Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Development of An Economic Grain Storage System for Rain Season Harvest in Rural Africa
EPA Grant Number: SU839287Title: Development of An Economic Grain Storage System for Rain Season Harvest in Rural Africa
Investigators: Wu, Wenzhuo , Cheoh, Jia Lin , Laster, Jacob Matthew , Koh, Jonathan , Wang, Ruoxing , Duhan, Shivam , Wang, Shutao , Zhong, Wentao
Institution: Purdue University
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: February 1, 2018 through January 31, 2019
Project Amount: $15,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2017) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities , P3 Challenge Area - Chemical Safety
Objective:
To address the challenges in food security and meet the basic food processing need in rural African communities, our team proposes to design a self-powered system, by adopting a novel triboelectric-solar-thermal concept that can convert the otherwise wasted energy from the environment into electricity, for healthy storage of the harvested grains during the annual rain season in rural Africa regions. In the Phase I project, our team aimed to: (1) design a prototype module that can generate the electricity by harvesting the raindrop energy; and (2) build a prototype unit and characterize its performance under the simulated conditions.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
In this Phase I project, our interdisciplinary student team has conducted the first design effort to incorporate the triboelectric concept into the storage roof for harvesting raindrop energy. Our team fabricated a scaled prototype using educational resources and machining capacities, conducted the feasibility and performance test for the prototype. The materials and parts were selected according to their availability from the local African supply chain. All the fabrication procedures were documented and videotaped as training materials for the planned technology transfer in Phase II project. Our team also demonstrated the prototype at the 2018 EPA’s National Sustainable Design Expo and received the prestigious American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Sustainable Development Award.
Conclusions:
In the Phase I project, our student team successfully achieved a prototype assessment of the proposed self-powered grain storage system regarding its feasibility and performance evaluation. Our students have practiced the principle Design for Sustainability by relating the design with all three pillars of sustainability (People, Prosperity, and Planet) through carrying out the tasks in Phase I project. We have also promoted the sustainability practices by demonstrating this project to both the international and domestic communities, e.g., through presentations and demonstrations. The success of our Phase I project establishes a solid foundation for the continuation of our proposed Phase II project.
PROPOSED PHASE II OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES
The primary goal of the Phase II project is to fabricate and install the self-powered grain storage systems with improved performance on pilot sites in rural Cameroon communities. Our team will continue on an improved design by introducing new concepts, e.g., bio-inspired design and incorporation of natural materials, for economical, efficient, and affordable grain storage solution. We will pursue three objectives: Objective #1: Perform a comprehensive survey of the rainfall and sunlight resources in Nyandong (Western Bakossi, Cameroon), as a basis for developing the prototype for similar regions. Objective #2: Improve the design of the self-powered grain storage module by introducing a new hybrid triboelectric-solar-thermal concept; Objective #3: Design and install an off-grid self-powered system to provide grain storage solution to Nyandong.
A team of students and faculty advisors will plan two 2-3 week trips to Cameroon in 2019 and 2020. These trips will be part of Purdue GEP Summer Semester Study Abroad Courses. The team will work on the design and optimization of hybrid systems in the regular spring and fall semesters. The target for the first trip in 2019 is to visit the community to survey the renewable energy resources and build a scaled system unit with a capacity to power teaching equipment. The team will also donate a laptop and teaching materials recorded on CDs to the school and the local community. The second trip in 2020 will target to build the off-grid self-powered grain storage systems and train the local farmers, as well as using our technology transfer kit to disseminate the technical materials to other communities and business partners in the region. Our project aims at powering the new storage system for rural Africa communities by harvesting energy from the rainwater and solar thermal radiation and identifying sustainable manufacturing procedures. It makes a positive contribution to the pollution control during the manufacturing and operation of this system. Technology transfer will create excellent opportunities to draw attention from the local inhabitants as end users on understanding the sustainability concepts. It will directly serve the purpose of promoting environmental protection and improve the local education and prosperity. Also, this Phase II project will be a great education platform for our next-generation engineers, who can apply the engineering skills they learned in class to solve the real world problem.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Triboelectricity, Solar-thermal Drying, Bio-inspired, Grain Storage, Design for Sustainability.The 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.