition, the reactor was redesigned to allow for different size populations of larvae. The sloped sides simultaneously allow for varying feeding area dimensions for different larval population sizes and as a migration ramp for the pre-pupae. The team tested the use of guide tracks, various angles and surface roughness of the of the migration ramp with larvae in the lab setting to validate their design. Figure 3 shows detail drawings of the revised reactor system. Based on previous research on feeding area sizes and feeding rates, this reactor was designed to scale from a population of 300,000 larvae processing 13 kg of food waste per day to almost 2 million larvae processing 70 kg of food waste per day.
Figure 3: Detail drawings of the revised continuous BSFL reactor currently under construction.
The team is also working on the electrical components for controlling temperature, humidity and ventilation of the shed (figure 4). Indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity will be measured and recorded using Adafruit SHT10 mesh-protected, weather-proof temperature and humidity sensors. Carbon dioxide levels in the shed will be measured and recorded using a Tinkersphere MG- 811 CO2 Sensor. A Raspberry Pi microcontroller will be used to log sensor readings to a computer and to process sensor readings to send signals to relays to turn environmental equipment on and off. The internal shed temperature will be kept between 24-37oC using a space heater. Relative humidity will be kept above 70% to facilitate breeding. The ventilation fan will be activated if the carbon dioxide levels become unsafe or if the shed temperature rises above 40 oC. We hope to eventually have grid power connected to the shed and to monitor the shed’s overall power usage for maintaining a BSF colony. However, obtaining power has proven logistically challenging based on the current electrical systems available in the garden area. We will need to raise additional funds to step down power from higher voltage outdoor lighting systems and bring that power to the shed through underground cables. In the meantime, we will use a donated solar array with charge controller,batteries and an inverter to operate the sensor system so that data can be monitored and recorded and to test that all the systems are turned on and off by the relays appropriately. Beginning this summer, we will be able to monitor and record shed temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels. However, until the shed is connected to grid power or more solar panels are obtained, we will not be able to control the shed environment. Therefore, the shed will not be fully operational for composting and breeding during the coldest winter months until we can secure additional funds.
Figure 4: Diagram of the control circuit (in development). The carbon dioxide sensor and interface to the computer need to be added. The 110V AC outputs from the relay will power the heater, humidifier, and ventilation fan when activated.
As with all MSD teams, the 2017/2018 team was required to document their processes on the MSD Edge website. More detail on the team’s processes and analyses may be found at: http://edge.rit.edu/edge/P18422/public/Home.
Conclusions:
Black Soldier Fly Colonies can be maintained through the winter in cold climates. However, viable egg production slows in the coldest months due to low light levels and low humidity. It remains to be determined if the controlled environment of the shed can overcome the winter breeding difficulties.
Our heat experiments suggest that a reactor of 1.5 million feeding larvae could generate between 24-250W of heat during operation, which would aid in keeping the shed warm. Based on the early estimate (that the shed will require about 300 watts to provide heat and electricity for instrumentation when the temperature differential is 68 F) the reactor itself may be able to provide a substantial share of the needed heat energy. If this proves to be the case it may be possible to provide the electricity for the instrumentation via a small array of solar panels along with a small battery storage system. As we enhance the instrumentation and the capabilities of our BSF breeding facility we look forward to continuing our investigation and generating new findings.
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Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.