Montana Tech THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA |
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Research 98 Back to Past Research Activities Page In This Issue In-Depth
Look at Young
Researchers Geologic
Maps Environmental Research
Activity Chemistry
Building
________________ Student Production Design & Editing Team:
Gabe Johnson prepares for the 1998 competition in mine tailings |
Environmental
Design Team Butch Gerbrandt, Ph.D.
After winning the 1997 Waste Management Education and Research Consortium (WERC) International Environmental Design Contest, the Montana Tech Environmental Design Team repeats as champions in 1998 (see cover). Montana Tech competed against Oregon State, Michigan State, Washington State, University of California at Riverside, University of Oklahoma, Clarkson University, and 20 other United States and international universities. Combining undergraduate and graduate talents from the Departments of Environmental Engineering; Safety, Health, & Industrial Hygiene (SHIH); Engineering Science; Geophysical Engineering; Chemistry; and Technical Communication, Tech claimed first place in this prestigious international design contest for the second year in a row. Waste Management Education and Research Consortium has held the design contest for universities for the past seven years, providing an outstanding research experience for participating students. Teams receive the problems (or tasks) in September, and the contest culminates the following April on the campus of New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The students undertake challenging environmental problems of national importance facing our United States Departments of Defense and Energy. Looking for fresh approaches to threatening environmental concerns, these agencies pass the problems on to the competing teams. To compete, the students prepare an extensive report presenting their solutions. They research the problems then set up experiments to test alternative solutions. At the contest, each team demonstrates its bench-scale model to solve the given problem. Students also prepare a demonstrative visual display and an oral presentation.
1997 Competition 1997 Montana Tech Environmental Design team. Front left to right, Shawna Hartman, Shaffiq Somani; middle left to right, Karin Mainzhausen, Stephanie Byer, Don Kelley; back left to right, Jennifer Saran, Jim Jonas, Brian Bearn, Curtis Cross, Butch Gerbrandt, Russ Crucher, Tim Mulholland.
In the 1997 contest, Tech’s Environmental Design Team addressed the following tasks, placing first in one, second in the other, and bringing home $10,000: Groundwater Treatment. For this task, the team identified and demonstrated the best treatment and innovative technology to remediate radio-nuclide contaminated groundwater. Technology had to be applicable to the treatment of strontium and cesium in the presence of other chemicals while minimizing the generation of secondary waste. HEPA Filter Remediation and Disposal. In this task, the team developed and demonstrated a process to place HEPA filters (8” x 8” x 6”)—contaminated with plutonium and nitric acid—and frames into suitable forms that meet land disposal requirements. The process also had to meet the Department of Transportation shipping requirements and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant waste-acceptance criteria. 1998 Competition The 1998 Environmental Design Team responded to three out of four tasks, placing first in one, second in the other two, and bringing home $12,500: Mine Tailings Recovery. Design and demonstrate the recovery and transport of mine tailings in a slurry: recover as much of the valuable metals as feasible, treat the tailings to a pH of 7.0 or higher, and design a system to recover the water from the slurry for reuse in the transport and treatment system. Contaminated Sludge Treatment. For this task, the team determined the best innovative treatment for remediation of radio-nuclide contaminated sludge. The sludge is presently contained in polyethylene bags within 55-gallon drums and is a mixture of organic liquids, VOCs, (volatile organic compounds), calcium silicate, and oils. Cesium will be used as a surrogate to simulate radio-nuclides. In-Tank, Real-Time Sensor/Monitor. In this task, the team developed a sensor to measure the rate at which solids settle in a slurry water process vessel with various weight percents of solids and particles. The weight percents of solids vary from 0%–30%, and particle size from 1–1000 microns. A Convincing Record, A Confident Future The Montana Tech Environmental Design Team is no newcomer to the contest or to success. The team first entered the contest in 1994, competing with MIT, Stanford, and Cal-Poly. They surprised everyone with a strong second-place finish behind Michigan State. Since then, Tech has been a perennial favorite, finishing no lower than third in the intervening years and winning back-to-back national championships in 1997 and 1998. It is not an overstatement to say that Montana Tech’s environmental design teams are the academic equivalents of NCAA champions. Even after winning two national championships, Tech is not resting on its accolades. The Environmental Design Team is aiming to retire the Rust International Traveling Trophy to Montana Tech by winning three consecutive national championships. The team raises its $12,000 yearly budget from industry, business, alumni, and campus sources as well as a percentage of any prize money from the previous year’s team. Any individuals interested in supporting the team should contact advisor Butch Gerbrandt at (406) 496-4109.
Students Malisa Zeiler, Dave Woollatt, and Erin Warner present the team's findings to judges at the 1998 competition.
Members of the 1998 Montana Tech Environmental Design Team, winners of the Waste Management Education and Research Consortium (WERC) International Environmental Design Contest. Shown left to right: John Banning, Catherine Wassmann, Travis Naugle, Gabe Johnson, and Sonny Zentner. Not shown: Jinni Spencer, Ryan Deines, Kathy Ogrin, Erin Warner, Troy Gill, Malisa Zeiler, Dave Woollatt, Heidi Bruner, Pete Stringer, Bill Crnich, and Max Britos. |
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