2015-2016 Senior Capstone

Team Members: Zac Chelini, Allie Reiling, Ryder Ueki, 

Daniel Zentner,  Anthony Zucca

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Bormann

Sponsor: US EPA 

Center for Engineering Design and Entrepreneurship

Civil Engineering Department Student Project

 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

 

SUSTAINABLE KITCHEN TECHNOLOGIES IN ZAMBEZI, ZAMBIA for 2016

 

Due Wednesday, October 14, 2015

 

CEDE - Civil Engineering requests a student project proposal for the following project:

 

DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING PROTOTYPES OF COOKING STOVE INCORPORATING THERMALELECTRIC POWER GENERATION AND WATER TREATMENT. SUPPLY IMPROVEMENTS AND FILTER PROTOTYPES TO BE PRODUCED IN ZAMBIA TO ENHANCE SUSTAINABLE LIVING TECHNOLOGIES IN ZAMBIAN HOMES.

 

SUMMARY INFORMATION

Due October 14, 2015, before 4:00 PM PST

 

One digital copy in pdf format uploaded to the FolioTek Server.

 

Project Sponsor

The sponsor of this project is the US EPA through a Phase II award from the P3 (People Prosperity and Planet) Program. The grant number is SU83295. All reports and presentations will include an acknowledgement and disclaimer for the US EPA.

 

Project Description:

THE CEDE - CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT IS REQUIRING A PROPOSAL FROM THE GROUP OF STUDENT ENGINEERS TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE ENGINEERING EFFORTS RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL IMPROVE AIR AND WATER QUALITY IN ZAMBIAN HOMES. ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE ELEMENTS OF CIVIL, ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.  THE STUDENT TEAM IS EXPECTED TO RESEARCH EXISTING LITERATURE AND COMPARE DESIGN ALTERNATIVES SO THAT EFFECTIVENESS, COST, MANUFACTURABILITY, APPROPRIATENESS OF TECHNOLOGIES, AND OVERALL COMPATIBILITY WITH THE PROJECT GOALS CAN BE USED TO SELECT THE MOST DESIRABLE SOLUTIONS. 

 

TASKS WILL INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

 

1.       Stove Design

Improve the existing stove design to ensure a pot placed on the stove heats quickly, has a stable surface on which to rest, and that the stove can accommodate a variety of pot sizes. Alternatively, the project team could look to a design that provides a burner such that a pot is placed directly on a heated surface.

 

2.       Charging components

Improve upon existing charging system design such that the device is able to seamlessly provide charging for multiple devices including mobile phones, batteries, radios, lights, etc.

 

3.       Stove materials and value engineering

Investigate alternative materials to be used in the stove manufacture including low-strength concrete and clay. The materials used should be easily obtained in the Zambezi area, leading to an ease of manufacturing, a sustainable product, and lowered cost. The project team should endeavor to make the rocket stove and charging components modular and determine if the design is better served by locating the TEG on the pot itself rather than the stove.

 

4.       Water Supply Improvements and Treatment

Develop and test performance of water filters and disinfection. Improve the supply facilities for water removed from the Zambezi River for a group in Chitokoloki near Zambezi.

 

5.       Business development and implementation

Work with the wider group membership and Zambian partners to organize an on-the-ground effort in summer of 2016 to provide a culturally-appropriate training and education program for local workers using compressed earth blocks (CEB), and to produce several stove and water filter prototypes in-country using only locally available labor, materials and tools.

 

The project will also require the implementation of project management techniques in the completion of the engineering efforts, including interaction with the EPA as the project sponsor, liaisons, project advisors, monitoring efforts and progress, updating the project schedule preparing status reports, gathering information required for design in Zambia and from appropriate regulatory agencies.

 

The project will produce a conference or journal publication and a final report to submit to the sponsor

 

Students will be responsible to make required presentations of the project activities and may also attend an appropriate conference.

 

The participants of the project may have the opportunity to travel to Zambia with the Gonzaga in Zambezi program alongside the Comprehensive Leadership Program (CLP). The students who travel to Zambia will be responsible for both implementing the designs and participating in the Gonzaga in Zambezi program, including coursework and group activities. Funding will be discussed

 

EVALUATION PROCESS

The proposal evaluation process will be determined by the project advisor in conjunction with the CEDE, and the CEDE Design Advisory Board.  It will be based on the organization of the project efforts reflected in the proposal and the educational goals achieved in the completion of the proposal.  Note that some efforts in the project are oriented to achieve educational goals that are not required to achieve the project sponsors goals.

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

This project is a continuation of prior efforts. A detailed EPA proposal that is the basis for the project funding is available for the project team to review.

 

PROJECT INFORMATION AVAILABLE

Project reports from 2013, 2014, and 2015 are available for the team.  A large amount of literature, existing forms, tools, and equipment is located in the project lab.

 

The project team must familiarize themselves with the existing condition of the project in order to properly prepare the project proposal. 

 

STUDENT PROJECT ACTIVITIES REQUIRED

The student project group will, at a minimum, provide the following efforts and deliverables in the completion of the project addressed in this proposal:

 

 

Scope of Activities Required to Meet Project Goals

 

Task 100                          Project Management and Coordination

The student group shall organize, manage and coordinate the efforts required to accomplish the project using standard project management and contract administration techniques. Key management activities are identified below:

          Sub-Task 110                   Kick-off Meeting

The Student Team will conduct a kickoff meeting with their project advisor and sponsor liaison's to gain familiarity for the project and to solicit input, gather available data and information.

 

          Sub-Task 120                   Routine progress-review meetings

Routine progress-review meetings will be conducted on a regular basis. Weekly progress reports are required and are to be submitted electronically to the advisor by 5:00 pm each Thursday. Weekly progress reports must include, at a minimum, activities completed by each team member for the current week, expected work for the upcoming week, and updates to the project design budget and schedule.

In addition, a complete hardcopy record of the project reports and files must be maintained by the student team and be made readily available during consultations with the advisor. Typical method would be a project notebook. The advisor and liaison will ask to review this notebook periodically to discover the status of the work being completed. 

          Sub-Task 130                   Regular Advisor and Liaison Meetings

After the kick-off meeting, the Student Team will have routine work sessions to accomplish deliverables. 

All meetings with advisor and liaison MUST be arranged by members of the Student Team at least 2 days in advance of the meeting. The Project Manager will send a meeting agenda and the minutes from the previous meeting to the advisor, project partners, and liaison at least 2 days prior to the meeting.  All meetings must be documented by the Student Team in the form of meeting minutes with action items identified and who will be responsible for that action.

          Sub-Task 140         Quality Assurance/Quality Control

The Student Team will perform a methodical QA/QC effort in a manner suitable to the project advisor and liaison, to prevent incorrect, sub-standard or dangerous results from being included in the end of semester project reports.

 

          Sub-Task 150         Project Schedule / WBS /Gantt Chart and Project Budget

The proposal must contain a Gantt chart that shows the due dates from the CEDE schedule as milestones, each sub-task, the duration of time proposed to complete the subtask and the team member responsible for the subtask. The Gantt chart will show at least the end date for the subtask (start date, duration are possible) dependent tasks.

The student group will include a “proposed” budget that details the costs of completing the project design tasks. This budget is not the “engineers construction cost estimate” to complete the implementation of the design; rather, it is the costs to perform the engineering tasks and includes the fictitious value of project team personnel hours. The value of the personnel hours and direct costs (travel, books, and models) will be the proposed budget and will simulate the budget a consulting group would charge to complete the project.

Task 100 Deliverables

• Electronic copy of agenda for team meetings.
• Electronic updates to project design budget and schedule that includes budget and personnel hours for each sub-task in the entire project.
• Electronic copy of resolutions and action items for each meeting.
• Statement on the QA/QC activities for reports submitted at the end of each semester to describe the review and checking procedure employed.

 

Task 200                          Project Data Collection

Work collaboratively with project staff and other reliable sources to develop project data suitable for design.  Data may include material and labor costs, clay geology, site survey, water use, climate, power requirements, cultural preferences and other data.  Proposal submitted is to identify data needs and collection methods for project.

          Sub-Task 210                   Literature Review

The Student Team will perform a thorough literature review to form the basis of design and modification to the project equipment. Topics will include at least water intakes, disinfection, CED and soil cements, thermal electric generators, clean cookstove technology and others.

 

          Sub-Task 220                   Local Project Information

The Student Team will work with project partners to obtain required safety and regulatory information to meet ethical and legal requirements of the engineering profession.

 

Task 200 Deliverables

• Electronic copy of literature, data and mapping, reports or surveys completed for the project and to be included in the project report.
• Bibliographic references and annotations for significant literature used, suitable for use in conference publication.
• Summary of safety and legal issues addressed in design.

 

 

Task 300                          Project Design Efforts

The student team will develop plans, drawings, analysis, comparisons, and other design work required to successfully achieve the project goals. The specific project approach will be determined by the team in the project proposal.

          Sub-Task 310                   Stove design

Provide design and material selections for cookstove. 

 

          Sub-Task 320                   Incorporation of Thermal Generation with Cook stove

Develop modular application of TE device.  Develop manufactureable circuits, connections, material alternatives, and required use and maintenance requirements.

 

          Sub-Task 330                   Water Treatment

Develop method to remove most harmful pathogens or other contaminants, with a reference to slow sand filters and chlorine disinfection.

 

Sub-Task 340                   Water supply from Zambezi River or Borehole.

Design method of water supply.

 

Sub-Task 350                   Develop Equipment for Implementation

Design suitable equipment required to manufacture products using resources available in Zambia.

 

 

Task 300 Deliverables

• Electronic copy of drawings, calculations, data, reports or calculations completed for the project design and to be included in the project report.
• Sample working equipment and products.

 

 

Task 400                          Project Regulatory Requirements

Determine appropriate regulatory guidelines to use in the completion of the project.  

 

Task 400 Deliverables

•  Provide appropriate written summary of regulations that would apply to the project.

 

 

Task 500                          Project Costs, Specifications and Maintenance   

The student team will develop specifications, cost estimates for construction and manufacture of the designed products, and summary of issues affecting the maintenance of the project products and equipment. The specifics will be determined by the team in the project proposal.

 

          Sub-Task 510                   Costs Estimates of Products and Equipment

 

          Sub-Task 520                   Material and Fabrication Specifications with Instructions

 

Task 500 Deliverables

•  Provide appropriate written summary of results

 

 

Task 600                          Project Sustainability Evaluation  

Based on the users’ needs and the understanding of the safety, and regulatory requirements, evaluate the preliminary design developed in the completion of the project for overall sustainability and identify other opportunities for increasing sustainability that are potentially achievable.

 

Task 600 Deliverables

• Provide appropriate written presentation that:

a)                 Describe the environmental benefits/costs of the project. 

b)                 Describe the social benefits/costs of the project. 

c)                 Describe the economic/costs benefits of the project. 

d)                 Summarize how sustainable the methods used to meet the project goals are. 

 

 

 

Task 700                          Project Enterprise Development  

A significant section of the report will be a plan to implement a sustainable enterprise in Zambia. That enterprise will manufacture, sell, maintain expand the provision of the products developed.  

 

Task 700 Deliverables

• Through business plan will be prepared to allow project partners to make a viable enterprise from the sample manufacturing equipment produced in Zambia.

 

Task 800                          Project Reports, Publications and Presentations  

The project team is required to prepare a final report suitable for both the CEDE and EPA. Prepare and present findings of the project to groups which could include travel and presentation at the National Sustainability Expo in Washington D.C., and a requirement to prepare a final draft publication dealing with the project that may be presented at a national conference. 

 

 

Task 800 Deliverables

•  Reports, publications and presentations in electronic format in a timely manner.