January 04, 2026
Chemical engineering students employed foundation principles, collaboration and flexibility in pursuit of a profitable process for harvesting natural gas from manure.
Mizzou Engineering invests in hands-on learning experiences. Senior capstone projects are just one way we prepare students for their future careers and advance solutions to real-world issues. These group projects encourage innovation, creative problem solving and collaboration.
Here’s how a team of chemical engineering students designed a plant to harvest natural gas from manure.
Team
Danielle Blankenship, Brendan Fuller, Trevor Ivy
Challenge
The problem that we had to solve came from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers: Take cow manure from farms and create a process to achieve renewable natural gas.
Process
We evaluated and built a blueprint for a plant that would achieve our desired product. This included testing and trial and error to find what worked. Once we had a completed diagram, we moved on to sizing and estimating the cost of equipment. We are currently working on an economic analysis to determine if our process is profitable and by how much. Our final steps will be a written report and oral presentation.
Results
Our solution met the product specifications, but it was extremely unprofitable. There can be adjustments to increase profitability, but not enough.
Preparation
Our education prior to this project helped us design our process based on foundation principles. Chemical Engineering Design I was the biggest help since it was where we learned to use the program we needed to complete this project. It was also helpful that other classes encouraged working together.
Conclusion
The process of starting a new plant/design takes a lot of steps and putting a lot of heads together. We ran into multiple problems during the design phase of the project and required changes to make the process work.