Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Triboelectric Energy Harvester With Large Bandwidth Under Harmonic And Random Excitations, Alwathiqbellah Ibrahim, Abdallah Ramini, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper investigates an approach to impact vibration energy harvesting using a triboelectric mechanism under harmonic and random excitation. The harvester consists of a clamped–clamped beam with a stiff plate in the middle to realize the impact electrification process when subjected to external vibrations. The harvester uses stiffening in the clamped–clamped beam introduced by the impact between two triboelectric layers to increase the frequency bandwidth. A piecewise theoretical model is used to model the harvester for two scenarios of motions, before and after impact. The harvester is tested experimentally under different harmonic excitation to validate the theoretical model. The outcomes …

Improving The Piezoelectric Properties Of Flexible Polymer-Nanoparticle Energy Harvesters, Muhammet Emin Cavusoglu

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, one of the widely used polymers, poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF), was used to develop thin-film polymer energy harvesters. Dimethylformamide (DMF) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) were used to dissolve the PVDF powder. Four different (0%, 3%, 5%, and 7%) ZnO nanoparticle (NP) concentrations were used to enhance the electrical output of the thin-film energy harvesters. A sonication bath and additional MEK were used in dispersing the ZnO NPs to obtained uniform PVDF/ZnO NP solution. The electrode poling technique was used for dipole alignment to improve the electrical performance of the devices. The fabricated samples were tested using the tensile …

Integrated Resource Plan For Portland General Electric (Pge), Mary Biswal, Alejandro Castelan

Master's Projects and Capstones

An integrated resource plan (IRP) for Portland General Electric (PGE) is developed in this master’s project. The IRP is based on capacity expansion modeling for zero-carbon emission scenarios. PGE is a public electric utility based in Oregon and serves around 887,000 customers across a territory of 4,000 sq. miles. The utility’s resource mix is currently heavily dependent on natural gas making up almost 50% of its capacity. While the state renewable portfolio standards (RPS) require Oregon power utilities to derive 50% of their generation from renewable sources by 2040, PGE plans to move rapidly into a clean energy mix by …

An Integrated Resource Plan For Arizona Public Service Electric (Aps), Irene Boghdadi, Randy Chiu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Our Masters Capstone Project is an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for Arizona’s largest electric utility, Arizona Public Service Electric (APS).

An IRP is developed by utilities to identify the optimal combination of demand- and supply-side resources needed to reliably meet forecasted demand for energy and capacity, including a planning reserve margin, over a future period.

In addition to APS’s obligation to serve the growing load in Arizona while minimizing costs, it is required by the state to adhere to the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) policy of 15 percent retail sales from renewable energy resources by 2025.

The analysis described in …

An Assessment Of Renewable Energy Technology Implementation In Storrs, Connecticut: Emissions Reduction And Feasibility Of A Microgrid System At Uconn, Sophie Macdonald

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this project is to design a clean energy-sourced microgrid for UConn’s main campus that would reduce the university’s energy emissions while remaining within the geographic boundaries of viable UConn-owned land. Economic cost was not considered in this analysis; instead, emissions and space constraints were the optimized measures of value and feasibility. Sources of energy that were considered include photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines, hydrokinetic systems, and fuel cells. Energy storage capacity was included in the analysis as well. The overall system was optimized first by ignoring space constraints and for a minimum of 10% reduction from the current …

Adaptable Clean Energy Laboratory, Joao Marcelo Rocha Belmonte, Marc D. Compere

Sustainability Conference

The Adaptable Clean Energy (ACE) Lab is a real-world, long term, test platform that will guide the courses of the Energy Systems track. The lab will provide realistic electrical and HVAC loads that mimic a solar powered office. The lab is a 20’ high cube shipping container modified with a door, windows, lights computers, air conditioner and appliances. The lab is Net-Zero and powered entirely from the sun. Two insulation test sections expose the exterior walls for research access to real external heat loads in a real building

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …

On The Energy Sustainability Of Active And Passive Building Integrated Technologies In The Context Of A Changing Climate For Tropical Coastal Cities, Rabindra Pokhrel

Dissertations and Theses

Caribbean Sea surface temperatures have been rising at an alarming rate of 0.020C/year. The effect of rising sea surface temperatures is reflected in increasing in 2m air temperature over the Caribbean. The rise in extreme temperatures increases human discomfort and energy demands for air conditioning (AC) putting both the population and energy infrastructure at higher risk of vulnerability. This vulnerability is amplified in compact cities where anthropogenic heat removal from the built environment further increases the temperature of the urban canyon with feedback on human comfort and energy demands. Although there has been prior work reported on mitigating energy demands …