Partnering Organization: Simplot
Project Summary:
Simplot’s Global Food Division operates factories in Canada, United States, Mexico, Argentina, China, India, and Australia.
Simplot’s Global Food Division is always looking towards the future and meeting the industry growth projections as well as meeting sustainability goals. Simplot currently has Sustainability goals that focus on Water, Energy, Carbon and Waste to Landfill. Simplot continues to invest in water reuse technology as well as water reduction technology to decrease water usage. Furthermore, Simplot continues to endeavor towards a zero waste to landfill philosophy by maximizing recycling opportunities and value-added uses of waste products from the operations.
Looking to the future, Simplot is assessing energy requirements to run our factories that can decrease the usage of carbon-based fuels such as natural gas. Currently steam generation for running the factory’s thermal processes and steam peeling is supplied by natural gas fired boilers. What are the alternatives to this fuel going forward?
Simplot currently utilizes biogas generated from wastewater treatment facilities to supplement natural gas needs. Furthermore, our factory in Moses Lake Washington supplements natural gas usage with hydrogen from a neighbor chemical plant that generates this hydrogen as a byproduct of their processes.
What is going to be the energy source of the future that provides reliability, availability, and economic feasibility to fuel the processed food industry going forward? Washington State University has the Institute for Northwest Energy Futures and is supporting the development of hydrogen as an industrial fuel with the philosophy of utilizing renewable electricity sources to create hydrogen gas or ammonia. Is this the energy source of the future? Is the energy source of the future created by high and low rate biodigesters of organic waste to generate methane? Are renewable sources of electricity such as wind, solar and hydroelectric going to provide enough power to run electric steam boilers or is modular nuclear plants an option as well? These are all questions that need to be investigated as part of this project.
Project Goals:
Developing Keywords for the Questions that Need to be Investigated (As per Project Description)
This project asks a lot of different question. Below are some keywords and search statements that may help you answer these questions.
To learn more about developing keywords and search strings check out this link.
Note: The following keywords and search strings are just some quick ideas, you may come up with better keywords and search strings yourselves.
Question:
Currently steam generation for running the factory’s thermal processes and steam peeling is supplied by natural gas fired boilers. What are the alternatives to this fuel going forward?
Potential Keywords (you will want to try different combinations and also add and subtract keywords)
alternative* OR option* OR improvement* OR substitut* OR replacement* OR updat*
AND
"thermal proces*" OR "steam peel*" OR "steam generat*" OR gas fire* boiler*
For example, Here is a link to that search in the WSU Libraries' catalog
Here is a link to that search in Web of Science
Question:
What is going to be the energy source of the future that provides reliability, availability, and economic feasibility to fuel the processed food industry going forward?
Potential Keywords (you will want to try different combinations and also add and subtract keywords)
futur* OR update* OR change* OR progress*
AND
energ* OR fuel*
AND
food OR agric*
And
indust* OR manufact* OR production
For example, Here is a link to that search in the WSU Libraries' catalog
Here is a link to that search in Web of Science
Question:
Washington State University has the Institute for Northwest Energy Futures and is supporting the development of hydrogen as an industrial fuel with the philosophy of utilizing renewable electricity sources to create hydrogen gas or ammonia. Is this the energy source of the future?
Potential Keywords (you will want to try different combinations and also add and subtract keywords)
hydrogen OR ammonia
AND
indust* OR manufact* OR production
AND
fuel* OR "energy sourc*"
AND
renewable OR green* OR sustainab*
For example, Here is a link to that search in the WSU Libraries' catalog
Here is a link to that search in Web of Science
Question:
Is the energy source of the future created by high and low rate biodigesters of organic waste to generate methane?
Potential Keywords:
rate* (you could potentially add "high" or "low").
AND
biodigester*
AND
organic*
AND
methane OR methyl*
For example, Here is a link to that search in the WSU Libraries' catalog
Here is a link to that search in Web of Science
Question:
Are renewable sources of electricity such as wind, solar and hydroelectric going to provide enough power to run electric steam boilers or is modular nuclear plants an option as well?
Potential Keywords:
renew* OR green OR sustain* OR wind OR solar OR hydroelectric*
AND
energy OR power*
AND
"steam boil*" OR nuclear
AND
futur* OR update* OR change* OR progress*
For example, Here is a link to that search in the WSU Libraries' catalog
Here is a link to that search in Web of Science
Note: Try different keyword combinations yourself. Also, try changing the search parameters (for example, try a "Any Field" search in place of a "Title" search and vice versa).
Background Information Regarding Energy Initiatives
Washington Department of Commerce. The Clean Energy Transformation Act. (Information regarding the Clean Energy Transformation Act which commits Washington to an electricity supply free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045).
Washington State Department of Ecology. Clean fuel standards.
Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. (2023). Natural Gas Decarbonization. (This website provides some background information and reports regarding Washington State's energy decarbonization impacts).
Technologies and Initiatives to replace natural gas in Washington State
Washington State Department of Ecology. Energy grants and loan programs.
Other Useful Resources
Tucker, G. & Featherstone, S. (2011). Essentials of thermal processing. Wiley-Blackwell. Find eBook via this link.
You will probably also have to locate scholarly and peer-reviewed research. Below are a few scholarly databases that will be particularly helpful.
Find Peer-Reviewed Research
Includes Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and Science Citation indexes, Journal Citation Reports, BIOSIS Previews, BIOSIS Citation Index, Derwent Innovations patent searching, MEDLINE, and Zoological Record. Updated weekly.
Search It is the WSU library catalog. You can search among many different types of resources and order materials from other institutions if they are not immediately available through WSU. You will find the most resources in Search It but you will also find the most noise
AGRICOLA contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library.
Find Engineering Standards and Patents
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Xplore - IEEE journals, conference proceedings and standards.
ASTM Compass (Standards and Engineering) - Covers a broad range of engineering disciplines, including aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, environmental, geological, health and safety, industrial, materials science, mechanical, nuclear, petroleum, soil science, and solar engineering.
Find Patents
This project may require you to do corporate and industry research. Below are some links to assist you with that
Find Industry and Corporate Resources
For more in-depth information regarding corporate research, take a look at the Company Research Library Guide.
Find Newspaper and Trade Publications
See also WSU News and Newspaper Research Guide.