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Multifunction Platform Project

The Columbia University student chapter of EWB-USA, together with Pilgrim – a Ugandan NGO – is implementing a Multi-function Energy Platform (MFP) pilot program in the Teso region of Uganda as a response to the inaccessibility of agricultural processing and the high cost of energy in impoverished, rural communities. An MFP is a Listeroid diesel engine, mounted on a fixed frame, which can be attached to various agricultural processing units and generators via a pulley system. The MFP pilot program is an innovative, environmentally friendly endeavor that involves the implementation of these engines in rural farming cooperatives that have been established by Pilgrim, in response to past turmoil in the Teso region.
A modification kit has been designed and analyzed to allow the MFPs to be fueled by straight vegetable oil. Our program is working with Pilgrim to explore the possibility of establishing a biofuel supply chain to provide fuel for the engines, specifically using the non-traditional fuel source, jatropha – an emerging and promising inedible biofuel feedstock that grows abundantly in Uganda and could offer a sustainable energy source for the MFPs. Ideally, community members would be able to cultivate and harvest jatropha seed, use the oil to fuel their own MFP engine, and sell surplus oil in a larger biofuel market.

The MFP technology has the potential to improve the quality of life of thousands of farmers throughout Uganda by letting them focus their time on more profitable or educational activities, and by being a sustainable power- and revenue-generating re source. The services provided by each MFP engine are used to generate revenue in each community, as the services are offered to community members and others for a small fee, as pre-determined by the community. The profits are then put toward maintenance costs, fuel costs, and healthcare and school fees. Four MFPs are now running in rural locations throughout the Teso region. With the help of Pilgrim and students at Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda), the Columbia University student chapter of EWB-USA installed two MFPs with miller attachments in the sub-counties of Orungo and Usuk in May 2009, and implemented an eight-week training program at each site. n May 2010, our program increased the capacity of the two initial sites by working with a local electrician to install Permanent Magnetic Generator (PMG) alternators, small-scale power grids, and battery charging stations at each site.
In January, 2011, Pilgrim and Makerere University continued to scale up the on-going pilot project by installing two additional MFPs in the Tubur and Anyara sub-counties of Uganda, following the implementation and training models established with the help of the Columbia University student chapter. In June 2011, members of the chapter returned to the MFP sites to implement a Cyclone Overflow Exhaust System (COES), designed to reduce the amount of excess flour being released into the MFP structures as a result of milling.

Upon returning to Uganda over the winter, the team was glad to see that the two exhaust system implementations from the Summer were working and similar systems had been installed in the other two sites. Most of the trip in January consisted of meetings with representatives from Pilgrim, as well as excursions to the four communities to assess the situation of each engine, the villages’ needs and experiences, and the way forward. While there were some complications with the sites, a new plan to return each engine to full capacity and efficiency and ensure that all the communities are sufficiently trained and turning a profit off of the engine was conceived over the course of the trip and is currently being implemented by Pilgrim staff. Part of this plan is also to implement a new, fifth, engine in a new community in the upcoming summer trip, having learned from mistakes of the past to make the last engine running smoothly and successful from the start. This engine will most likely be a Changfa engine, a Chinese company common in rural Uganda, instead of the previous Lister engines, as there had been some problems attaining parts and repairing the Listers in the remote villages. The MFP team will work over the course of this semester to familiarize itself with this engine, which will be a new brand from the previous Lister models, and come back in the summer ready to review the successful projects and install a new one.

Rainwater-Harvesting System
During an assessment trip in the summer of 2009, however, Pilgrim identified the need to repair the rainwater-harvesting
system of the boarding school, Beacon of Hope College, which they run. In the summers of 2009 and 2010, groups of students from our program travelled to Uganda and conducted a specific assessment trips to analyze the problem and take measurements of sources reliability, water pricing, water quality, amongst other important factors to consider. Although the possibility of the implementing a water distribution system existed, the school administration preferred to simply repair the existing water system and to install two more, so as to not increase the school’s monthly water bill. Beacon of Hope College has a population of over 500 high school-aged students in addition to teachers and staff members. Thus, they would all be benefited by the implementation of the three rainwater-harvesting systems. During the assessment trips, Columbia students
were able to spent time with the school students, and we learned that most of them are from the Teso region; some were forced to be child soldiers during an insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), while others have dealt with the burden of raising their siblings
in the absence of parents. All of the students live in the dormitories within the school’s grounds.

In early 2011 the design for the entire rainwater-harvesting system, including the tank sizing, gutters, first-flush, and water treatment was completed and in June 2011, the team successfully implemented the three rainwater-harvesting systems. An assessment of the rainwater-harvesting project and conversations with students and employees of the school over the winter trip showed that the system had been successful in significantly reducing the city water consumption of the school and had even been able to supply water by itself for a whole week when the city’s water was completely unavailable during a drought.

After having implemented three effective rainwater-harvesting systems at the school, the last step for the project was to ensure the quality and potability of the water. Testing was done over the course of the winter trip to verify this and found that the water provided by the system was significantly cleaner and more potable than the city water of the local town of Soroti. That being said, the rainwater-harvesting team is still currently working on solutions to provide a filtration or treatment system for the water, and has considered various options such as ceramic and bio-sand filters to be implemented in the summer trip this year.

Our first ever winter trip was considered a success by all its team-members, despite being only two weeks, and we look forward to our continued cooperation with Pilgrim and continued improvement and expansion of our projects.

Meetings: Friday, 5:30 pm 644 Mudd

Program Manager: Rebecca Ciez, rec2125@columbia.edu
Program Liaison: David Oh , dho2104@columbia.edu