Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Energy Impacts Of Whole-House Ducted Dehumidifier Location, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Withers, Jr.

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This report discusses energy impacts related to how ducted dehumidifier ducts are configured as well as where they are located. Lab controlled testing evaluated three different duct configurations. The three DHU lab test configurations were: 1) DHU air ducted directly from/to room, 2) DHU ducted from/to the central air return duct, and 3) DHU from/to the central air supply duct. Simulation effort evaluated conductive energy gains/losses through dehumidifier and its ducts for 1) conditioned space, 2) attic, and garage locations.

3d Numerical Study Of Multiphase Counter-Current Flow Within A Packed Bed For Post Combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture, Li Yang, Fang Liu, Zhengchang Song, Kunlei Liu, Kozo Saito

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The hydrodynamics within counter-current flow packed beds is of vital importance to provide insight into the design and operational parameters that may impact reactor and reaction efficiencies in processes used for post combustion CO₂ capture. However, the multiphase counter-current flows in random packing used in these processes are complicated to visualize. Hence, this work aimed at developing a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to study more precisely the complex details of flow inside a packed bed. The simulation results clearly demonstrated the development of, and changes in, liquid distributions, wetted areas, and film thickness under various gas and liquid …

Factors Influencing Household Solar Adoption In Santiago, Chile, Jeffrey P. Walters, Jessica Kaminsky, Claudio Huepe

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

In Santiago, Chile, the market conditions are seemingly excellent for the household adoption of photovoltaic (PV) technology, yet the uptake is negligible. To explore this paradox, the authors conducted a Delphi study to solicit the knowledge of a panel of Chilean PV experts. These efforts yielded 26 factors—both motivations and barriers—impacting the diffusion of PV in Santiago. Of the 26, experts were in consensus on the relative importance of 21. The literature suggests that diffusion of PV technologies is influenced by complex technical, economic, and social factors. Similarly, the experts saw influence from financial, environmental, and energy supply (e.g., electrical …

Increased Energy Yield Through Fast Pyrolysis: Empowering Malawian Villages, Diehl Mutamba

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biomass contributes to several renewable energy technologies. This project will explore the use of fast pyrolysis to produce fuels by designing an apparatus for fast pyrolysis. Malawian people harvest firewood from the forests, which is a major contributor to deforestation. Furthermore, they convert some of it to charcoal with about 10-15% efficiency to sell to city dwellers. The project will enable herbaceous fuels to replace wood, increase charcoal yields and create new products. Firewood and charcoal produce smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) that compromises the villagers’ health.

This project will address deforestation problems, improve sustainability, decrease health hazards and improve …

Analysis Of The Properties Of Supercapacitors And Possible Applications For The Technology, Vincent Oliveto

Honors Theses

Supercapacitors have a lot of excellent qualities that would make them a great substitute for batteries when it comes to electrical energy storage systems. Supercapacitors can discharge and charge very rapidly, they have a lifespan in the realm of millions of cycles, and they are much more efficient than batteries. Unfortunately, they cannot hold nearly as much charge as batteries. This paper seeks to further investigate the properties of supercapacitor technology and the best way to exploit these properties with the purpose of integrating them into renewable energy systems. There is currently a lot of research occurring around the world …

Finite-Difference Modeling Of The Batch Process Smoldering Combustion Of Wastewater, Laura H. Kawashiri

Master's Theses

A MATLAB model was developed for the smoldering combustion of wastewater in the context of a decentralized residential wastewater treatment appliance. Data from a batch process sewage smoldering experiment was simulated using implicit finite-difference approximations, assuming one-dimensional transient conductive heat transfer. The time-dependent temperature profiles within the column represented the main parameters of interest and were used to verify recoverable heat energy estimations. Given that the modeling method used for this thesis represents a unique approach, the assumptions and limitations of this model are thoroughly described in the context of reproducing results for other smoldering setups. A lack of convergence …

Applications Of Latent Heat Storage Using Phase Change Materials, Daniel Giroux

Honors Theses

Thermal Storage Systems are gaining more attention in recent years with the increased emphasis on more renewable energy sources. Energy storage is necessary whenever there is greater amounts of energy being produced than is required. Various improvements to the conventional heat storage system can be made by integrating latent heat storage into the conventional heat storage system. Latent heat storage can be utilized for thermal storage applications by using phase change materials, materials that will undergo a change in their physical state in the temperature range desired for heat storage.

Analysis was conducted on four different waxes considering the waxes …

Residential Air Leakage Testing And Mechanical Ventilation Verification, Florida Solar Energy Center, Jeffrey Sonne

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This project is intended to answer the following four questions regarding residential building air leakage testing and whole-house mechanical ventilation requirements as stated in the 2016 Supplement 1 changes to the 5th Edition (2014) Florida Energy Conservation Code, and now continued in the 6th Edition (2017) Code: - Is the new requirement to test residential air leakage being followed? - Who is providing the air leakage testing? - Are accurate air leakage rate test values being reported? - Is whole-house mechanical ventilation being installed in applicable cases?

Analysis Of Differences Between 2018 Iecc R406 Code Compliance And Ansi/Resnet/Icc Standard 301, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

EnergyGauge USA is used to study outdoor air ventilation rates in energy-efficient, one-story 2000 ft², 3 bedroom, single-family homes in sixteen representative U.S. cities. Each of the 16 home archetypes is configured to be minimally compliant with the score requirements of Table R406.4 of the 2018 IECC as determined in accordance with ANSI/RESNET/ICC 301-2014. Each home is also configured to comply using two different compliance methods: the first with only high-efficiency options and the second utilizing on-site photovoltaic power generation. Each home configuration is evaluated using the ANSI/RESNET/ICC 301 Reference Home ventilation specification and again using the 2018 …

Fluid Phase Separation Via Nanochannel Array, John Lee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) generate ideas and techniques for creating new devices at the micro/nano scale. This dissertation study designed a gas generator system utilizing nanochannels for phase separation that is useful for micro-pneumatic actuators, micro-valves, and micro-pumps. The new gas generator has the potential to be an integral part of a propulsion system for small-scale satellites. Nano/picosatellites have limited orientation capability partly due to the current limitations of microthruster devices. Development of a self-contained micro propulsion system enables dynamic orbital maneuvering of pico- and nano-class satellites.

Additionally, the new gas generator utilizes a high efficiency, green …

A Human Powered Micro-Generator For Charging Electronic Devices, John Adam

Senior Theses

A hand-pulled generator has been designed and tested. A preliminary result has been obtained and discussed. This device was created to provide outlet-free charging. Electronic devices are useful when going out into the wilderness. A portable power supply is necessary to keep an electronic device alive. This project created a device that converts human energy into electricity to charge electronic devices. This thesis overviews the device’s design, build, and tests. Two different tests were run to determine that the device is capable of charging the storage battery. The device presented can provide 14 minutes of charging time with one hour …

The Effects Of Surface Pace In Baseball, Jason Farlow

Senior Theses

A baseball travels across different surfaces at different paces. The goal of this experiment is to find a percentage difference in speeds the ball will reflect off a given surface. The energy lost on the turf surface was far more significant than on dirt surface as the turf lost an average of 26% of its energy as compared to just 16% of the energy on dirt. In the Northwest conference, teams play on four turf-based infields and five dirt-based infields. The results of this study suggest that kinetic friction forces are more significant in reducing ball rebound speed than in …

Measuring The Double Layer Capacitance Of Electrolyte Solutions Using A Graphene Field Effect Transistor, Agatha Ulibarri

Senior Theses

When operating graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) in fluid, a double layer capacitance (C_dl) is formed at the surface. In the literature, the C_dl is estimated using values obtained using metal electrode experiments. Due to the distinctive electronic and surface properties of graphene, there is reason to believe these estimates are inadequate. This work seeks to directly characterize the double layer capacitance of a GFET. A unique method for determining the C_dl has been implemented, and data has been obtained for three electrolytes and one ionic fluid. The results yield dramatically lower C_dl values than …

Non-Covalent Functionalization Of Graphene Films For Uniform Nanoparticle Deposition Via Atoic Layer Deposition, Ty Seiwert

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Graphene functionalized with platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) has proven to be highly effective as a hydrogen sensor. Deposition methods such as Atomic layer deposition (ALD) can be further enhanced by pretreating the graphene with a non-covalent surfactant prior to nanoparticle deposition. In this study, graphene-based sensing devices will be fabricated by ALD deposition. The graphene will be non-covalently functionalized using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) anionic surfactant prior to ALD deposition. The aim of this study is to test the deposition pattern achieved by varying the amount of time that graphene is treated with the SDS surfactant. Initially, ALD deposition …

Semi-Annual Program Progress Performance Report For University Transportation Systems Pppr#9, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Electric Vehicle Transportation Center (EVTC) supports the U.S. Department of Transportation's strategic goal of planning for near-term integration of alternative fuel vehicles as a means to build a sustainable transportation system. The project objectives are to evaluate technologies, standards, planning and policies to ensure seamless integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into a complex transportation network and electricity grid. The EVTC bridges the gap between deployment of electric vehicles and the traditional transportation system.

Battery Technologies For Mass Deployment Of Electric Vehicles, Florida Solar Energy Center, R. Paul Brooker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Electric vehicle (EV) batteries have significantly improved since their inception. However, lifetime of these batteries is still strongly dependent on the usage profiles. This report describes aspects of EV battery utilization, and their impact on battery lifetime. Additionally, this report will describe potential future uses of EV batteries, particularly in vehicle-to-grid applications.

Uncertainty In Optical Particulate Counting Sensors, Jared Todd Blanchard

Undergraduate Honors Theses

To mitigate the health problems and environmental damage caused by the burning of biomass in homes across the developing world, there is an international effort to design clean burning cookstoves that burn with greater efficiency and emit fewer harmful substances. An important tool for gauging the effectiveness of these alternate stoves is the optical particulate counting (OPC) sensor, which comes in many varieties. To facilitate comparison between measurements from different models, a mathematical model and uncertainty analysis method for OPC’s have been developed. These may be applied to any light-scattering OPC. In addition, a low-cost physical system was developed to …

Investigating Different Modeling Techniques For Quantifying Heat Transfer Through Building Envelopes, Sodiq Akande

Appalachian Student Research Forum

There is interest concerning the energy performance of buildings in the United States. Buildings, whether residential, commercial or institutional, generally underperform in terms of energy efficiency when compared to buildings that are constructed following sustainably and energy efficiency standards. A substantial percentage of energy loss in these buildings is associated with the thermal efficiency of its envelope (exterior walls, windows roof, floors and doors). The objective of this study will evaluate the results of three energy modeling techniques developed to investigate the energy transfer through the envelope of existing campus buildings. The techniques employed are solving the heat transfer calculations …

Computational Methods For Modeling Multicomponent Droplet Vaporization, Alanna Y. Cooney

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for combustion of multicomponent hydrocarbon fuels must often prioritize computational efficiency over model complexity, leading to oversimplifying assumptions in the sub-models for droplet vaporization and chemical kinetics. Therefore, a computationally efficient hybrid droplet vaporization-chemical surrogate approach has been developed which emulates both the physical and chemical properties of a multicomponent fuel. For the droplet vaporization/physical portion of the hybrid, a new solution method is presented called the Coupled Algebraic-Direct Quadrature Method of Moments (CA-DQMoM) with delumping which accurately solves for the evolution of every discrete species in a vaporizing multicomponent fuel droplet with the computational …

Data On Cost-Optimal Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (Nzebs) Across Europe, Florida Solar Energy Center, Delia D'Agostino

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This data article refers to the research paper A model for the cost-optimal design of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) in representative climates across Europe [1]. The reported data deal with the design optimization of a residential building prototype located in representative European locations. The study focus on the research of cost-optimal choices and efficiency measures in new buildings depending on the climate. The data linked within this article relate to the modeled building energy consumption, renewable production, potential energy savings, and costs. Data allow to visualize energy consumption before and after the optimization, selected efficiency measures, costs and renewable …

Evaluation And Enhancement Of Solar Chimney Power Plant, Nima Fathi

Nima Fathi

Aeroelastic Simulation Of Wind Turbines Using Free Vortex Methods And Strategies For Accelerating The Computation, Shujian Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation integrated the free vortex method code Wake Induced Dynamics Simulator (WInDS), which was developed by Sebastian et al., into the open source and widely-used software FAST. A range of computational strategies including paral- lelization and Treecode algorithms are used to increase the computational efficiency of the software. Full aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulations with free vortex method are conducted, which focus on an in-depth study on the influence of the aeroelasticity of the wind turbine and platform motions on the unsteadiness of the aerodynamics, and the comparison of aeroelastic responses of two floating wind turbine concepts. This dissertation also applies long …

Electric Vehicle And Wireless Charging Laboratory, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Wireless charging tests of electric vehicles (EV) have been conducted at the EVTC Wireless Laboratory located at the Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL. These tests were performed to document testing protocols, evaluate standards and evaluate operational related wireless charging characteristics. The presented results give the charging efficiency of a Plugless wireless charger of 3.3 kW rated input power operating at 20 kHz resonant frequency. The results show a maximum charging efficiency of 94% at about 19 cm (7.5 in) of vertical separation. The electric and magnetic fields emanating from the transmitter were measured with and without the unit installed …

Multicomponent Working Fluids In Organic Rankine Cycle Evaporators, Jennifer Fromm

Honors Theses

Organic Rankine cycles are a promising technology to convert waste heat energy into usable mechanical or electric power, giving them the potential to reduce fossil fuel emissions generated by traditional energy generation. The heat exchangers of these devices are of particular interest, as maximizing energy extraction from these free heat sources will increase net electrical power output. For this project I created a model to predict the effects of mixture working fluids on the evaporator performance of an organic Rankine cycle generator for a wide range of waste heat source temperatures. This model combines empirically derived heat exchanger performance parameters …

Performance Control Of A Spray Passive Down-Draft Evaporative Cooling System, Daeho Kang, Richard K. Strand

Publications and Research

A spray passive down-draft evaporative cooling system has been regarded as a low-energy cooling system that leads significant energy savings in the cooling of buildings. While the energy saving capability of the system has been proven, the ability to control a comfortable indoor environment is still inadequate due to strong climatic dependency. This study seeks viable solutions to advance the control competence of the system by mitigating critical problems of the system to be a reliable cooling application in the cooling of buildings. It proposes potential control strategies for the system and alternative operations. It develops a control algorithm for …

Electric Vehicle Grid Experiments And Analysis, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This project developed a low cost building energy management system (EMS) and conducted vehicle-to-grid (V2G) experiments on a commercial office building. The V2G effort included the installation and operation of a Princeton Power System CA-30 bi-directional power system. These experiments targeted the reduction of utility peak electrical demand for a commercial office building. In each case, total building peak demand was managed through a computer algorithm to limit the charging rate of electric vehicles or used the vehicle's on-board traction battery as a storage device to minimize peak electrical loads.

Assessing Spacing Impact On Coherent Features In A Wind Turbine Array Boundary Layer, Naseem Ali, Nicholas Hamilton, Dominic Delucia, Raúl Bayoán Cal

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

As wind farms become larger, the spacing between turbines becomes a significant design consideration that can impose serious economic constraints. To investigate the turbulent flow structures in a 4 x 3 Cartesian wind turbine array boundary layer (WTABL), a wind tunnel experiment was carried out parameterizing the streamwise and spanwise wind turbine spacing. Four cases are chosen spacing turbines by 6 or 3D in the streamwise direction, and 3 or 1:5D in the spanwise direction, where D = 12 cm is the rotor diameter. Data are obtained experimentally using stereo particle image velocimetry. Mean streamwise velocity showed maximum …

Electric Vehicle Interaction At The Electrical Circuit Level, Florida Solar Energy Center, Shawyun Sariri

FSEC Energy Research Center®

A large growth in energy demand has increased renewable energy penetration into existing power grid infrastructures, as well as spurring increased research into demand response programs. But before implementing an efficient demand response program, it is first necessary to understand the power usage behaviors of a consumer. This paper presents a real-time data acquisition system for the collection and storage of power data that will allow the study of demand response in an urban area, which can be applied to the efficient use of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). Demand response programs are an ideal alternative to costly energy storage …

Mechanical And Electrical Characterization Of Carbon Fiber/Bucky Paper/Zinc Oxide Hybrid Composites, Suma Ayyagari, Marwan Al-Haik, Virginie Rollin

Publications

The quest for multifunctional carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRPs) expedited the use of several nano reinforcements such as zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Zinc oxide is a semi-conductor with good piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. These properties could be transmitted to CFRPs when a nanophase of ZnO is embedded within CFRPs. In lieu of ZnO nanorods, Bucky paper comprising mat of CNTs could be sandwiched in-between composite laminae to construct a functionally graded composite with enhanced electrical conductivities. In this study, different configurations of hybrid composites based on carbon fibers with different combinations of ZnO nanorods and Bucky …

Field And Laboratory Testing Of Approaches To Smart Whole-House Mechanical Ventilation Control, Florida Solar Energy Center, Eric Martin

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Whole-house mechanical ventilation is a critical component to a comprehensive strategy for good indoor air quality (IAQ). However, due to lack of integration with standard heating and cooling systems, and perceptions from a portion of the homebuilding industry about risks related to increased energy use, increased cost, and decreased comfort, voluntary and code-required adoption varies amongst regions. Smart ventilation controls (SVC) balance energy consumption, comfort, and IAQ by optimizing mechanical ventilation operation to reduce the heating and/or cooling loads, improve management of indoor moisture, and maintain IAQ equivalence according to ASHRAE 62.2.Suggested Citation:Martin, E.; Fernaughty, K.; Parker, D.; Lubliner, M.; …