First of its kind bear spray recycler shown at MSU Play Video
Posted: Feb 24, 2010 10:37 PM
Updated: Feb 25, 2010 5:17 PM
An Montana State University engineering student demonstrated a first of its kind device to an eager audience of U.S. Forest Service and National Park employees.
For a Senior Capstone project, Ashley Olsen and her two partners were approached by staff of the Gallatin National Forest with a request.
"They said, 'Recycle some bear spray for us. Figure out how to separate the components and recycle the cans,'" Olsen said.
A device like that did not exist. Expired cans of the hazardous material go to landfills now. So they got to work, tinkering with the pressurized cans of mace, and there was the occasional accident.
"Oh yeah, taking those lids off, you have incidents. We had an incident downstairs in the basement once when we were trying to take one of those lids off. Pulled one of those lids off, had to clear out," Olsen said.
The same thing happened to a canister during the demonstration. As it started spraying, Olsen ran to the Dumpster, holding the can at arms length.
"It's burned my mucus membranes enough, you build a tolerance," she said.
The next can worked a little better and the demonstration was on. The machine pulls out the spray, separating the vegetable oil and pepper mixture from the propellant Freon, the Freon filling tanks where it can be reused. By design the canisters would then get crushed, but the prototype pneumatic jack doesn't have enough force yet.
Yellowstone National Park environmental protection specialist Jim Evanoff looked on with great interest.
"We are getting a lot of these bear spray canisters," he said. "If we can eliminate that from our waste stream that's one more thing we are doing to reduce our dependency on landfills."
Yellowstone, along with the Gallatin National Forest and U.S. Forest Service is contracting with an engineering firm in Billings. The firm will create a machine based on the principles developed by the MSU team.
If they need help, Olsen says she's available. She just graduated and is looking for work.
Evanoff says he hopes to have a spray canister recycler up and running in the park in the next three months.
