The "Kraft Mill Energy Challenge" -- Students Working With Local Mills

Seniors in Paper Science & Engineering are traditionally required to complete a senior design project just prior to graduation. For 2009, in an effort to increase senior engagement with the industry, the 2009 Kraft Mill Energy Challenge project was initiated.

Four mills in North Carolina volunteered to participate in the pilot trial of this new program. Seniors were put into teams, and each team was assigned to a participating mill. The goals of the program were straightforward and ambitious: Analyze the current energy situation for the mill and propose a suite of projects that results in an annual savings of 20 % in purchased fuel and electricity. Half of the savings were required to be from projects with a payback period of two years or less.

In the Fall 2008 semester, the teams were required to travel to their mills, meet with a project coordinator, and begin the process of modeling the mill from an energy consumption standpoint. Students used GEMS modeling software to develop a base case model for the mills. At the end of the semester, students submitted a professional-quality project proposal describing their modeling efforts and outlining their preliminary approach to meet the energy savings targets.

In the Spring 2009 semester, the teams began analyzing individual projects in earnest. At the end of the semester, the teams made a formal presentation to the PSE faculty, with mill contacts having the opportunity to listen in and ask questions via a net link. Each team submitted a formal final report with their recommendations.

Both student and mill feedback was positive about this experience. Students were gratified to work on projects that had a connection to the"real world." The mill contacts, in general, were pleased to have another set of eyes looking at their energy situation. In several cases, students were able to come up with energy-saving measures that the mills had not considered in the past.

Based on the success of the program, it will be repeated in the 2009-2010 academic year as the 2010 Mill Water Challenge. In this iteration, student teams will be working with all types of mills to come up with projects that result in a significant reduction in fresh water consumption. IF YOUR MILL IS WITHIN A 4-HOUR DRIVING DISTANCE OF NC STATE, AND YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THIS PROGRAM, PLEASE E-MAIL MED BYRD AT med_byrd@ncsu.edu.