CAPSTONE DESIGN PARTICIPANTS
Ally Villeneuve, Eveline Thevasagayam, Harumi Diaz, Nusayba Sultana
Optimized Hydroponics Unit for Sustainable Agricultural Growth on the UW Campus
22
The University of Waterloo’s Sustainability Office is interested in growing their own fresh produce for their food services, but are limited by space on campus, harsh weather, and high initial investments.
Our solution outlines a hydroponics unit, where produce can be grown in controlled environmental conditions in the absence of soil with optimized lighting cycle times and minimized water requirements. The system is designed to optimize crop yields, space, utilities, energy consumption, and be cost-efficient to operate and maintain.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Christine Moresoli
Partner Organization/Industry or Government Mentor: University of Waterloo Sustainability Office
Hao Wang
Shiani Raj
Troy Lewis
Zhen Ye
Water Pipeline Leak Detection System for the City of Kitchener
23
The City of Kitchener uses a traditional acoustic method for leak detection, which is costly, requires heavy labour, and leaks are not detected in real time. Many leakages cannot be detected until they surface, causing a loss of up to 20% of water supply. Our objective is to modernize the current method by developing a leak detector software that will detect leaks in real time using pressure and flowrate data. Our method will increase sensitivity to detect smaller leaks that could have previously gone undetected.
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Ali Elkamel, Dr. Hamid Hamedani
Michael Kiszka
Ammer Akhand
Jared Byers
Brian Choi
Flue Gas Carbon Capture from Residential Buildings
24
Current carbon capture systems focus on the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or industrial sources. Natural gas heating systems found in residential buildings across Ontario are an untapped source of carbon dioxide from the combustion of natural gas. This project aims to reduce carbon emissions from natural gas heating systems using gas membrane separation.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Xianshe Feng
Taylor Henshaw
Darby Grech
Idamae Joyce
Recycling of Rubber through Microbial Devulcanization
25
A large percent of rubber is not properly recycled and ends up in landfills because it is vulcanized. Vulcanization is a process in which rubber is hardened through cross-linking of its polymer chains. We aim to design a scaled-up bioreactor capable of rubber devulcanization using microbes that can oxidize sulfur-crosslinked materials. This will encourage cyclic recycling and reusability within the rubber manufacturing industry.
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Valerie Ward, Dr. Costas Tzoganakis
Tarela Okoronkwo, Luca Romagnoli, Shraddha Pandey, Anthonia Byron
Scaling Up Carbon Dioxide Adsorption Process
26
To mitigate the issue of global warming, atmospheric CO₂ levels will need to be at pre-industrial levels or below. The aim of our project is to optimize the carbon capture and storage process in remote areas in Northern Canada. With adsorption as the separation process of choice, and Na-X zeolite as the adsorption material, we intend to design a scaled-up Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility to capture 365-tonnes of CO₂ per year. The project will also include analysis of energy requirements as well as costs for the facility.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Eric Croiset Partner Organization/Industry or Government Mentor: Dr. Sean Wilson, Terrafixing