August 7, 2015
Itaipu Dam/ Hydroelectric Power Plant
This was the last full day of our trip, so naturally we had to cram as much in as possible. The morning started out with a trip to a farm which runs exclusively on biogas from animal waste. From there, we traveled to Itaipu Dam, one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world.

Farm visit:  Fazenda Colombari
This family owned farm makes their money growing pigs and cattle to be shipped off for slaughter. These livestock produce a great deal of... waste. That's where CIBiogás comes in. CIBiogás is a Brazilian company which installs and operates biodigesters on farms to produce fuel (mostly methane) to run these farms. On our farm visit, the biodegster only ran off of pig waste, due to its shorter digestion time (the digester can process pig manure in 28 days whereas cattle manure takes 32 days to fully break down). The cattle manure isn't wasted though, as it is used as fertilizer on this farm and other local farms. Additionally, pigs produce much more waste in regards to their body size, kicking out 10 L of manure per pig per day. This manure is high in hydrogen sulfide, a highly corrosive gas which must be removed prior to biodigestion (HS2 is what gives manure that rotten egg smell).

The biodegster itself is a pretty well engineered system. The base is a large trapezoidal trough, covered in high density polyethylene (HDPE) to prevent infiltration of the liquid waste into the ground. At one end, treated pig waste flows into the biodegester, and at the other end, a watery effluent flows out at the same rate. Bacteria in the tank break the organic matter into methane and carbon dioxide, which rises above the liquid to be collected. The effluent flows out, to be used as fertilizer, and the gas is sent to a 140 kVA (kilovolt-amperes) generator, producing 0.4 MW to power the farm. This treated biogas is much better for the environment than straight burning of manure as fuel, releasing 26 times less pollutants into the atmosphere.

Itaipu Dam
The Stone that Sings
Built on the Paran[a] river between Brazil and Parguay, Itaipu Dam was, until very recently, the largest power station in the world (Three Gorges Dam in China took over that distinction in 2014). The ownership of the plant is split 50/50 by Brazil and Parguay, although the Dam itself technically sits on neither of their land. When the construction began in 1975, both countries agreed to share the land, making it a neutral area where both peoples could work towards their common goal. Construction was finally finished in 2007, with the completion of the 20th generator (18a, on the right bank - the "Brazilian" side). Itaipu now operates 20 generators, half operating at 60 Hz (to supply Brazil with power) and half operating at 50 Hz (to supply Paraguay). This level of cooperation extends to the workers too, half of which are Brazilian, and half are Paraguayan. All signs and documents are printed in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. English is used as a neutral language in case the need arises. This partnership between Brazil and Parguay will continue until 2023, at which time the dam will have been paid off, allowing each country to do what it wants with it's portion of the dam.

Design Details
The main dam is a 196 m tall, 612 m long, hollow trapezoidal structure with wall that are 20m thick at the base and taper to 14 m thick at the top. This main dam was constructed with ice-cured concrete, supplied by an onsite ice factory (it was removed once concrete activities were completed). The reservoir behind the dam is held in place by a 1,98 4m long rockfill dam, a 1,438 m long buttress, and two earthfill dams, one stretching 2,294 m and the other of 872 m in length. There is also a spillway structure, opened when the reservoir gets too high. These gates are only needed for 10 days out of the year (more if there is a particularly rainy season). Water flows through 20 8-m diameter pipes located 23m below the top of the dam. These pipes drop the water into generators, each one supplying 1,400 m3/s to the 715 MW turbines. The generators never hit this maximum wattage, averaging closer 675 MW, with a peak of 700 MW. Each turbine is closed once per year for maintenence.
The structure was built with a design life of 60 years, although the main concern is the integrity of the reservoir, which is estimated to last until 2140.

August 6, 2015
Parque das Aves & Foz do Iguaçu

August 5, 2015

Renuka Vale do Ivaí visit and Travel to Foz do Iguaçu

Shree Renuka's sugar plant in Vale do Ivaí 

Only a few miles outside of S[a]o Pedro do Ivaí is the Renuka Vale do Ivaí sugar processing plant and ethanol distillery. We were met by one of the plant's engineers, Clever Junio Mastelari (Clever is his first name, although he was a very smart guy). We started with a brief presentation of the site's history and the corporate structure. Then we were given an exclusive tour of the factory and distillery. Finally, we had lunch in the cafeteria with some of the workers on their lunch break.

Clever gave us some sugar cane to suck on

Renuka Vale do Ivaí is held and controlled by Shree Renuka Sugars, the fifth largest sugar producer in the world. Renuka Vale do Ivaí started out as an independent ethanol distillery, but a downturn in the sugar market forced it to become a sugar plant in 1993, processing sugar cane into table sugar, ethanol, and fertilizer. Shree bought the facility in 2010. Currently, Renuka Vale do Ivaí creates sugar in bulk and transports it via trains to various ports in Brazil (this is unique for Brazilian companies, which typically use trucking as the main form of transporting goods). The plant also produces ethanol which is either sold to fuel companies or burned in generators to power the processing plant. Whatever energy is not used by the facility is sold back to the national power grid. The plant has a power generating capacity of 18 MW, and uses an average of 7 MW. This power comes from their production of hydrous ethanol (at 450,000 liters/ day). The plant also produces anhydrous ethanol (300,000 liters/day) which is sold to fuel companies to be mixed with gasoline. The plant's main product is sugar though, producing almost 1,000 tons/hour. Renuka Vale do Ivaí's plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, utilizing 300 employees working in 3 shifts. In addition to the production of sugar, ethanol, and energy, Renuka Vale do Ivaí prides itself on its commitment to environmental production, managing the solid waste and other effluents, monitoring gas emissions, and managing 560 hectares of preserved forest. Most of the effluents from the sugar production are sprayed back onto local farms as fertilizer (sugar production kicks out a huge amount of waste, with almost 10 liters of bagasse, the structural plant fibers, created for every 1 L of crushed sugar). In addition to monitoring the effluents, the plant also minimizes its influents, replanting the sugar only every 6 years and relying on the natural climate to keep the crops watered, negating the need for an irrigation system.

The sugar production process can best be explained through this Discovery Channel video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWl141Bu7fc
It should be noted though, that Renuka Vale do Ivaí does not bleach its sugar like the plant in the video. It also relies on another company to do the packaging.

Basic Overview
Table sugar starts out on the farm as sugarcane. Juice is extracted from the cane. The juice is then either stuck into a centrifuge, drawing out most of the moisture to produce crush-able sugar, or distilled into a "wine", a mixture of ethanol, yeast, and bagasse. The ethanol is separated from the mix via evaporation.

No pictures were allowed inside the factory. Additionally, due to liability issues, Renuka Vale do Ivaí typically doesn't allow site visits anymore, but allowed our entrance because of the longstanding relationship between the factory and ISA.

No pictures allowed inside the plant. Outside the plant is fair game though

August 4, 2015

Bus ride from Curitiba to São Pedro do Ivai

No energy company tours today. Or city tours. Or anything really. Just a 9 hour bus ride to a small town in  Paraná: São Pedro do Ivai. In the morning we'll tour the Renuka do Vale sugar plant and ethanol distillery.

Tchau, Curitiba

August 3, 2015

Federal University of Paraná (UFPR)

We were greeted on the polytechnic campus of the Federal University of Paraná by Dr. Alexandre Pescador from the mechanical engineering department. He gave us a tour of the campus, then introduced us to Dr. Alessandro Zimmer, the head of UFPR's electrical engineering department, and one of the University professors involved in LACTEC ( Instituto de Tecnologia para o Desenvolvimento). LACTEC is a private non-profit involved in various aspects of innovation and testing. The 2 labs we saw were the hydraulics lab, which featured many scaled models of construction projects, and the high-voltage lab. In between the two lab visits, we stopped in to UFPR's microalgae lab.

Hydraulics Lab
LACTEC's hydraulics lab (CEHPAR) maintains contacts with several construction projects, so unfortunately no pictures were allowed because of non disclosure agreements. There were several scaled models of the Belo Monte Dam, and power plant on the Xingu River in Paraná. The first model was used to model the construction of the dam's effect on the area. Everything down to the rip rap used on the river bank was to scale. This model allows engineers to track flow patterns through the diversion structures by injecting a dye on the upstream side of the model. The first model we saw has already proved itself useful, as the engineers used data gathered at CEHPAR to eliminate 2 planned spillway structures (from 20 down to 18). Each one of these structures would be equivalent to building an office building at full scale, so the elimination of 2 of them is a huge cost savings opportunity for the companies involved.
Another dam being modelled was the SINOP dam, a proposed hydroelectric power station in Mato Grosso. This was a 1:100 scale model of the riverbed downstream from the dam's spillway. This model was used to determine the ideal rock size/composition to reduce erosion past the spillway. Each one of these models costs about b$2.5 million to build (about $720,000 US). This is still a cheaper and more inclusive method than computer modelling, which is limited by current technology to analysis of only a couple variables at a time.

Microalgae Lab
Our second stop was with Dr. José Virido Coelho Vargas, one of the professors involved in UFPR's bio-diesel facility. At this facility, students and faculty from UFPR and Florida State University study the feasibility of creating a totally self-sustainable bio-diesel production process using microalgae to produce bio-diesel. Algae is one of the simplest forms of organic matter, having survived on Earth for 3 billion years. This simplicity allows scientist to genetically modify it to produce higher yields of fatty acids (triglycerides), which when combined with methanol in a catalyzed reaction produces biodiesel. Most of the science went over my head (I haven't taken chemistry since I got a C in Freshman Chem), but the promise of a self-sustainable oil production process is pretty amazing.

There were 5 of these 10,000 L photobioreactors outside of the lab.

High Voltage Lab

After a stop for lunch in UFPR's campus cafeteria, we visited the high voltage lab. This lab is used to test power transmission lines, transformers, and substations by subjecting them to extremely high voltages (the lab can put out 3.2 Megavolts). Currently, they had 100 kV transmission lines to be tested, as well as a mock-up gas insulated substateion (similar to the transmission system used at Itaipu Dam). One thing that makes this lab unique in Brazil is the structure of the building itself. The metal walls are insulated from the ground in such a way that it acts as a Faraday cage (http://science.howstuffworks.com/faraday-cage.htm). This eliminates all outside electromagnetic noise, allowing the engineers at UFPR to obtain the most accurate measurements possible.

Vinicios, one of UFPR's Electrical Engineers, explains the processes and equipment being tested.

August 2, 2015

Travel to Curitiba.

Unfortunately our stay at the resort only lasted the one night. We had a 6 (ish) hour bus ride to Curitiba, in Paraná, I say 6ish because we were taking mostly mountainous roads, and ended up with a flat tire halfway through the trip. We had to stop for a half hour or so on the side of the road to fix that....

Our bus drive, Senhor Mauro, changing a flat [photo credit to Samantha Mielo]

Once the tire was fixed, we stopped for lunch at a pay-per kilo rest stop. After lunch, it was smooth driving to Curitiba. We had nothing planned so we went to the public park. It was more like a zoo/ aviary though, as there were tons of different South American birds in enclosures scattered around the park.

August 1, 2015
Rafting in Apuama, followed by relaxing at the Àguas Mornas Resort.

Since it was the weekend, our schedule allowed us to take the day off from learning about Brazil and its energy. This meant a short bus ride out to Santo Amaro de Imperatriz and Apuama (2 adjacent towns) to go rafting. Since there were 7 of us participating, we had to take 2 rafts. There were 3 other people in my raft: Katreena, Sam, and our guide Marcelino. On the bus ride out to Apuama, Dr. Abad had warned us that one of the guides was a little "crazy," and that if we were lucky, we wouldn't have him in our boat. Turns out Marcelino was the crazy one. Within 10 minutes of getting on the water, my boat flipped, dumping us into the river. Luckily no one was seriously hurt (Sam bruised her leg a little) and we were able to swim to the river bank and get back in the boat. The next 45 minutes were filled with Marcelino's voice, yelling commands, whistling at the other boat, or making animal noises when we passed wildlife. It was a pretty great time. [I was unable to take picture because I was rafting, but another guide got a ton of pictures which I'll upload when they send them to us].

After the "EXTREME HRAFTING" (Marcelino's words), we took a short bus ride to the Àguas Mornas Palace Hotel, a resort just outside of Apuamas. We hung out in the pool, sunbathed, and played bocce ball... not bad for a mid-winter's day. Some of the girls got massages in the resort's spa, but I went to the basketball court to shoot around. One of the hotel's guests, an elderly Brazilian gentleman whose name I unfortunately forgot, taught me a shooting game similar to around-the-world. It consisted of 2 players taking turns shooting their way through 4 stages, each stage getting further from the hoop (or [circle] in Portuguese). In stage 1, you have to make 5 shots from inside the paint and under the basket. To move on to stage 2, you must make 5 shots in a row from the first stripe, then 3 consecutive free throws (this basketball court was set up a little differently from American courts). Stage 2 was 6 shots from different points around the key, followed by 5 and 3 consecutive shots from the free throw lines ("lance livre"). Stage 3 was 8 shots from around the key, and stage 4 was some shots from beyond the 3-point line. Our class had a planned dinner-time, so unfortunately I couldn't play out the game. Its probably a good thing, because by the time I left, meu amigo was on the 4th stage while I was still only shooting my second set of free throws. It was a great learning experience, as he taught me a few phrases in Portuguese and shared some English phrases ("Senhor, you're heating up"). One thing that continues to amaze me about Brazilian culture is how friendly and helpful people are, even to ignorant Americans like me.

Originally from Rio de Janiero, meu amigo has lived in Florianópolis for 30 years