Group 4 ProjectAmber Harrison, Stephanie Rios, Tomas Fernandez,

Madeline Steger, Deandre Hill-Stanton, Elsa Vue,Batuhan Demir, Xiomara Castaneda-Cerda, Corbin Ross,Jazmyn Draper, Maren Menefee, Zoua Yang, Ana Marin,

Destiny Vang, Traveria Evans, Grace Nelson, Kellen Brush

By:

ProblemWinters are cold, especially in MilwaukeeRufus King has bad heating systemsOur heating systems use up gas or electricity

—all expensive and non-renewable sourcesQuestion: Can we find a renewable source

that provides heat?

Our SolutionCompost generates heatIf we can trap that heat and send water into

the heated area, can we heat up water? If so, to what extent can we apply the results to air?

Method of Testing-Create a compost bin and insert PVC pipe into the middle-Wrap clear tubing around the PVC pipe all the way down and then make it travel upwards again

Method of Testing Cont’d-Once heat has been trapped in the bin, force water through the tubing and record the temperature of the water that has gone through the compost-Repeat 5 times for valid results

Procedure

Problems that aroseProblem: No lid for bin

Solution: Saran WrapProblem: No grass or dry leaves

Solution: Substitute with strawProblem: Can’t dump chicken poop directly into

compost (safety reasons)Solution: Find cups and slowly scoop it instead

Problem: Need lots of dirt—don’t have a lot of $$Solution: Find other sources for dirt (Rufus King)

Additional changesLeft the water in the compost for

approximately two minutes—would time change anything?

Repeated 5 times for valid resultsAnswer: No

Raw Data

Temperature °C (+/- 1°)Before compost Group A

Trial 1 25 28

Trial 2 24 27

Trial 3 24 26

Trial 4 24 25

Trial 5 24 25

Temperature °C (+/- 1°)Before compost Group B

Trial 1 25 28

Trial 2 24 25

Trial 3 24 26

Trial 4 24 26

Trial 5 24 25

Group A: Water that went through the compost onceGroup B: Water that sat in the compost for 2 minutes

Processed Data

A B1.7

1.75

1.8

1.85

1.9

1.95

2

2.05

Average Difference in Temperature °C

Group

Tem

pera

ture

Diff

ere

nce °

C

Group A: Water that went through the compost onceGroup B: Water that sat in the compost for 2 minutes

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Trial 4

Trial 5

2223242526272829

Temperatures for Each Group

Before going through compostGroup AGroup B

Trial NumberTem

pera

ture

°C

(+

/- 1

°)

ConclusionAlthough the compost heated up the water in

both groups, neither of them had significant changesGroup A: Average increase of 2°CGroup B: Average increase of 1.8°C

Therefore, our method of using compost to heat water is inefficient

However, modifications may make this a method usable—who knows?