Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Physical Plant
Carbondale, Illinois
Intern: Alex Singleton
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Founded in 1969 as the state's second teacher college, Southern Illinois University
Carbondale (SIUC) now has 11 colleges and schools. The university is home to
over 20,000 students and 5,400 faculty members. SIUC's physical plant provides
heating, cooling and some electricity for the campus. This includes a power
plant that consumes nearly 50,000 tons of coal a year.
During the summer of 2009, the intern created a software program that could
model steam production based upon online weather data. Taking into account
real time pricing on its current fuel contracts, the physical plant would either
buy electricity from the local utility or produce its own electricity based
upon the least cost scenario and boiler efficiencies.
Results:
During the summer of 2010, the intern surveyed the physical plant operations
and made several revisions to the original software. It was then determined
that the actual cost savings by using this program amounted to $360,000 per
year. This software can also be used as a design tool for any future additions
to the physical plant.
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