Matthew Solar
Pronouns: He/Him
Research Mentor(s): Qinghui Meng
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Mechanical Engineering / Engineering
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 4 – 2:40pm – 3:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Matthew Solar, Qinghui Meng, Margaret Wooldridge
Presenter: 53
Abstract
Landfill gas can be combusted and converted into energy due to its large methane concentration. However, silicon-oxygen based compounds, called siloxanes, interfere with this process by transforming into silicon dioxide (SiO2) in the combustion chamber, damaging equipment and hindering this energy process. This study investigates how the concentrations of different siloxanes changed over a year in an attempt to improve the efficiency of the landfill gas to energy process. I collected gas samples from a local landfill in Michigan and measured the concentration of the siloxanes using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Creating several calibration curves for each siloxane, I was able to determine the concentration of siloxanes in the gas samples and plotted them over the course of a year. I investigated whether there was a possible correlation between the average temperature of that month and the concentration of siloxanes. However, my sample size was low due to the collection process being very time-consuming. I hope that another researcher replicates this experiment and takes many more samples, approximately every week, to ensure the accuracy of this study.
Engineering
