Oakton honored for heat-recovering muffler project

Posted April 13, 2018 1:00 am

Submitted by Oakton Community College

Oakton Community College has been selected as one of 10 finalists in the 2018 Community College Innovation Challenge, marking the second straight year the college has been recognized by the National Science Foundation and American Association of Community Colleges.

Oakton's project, "Heat Recovering Silencer," replaces the traditional vehicle muffler with a new device that maintains noise reduction while efficiently recovering exhaust heat. Led by Oakton lecturer Helen Skop, the project team includes Elliott Alexander of Evanston, Michelle Chudnovsky of Skokie, Tracy Martinez of Elk Grove Village, Judd Palonpon of Des Plaines, and Anna Yabloch of Northfield.

"Our team research and experimental work has proven the feasibility of regular muffler replacement with our heat-recovering muffler," Skop said in a news release. "We created a unique design for such a device, and implementation of our heat-recovering muffler can save 12 percent of wasted heat energy, which amounts to 3.2 quadrillion BTUs of energy or $66.4 billion per year."

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