Tesla Turbine Update

Last week, Eric Schaupp and I travel led down to the cities to use the laser cutter at Century College in White Bear Lake, MN. The purpose of this trip was to design a functional prototype of the Tesla turbine. This week, we have been going to Itasca Community College to machine the shaft for the turbine. Next week, we will be conducting a multitude of experiments on the prototype to determine optimal turbine design. To build the prototype and machine the shaft, CAD drawings were made using Autodesk Inventor. At Century, we initially had problems exporting the drawings to CorelDraw to be printed but thankfully Tierney Putman (the lab technician) was a great help. A total of 72 pieces were cut on the laser cutter. Nick Esler and Tom Happy, the other two group members, have been working hard to determine how to calculate rotational velocity and torque of the turbine. By Monday, we should have a working prototype ready for testing.

Proofed by Eric Schaupp

IRE logo in PNG format for student use

Kadant Seminar

Yesterday, Team Blandin attended an all day seminar in Grand Rapids at the Sawmill Inn. The seminar was put on by Kadant. The seminar was about ways to optimize the dryer section. This was a great opportunity for the five of us in so many ways.

First of all we learned so much about the drying system. This was a very technical seminar and we were able to relate many of the processes to our learning competencies. Some of the things we learned were how heat is transferred through the dryer cans, how steam flow throughout the drying process, and then ways to reduce steam usage in the drying process. We learned much more but these were the three things that stuck out in my mind and related mostly to our project. This seminar also laid a great foundation for what we need to do to complete our project.

Second, we attended a conference with thirty other engineers who work in paper mills in northern Minnesota (Sappi, Blandin, Boise, and New Page). This allowed for us to visit and network with them. One question we received was if we were interested in working in paper mill and of course I answered yes. These companies would all be great places to work at. This opportunity allowed us to get some personal exposure to the industry.

Another question that we got from many of the engineers was what our program was like. This was a perfect opportunity to explain how Iron Range Engineering worked and get word of the new program out. All in all this day benefited our team in many ways.

Moving On

Since IRE began, we have had the invaluable assistance of Nick Lefebvre, our Program Coordinator. Nick, a mechanical engineer fresh out of school, dedicated himself to the betterment of this program. He arranged unique opportunities, from tours and lunches, to a spring break trip to the west coast. He would solve problems before anyone else knew they existed, while making sure we as students had everything we need. Nick did all these things and many more, and recently he has taken a well deserved opportunity to advance his career, with an engineering position at Hibbing Taconite. Nick brought his determination, problem solving skills, and so much more to IRE, which has shaped it in ways we may never fully know. He will bring this to every job, and make himself and his company better for it.

I worked as an IRE Intern for one summer, where I had the opportunity to learn from Nick. His actions and advice helped me to significantly develop my professionalism and problem solving skills. The example he set will help me for years to come.

Tesla Turbine

This semester, there are two entrepreneurial group projects. Our group is known as the Tesla Turbine Group and includes Nick Esler, Tom Happy, Matt Hudson and myself. The Tesla Turbine group has been very busy these first few weeks brainstorming and researching a magnitude of different project possibilities. Our ideas have ranged from water conservation and renewable energies to sterling engines and power production. As a group we have narrowed down our focus to power production that is eco-friendly. We plan to utilize a Tesla Turbine as the means for producing a lightweight and low-pollution power generation system. The plan for the semester is to develop three sets of prototypes. The first will be made out of acrylic and cut with a laser cutter at Century College. The second will be made from sheet metal and cut using a CNC mill. The final prototype will combine the results from the first and second prototypes and will be submitted to the MN Cup. By the next time I post on the blog I hope to have a synopsis of our experiments from the first prototype as well as several pictures.

Proofed by: Matt Hudson

Rapids Energy Center

A tour of Minnesota Power’s Rapids Energy Center was taken on Thursday, 2-3-11, by the Blandin project team. The tour was taken to acquire background information about the steam generation process which supplies the steam consumed by the line six paper machine dryer can section. This information will aid us in our project objective, which is to provide Blandin with possible ways to optimize the consumption of steam used in the cans. As a part of our education, we also have other learning objectives we need to meet. One way to fulfill all learning objectives is to tie in different aspects of the project that might not pertain directly to the project but still have educational value and real world application. As a result, most of us students on the Blandin team will be taking Advanced Thermodynamic Power Cycles as one of our competencies for the semester.

Rapids Energy Center (REC) cogeneration steam process consists of four boilers and two steam turbine generators. Two boilers are wood and coal fired units, while the other two are fueled by natural gas. Blandin is the sole customer of Rapids Energy Center, but they are interdependent operations. The paper mill also provides REC with river water used for cooling various equipment and wash down needs, along with fire protection water. They also supply the fuel needed to operate REC, which is waste wood created in the paper making process. This waste wood supplies roughly 1/3 of the total daily wood burned. On the other side, REC provides the mill with steam, electrical, and pneumatic energy sources necessary for paper production.

Proofed by Felicia Levchak

Manage Your Time

I recently read the Manage Your Time book by Tim Hindle. It is part of the essential managers collection. After my reading was completed, I gave some thought to what the book was trying to say. It gave 101 tips to help save time in an everyday setting. It gave advice on everything from how to greet co-workers differently if you have time and if you dont, how to arrange an office space for optimum efficiency, how to stay clutter free, and how to calculate what your time is worth to managing the time of others around you. Many of the points the author brought up have been brought up at IRE. I have heard many times: don't spend time on tasks with no benefits, don't try to do everything by yourself, do make a time log, do use the resources on hand and available to you. After these conclusions, I feel this book was worth my time to read and I would advise to others looking for help in managing their time.



Proofed by: Jesse Stanton