The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) announced the winners of the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) student research awards.
Syracuse University’s Jillian Burgoyne, Timothy Castelein and Enrica Galasso and adviser Dr. Suresh Santanam received recognition for efficiently reducing thermal stratification at small- and medium-scale industrial facilities.
This project seeks to develop a better understanding of the effects of thermal stratification and determine the optimal de-stratification strategy, based on fan orientation, number of fans, setup, and runtime. The ultimate goals are to enhance the methodology to reduce thermal stratification, increase associated energy savings, and improve the accuracy of the existing assessment recommendations.
The University of Michigan’s Dan Brognakke, Yuhao Pan, Eugene Wang and adviser Arvind Atreya won an award for its project on radiation enhancement in melting and heat-treating furnaces to increase productivity and reduce pollutants.
The aim of this proposed research is to develop methods of creating high luminosity combustion in melting and heating furnaces by additives mixed with oxidant or natural gas. This goal is to reduce the gas temperature and pollutant formation and increase efficiency.
Now in its second year, AMO sponsors the awards competition to honor exceptional students participating in the IAC program. The program provides students at 24 university-based IACs with hands-on training and real world experience in energy engineering and management.
Beginning this fall, each winning IAC will receive up to $25,000 in additional IAC program funds. The research awards are designed to create incentives for undergraduate and graduate students to pursue assessment-inspired research projects in the areas of manufacturing and industrial energy efficiency. The awards are intended to enhance traditional student-led research efforts and to formally recognize those research proposals that stand out as being exceptional and particularly innovative.
For more information, visit www1.eere.energy.gov/manufacturing/tech_assistance/iacs.html.