Sleeman Biogas Boiler System Design

Energy costs represent a significant expense in the brewing of beer, and it is in a company’s best interest to minimize these costs. Due to the high organic loading processed by the on-site wastewater treatment plant at Sleeman Breweries in Guelph, Ontario, a large amount of biogas is generated, which could be used as an energy source and revenue stream for the brewery. The purpose of this project is to design a system that will make use of the wasted biogas to benefit the company. First a preliminary analysis of several design alternatives was conducted in order to determine the best option. Through this analysis it was determined that a pretreatment and piping system, along with boiler modifications would be the most cost effective method of dealing with the biogas. This system would save the brewery approximately $134,000 in the first year it was implemented, and have a payback period of approximately 5 years. Therefore, it is recommended that Sleeman Breweries consider moving forward with the proposed biogas recovery system. This report describes the detailed research, calculations, and modeling completed to design this system in order to present with confidence the optimal solution to Sleeman Breweries

Effects of 12-week Tai Chi training on soleus H-reflex and muscle strength in older adults: a pilot study

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 12-week Tai Chi (TC) training on the soleus (SOL) H-reflex modulation and plantarflexion muscle strength in older adults. Twenty volunteers were assigned into training (N = 14; 72.2 ± 3.7 years of age) and control (N = 6; 74.2 ± 6.1 years of age) groups. The participants in the TC group practiced Yang style TC 1 h per session, 3 sessions per week, for 12 weeks, guided by a qualified TC instructor. The ratio of the maximal peak-to-peak amplitude of SOL H-reflex (H max) to M-wave (M max) was determined during bipedal standing under four sensory conditions: stable surface and eyes open (SO), stable surface and eyes closed (SC), unstable surface and eyes open (UO), and unstable surface and eyes closed (UC). The maximal isometric plantarflexion muscle strength was also assessed by using a dynamometer. The results showed that the SOL H max/M max ratio increased significantly after the 12 weeks of TC training under the SC (37.0%), UO (33.3%) and UC (36.0%) conditions (P \u3c 0.05). The maximal plantarflexion strength also improved significantly after training (19.8%; P \u3c 0.05). In contrast, the control group showed no significant changes in all measurements after the 12 weeks