Strange to think that it’s almost been a year! Last summer, DHE’s hydro team went to Nyamirambo, Rwanda, to implement a new hydropower site. Some of the photos have gone a little under the radar, but everyone should take a look. They can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thayerschool/sets/72157631991926519/ Here’s a taste of some of what can [...]
Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering’s Hydropower project is excited to be working with Princeton Engineering students on casting turbine buckets. The Recycling Initiative is an independent project that four Princeton University Engineers have begun. The goal of the initiative is to reproduce aluminum objects using a custom-made blast furnace. To learn more about PARI, visit their website [...]
Although much of our work takes place abroad, we’re always looking for more opportunities to apply our knowledge close to home. Here, James Kennedy discusses the possibility of collaborating with the Dartmouth Organic Farm on a biochar project. (Image courtesy of the Dartmouth Sustainability Office)
I’m going to do a shout out to Daniel Bornstein (Dartmouth ’14) who wrote a very interesting article on land grabs in Africa for the purpose of producing exportable biofuels. This is a huge issue as it challenges farmers’ independence and the production sustenance crops. DHE’s Bioenergy Project wants to work with current farmers to figure [...]
Yesterday afternoon, the Pyrolyzer team tested the first version of the pyrolysis kiln. We filled the kiln with layers of shredded paper, heavy grained sawdust, small blocks of wood, and crumpled pieces of thick paper, and we used tall pieces of cardboard to provide structural support and airflow. After about 20 minutes of pyrolyzing, we [...]
What’s going on this week in DHE? Not sure how to answer? Thank heavens for our weekly updates! Check out what’s up with your favorite project groups: Marketing and Development continues to work on letters to the USAID and will soon be meeting with professors to seek funding from the National Science Foundation. Also, DHE was [...]
In one of our last blog posts, we discussed how to make a high-quality mold out of fire clay, silica sand, and a special molding box. Yet you can make the most precise mold in the world and ruin it with a mistake in temperature or a bad pour. Several times in our casting history, [...]
A small group meet this afternoon to work on the pyrolyzer. Tasks completed: primary door was made and intended location was marked on barrel holes and round stock was prepared for the grate support to suspend the biomass above the primary air door holes for secondary air were marked with future hole modifications in mind [...]
We gave a primitive overview of the casting process in our first blog post, but to further clarify the technique to readers, we decided to prove an in-depth guide. Online resources for sand casting are hard to come by, and those that exist are mainly semi-professional—far beyond our skill level. Hopefully, this sand casting guide [...]
DHE got a shout out in today’s piece on the new Green Revolving Loan Fund. Can’t wait to see what great projects the new $1 million fund (and its $100,000 Green Community Fund component) supports. Read more at: http://thedartmouth.com/2013/01/22/news/sustainability
