A group of students and faculty members from the University of Louisville's Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research recently had the opportunity to participate in the Solar Decathlon Middle East competition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The event, the largest solar decathlon competition for international universities, featured 14 international teams and took place Oct. 20 to Nov. 21 at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. Over the last 2 years, teams designed and built high energy-efficiency, grid-connected, solar-powered houses, which were set up together in a public showcase village during the World Expo. UofL teamed up with Higher Colleges of Technology, American University of Sharjah and American University in Dubai to form "Team Desert Phoenix." The team fused talents of faculty, staff and students from all four universities to design, build and compete with a state-of-the-science 1,000-square-foot house. UofL's Conn Center for Renewable Energy R
Soy hull biomass is a by-product of soybean production. Photo by Andrew Marsh.
Researchers at the University of Louisville Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research and Department of Mechanical Engineering are working to transform soy hulls left over from soybean processing into valuable food and industrial products. The United Soybean Board has awarded $350,000 to UofL to further develop methods for using soy hulls in modified fiber composites for 3-D printing applications and produce the sugar substitute xylose as a value-added product.
This project will pilot a commercially viable process using previous research to convert soybean hull biomass into a low-calorie, diabetic-friendly sugar substitute while simultaneously extracting micro and nanoscale fibers to be used for lightweight fiber composites and thermoplastic packaging products via 3D printing.