Energy Systems Commons^™

Heat Transfer Vest, Nicholas Forsgaard

All Undergraduate Projects

The purpose of this report is to document the progression of the authors senior project. . The of that project was the research of Liquid Cooled Garment (LCG) technology, the generation of a novel LCG prototype and the testing of that prototype relative to a commercial benchmark. As such, this report is a complete narrative of the of these tasks, their execution and the underlying assumptions and commentary. The motivation for this report is to satisfy the capstone requirements of the MET program at CWU by documenting the Senior Project and its subordinate tasks. First, the student designed a LCG system ...

Development, Energy, And Climate Change Policy: Enabling Sustainable Development Through Access To Energy, Robert J. Brecha

The Social Practice of Human Rights: Charting the Frontiers of Research and Advocacy

Human rights, human development, and climate change clearly overlap in many ways. Development, as quantified by the Human Development Index (HDI), for example, has historically been strongly correlated with energy consumption. This fact is recognized in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” Currently the world is in the midst of a large wave of human migration, much of it involuntary and due to stymied development opportunities as well as political upheaval. Climate change will become, or already is, an exacerbating factor in migration dynamics.

A pertinent question is how ...

Enhancing The Performance Of A Transportable Environmental Control Unit (Ecu) Operated In High-Temperature Climates, Quan Jun Sun, Ammar M. Bahman, Eckhard A. Groll

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Numerous people live or venture into environments, such as the Middle East, where the temperatures can skyrocket as high as 54°C. This leaves many air conditioners unable to operate efficiently. Although much research has been conducted for incorporating vapor injection processes into refrigeration systems, such as ones used in supermarkets, little has been researched regarding the application in extreme heat environments. While most basic air conditioning units do not require the addition of a vapor injection process along with an economizer, this project requires the air conditioning (AC) unit to operate under extreme high temperature conditions. The project investigates ...

Spectral Phonon Relaxation Time Calculation Tool Based On Molecular Dynamics, Divya Chalise, Tianli Feng, Xiulin Ruan

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Thermal conductivity is an important material property which affects the performance of a wide range of devices from thermoelectrics to nanoelectronics. Information about phonon vibration modes and phonon relaxation time gives significant insight into understanding and engineering material’s thermal conductivity. Although different theoretical models have been developed for studying phonon modes and relaxation time, extensive knowledge of lattice dynamics and molecular dynamics is required to compute phonon modal frequencies and relaxation times. Therefore, a computational tool which can take simple inputs to calculate phonon mode frequencies and relaxation time will be beneficial. Through this research work, such computational tool ...

Numerical Simulations Of Transcritical Natural Convection, Ruiwen Wei, Carlo Scalo, Mario Tindaro Migliorino, Kukjin Kim, Jean-Pierre Hickey

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

In modern engineering applications, system overheating is a key issue that needs to be solved with efficient and reliable cooling technologies. Among the possible mechanisms that these are based on, natural convection cooling is one of the most frequently employed, with applications ranging from cooling of computer micro-components to large nuclear reactors. While many studies have been performed on natural convection employing supercritical or subcritical fluids, little attention has been given to fluids in their transcritical regime. The latter has the potential to yield high performances while avoiding detrimental effects of two-phase systems (e.g. cavitation). In the present study ...

The Effect Of Microencapsulated Phase-Change Material On The Compressive Strength Of Structural Concrete, Chad Norvell, David J. Sailor, Peter Dusicka

Peter Dusicka

Latent heat energy storage through phase-change materials (PCMs) is one possible strategy to control interior temperatures in buildings, improve thermal comfort, and passively reduce building energy use associated with heating and cooling. While PCMs integrated into building structure elements have been studied since the 1970s, challenges of integrating PCMs into building materials while maintaining their heat storage benefits have limited their application in practice. The recent introduction of microencapsulated phase-change materials provides the energy storage capability of PCMs in micron-scale, chemically-inert capsules that can be easily integrated into composite materials such as gypsum wallboard and concrete. The size and physical ...

Us Patent 9,702,633: Entrochemical Energy Transfer System And A Process For Obtaining Work From Environmental Thermal Energy, Sanza Kazadi

Sanza Kazadi

A Parametric Investigation And Optimization Of A Cylindrical Explosive Charge, Logan Ellsworth Beaver

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Explosive device design has a wide impact in the space, manufacturing, military, and mining industries. As a step toward computer assisted design of explosives, an optimization framework was developed using the Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Terrascale Applications (Dakota). This software was coupled with the hydrocode CTH. This framework was applied to three exploding cylinder models, two in 1D and one in 2D. Gradient descent, dividing rectangles, and a genetic algorithm were each applied to the one-dimensional models. Parametric studies were performed as a basis for comparison with the optimization algorithms, as well as qualifying the 1D model's ...

Development Of An Optimal Controller And Validation Test Stand For Fuel Efficient Engine Operation, Jack G. Rehn Iii

Master's Theses (2009 -)

There are numerous motivations for improvements in automotive fuel efficiency. As concerns over the environment grow at a rate unmatched by hybrid and electric automotive technologies, the need for reductions in fuel consumed by current road vehicles has never been more present. Studies have shown that a major cause of poor fuel consumption in automobiles is improper driving behavior, which cannot be mitigated by purely technological means. The emergence of autonomous driving technologies has provided an opportunity to alleviate this inefficiency by removing the necessity of a driver. Before autonomous technology can be relied upon to reduce gasoline consumption on ...

Comparing Building Modeling Software To The Energy Record Of A Preexisting Structure, Nathan Lasley

Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Buildings are complex systems - even "simple" residential structures. Many factors go into building energy consumption and the design to reduce it. Computer energy modeling allows the simultaneous consideration and balance of many of those variables. Computer models are only as good as the information provided however. Tools like blower door and duct blaster can be used to aid in verifying the model or to provide more information to build a better model. In order to verify of building computer energy simulation methods, the Western Kentucky University (WKU) Office of Sustainability located at 503 Regents Ave. in Bowling Green KY was ...

A Wrf Ensemble For Improved Wind Speed Forecasts At Turbine Height, Adam J. Deppe, William A. Gallus Jr., Eugene S. Takle

William A. Gallus Jr.

The Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) with 10-km horizontal grid spacing was used to explore improvements in wind speed forecasts at a typical wind turbine hub height (80 m). An ensemble consisting of WRF model simulations with different planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes showed little spread among the individual ensemble members for forecasting wind speed. A second configuration using three random perturbations of the Global Forecast System model produced more spread in the wind speed forecasts, but the ensemble mean possessed a higher mean absolute error (MAE). A third ensemble of different initialization times showed larger model spread, but ...

Task-Based Approach To Define Occupant Behaviour In Agent-Based Modelling, Kelly Jo Kalvelage, Michael C. Dorneich, Ulrike Passe, Caroline C. Krejci

Ulrike Passe

This paper presents a development approach and design of a task-centered agent-based model (ABM) to represent the interactions of occupants with a commercial office building. The model is built with the understanding that occupant behaviour is driven by tasks the occupant performs. A contextual task analysis questionnaire explored occupant perspectives on the interactions between their tasks, their individual behaviour and comfort, and the physical characteristics of their workspace. This task-based information defines five ABM elements that represent occupants, task and workspace environment, task list, occupant actions, and the impact of the occupant-workspace interaction on tasks. An example of an occupant ...

Jfs Turbine Engine For Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Department, Dorian Capps, Zoe Kai Tuggle

Mechanical Engineering

This project concerns the development of a gas turbine engine laboratory activity for use in one of Cal Poly’s technical elective courses in the Mechanical Engineering Department, ME 444: Combustion Engine Design. The class is taught by Dr. Patrick Lemieux, who is also in charge of the on-campus engines lab where the turbine engine will be installed. The engine itself is a JFS-100-13A turboshaft engine that will be coupled to an electric dynamometer inside of the dyno test cell. Students taking the ME 444 class, likely starting in Winter Quarter of 2018, will be able to perform hands-on experiments ...

Deposition Velocity Dependence On Urban Morphology, Rawand Muzafar Rasheed

Undergraduate Research & Mentoring Program

Understanding the interactions between the atmospheric boundary layer and urban structures provides insights into emerging problems such as green building design as well as dispersion and deposition of pollutants on urban structures. Characterization of deposition velocity dependence through the naphthalene sublimation method on model urban structures is conducted herein where the analogous fundamental transport mechanisms of momentum and mass transport is obtained via mass of naphthalene transferred. Via wind tunnel experiments, results show that deposition velocity of naphthalene from urban structures increases with increased number of urban structures ahead of the point of investigation. This is attributed to the wakes ...

Fabrication And Study Of The Structure And Magnetism Of Rare-Earth Free Nanoclusters, Bhaskar Das

Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research: Department of Physics and Astronomy

No abstract provided.

Energy Efficient Process Heating: Insulation And Thermal Mass, Kevin Carpenter, J. Kelly Kissock

J. Kelly Kissock

Open tanks and exterior surfaces of process heating equipment lose heat to the surroundings via convection, radiation, and/or evaporation. A practical way of reducing heat loss is by insulating or covering the surfaces. This paper presents methods to quantify heat loss and energy savings from insulating hot surfaces and open tanks. The methods include radiation and evaporation losses, which are ignored by simplified methods. In addition, thermal mass, such as refractory, conveyor and racking equipment, acts as a heat sink and increases heating energy use in process heating applications. This paper presents lumped capacitance and finite-difference methods for estimating ...

Energy Efficient Process Heating: Managing Air Flow, Kevin Carpenter, J. Kelly Kissock

J. Kelly Kissock

Much energy is lost through excess air flow in and out of process heating equipment. Energy saving opportunities from managing air flow include minimizing combustion air, preheating combustion air, minimizing ventilation air, and reconfiguring openings to reduce leakage.

This paper identifies these opportunities and presents methods to quantify potential energy savings from implementing these energy-savings measures. Case study examples are used to demonstrate the methods and the potential energy savings.The method for calculating savings from minimizing combustion air accounts for improvement in efficiency from increased combustion temperature and decreased combustion gas mass flow rate.

The method for calculating savings ...

Effect Of Sky Conditions On Light Transmission Through A Suspended Particle Device Switchable Glazing, Aritra Ghosh, Brian Norton, Aidan Duffy

Articles

A suspended particle device (SPD) switchable glazing changes its state from opaque to transparent in the presence of a power supply. SPD glazing's near normal transmission varies with incident angle and clearness index. Due to a lower diffuse component, higher glazing transmission ensues at higher clearness indices. Transmittance values for different azimuthal incident angle for a SPD glazing for its “transparent” and “opaque” states have been determined. In Dublin, below 0.5 clearness index, isotropic diffuse transmittance was prevailed while transmission of direct insolation was dominant above 0.5 clearness index. For south facing vertical plane SPD glazing transmittance ...

A Mechanical Regenerative Brake And Launch Assist Using An Open Differential And Elastic Energy Storage, David H. Myszka, Andrew P. Murray, Kevin Giaier, Vijay Krishna Jayaprakash, Christoph Gillum

David Myszka

Regenerative brake and launch assist (RBLA) systems are used to capture kinetic energy while a vehicle decelerates and subsequently use that stored energy to assist propulsion. Commercially available hybrid vehicles use generators, batteries and motors to electrically implement RBLA systems. Substantial increases in vehicle efficiency have been widely cited. This paper presents the development of a mechanical RBLA that stores energy in an elastic medium. An open differential is coupled with a variable transmission to store and release energy to an axle that principally rotates in a single direction. The concept applies regenerative braking technology to conventional automobiles equipped with ...

A Mechanical Regenerative Brake And Launch Assist Using An Open Differential And Elastic Energy Storage, David H. Myszka, Andrew P. Murray, Kevin Giaier, Vijay Krishna Jayaprakash, Christoph Gillum

Andrew P. Murray

Regenerative brake and launch assist (RBLA) systems are used to capture kinetic energy while a vehicle decelerates and subsequently use that stored energy to assist propulsion. Commercially available hybrid vehicles use generators, batteries and motors to electrically implement RBLA systems. Substantial increases in vehicle efficiency have been widely cited. This paper presents the development of a mechanical RBLA that stores energy in an elastic medium. An open differential is coupled with a variable transmission to store and release energy to an axle that principally rotates in a single direction. The concept applies regenerative braking technology to conventional automobiles equipped with ...