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Two University of Illinois– Chicago Students Take Their Ideas To the Next Level

Matt Swanson, an undergraduate student, and Jon Aardsma, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Industrial Assessment Center (UIC-IAC), are leveraging an assessment of a primary metals plant into a challenging senior design project.

The manufacturer is interested in installing a heat recovery system on its furnace and had previously contracted with an engineering firm for a quote. The engineering firm proposed a design that returned 850°F of preheated air to the burners, reducing natural gas usage by 22%. However, the savings generated by this design did not produce a payback considered desirable by the company.

Jon Aardsma

Matt Swanson

Matt and Jon worked to improve the initial design. By changing the number of passes and replacing the dilution system with an energy-saving fin unit, the team was able to increase the temperature of the preheated air to 1,200°F. As a result, the energy savings rose to 32.5%, producing an additional $197,000 in natural gas savings while reducing the payback to an acceptable level.

Matt and Jon are continuing to work on the finished product and hope to present their findings to their client in the spring of 2004. They will also present their project at the upcoming UIC Engineering Exposition.

The Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at the University of Illinois-Chicago is led by Dr. William M. Worek of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department. The center staff is made up of a combination of faculty, staff engineers and engineering students. Now in its fourth year, the UIC-IAC has assessed over 80 plants, identifying annual savings opportunities of $200,000 per facility and averaging an implementation rate of just under 50%.