LSU Engineering Students Develop Safety Mechanism to Produce Aluminum

April 10, 2010

Mechanical engineering major Chris Bergeron of Kenner, LA along with his teammates Bryan Schrock of Baton Rouge, LA, Richard Faucheaux of Waggaman, LA, and Omotola Coker of Lagos, Nigeria, have been working on their senior project building a mechanical assist for a cooler dog house door.

"Contrary to the name," explains Bergeron, "our project has nothing to do with a dog. It's an access door to a kiln which is like a rotating oven."

The team was given a list of potential projects to develop, but they chose one that will actually be used in an engineering company. Since August, the team has been working on building a mechanical assist for a cooler doghouse door. The team's final product will be placed in the kiln so that workers will no longer have to put their safety at risk in order to produce aluminum. The final product will be used by Oxbow Calcining, LLC.

Bergeron explains that during the process of making aluminum, sometimes waste from the chemicals build up in the kiln. When this happens, a worker, wearing a fire suit to protect him from the heat, uses a shovel to filter out the waste. "It's a dangerous job, so we're hoping that our project can be implemented so that workers don't have to continue doing this by hand," continues Bergeron.

Oxbow Clacining, LLC is the largest calcined petroleum coke producer and marketer. The company is known for making aluminum. "This is a very expensive project," Bergeron claims, "We're ordering a lot of hydraulic parts including pumps, motors and cylinders." The company, under the direction of Mr. Paul Koenig, is funding the senior project and will actually use the final product in its plants in order to keep its workers safer.

The team plans to finish the project in April. "Right now we're working on one dog house door, but the company needs four, "explains Bergeron, "It'll be cool to see our senior project at work once we've finished all of them."

The Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) will host the ME 4202 Capstone Design II annual seminar presentation May 4-5, 2010. Mechanical engineering undergraduates worked throughout two semesters on a design project of their choice. Projects are judged by a design panel consisting of local industry leaders and LSU faculty and alumni.

All Mechanical Engineering faculty members, projects sponsors, faculty advisors, alumni, graduate students, Mechanical Engineering undergraduates, and the general public are invited to this event each year. To obtain information for next year’s event, submit an area for research, or to become a judge or sponsor, please contact Dr. Mike Murphy at murphy@me.lsu.edu or Don Eisenberg at eisenberg@lsu.edu.

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Article by Crystal Jackson, College of Engineering, Public Relations Graduate Assistant, 225-578-5706, mlavall@lsu.edu