HDPE Tubing in the Field
College of Engineering Unit: 
Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering
Project Team Member(s): 
Aurora Prochot, Elizabeth Clark, Jackson Guettler and Chika Ronny
Physical Location at Expo: 
Virtual Only
Project ID: 
MIME205
Project Description: 

In the Pacific Northwest, Bigleaf Maple tappers and sugarmakers insert plastic spiles into the trees which direct the 98-99% water sugar solution or “sap” through a web of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) tubing to a sugar shack for processing. In the upcoming season, thousands of feet of tubing, along with the other small parts, will be retired for a wider diameter tubing. Additionally, the plastic equipment wears down, erodes, succumbs to nature requiring removal, replacement and disposal. However, neither the quantity nor frequency of disposal are yet known nor predictable. So the team has built a database and a used tubing preparation process to facilitate future disposal. 

Database Instruction Guide
Project Overview Presentation

Industry Sponsor(s): 
  • Dr. Eric T. Jones

  • Project Communication Piece(s): 
    AttachmentSize
    PDF icon Project Poster2.61 MB
    Opportunities: 
    This team is open to networking
    This team is open to collaboration opportunities
    This team is open to employment offers