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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Quikchill : Thermoelectric Water Cooler, Franz Louie Chua, Brandon Ohara, Rachel Reid, Bernadette Tong
Quikchill : Thermoelectric Water Cooler, Franz Louie Chua, Brandon Ohara, Rachel Reid, Bernadette Tong
Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses
Motivated by the increasing residential energy utilization projections and the fact that water and ice dispensers consume 20% of total refrigerator energy, a thermoelectric water chiller was designed to provide a more energy efficient alternative. Implementing the chiller under the sink provides a convenient means to source cold, filtered water, thereby eliminating the need for water and nice dispensers as well as filtering pitchers. The cooling chamber design integrates thermoelectric modules (TEMs), which operate on the Peltier effect to cool filtered water down to 14 [degrees] C. The implementation of TEMs reduced current dispenser energy consumption by 82.4%, from 91 …
Phase Change Material In Automated Window Shades, Quinlan Adler, Jake Gallau, Alexander Zatopa, Ali Nash
Phase Change Material In Automated Window Shades, Quinlan Adler, Jake Gallau, Alexander Zatopa, Ali Nash
Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses
The purpose of this report is to detail the development process for a phase change material window shading system, which stores solar thermal energy and later releases it indoors to provide nighttime space heating. To do this, wax-filled louvers with thermally absorptive front faces were developed and outfitted with a control system, which utilized historical weather data to orient the louvers to specific solar azimuthal angles, thus maximizing the thermal absorption. The system was tested against other common window treatments in a pair of thermally comparable testing structures, and was found to provide energy savings as high as 50%.