Synergetic Algal Infrastructure

Résumé du livre

Abstract: This thesis will explore how algae can perform an integral function in sustaining airport environmental practices. Airports are dynamic connectors of our landscape that provide transportation, jobs and are an essential element in our infrastructure. De-icing aircraft strategies have contributed to polluted streams and ecosystems in the form of storm water runoff. Energy that is used for eradicating ice from aircraft surfaces poses environmental issues in the form of excessive nutrient and chemical waste runoff. These substances contaminate groundwater and surface water resources. It is imperative to the environmental sustainability of an airport to develop and practice a method of capturing this "waste" and transferring the energy it represents back into the system, ideally, within a closed loop circuit. This thesis will propose a design that integrates current algae production technology into a self-sustaining modular land machine. The emerging potential of algae production in a landscape is escalating. Biofuel research and development gained significant ground when a bill to broaden tax incentives for algae derived fuel passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in late 2010.(Energy.gov, 2010) The study consists of topical research and a design proposal for submission to the 2013 FAA Design Competition for Universities. The process and outcomes will be documented through a research paper that identifies and analyzes relevant literature and design criteria. The concept design will respond to common airport site configurations across a range of climatic conditions to be specified as a research outcome. The modular design is not intended to be site-specific. Rather, it incorporates a modularized systemic approach to a "land machine" responsive to a spectrum of site specifications