Day 13

Foz do Igaucu

Last day of trip

We had breakfast at the hotel, packed our bags, and said farewell to each other and headed to the airport. We shopped around for some last minute souvenirs and then waited for our flights. Most of our group was heading back to the states, but I was a little nervous to be traveling to Rio de Janeiro for a few days by myself. All in all, it was a great trip. I really enjoyed the technical part of the trip; all of the company visits were well-organized and engaging. Also we got to see parts of Brazil that most tourists do not experience. I wish I had known more Portuguese, but I guess that is something to work on for next time. Because I will definitely be back to Brazil!


Saturday afternoon 8/8 – Wednesday 8/12

These are the days I spent in Rio. I was able to go samba dancing in Lapa, walk along the beach in Copacabana and Ipanema, buy souvenirs at the Hippie Fair, and visit the must-see sights - Sugar Loaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, as well as the Tijuca Forest. The city was much different from the cities we saw while traveling with ISA. It was very interesting to see the contrasts and it was fairly easy to get around by foot, bus or taxi. I met some great people as well! I highly recommend visiting Rio. 

Day 12

Foz do Iguacu

This was a really busy day. First we had a bio-energy visit at Fazenda Colombari. It is managed by the owner's son and produces three main things, including cattle and swine. They produce .4 megawatts per day, which is enough to provide power for the farm and it would be a waste to produce more than this. We were able to see the biodigester as well as the areas where the cattle and swine are kept. The biodigester from the outside looks like a large pit covered with a plastic tent. It is about 2.5 to 3 meters in depth with plastic on the top and bottom to prevent seepage. This started as an R&D project but then became a company. They sell projects to individuals so that they can produce their own power on their farms. They can produce about 1.5 megawatts per day. The smell was truly intense.

Next, we visited the Itaipu Dam! We were lucky enough to get the ‘technical tour’, which is much more informative and thorough than the typical tour. After watching a short video introducing some basic history and facts about Itaipu, we were able to see the interworkings of the dam. We stood outside of an enormous concrete entrance and felt the vibrations of a penstock, through which 700 cubic meters of water is flowing through every second. On the inside of the concrete structure, there are levels ranging from 29 to 225 which represents the number of meters above sea level. The most memorable moments were seeing part of one of the generators up close in one of the lower levels, and the control room that sat centered on the divide between Paraguay and Brazil. I can say I’ve been in two countries at once! We were also able to see the spillway, where excess water is released, and learned about the Bela Vista, the longest channel in the world created to preserve the fish species in the area. These were a couple of things I hadn’t learned about in my research of the Itaipu dam and Itaipu Binacional. The last item on the agenda today was our farewell dinner. We had dinner and an exciting show at a restaurant serving traditional Brazilian food and barbeque.  

Day 11
Iguassu Falls & Parque das Aves

It was a sight-seeing, strictly tourism kind of day. First we saw the bird park, which was pretty huge and awesome. I got face-to-face with a cute little toucan and saw tons of exotic birds. After this we went to tour the Iguacu Falls! We took a bus to a starting point and then gradually walked the rest of the way to the falls until we were basically standing in them on a pier. The views walking up were spectacular but being on that pier surrounded by the falls was really the most breath-taking part. The falls have an average flow of something like 1700 cubic meters per second and they contribute to the flow that powers the Itaipu Dam. Apparently this flow, which seems so immense, is barely enough to fill more than a couple of the penstocks at Itaipu. Next, a few of us got even closer to the falls; we went on a jeep ride through the surrounding forest, where we saw a toucan in its natural habitat! Following this was a short boat trip that took us direcly under the falls, where we sat for a few minutes while tons of water was dumped on us. Thought I was going to lose my contacts!

Day 10
Sao Pedro do Ivai

Today we visited Renuka Vale Do Ivai in Sao Pedro do Ivai. They produce sugar and also ethanol. Shree Renuka Sugar Ltd, whose head office is in India, is fifth in sugar production in the world. There are two plants here, one hundred percent owned by this company since 1910. They produce sugar, ethanol, and power. The plant started off in 1981 as a distillery until it was encouraged to produce ethanol by the government. It produces 1,000 tons per day of raw sugar, 450 kiloliters per day of hydrous ethanol, 300 kiloliters per day of anhydrous ethanol and has 18 MW power generation. It uses about 7 megawatts of power. The plant has several environmental commitments including management of solid waste and gas emissions and a partnership with public plant nurseries.

At the plant, they do pretty much everything except packaging. They test sugarcane from farmers and pay them based on the quality, but most of it is produced by the company. The company then produces ethanol and sells the fuel-grade product to Petrobras and similar companies. Government laws prohibit them from selling ethanol straight to the consumer. Another interesting fact – there is no irrigation system for the sugar crops; the vinasse that is used for fertigation is enough for the crops.

On the tour, we learned about the processes that take place on a typical day at the plant. About 2,000 people work in the fields harvesting sugarcane. Once harvested it is brought to the plant where three samples are taken from each truck and tested for quality. Then the sugarcane gets processed, first by a series of crushers that extract nearly all of the juice from the crops. The scent of the fermentation process beginning in the sugarcane awaiting processing encompassed the whole plant. We were also able to see the control room and the labs where the sugarcane and ethanol production analysis takes place.

Day 9
Sao Pedro do Ivai

A travel day, we spent most of our time on the bus traveling to Sao Pedro do Ivai. Then we were allowed the afternoon free. So we headed to a free bird park where I saw my first Brazilian toucan and some shy little monkeys. It was a very nice park for being free-99. Then we went to the mall and I bought a small duffle bag to take all my souvenirs home; I'm a very practical shopper. The group ate together for dinner.

Day 8
Curitiba

Our next visit was at the with Institutos Lactec at the university. We were greeted by Alessandro Zimmer and briefed on the polytechnical center which is more than sixty years old. They are a nonprofit private company, specializing in research and development projects however they also do some consulting. All labs were created within the Federal University of Parana and are equipped with a staff total of 500 persons with the help of students and faculty. Some of the labs are Hydraulics and Hydrology, Environmental, Central, and Mechanics. The Belo Monte development was done there in the Environmental resources department, as was the small scale modeling and analysis for Itaipu. Insitutos Lactec receives contracts to develop products through research and development for Brazilian and other companies.

We were allowed to see the three small-scale hydropower plant models that they currently have contracts on – Belo Monte was the first. We were not allowed to take pictures because of these company contracts – unfortunate because this was very interesting to see. There were five models for different parts of the the plant, including the dam and the 200 meter wide channel. Our guide explained that the model river was calibrated, scaled to the depth and terrain of the actual river, water added, power provided to the dam and a specified amount of flow and time in years was then simulated. As for the channel, it was important to analyze the shear stress created by the curvature in the channel. They would have to be sure that they were using the right type and configuration of rocks to reduce erosion and that the channel was smooth enough to reduce head loss. The channel location was chosen to be where the highest gradient occurs, in order to produce the most power. Some restrictions to their building, ultimately leading to losses in power, had to be observed for environmental reasons.

The structure used in the models are handmade on-site, and we were allowed a glimpse into the machine shop where a silicon tunnel structure was being made for a new project. We wondered why they did not utilize computer modeling instead, but they explained that it would take much longer and cost more money to create a computer simulation. So, the company responsible for the project gathers and gives data from the site to the university to make the model. Our guide explained that all variables involved in the life-size project can be geometrically scaled down by making the Froude number the same. Interesting. Last, we saw the model of the Motto Grosso site (Sinop), which is three year project costing 2.5 million Reais (or 800,000 USD).

The next stop on this tour was to the Energy Sustainability R&D Center, where we heard a lecture by Jose Vargas on the “Microalgae derived sustainable energy and materials”. Microalgae has potential for alternative fuel in biodiesel production. The U.S. imports over sixty percent of its petroleum and two-thirds of that goes to transportation. Microalgae is unicellular algae with great photosynthetic capability and rapid growth due to its simple structure. Algae is primarily responsible for CO2 conversion. As far as biodiesel production, corn, soybean, canola, coconut and palm oil can all be used but palm oil has the most potential. Raceway ponds and photobioreactors are the two means of microalgae cultivation. The latter does not require CO2 fossil fuels and is a better use of space but is more expensive. Only 6 percent of biomass becomes biofuel which begs the question, what to do with all the residual. Potential uses include medical supplies. There has been low investment in the United States but creating more efficient bioreactors, that can utilize their own waste to facilitate their processes, will likely help this. After the lecture we received a tour of the research area, including the algae-growing control room where samples were kept.

First we saw the biodiesel reactors. They use oil from food to power the reactors and use sodium hydroxide as a catalyst, and yield about 85% of diesel. Then we were able to see the photobioreactors up-close. There were about 5 very tall structures with a series of parallel transparent pipes where we could see dark green liquid flowing through. When a certain number of algae cells accumulate they are collected. They have one to test different levels of irrigation and other factors in order to produce and purify the biogas. The whole process in the bioreactors takes about 4 days. Fun fact. Microalgae, like vegetable oil, can be used to make plastics.

Thanks to Dr. Zimmer and his kind co-workers, we were allowed to see the High-Voltage Lab as a last stop after lunch. We stood behind a tall fence and observed various metal structures of immense size. One of the lab employees explained that they simulate lightning impulses of 3.2 MW and test various equipment, like transformers and insulators. It is only the second lab of its kind in Brazil and there are few like it in the world.  One test includes applying a voltage of 600 kV to a transformer to see if it can withstand a surge. There was something else simulating Itaipu’s hydroelectric facilities. Also, the Corona phenomenon was studied here. The building containing the lab acts as a Faraday cage  and filters out any outside noise that would affect their measurements. Their main clients are companies, and they must show that the equipment meets Brazilian and international standards.

Day 7

My roommate, Liz, and I got up early to go walking on a trail that led into the surrounding forest. It. Was. Awesome. We walked for about twenty minutes through the lush green foliage, moss-covered trees and rocks and small streams. Half asleep, the sun peeking through the super tall trees, it seemed like a dream. Then we ate breakfast and settled in for the bus-ride to Curitiba. Breakfast here usually consists of lots of fruit, juices, bread and occasionally some coffee-cake-like foods and meat and cheese. I’m loving the papaya and mango at breakfast/lunch every day!

Late in the afternoon in Curitiba, we ventured through a small bird park, where I saw my first Toucans and monkeys of Brazil. Then we went to check out the mall a couple blocks away. We had dinner during happy hour at a Mexican restaurant. Happy hour is at like 7 o’clock here. How perfect is that. The group had a great time and took cabs back to the hotel.