Category: News

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Sustainability in Action Seminar Series Announced

The fall Sustainability Seminar Series resumes at noon, Thursday, Sept. 26 with Jeff Mendez, Global Communications Director, ERS International, speaking on “Upcycling of Electronics.” Mendez will speak via a live webinar from Toronto.

Plan ahead to participate in all of this fall’s seminars. They will be live at ISTC’s Stephen J. Warner Conference Room, or at Room 218 Mechanical Engineering Building at the University of Illinois. They will also be available as a live webcast. Check back here for details on accessing the webcasts, or check www.istc.illinois.edu. All of the seminars can be viewed at both venues.

Oct. 3        Eric Benson, Associate Professor and Chair, UIUC Graphics Design Program, “Fields of Gold, Deckles, and Moulds:  Fresh Press and Agri-Fiber Papers” – 218 MEB

Oct. 10     Dr. John Marlin, Research Affiliate, UIUC Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, “Mud-to-Parks: Beneficial Use of Sediment as Reclaimed Topsoil in Illinois”  – ISTC 

Oct. 24     Dr. Sam Weaver, Proton Power Inc., Lenoir City, Tennessee, “Powering a Clean Tomorrow:  Cheap Hydrogen from Biomass”  – ISTC 

Oct. 31     Dr. Mark Taylor, Assistant Professor, UIUC School of Architecture – 218 MEB – “The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon Competition and the Progress to Solar Ready Housing” – 218 MEB

Nov. 7      Dr. Sherri Mason, Associate Professor of Chemistry, SUNY Fredonia, NY, “Great Lakes Plastic Pollution Survey 2012” (via webinar from New York)   Nov. 14    Mike Hoadley, Founder, FEWZION.biz, Chicago 218 MEB  “Challenges in Vertical Farming and Controlled Environments Agriculture” – ISTC

Dec. 5       Joy Scrogum & Nancy Holm, co-coordinators, Sustainable Electronics Initiative, UIUC, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, “2013 International Sustainable Electronics Competition Awards Presentation” – ISTC 

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Engineer Introduces Thermally-Reversible Polymer to Desalination

According to water.org, 780 million people lack access to clean water. The need to provide access to clean water is one of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.

 

At noon this Thursday, Sept 12, Dr. Xinying Wang will present “Polymer Assisted Forward Osmosis for Desalination and Water Reuse,” at U of I’s Mechanical Engineering Building, Rm. 218 (1206 W Green St. in Urbana, IL).

 

This webinar, as part of the ISTC’s Sustainable Technology Seminar Series “Sustainability in Action,” will be broadcast live and also archived on our website www.istc.illinois.edu for later viewing. If you cannot attend the event at Rm. 218 MEB, you may view the webinar live by registering at: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/864226367. It will also be viewable live at the ISTC Conference Room at 1 Hazelwood Dr., Champaign, IL.

 

Dr. Wang is a Chemical Engineer at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Prairie Research Institute. The following is his abstract for the seminar:

 

“Forward osmosis (FO) for dewatering/desalination applications has received increasing interest due to its potential use of low grade thermal energy, ability to operate at low pressure, and  reduced tendency to foul. Developments in FO are primarily focused on two areas: (a) expanding the availability of draw solutions that generate high osmotic pressure; are easily separated from water using physical and/or chemical means; are non-corrosive, nontoxic, and chemically stable; exhibit near neutral pH; and are inexpensive and (b) developing membranes that exhibit high flux and suitable salt rejection under FO conditions. In this presentation we focus on the challenges of draw solution utilization and regeneration.

 

In this presentation, we will talk about a forward osmosis desalination process that employs a temperature-reversible polymer to recycle the draw solute. In our work, a high concentration MgSO4 solution is used as draw solution. After forward osmosis, the diluted draw solution is mixed with a thermally-reversible polymer, poly (propyleneoxide) –co-poly (ethyleneoxide). This polymer extracts water from the diluted draw solution and the whole solution forms two phases, a polymer-water phase and a concentrated MgSO4 solution phase (bottom). The bottom MgSO4 solution phase is recycled back to the forward osmosis module, while the polymer-water phase is heated above the polymer’s cloudy point (60⁰C) to recycle the polymer and to produce clean water.  Experimental details on the process will be presented.”

 

 

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Two new ISTC publications

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center has published two new reports:

 

RR – 122 / Risks to Birds in the Lake Calumet Region from Contaminated Emergent Aquatic Insects / Soucek, David J.; Levengood; Levengood, Jeffrey M.; Gallo, Sue; Hill, Walter R.; Bordson, Gary O.; Talbott, Jonathan L. — Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2013.  (Available at http://hdl.handle.net/2142/43344)

 

TR- 050 Efficiency Performance Contracting for Smaller Manufacturers: Progress in the Metalworking Industry / Bierma, Thomas J.– Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2013. (Available at http://hdl.handle.net/2142/43345).

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2013 Naturally Illinois Expo

 


The Prairie Research Institute presents the fifth annual Naturally Illinois Expo on March 8-9, 2013, on the University of Illinois Urbana campus. Families, teachers, and students of all ages are invited to attend and enjoy exhibits, demonstrations and hands-on activities that showcase the work of the Institute, home of the State Scientific Surveys (Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, and Illinois Sustainable Technology Center).  Continue reading “2013 Naturally Illinois Expo”

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Illinois Biochar Group Meeting – Fall 2012

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is getting ready to host its fall Illinois Biochar Group meeting.  Meetings are held three times a year and are usually located at ISTC.  The Illinois Biochar Group encourages research in the production and use of biochar including the project topics: soil amendments, site remediation, carbon sequestration, and supercapacitors. Continue reading “Illinois Biochar Group Meeting – Fall 2012”