Engineering Commons^™

A Systematic Optimization And Operation Of Central Chilling Systems For Energy Efficiency And Sustainability, Zhenjun Ma, Shengwei Wang

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents an optimization strategy for optimal control and operation of building central chilling systems in order to minimize their energy consumption and provide improved control performance. The strategy is formulated using a systematic approach, in which the characteristics and interactions among the components and subsystems in the central chilling system are considered. The simplified models of major components are used in the strategy as the performance predictors to estimate the system energy performance and responses to the changes of control settings and working conditions. To ensure the models to provide reliable estimates when the working condition changes, the …

High-Energy, Picosecond, Cryogenic Yb:Yag Chirped-Pulse Amplifier At Khz Repetition Rates For Opcpa Pumping, Kyung-Han Hong, Juliet Gopinath, Darren Rand, Aleem M. Siddiqui, Shu-Wei Huang, Enbang Li, Benjamin J. Eggleton, John D. Hybl, Tso Yee Fan, Franz X. Kartner

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

We report on the development of a 50-mJ-class ~10-ps chirped-pulse amplifier at kHz repetition rates using cryogenic Yb:YAG regenerative and multi-pass amplifiers. The system is well suited as pump laser for kHz high-average-power ultra-broadband OPCPAs. '2010 Optical Society of America

Multi-Criteria Group Decision Support With Linguistic Variables In Long-Term Scenarios For Belgian Energy Policy, Da Ruan, Jie Lu, Erik Laes, Guangquan Zhang, Jun Ma, Gaston Meskens

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Real world decisions often made in the presence of multiple, conflicting, and incommensurate criteria. Decision making requires multiple perspectives of different individuals as more decisions are made now in groups than ever before. This is particularly true when the decision environment becomes more complex such as sustainability policies study in environmental and energy sectors. Group decision making processes judgments or solutions for decision problems based on the input and feedback of multiple individuals. Multi-criteria decision and evaluation problems at tactical and strategic levels in practice involve fuzziness in terms of linguistic variables vis-à-vis criteria, weights, and decision maker judgments. Relevant …

High-Energy, Khz-Repetition-Rate, Ps Cryogenic Yb:Yag Chirped-Pulse Amplifier, Kyung-Han Hong, Juliet Gopinath, Darren Rand, Aleem M. Siddiqui, Shu-Wei Huang, Enbang Li, Benjamin J. Eggleton, John D. Hybl, Tso Yee Fan, Franz X. Kartner

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

We demonstrate amplification of picosecond laser pulses to 40 mJ at a 2 kHz pulse repetition frequency (PRF) from a two-stage cryogenic chirped-pulse Yb:YAG amplifier, composed of a regenerative amplifier (RGA) and a two-pass booster amplifier. The RGA produces 8.2 mJ of energy at 2 kHz PRF and 13.2 mJ at 1 kHz PRF with excellent energy stability (~0.3% rms) and beam quality ( M2<1.1 ). Pulse stretching and compression are achieved by using a chirped fiber Bragg grating and a multilayer dielectric grating pair, respectively. Compressed 15 ps pulses from the RGA are obtained with a throughput efficiency of ~80% (~6.5 mJ for 2 kHz ). The booster amplifier further amplifies the pulses to 40 mJ at 2 kHz PRF, and ~32 mJ, ~15 ps pulses are expected after compression. The amplifier chain seeded from a femtosecond Yb-fiber laser enables the optical self-synchronization between signal and pump in optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier applications.

Renewable Energy Integration: An Approach For Micro-Grid Optimization., Nicolas Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis explores the Renewable Energy Integration Problem beginning with a literature review on the different sources of electrical energy classified as Non-Renewable and Renewable, stating that the integration of renewable sources within the pre-existing Power-Grids is a current worldwide problem that is being addressed with different approaches.

The impossibility to exactly model the different equations relating the electric output of the renewable energy sources as they relate with meteorological factors, makes the renewable sector a stochastic component of the overall mathematical model, where it can be concluded that most of the problem is in the area of the forecast. …

Optimisation Of A Floating Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter, Brad Stappenbelt, Paul Cooper

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

The analysis of floating oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy conversion (WEC) devices involves the coupled dynamics of the water column and the floating structure. In the present study, a mechanical oscillator model was used to examine this relationship for the heave motion of a floating wave energy conversion device. Optimal power take-off damping of the system was determined and the effects on maximum power capture examined. The influence of relative OWC and floating structure natural frequencies on OWC WEC device optimisation was also investigated.

Determination Of The Effects Of University Building Usage On Energy Efficiency And Recommendations For Improvement, Dana Aaron Lackey

All ETDs from UAB

Energy costs are increasing at an alarming rate, and electricity use can contribute to carbon emissions and, therefore, to global warming. With this in mind and under direction of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Facilities Management Department, researchers conducted building occupancy surveys of UAB buildings after working hours and on weekends to evaluate occupancy by day and time and by lighting condition of unoccupied rooms. The goals of this research consisted of identifying situations in which measures such as motion sensor installation or heating and/or air conditioning shutdown or setback could result in energy and cost savings and …

Energy Dissipation Caused By Asphalt Roadway Gouges For Use In Accident Reconstruction, Charles L. Crosby

Theses and Dissertations

In reconstruction of on-roadway vehicle accidents, roadway surface gouges and the forces and energy attributed to the related vehicle components become important keys to resolving an accurate accident reconstruction. These roadway gouge forces vary depending upon such factors as surface temperature and the velocity and geometry of the gouging mechanism. Accounting for the forces applied to vehicle components and the energy dissipated from such forces can be helpful in accident reconstruction where supporting data exists. This research documents the force necessary to create a given roadway gouge geometry. Controlled pavement gouging tests were performed using roadway surface temperature and gouging …

Pump Sequencing Optimization, John S. Allan, Kyle J. Nekimken, Spencer B. Weills

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this document is to demonstrate the design, production, and testing of optimum pump sequencing logic for variable frequency drive (VFD) pumps in commercial heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The product will be developed by Pump Efficiency Solutions (PES), which is a group of Cal Poly students working on their senior project. The product is being developed for Trane, an industry leader in large scale HVAC systems. MATLAB™, Microsoft Excel, Pump System Improvement Modeling Tool™ (PSIM), and fluid mechanics hand calculations were used during software development. Next, we converted the program into Trane’s graphical programming language …

Agenda: Best Practices For Community And Environmental Protection, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project, Colorado. Oil And Gas Conservation Commission

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

The first Intermountain BMP Project workshop, sponsored by the Natural Resources Law Center and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, was held in Rifle, Colorado on October 14, 2009 at the Garfield County Fairground for over 170 participants.

Speakers from Federal, state and local governments, the community, industry and environmental consultants, and conservation groups focused presentations and discussion on a greater understanding of what Best Management Practices (BMPs) are appropriate to the western slope of Colorado and how they are integrated into developments.

Composite Manufacturing Of Small Wind Turbine Blades- Utility Scale Methods Applied To Small Wind, Bryan Kyle Edwards

Master's Theses

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo’s first wind turbine explores the methods and processes that are employed to manufacture utility scale wind turbines, and applies them to small scale wind turbines. The primary objective is to promote the development of small scale wind turbine blades in ways that resemble, as closely as possible, the construction and methods of utility scale turbine blade manufacturing. Vacuum infusion is employed to create a hollow, multi piece, lightweight design using carbon fiber and fiberglass with an epoxy based resin. A “rapid prototyping” method is developed using high density foam molds that allows short cycle time …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint, Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This paper examines the context and meaning of the term ‘sustainability’, the factors that determine and govern climate on Earth, the population of the Earth and its trends and influencers, the requirements for sustaining life and the options that are available to humankind. Some viewpoints are presented that are alternative to ‘conventional alternative’ thinking. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’ and also argues that humankind needs to face …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint (Slides With Audio) (Large File! To Speed Up Download, Right-Click On "Download" Link To Save To Own Pc.), Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This presentation sets out the very basics of ‘sustainability’, although a definition of sustainability is not attempted. Some of the very basics are the context in which the Earth and humankind exist in space and time, the Earth’s climate, the Earth’s population and humankind’s options and choices. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’. The author also argues that, in addressing the challenges that humankind faces, globally concerted effort …

Agenda: Western Water Law, Policy And Management: Ripples, Currents, And New Channels For Inquiry, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

In many pockets of the American West, stresses and demands on water resources are overwhelming our capacity to effectively manage change and accommodate the diversity of interests and values associated with our limited water resources.

This event will offer an opportunity for lawyers, policymakers, and water professionals to engage the experts on the challenges and emerging solutions to the most pressing water policy and management issues of the day.

Actual And Reference Evaporative Losses And Surface Coefficients Of A Maize Field During Nongrowing (Dormant) Periods, Christopher H. Hay, Suat Irmak

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Effective water resources planning, allocation, management, and use in agroecosystems require accurate quantification of actual evapotranspiration (ET_c) during growing and nongrowing (dormant) periods. Prediction of ET_c for a variety of vegetation surfaces during the growing season has been researched extensively, but relatively little information exists on evaporative losses during nongrowing periods for different surfaces. The objectives of this research were to evaluate ET_c in relation to available energy, precipitation, and grass and alfalfa-reference ET (ET_o and ET_r) for a maize (Zea mays L.) field and to analyze the dynamics of surface coefficients …

Proceedings Of The Scientific Conference On Energy And It At Alvsjo Fair, Stockholm March 11-12, 2009 In Connection With The “Energitinget 2009, Dr. Erik Dahlquist, Dr. Jenny Palm

Dr. Erik Dahlquist

This book contains the proceedings from the Energy and IT conference at Alvsjo Energy conference "Energitinget" arranged by Swedish Energy Agency, with approximately 2500 visitors. The papers contain both technical and social science papers, relating to both energy efficiency in buildings and in industry.

A Data Envelopment Analysis Model For Renewable Energy Technology Selection, Elif Kongar, Kurt A. Rosentrater

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Public and media interest in alternative energy sources, such as renewable fuels, has rapidly increased in recent years due to higher prices for oil and natural gas. However, the current body of research providing comparative decision making models that either rank these alternative energy sources and/or determine the best possible alternatives is still limited. This paper aims at filling this gap by proposing a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model structure for ranking energy source alternatives under varying circumstances. The model considers both the economics of energy sources and additional environmental criteria such as CO2 emissions and damage cost. Numerical examples …

Energy Sector For The Integrated System Dynamics Model For Analyzing Behaviour Of The Social-Economic-Climatic Model, Evan G. R. Davies, Slobodan P. Simonovic

Water Resources Research Report

The system dynamics-based energy sector described here adds a representation of energy supply and demand dynamics, and their associated carbon emissions, to a larger society-biosphere-climate model previously described in Davies and Simonovic (2008). The inclusion of an energy sector expands the earlier model considerably, and provides new avenues for its application to policy development.

Five interconnected components constitute the full energy sector: demand, resources, economics, production, and emissions. The energy demand component calculates changes over time in heatenergy and electric-energy demand as a result of economic activity, price-induced efficiency measures, and technological change. Energy resources models changes in the amounts …

Development Of A Decision Tool For Green Energy Investment In The Pioneer Valley, Benjamin R. Ewing

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

We present the process followed to create a decision-aid tool for use in renewable energy and energy efficiency investment decisions. Our tool is targeted at home and small business owners in the Pioneer Valley. We begin with the development of two prototype tools. The first was created for the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, and is an Excel-based tool that allows users to select various combinations of technologies and instantly see the financial, environmental, and educational impacts of their choice. The second examines only two technologies, solar photovoltaics and combined heat and power, and uses a cost minimization approach. These …

Reliability Assessment Of A Power Grid With Customer Operated Chp Systems Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Lokesh Prakash Manohar

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis presents a method for reliability assessment of a power grid with distributed generation providing support to the system. The distributed generation units considered for this assessment are Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units operated by individual customers at their site. CHP refers to the simultaneous generation of useful electric and thermal energy. CHP systems have received more attention recently due to their high overall efficiency combined with decrease in costs and increase in reliability. A composite system adequacy assessment, which includes the two main components of the power grid viz., Generation and Distribution, is done using Monte Carlo …

Study Of Film Cooling Effectiveness: Conical, Trenched And Asymmetrical Shaped Holes, Humberto Zuniga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Film cooling is a technique whereby air from the compressor stage of a gas turbine engine is diverted for cooling purposes to parts, such as the turbine stage, that operate at very high temperatures. Cooling arrangements include impingement jets, finned, ribbed and turbulated channels, and rows of film cooling holes, all of which over the years have become progressively more complex. This costly, but necessary complexity is a result of the industry's push to run engines at increasingly higher turbine inlet temperatures. Higher temperatures mean higher efficiency, but they also mean that the turbine first stage operates hundreds of degrees …

Harvesting Human Exercise Power At The Cal Poly Rec Center: Exercise Bike Power Generator Ii, Jared Rounsevell, Claire M. Shubert, Matthew Snitowsky, Andrew Wong

Mechanical Engineering

The overall goal of this project is to create a workable system to harvest the power generated on exercise bikes at the Cal Poly Rec Center so that the electricity produced can eventually be sent to the power grid. Our part of the project will focus on the mechanical harvesting of this power with the goal of using the product to run the Morningstar ProStar 12V 30 amp charge controller available from the 2007 project. Eventually, the power produced could be fed to the grid in the appropriate form. The finished result of this project should be marketable to exercise …

Improved Controller For High Temperature Super Conducting Magnetic Energy Storage (Hts-Smes), Danny Soetanto, M V. Aware

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes a novel controller for a High Temperature Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (HTSSMES) that can ensure (a) fast return of energy to the superconducting coil under constant current mode and (b) a constant and sinusoidal input supply current irrespective of the varying load demand with and without harmonics. A special feature of this controller is its ability to smoothly charge the superconducting coil using constant current charging so that it can be ready for the next discharging operation as soon as possible. Analysis of the circuit operation under hysteresis control is presented in details. Simulation and experimental results …

Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage Systems For Power System Applications, Danny Soetanto, K.W.E Cheng

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Advancement in both superconducting technologies and power electronics led to High Temperature Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage Systems (SMES) having some excellent performances for use in power systems, such as rapid response (millisecond), high power (multi-MW), high efficiency, and four- quadrant control. This paper provides a review on SMES applications to power systems.

Hybrid Fuel Cell And Energy Storage Systems Using Superconducting Coil Or Batteries For Clean Electricity Generation, Danny Soetanto, Kai Ding

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper described a novel design of a hybrid fuel cell and energy storage system using high temperature superconducting energy storage system (HT-SMES) or batteries to meet fast changing load. The power electronic switches in the converter of the energy storage system are controlled in such a way that the amplitude and waveform of the inverter output current from the fuel cell is tightly regulated to follow a sinusoidal reference waveform. In this way, the energy storage system is used to supply the fast changing part of the load and the fuel cell system continuously supplies a constant full load …

Adoption Of Dynamic Simulation For Energy Performance Rating Tool For Korean Residential Buildings: Edem-Samsung, Saeeta Ghauri, Cameron Johnstone, Jaemin Kim, Georgios Kokogiannakis, Paul Tuohy, Kyung-Hun Woo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Currently, there is a high emphasis on reducing the energy consumption and carbon emissions of buildings worldwide. Korea is facing an emerging issue of energy savings in buildings in perspective of new green economic policy. In this context, various policy measures including the energy efficiency ratings for buildings are being implemented for domestic and non-domestic buildings. In practice, design teams tend to prefer easy to use assessment tools to optimise energy performance and carbon ratings while they are concerned about calculation accuracy and the accurate representation of the dynamics involved associated with the characteristics of Korean residential buildings. This paper …

Experimental Study Of Using Renewable Energy In Yemen, Hani S. Alganahi, Kamaruzzaman S, Mohamed A, Ahmed M. Haidar, Ahmed Abdalla

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

During the last decade, there has been an increased interest to develop renewable energy technologies that could contribute to ever-increasing energy needs. This paper proposes a new PV array-wind-diesel generator hybrid system model to determine the optimal configuration of power systems relevant to different regions in Yemen, Sana’a and Aden. Various renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, energy storage and their applicability in terms of cost and performance are discussed. The collected data for the wind, solar radiation and diesel price were obtained from Civil Aviation & Meteorology Authority in Yemen. The Sensitivity analysis was carried out using Homer program. The …

Packaging Effects On Radfet Sensors For High Energy Physics Experiments, Julien Mekki, Laurent Dusseau, Maurice Glaser, Susanna Guatelli, Michael Moll, Maria Grazia Pia, Federico Ravotti

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

RadFETs in customized chip carrier packages are installed in the LHC Experiments as radiation monitors. The package influence on the dose measurement in the complex LHC radiation environment is evaluated using Geant4 simulations and experimental data.

Solar Photovoltaic Energy For Mitigation Of Climate Change: A Catalytic Application Of Catholic Social Thought, Joshua M. Pearce, Anna L. Santini, Jennifer M. Desilva

Joshua M. Pearce

Optimal Energy-Delay Routing Protocol With Trust Levels For Wireless Ad Hoc Networks, Eyad Taqieddin, Ann K. Miller, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the Trust Level Routing (TLR) pro- tocol, an extension of the optimized energy-delay rout- ing (OEDR) protocol, focusing on the integrity, reliability and survivability of the wireless network. TLR is similar to OEDR in that they both are link state routing proto- cols that run in a proactive mode and adopt the concept of multi-point relay (MPR) nodes. However, TLR aims at incorporating trust levels into routing by frequently changing the MPR nodes as well as authenticating the source node and contents of control packets. TLR calcu- lates the link costs based on a composite metric (delay …