Engineering Commons^™

Energy Conservation Day: Symbolism Doesn’T Pay, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

The much publicised panting competition at school level on the occasion of Energy Conservation Day was a good effort to send message to consumers to influence their energy consumption behaviour. But the effect is minuscule.

As a child one might have walked or cycled to school. But as a breadwinner, once energy related decisions largely get influenced by one's income level and opportunities and restrictions.

Life Cycle Assessment Projection Of Photovoltaic Cells: A Case Study On Energy Demand Of Quantum Wire Based Photovoltaic Technology Research, Shilpi Mukherjee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing clean-energy demand, photovoltaic (PV) technologies have gained attention as potential long-term alternative to fossil fuel energy. However, PV research and manufacture still utilize fossil fuel-powered grid electricity. With continuous enhancement of solar conversion efficiency, it is imperative to assess whether overall life cycle efficiency is also being enhanced. Many new-material PV technologies are still in their research phase, and life cycle analyses of these technologies have not yet been performed. For best results, grid dependency must be minimized for PV research, and this can be accomplished by an analytical instrument called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

LCA is the …

Seeds Of Solutions™: An Economical & Efficient Approach Towards Power Engineering Education, Eli Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Power demands are set to increase over the next twenty years; however, research shows that there may be a shortage of power engineers due to an appreciable percentage of the current power engineer workforce retiring, insufficient enrollment in power engineering programs and a lack of emphasis in power engineering at the university level. This thesis provides supporting research for future power demands, workforce and faculty shortages. Using temporary research in modern learning / teaching styles, student / teacher perceptions, educational trends and regional course offerings, this thesis describes a learning approach towards power engineering education. Designed specifically for universities with …

Analysis And Optimization Of The Scheffler Solar Concentrator, Simone Alberti

Master's Theses

The Scheffler reflector is a new solar concentrator design which maintains a fixed focus while only having a single axis tracking mechanism. This design makes the construction and operation of high temperature solar concentrators accessible to developing nations. In this project, I wrote computer simulation codes to better understand the dynamics and the effect of deformation or deviations from ideal conditions in order to define necessary manufacturing and operational tolerances. These tools and knowledge drove the prototyping of new reflector concepts by myself and other students on my team. A fiberglass prototype was able to drive the cost of a …

Novel Nanostructured Materials For Solar Fuel Production And Advanced Rechargeable Batteries, Cunyu Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Non-renewable fossil fuels are the major sources to meet the energy, electricity and transportation demands of today's world. The over consumption of fossil fuels will lead to the increasing energy crisis and disastrous effects such as air pollution, global warming etc.

The primary greenhouse gas is CO2 mainly emits from the combustion of fossil fuels. Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 using sunlight as the energy input is a promising way to reduce CO2 level in the atmosphere and in the meantime produce alternative fuels such as CO, methane, methanol, etc. Among the various photocatalyst materials reported, nanomaterial TiO2 is the most …

Mechatronics In Electrical Efficiency And Environmental Impact, Sherif Hyseni

UBT International Conference

This paper focuses on the mechatronic technology development, and its influent on electrical efficiency with a direct result in cost and environment. Considering the well-known European Union standard “20-20-20” and the possibility and responsibility of Kosovo in this field, the role of energy efficiency has great impact for future directions. This paper refers to a new technology solution for heating that is available on the local market, called “DAIKIN” by analyzing the functionality of this device and its promise to save up to 40% of the heating costs. Implementation of “DAIKIN” technology in state institutions in Prishtina, and also the …

Winegrape Vineyards And Winery Operations: Energy Efficiency/ Sustainability And Expansion, Stuart Styles, Sierra Layous, Sarah Crable

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Southern California Edison (SCE) provides utility services to the greater southern California area. Vineyards and wineries exist throughout the region, and historical data suggests that that they largely do not utilize incentive programs offered by the utility.

As the first phase in a larger study, the Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC), located at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, completed a characterization of the vineyard and winery sector as it pertains to energy and water usage in SCE’s service area, including the following major tasks:

1. Identification of vineyard and winery demographics in SCE’s service area.
2. Identification of …

Keeping Civilization From Collapsing, Thomas W. Camm

Mining Engineering

No abstract provided.

Integrating Pro-Environmental Behavior With Transportation Network Modeling: User And System Level Strategies, Implementation, And Evaluation, Husain M. Abdul Aziz

Open Access Dissertations

Personal transport is a leading contributor to fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse (GHG) emissions in the U.S. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that light-duty vehicles (LDV) are responsible for 61\% of all transportation related energy consumption in 2012, which is equivalent to 8.4 million barrels of oil (fossil fuel) per day. The carbon content in fossil fuels is the primary source of GHG emissions that links to the challenge associated with climate change. Evidently, it is high time to develop actionable and innovative strategies to reduce fuel consumption and GHG emissions from the road transportation networks. This dissertation …

Waste Heat Recovery Options In A Large Gas-Turbine Combined Power Plant, Ularee Upathumchard

Open Access Theses

This study focuses on power plant heat loss and how to utilize the waste heat in energy recovery systems in order to increase the overall power plant efficiency. The case study of this research is a 700-MW natural gas combined cycle power plant, located in a suburban area of Thailand. An analysis of the heat loss of the combustion process, power generation process, lubrication system, and cooling system has been conducted to evaluate waste heat recovery options. The design of the waste heat recovery options depends to the amount of heat loss from each system and its temperature. Feasible waste …

Tools For Efficient Design Of Multicomponent Separation Processes, Joshua Lee Huff

Open Access Dissertations

Separations account for as much as 85% of plant operating costs in chemical production; it is therefore important that they be designed with energy efficiency in mind. This can only be achieved if two things are achieved: the complete space of design options is known, and an accurate way is developed to compare all possible design options. For both membrane separation cascades and multicomponent distillation configurations, this dissertation explores methods for designing energy efficient separations.^ The operating cost of membranes used in production of nitrogen gas from air is largely driven by the compressors required to maintain a pressure differential. …

Measurement And Verification - Retro-Commissioning Of A Leed Gold Rated Building Through Means Of An Energy Model: Are Aggressive Energy Simulation Models Reliable?, Justin M. Marmaras

Masters Theses

During the construction of the new 3 story, 25,000+ square foot police station, a decision was made to participate in the LEED program to ensure the building had low operating costs, reduced emissions, conserved water and overall energy. The design of the building includes a primary-secondary ground source heat pump (GSHP) loop, a Dedicated Outside Air System (DOAS) with Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) wheel, all controlled by CO2 monitoring through Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) to supply heat pumps located in each space; all monitored by a Building Automation System (BAS).

The building’s future energy performance was predicted through an energy …

Potential And Technological Advancement Of Biofuels, Rajee Olaganathan, Fabian Ko Qui Shen, Lim Jun Shen

Publications

This scientific paper examines the feasibility of biofuels as a solution to the world‟s energy crisis. It studies the development of the four different generations of biofuel that have been discerned over the years, determining the pros and cons of each. The paper further investigates the issues concerning each generation, and determines how their successors have solved and improved on those problems. In order to give the reader an unbiased perspective, the paper studies both general advantages and disadvantages that encompasses social, economic and environmental impacts. Research and development on the first two generations of biofuels have matured, and case …

A Model For Analyzing Heating And Cooling Demand For Atria Between Tall Buildings, Samuel David Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

The heating and air-conditioning energy demand of skyscrapers with atria between buildings is explored. Radiation, conduction, convection, and ventilation were evaluated to determine annual heating and cooling energy demands for a 100-building city located in Provo, Utah. Spreadsheets models were developed and calibrated with a computational fluid dynamics model. Three spreadsheet model cases were examined: a baseline no-atrium case, a conditioned atrium case, and an unconditioned atrium case. The energy demands and atrium temperatures were compared between the different cases. The research concludes that atria can be used between buildings to reduce the heating and cooling energy demands. The exposed …

Grid-Scale Energy Storage: A Proposed Control Algorithm For Sodium Sulfur Batteries, Daniel Spaizman

Master's Theses

With carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere reaching record highs and 2020 quickly approaching, California is expected to pave the way for the United States in terms of replacing fossil fuel generation facilities with various renewable energy power plants. It is well documented that the inherent variability and limited duty cycle of renewables has hindered their growth. Energy storage technologies represent the bridge that can help us cross the divide from where we stand to where we must stand in the next 6 years. Utility companies value services such as peak shaving, voltage support, and frequency regulation, all of which …

Simulation Of A Smart Home Energy Management System With Dynamic Price Response, Jason Y. Chan, Qinran Hu

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

With the continuing development of the smart grid combined with the fluctuating nature of the electricity market, the development of demand-side management with controllable loads have been greatly driven. With the amount of household loads in the residential sector, managing their energy usage has received lots of interest. This paper presents a simulation of a previously proposed hardware design of a smart home energy management system (SHEMS), focusing on the data collection and processing functions of the proposed design while implementing them onto standard household loads like an electric water heater and an electric vehicle charging station. It was found …

Energy Generator Exploration Station Senior Project Report, Evan Carr, Christopher Scharff, Andrea Govea

Mechanical Engineering

The mission of Team EnGen is to create a safe and reliable, human powered energy generation system for the Exploration Station. This project was proposed by the Exploration Station in response to a grant received by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) that allocated funds for an energy conservation exhibit. This system will take the form of a model energy truck and a darkened neighborhood display that the user powers through peddling, turning the generator to create the electricity that will light up the display. The Exploration Station and Team EnGen agree that this style of design is accessible to all …

Merry-Go-Round Human Powered Generator, Sarah Lorraine Ashe, Salvador Navarro

Electrical Engineering

How do you bring electricity to families who have limited resources in a developing country? The DC House project, advised by Dr. Taufik, provides a way for kids to have fun, exercise and generate power for their homes – play-park human powered generators. This project intends to create a more efficient and cost effective way for playground equipment to be implemented for power generation. The redesigned and reconstructed merry-go-round human powered generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy to power the DC house. This was a fully functioning generator that needed a better voltage gain, as well as, a more …

Piezoelectric Powered Led Street Reflector, Collin Shane Douglass

Electrical Engineering

In many areas of Washington, it rains for a majority of the year. During rainy weather it becomes difficult to see street lanes and dividers, causing hazardous road conditions. The Piezoelectric Powered LED Street Reflector solves this problem. The PPL Street Reflector modifies a street reflector with LED lights. These lights help drivers clearly see where dividers and street lines are in non-ideal weather conditions, such as rain, fog, and snow. The PPL Street Reflector capabilities include harvesting energy through the Piezoelectric Effect, creating a self-sustaining device with minimal maintenance.

Application Of A High-Performance Optically Enhanced Solar Thermal Collector System, Timothy H. Cameron

Honors Theses

In an effort to make Union College a more environmentally friendly campus, this research project focuses on the application of Union’s liquid-based solar thermal collector system. The motivation for this research project is due to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources in order to decrease our society’s dependence on fossil fuels. The system features nine, 16-tube, evacuated tube solar modules which absorb radiant solar energy from the sun. Through a two loop system, thermal energy is stored in water within two-80 gallon storage tanks. This research project involves the design, construction, and analysis of two applications in order to …

Looking For Small Changes In Heat Capacity Using A Differential Scanning Calorimeter, Will Linthicum

Honors Theses

One of the major difficulties in development of renewable energy is the lack of an adequate and economical means of energy storage. In the case of concentrated solar power a large mass of thermal fluid is required to store a reasonable amount of energy. This is primarily because the fluids tend to have a low specific heat capacity. Formulating composites of these fluids can enhance their specific heat capacity and avails opportunities to make concentrated solar power more attractive. In most cases, the specific heat capacity of composite materials is a weighted average of the individual component heat capacities. This, …

Understanding The Benefits And Limitations Of Increasing Maximum Rotor Tip Speed For Utility-Scale Wind Turbines, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

For utility-scale wind turbines, the maximum rotor rotation speed is generally constrained by noise considerations. Innovations in acoustics and/or siting in remote locations may enable future wind turbine designs to operate with higher tip speeds. Wind turbines designed to take advantage of higher tip speeds are expected to be able to capture more energy and utilize lighter drivetrains because of their decreased maximum torque loads. However, the magnitude of the potential cost savings is unclear, and the potential trade-offs with rotor and tower sizing are not well understood. A multidisciplinary, system-level framework was developed to facilitate wind turbine and wind …

Reduction Of Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions To Mitigate Climate Change Impacts, Mary Snow, Richard Snow

Publications

Weather affects almost all modes of transportation in a modern society, and likewise, transportation has an enormous impact on the weather. Transportation greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) impact climate change, which impacts transportation in return. Reduction of transportation impacts on climate change can mitigate the reverse climate change impacts on transportation. This paper examines the relationship between transportation and climate change and establishes prospective solutions to reduce transportation greenhouse gas emission impacts on climate change and mitigate the reverse climate change impacts on transportation.

Greenscreen: Software To Improve Campus Water And Energy Use, Andrew T. Silva

University Scholar Projects

Water and energy are intrinsically linked together. Energy is required to produce clean water and water is used heavily to generate energy. These two resources are constantly held in check, as they are vital to the sustained operation of towns, cities, and campuses. At the University of Connecticut (UConn), the consumption of water and energy is reduced by an efficient power plant and a brand new water reclamation facility. To reach beyond these accolades, it is essential that a deeper understanding of campus water usage is developed. Linking this knowledge with information about the energy consumption of UConn facilities will …

Optimal Control Of Energy Efficient Buildings, Cale David Nelson

Masters Theses

The building sector consumes a large part of the energy used in the United States and is responsible for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is economically and environmentally important to reduce the building energy consumption to realize massive energy savings. Commercial buildings are complex, multi-physics, and highly stochastic dynamic systems. Recent work has focused on integrating modern modeling, simulation, and control techniques to solving this challenging problem. The overall focus of this thesis is directed toward designing an energy efficient building by controlling room temperature. One approach is based on a distributed parameter model represented by a …

Cztsse Thin Film Solar Cells : Surface Treatments, Chinmay S. Joglekar

Open Access Theses

Chalcopyrite semiconducting materials, specifically CZTS, are a promising alternative to traditional silicon solar cell technology. Because of the high absorption coefficient; films of the order of 1 micrometer thickness are sufficient for the fabrication of solar cells. Liquid based synthesis methods are advantageous because they are easily scalable using the roll to roll manufacturing techniques.

Various treatments are explored in this study to enhance the performance of the selenized CZTS film based solar cells. Thiourea can be used as a sulfur source and can be used to tune band gap of CZTSSe. Bromine etching can be used to manipulate the …

Effect Of Compaction Energy On Shear Wave Velocity Of Dynamically Compacted Silty Sand Soil, Buddhima Indraratna, Ana Heitor, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

This study was focused on the effects of compaction energy on the dynamic properties of a silty sand in its as-compacted state in relation to the measured values of matric suction. The influence of the imparted energy on the shear wave velocity and the small-strain shear modulus of the compacted soil was studied for three different energy levels that correspond to the standard Proctor as well as reduced and enhanced. The specimens were prepared with moisture contents ranging from the dry to wet of optimum, and subsequently compacted to known dry unit weights for which the corresponding matric suction and …

Effect Of Compaction Energy On Shear Wave Velocity Of Dynamically Compacted Silty Sand Soil, Buddhima Indraratna, Ana Heitor, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Buddhima Indraratna

This study was focused on the effects of compaction energy on the dynamic properties of a silty sand in its as-compacted state in relation to the measured values of matric suction. The influence of the imparted energy on the shear wave velocity and the small-strain shear modulus of the compacted soil was studied for three different energy levels that correspond to the standard Proctor as well as reduced and enhanced. The specimens were prepared with moisture contents ranging from the dry to wet of optimum, and subsequently compacted to known dry unit weights for which the corresponding matric suction and …

Carbon Nanotube-Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites For Thermal Energy Harvesting Applications, Mark S. Romano, Na Li, Dennis Antiohos, Joselito M. Razal, Andrew Nattestad, Stephen Beirne, Shaoli Fang, Yongsheng Chen, Rouhollah Jalili, Gordon G. Wallace, Ray Baughman, Jun Chen

Gordon Wallace

By controlling the SWNT-rGO electrode composition and thickness to attain the appropriate porosity and tortuosity, the electroactive surface area is maximized while rapid diffusion of the electrolyte through the electrode is maintained. This leads to an increase in exchange current density between the electrode and electrolyte which results in enhanced thermocell performance.

Novel Nanographene/Porphyrin Hybrids-Preparation, Characterization, And Application In Solar Energy Conversion Schemes, Daniel Kiessling, Ruben D. Costa, Georgios Katsukis, Jenny Malig, Fabian Lodermeyer, Sebastian Feihl, Alexandra Roth, Leonie Wibmer, Matthias Kehrer, Michel Volland, Pawel W. Wagner, Gordon G. Wallace, David L. Officer, Dirk M. Guldi

Gordon Wallace

Four novel nanographene/porphyrin hybrids were prepared, characterized, and probed in solar energy conversion schemes. Exfoliation of graphite by means of immobilizing four different porphyrins onto the basal plane of graphene is accompanied by distinct electronic interactions in both the ground and the excited states. In the ground state, a strong loss in oscillator strength goes hand-in-hand with a notable broadening of the porphyrin transitions and, as such, attests to the shift of electron density from the electron donating porphyrins to nanographene. In the excited state, a nearly quantitative quenching of the porphyrin fluorescence is indicative of full charge transfer. The …