Casey Zorn '16

Title: The Use of Waste Materials as Feedstock in the Design of a More Efficient Inverted Downdraft Gasifier

Purpose: To modify a MIDGE Gasification Cook Stove to more efficiently burn wood and other waste materials

Activities & Interests: Member of National Honors Society, Features Editor for Newspaper Club, Culture Club, Leos Club, Chem Club Varsity Cross Country Captain, Winter and Spring Track and Field

Abstract: Society has been producing more waste and there is a need for a new energy source. Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Technology solves both crisis.  Gasification/ Pyrolysis is a commonly studied method of WTE Technology. While many gasifiers are fed with wood, it would be easier for a person the collect the wastes produced directly in their homes than to find wood further away. In this experiment wood, municipal solid waste (MSW), and cow manure will be used as feedstock in an Inverse Downdraft Gasifier built out of cans to be used in Sri Lanka.  The apparatus will be made using similar methods of building to those in Sri Lanka.  Wood acts as the control, and for the MSW and cow manure, different proportions are mixed with the wood as the feedstock. Each experimental condition will be run five times. To measure the efficiency of each condition of feedstock, water will be boiled in a pot on top of the gasifier and the less time it takes to boil, the more efficient the gasification process.  The best condition of each MSW/ wood and cow manure/ wood feedstock will then be tested in the same fashion for efficiency, but the gasifier apparatus itself will be changed as the new variable.  It is hoped that this data can be analyzed to create a more efficient inverse downdraft gasifier to be used in Sri Lanka and other developing countries using the wastes produced directly in their households.