This is the ninth year for the ASME-Hawaii Section annual Outstanding
Project /Design Competition. The award was created in 1996 to give recognition
to deserving mechanical engineering-type projects or designs in Hawaii, Guam,
and American Samoa that have been completed within the past five years. A panel
of independent judges base their selection on which project or design provides
greatest benefits to owner and customer in economics, social, and environmental
aspects and shows outstanding use of mechanical engineering principles.
For 2004 the award is made to the Pacific Biodiesel Plant on Sand
Island. The Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility on Cooke Street is awarded the
Meritorious Award. Both projects received high marks for design concept. One
makes better commercial use of existing technology and is providing a major
impact today while the other is cutting edge technology in alternate energy and
may provide greater impact on society in the future. Both help or will help the
environment in one way or another, and they deserve our recognition as
outstanding mechanical engineering related projects in Hawaii.
Their website opens with “Renewable energy for a cleaner tomorrow.”
Biodiesel is made from renewable fats and oils, such as vegetables oils,
through a simple refining process. Actually Pacific Biodiesel produces
biodiesel from used restaurant fryer oil. The process involves removing the
glycerol molecule from vegetable oil in the form of glycerin (soap). Once the
glycerin is removed from the oil, the remaining molecules are, to a diesel
engine, similar to petroleum diesel fuel.
Biodiesel offers fleet operators a safe, cleaner alternative to regular
old petroleum diesel fuel. It requires no engine modifications, and it delivers
similar torque, horsepower and miles per gallon. In addition, biodiesel cuts
down on targeted emissions. With a 20 percent blend with petroleum diesel and a
catalytic converter, particulate matter is reduced 31 percent, carbon monoxide
by 21 percent and total hydrocarbons by 47 percent. In addition, a blend
reduces sulfur emissions and aromatics. In its neat form and in blends of 20
percent or more with petroleum diesel, the US Department of Energy has
acknowledged biodiesel as an alternative fuel and can be used for vehicle
credits under the Energy Policy Act.
The Sand Island plant was built in 2000. With its various tanks, pumps
and other mechanical equipment, it has a capacity of 25,000 gallons per day of
grease trap waste and 1500 gallons per day of biodiesel. The first Pacific
Biodiesel Plant was built on Maui in 1996 as the answer to grave concerns over
potential environmental and health problems resulting from restaurant grease
clogging the Central Maui Landfill. Robert King, owner of King Diesel on Maui,
who was contracted to maintain the generators at the Landfill, decided to do
something about it. Searching the Internet, he hooked up with Daryl Reece,
Agricultural Engineer, who had helped develop a method to process discarded
cooking oil into clean-burning fuel for diesel engines. With no outside
financial assistance, King and Reece formed Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. and built
the first biodiesel plant in the Pacific Rim.
Fuel cells along with thermal, ocean, wind and solar power are the hopes
for the future to help Hawaii reduce its dependency on fossil fuel. A fuel cell
produces electricity through the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and
oxygen, without combustion. It operates like a battery, but does not rundown or
require recharging. Its only byproduct is water.
The Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility, a state-of-the-art research facility
opened for business in April 2003 to study ways to make fuel cell technology
more commercially practical. This facility is a partnership of the Hawaii
Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) of the University of Hawaii, Office of Naval
Research ONR), UTC Fuel Cells, and Hawaiian Electric Co., Inc.
The test facility has three full size single cell test stands with space
for up to eight test stands. The test stands enable researchers to see what
fuel cells can do under a variety of operating conditions. At the test
facility, they scrutinize how fuel cells stand up to long-term operation,
investigate the cells’ sensitivity to impurities in the fuel source, delve into
the lifetime of components, examine the optimum water management requirements,
and run the cells through a host of tests to determine how dependable they can
be. The test stands were purchased from the UTC Fuel Cells.
The Hawaii Fuel Test Facility is part of the HNEI fuel cell program
under the direction of Rick Rocheleau, Director of HNEI. The current testing
activities focus on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells which have a
lower operating temperature than other types of cells and are therefore of
interest for automotive and consumer applications. Other activities under this ONR funded program include
development of biocatalysts for fuel cells, use of biocarbons for fuel cell and
fuel cell components, and the exploration and characterization of methane
hydrates as a future fuel.
In June 2003, HNEI hosted a tour of the test facility for a group of
ASME Fluids Engineering Conference attendees. The ASME members commented on how
impressed they were with the state-of-the-art fuel cell test facility.
On August 3, 2004 ASME-HI will present the attractive award plaques to
the representatives of Pacific Biodiesel and HNEI, who will be giving a
presentation of their facilities. ASME-HI members and others who may be
interested can attend by contacting Ray Liu or Sam Gillie. Please refer to the
ASME-HI meeting notice in the Wiliki.