November 2024
Inside the Newsletter:
2024 Solutions | Water Efficiency Projects | Waste & Pollution Prevention Projects | Energy Saving Projects
2024 Solutions for Minnesota Businesses!
MnTAP is proud to announce the publication of the 2024 Solutions. This annual report highlights the results from our summer internship program. This year our group of 14 talented and industrious interns identified environmental reductions and process improvements that could save their companies:
- 206,500,000 gallons of water
- 7,700,000 kWh electricity
- 553,000 therms of energy
- 3,980,000 pounds of air emissions, solid, and hazardous waste
Combined, these reductions have the potential to save companies $2,500,000 annually!
These results translate into real environmental impacts equivalent to eliminating CO2 emissions from more than 620 passenger vehicles and powering 800 Minnesota homes. Saving water equivalent to the water use for more than 9,000 Minnesota residents.
We hope that as you read about the 2024 MnTAP intern projects and the results achieved, you will be inspired to contact MnTAP to learn how your company can benefit from having an intern at your site to maximize resource efficiency, increase energy efficiency, reduce costs, and prevent pollution.
Now is the Time to Apply for YOUR 2025 Intern!
TThe MnTAP program pairs manufacturing, food processing, hospitality, and other facilities with an undergraduate or graduate student, who researches and recommends water conservation, energy efficiency, and pollution prevention solutions. MnTAP interns have helped identify opportunities that save participating companies millions of dollars annually.
If your company could use another set of eyes to achieve similar results, now is the time to start thinking about developing a project for the summer of 2025. We anticipate supporting up to 15-18 projects that could focus on water conservation, energy efficiency, paint efficiency, solid waste, and pollution prevention.
Applications are currently being accepted and will be reviewed upon receipt. Companies will be contacted by MnTAP technical staff within two weeks for additional project development and scoping. Although applications are accepted through January 17th, 2025, companies are encouraged to apply by the end of 2024 to provide enough time to scope a well-defined project at their facilities.
For more information about the intern program or the application process, visit the MnTAP Intern Program webpages for Businesses. Use the Apply link to go directly to our project proposal form.
For More Information, Contact:
Matt Domski – Intern Program Manager
612-624-5119
mdomski@umn.edu
Water Efficiency Projects
The impacts of consuming water can add up quickly for companies, given that the true cost of water encompasses more than just paying for water supply. Processes – such as purification, heating, cooling, pumping, and discharge pre-treatment – can all have an impact on a company’s bottom line. With economic and environmental impacts in mind, 2024 interns identified ways to conserve more water through facility maintenance, upgrading to more efficient equipment, and process modification solutions.
Julie Van
Sustainable Systems Management – University of Minnesota Twin Cities
PTC Steel located in Minneapolis, Minnesota is a leading producer of electric resistance welded and drawn over mandrel mechanical steel tubing. Annually, PTC manufactures 32,000,000 pounds of product, and PTC reached out to MnTAP to find opportunities to use less water across its production processes. By creating a comprehensive water map, Julie identified single pass cooling as responsible for consuming 81% of the plant’s total water use. Among other recommendations, she then advised PTC to install automatic solenoid valves on 14 pieces of equipment using single pass cooling, and PTC is currently carrying out this recommendation. Installing these valves will enable PTC to reduce its water use on non-production days, and in turn, lead to saving 25,000,000 gallons of water and $137,000 per year.
Danielle Jakob
Sustainable Systems Management – University of Minnesota Twin Cities
The Minnesota Corrections Facility –Shakopee (MCF-Shakopee) is the only facility for housing incarcerated women in the state of Minnesota. Currently, it houses 676 individuals, who use 56 showers on site. Among other recommendations, Danielle built a compelling case for MCF-Shakopee to install showerheads that have earned the WaterSense label due to having a lower flowrate of 1.5 gallons per minute without compromising product performance. Consequently, MCF-Shakopee is projected to save 2,800,000 gallons of water, 21,000 therms of natural gas, and $26,000 per year from this recommendation alone.
Waste & Pollution Prevention Projects
Waste streams can vary widely across industries – as can the approaches to identifying source reduction and diversion solutions. MnTAP Interns investigated ways to minimize a variety of waste and chemical sources through 2024 intern projects. Multiple interns explored opportunities to minimize food loss and/or divert by-products for more sustainable use. MnTAP Interns discovered opportunities to minimize salt usage through water softening optimization, as well as reduce detergent use through more efficient laundry practices. Finally, one MnTAP intern explored safer, cost-effective chemistry alternatives for production processes. Minimizing waste and pollution is not only good for our communities and the environment, but it also has potential to save businesses money through reduced purchasing, processing, and disposal costs.
Gehna Jain
Computer Science – University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Second Harvest Heartland (SHH) has a 233,000 square feet facility located in Brooklyn Park and is the third largest food bank in the United States. This fiscal year, SHH is forecasted to source 23 million pounds of food, and SHH was interested in innovate ideas on how it could further reduce food waste, as well as route optimization for pick-up and delivery operations. One of Gehna’s recommendations was to divert liquid waste, which consisted mostly of dairy products, from landfills to anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is when bacteria break down organic matter, such as food waste, without oxygen. If implemented, this recommendation would save SHH 36,000 pounds of waste.
Heidi Herrmann
Chemical Engineering – University of Minnesota-Duluth
Niron Magnetics located in Minneapolis, Minnesota primarily manufactures the Clean Earth Magnet®, or the first sustainably produced, high performance, and permanent magnet. The project at Niron was supported in part by MnTAP’s first sustainable chemistry internship and led by Heidi Herrmann. Heidi worked with Niron to research alternatives to the solvent they are currently using. In investigating solvent alternatives that would be less hazardous and could reduce the need for a solvent recycling system, Heidi identified a new solvent. This new solvent could lead to saving 4,750,000 kilowatt-hours per year, and Niron is currently implementing this recommendation.
Energy Efficiency Projects
Energy efficiency is a significant focus area for many MnTAP interns. Projects can focus directly on energy assessments, where energy systems and equipment are investigated for potential improvements. Interns also find that energy savings can be embedded within the results of other types of recommendations, such as water conservation and process optimization solutions. Whether large or small, energy savings by MnTAP interns often help financially justify process changes that are recommended for improved environmental performance.
Daniel Rudolph
Sustainable Systems Management – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Donaldson Company, Inc. headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota is a vertically integrated filtration company that produces and markets air filters for a variety of industries, such as agriculture and transportation. Donaldson was interested in exploring ways to reduce its energy use and partnered with MnTAP to coordinate two separate intern projects. The first project, led by Daniel Rudolph, focused primarily on Donaldson’s chilled water system. One recommendation that Daniel proposed was to reduce the flow rate of the lab-side pump by 20%. If implemented, this recommendation would save 10,000 kilowatt-hours and $1,000 per year.
Sanat Iyer
Chemical Engineering – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
The second project at Donaldson Company, led by Sanat Iyer, focused on compressed air system optimization. Compressed air systems often consume more energy than needed due to inefficiencies, and Donaldson’s compressed air lab uses 950,000 kilowatt-hours annually. Sanat suggested that Donaldson should consider installing an energy recovery system, which would capture energy otherwise lost in compressed air. The potential savings for this recommendation would be 570,000 kilowatt-hours and $57,000 annually. In addition, Sanat performed an air leak audit on approximately 20% of Donaldson’s Bloomington facility. This audit revealed opportunities to fix air leaks and save around 7,700 kilowatt-hours or over $770 per year.