Providing solutions: Real-world projects cap off senior year

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(from left) Buckeye engineers Amanda Peterson, Anna Ameser, Emily Mendell and Emmy Schroder
(from left) Buckeye engineers Amanda Peterson, Anna Ameser, Emily Mendell and Emmy Schroder helped Snowville Creamery create a conservation plan that will save up to 23,500 gallons of water per week.

Snowville Creamery, a sustainable dairy in Pomeroy, Ohio, had a problem. Due to rapidly expanding operations, the plant’s wastewater system was quickly approaching the maximum limit of their EPA-permit for spray irrigation to nearby cattle-grazing pastures. Today, thanks to the help of four Buckeye engineering students, the creamery is in the midst of implementing a conservation plan that will save up to 23,500 gallons of water per week.

Snowville, led by CEO and Founder Warren Taylor, is one of 24 companies that found solutions to problems, or avoided a wrong solution, by sponsoring projects in the College of Engineering’s Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Program this past year. 

As part of the college’s focus on experiential learning, all undergraduate engineering students must complete a one- or two-semester long capstone design project prior to graduation. More than 100 students—including engineering, business, industrial design and humanities majors—chose to participate in the Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Program in 2013-14, rather than a department-specific capstone project.

The projects—which range from new product development to manufacturing process improvement—benefit students by providing real-world experience with engineering project management, industry interaction and teamwork. 

The feedback received from industry sponsors and alumni alike has been glowing. 

“Sponsors tell us that our program is unique in the nation providing students with the rare combination of a multidisciplinary experience and a year-long industry-sponsored project,” said Program Coordinator Bob Rhoads. “They find so much value that more than half of our industry sponsors are repeat participants for multiple years. Two of them, John Deere and Honda, have participated every year since the program launched in 2009.”

Sponsors also rave about the close interaction they have with students. Companies dedicate an engineer to mentor students for three to four hours per week, which includes a weekly teleconference or site visit.

Taylor was intrigued by the Multidisciplinary Capstone Program following a unique interaction he had with recent graduate Emmy Schroder (’14, food, agricultural and biological engineering).

“I met Warren in high school, actually, when he was selling his milk at Whole Foods. I talked to him about milk processing, the nutrient depletion in regular processed milk and all sorts of things,” Schroder explained. “He inspired me go into food, agricultural and biological engineering and figure out how we can fix the sustainable food system.”

The two reconnected after Schroder emailed Taylor last fall to thank him for inspiring her future career choice. When the capstone project came up, Taylor—an Ohio State alum (’74, dairy technology) who believes strongly in the importance of students interacting with businesses—quickly offered his support. 

“He pretty much jumped on it right away,” Schroder said. “He said, ‘I need to work on my wastewater reduction system and I think I could put together a great project for you to be the driver on.’”

 

Warren Taylor, Founder and CEO of Snowville Creamery
Warren Taylor, Founder and CEO of Snowville Creamery

What the creamery needed, Taylor explained, was a plan to cut the volume of wastewater it disposed of each day by half, while also reducing the concentration of organic waste and suspended solids in that water. A high volume of organic waste in the stream causes increased oxygen demands for aerobic microorganisms, which can rob other organisms of oxygen needed for survival. Suspended solids—small particles that don’t readily dissolve—are the most concentrated source of organic material. 

Schroder and teammates Amanda Peterson (biological engineering), Anna Ameser (mechanical engineering) and Emily Mendell (agribusiness) eagerly agreed to tackle the project.

Taylor thought that a water conservation system he devised 20 years prior for a large, industrial plant could be adapted to the creamery with the students’ help. But first the team had to submeter every water source in the plant to determine exactly how much water was being used in each area. 

After crunching the data, the students discovered a surprising opportunity for significant water savings. The raw milk separator, which divides skim milk from straight cream, used 1,300 gallons of water each time it was turned on. Using just 30 feet of sanitary piping, a pump and recirculation valving, a recirculation loop was installed to eliminate the majority of that water from being wasted during startup and shutdown. That change alone saved more than 4,000 gallons of water a week. 

The team also redesigned the facility’s clean-in-place (CIP) automated chemical flushing system to incorporate tanks and enable rinse water reuse. The third major piece of the project involved figuring out where to segregate water with high levels of organic waste and suspended solids so that the nutrient-rich water could be fed to the cows instead of causing potential soil problems. Throughout the project, the student-team was also very involved in updating the plant’s AutoCAD schematics and drawings. 

“I was completely bowled over by the volume and quality of work that the group did. Each one of those four young women were outstanding,” Taylor exclaimed. “We gave them a lot of information to chew on. Well, they really learned it, understood it and then produced excellent documents to support the project. They were way ahead of where I was when I was a senior in college.”

The team projected that the new plan would save 23,500 gallons of water per week and more than $8,000 per year. But the experience, Taylor attested, was priceless.

“We’ve set the foundation for the long-term future of this facility by reducing our water usage, amount of wastewater and wastewater strength to the same levels we were at years ago when we were putting much less milk through the plant than we are today,” he said. “I love what Ohio State is doing with this capstone program and I can’t wait to get started for next year."

Learn more about the Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Program on the web or contact Bob Rhoads at 614-292-9340 or rhoads.2@osu.edu for information on how to sponsor a project.

Written by Candi Clevenger, College of Engineering Communications, clevenger.87@osu.edu