Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Elevation-Distributed Multistage Reverse Osmosis Desalination With Seawater Pumped Storage, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A seawater reverse osmosis (RO) plant layout based on multistage RO with stages located at different elevations above sea level is described. The plant uses the weight of a seawater column from pumped storage as head pressure for RO (gravity-driven multistage RO) or to supplement high-pressure pumps used in RO (gravity-assisted multistage RO). The use of gravitational force reduces the specific energy for RO compared to using high-pressure pumps. By locating the RO stages at different elevations based on demand sites, the total specific energy consumption for RO and permeate transport to different elevations above sea level is reduced from …

Energy Planning Model Design For Forecasting The Final Energy Consumption Using Artificial Neural Networks, Haidy Eissa

Theses and Dissertations

“Energy Trilemma” has recently received an increasing concern among policy makers. The trilemma conceptual framework is based on three main dimensions: environmental sustainability, energy equity, and energy security. Energy security reflects a nation’s capability to meet current and future energy demand. Rational energy planning is thus a fundamental aspect to articulate energy policies. The energy system is huge and complex, accordingly in order to guarantee the availability of energy supply, it is necessary to implement strategies on the consumption side. Energy modeling is a tool that helps policy makers and researchers understand the fluctuations in the energy system. Over the …

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 …

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 …

Energy Transformation And Conservation Investigation, Mike Jackson, Holly Haney

High School Lesson Plans

Students will use a thermoelectric generator module to analyze the relationship between thermal and electrical energies. Using data collection sensors and analysis software, students will investigate the relationship between the temperature gradient across a thermoelectric generator module and the resulting electrical potential. Students will then use their data and analysis to solve problems relating to waste thermal energy in electrical systems and communicate their work to their peers and teacher.

Single-Stage, Venturi-Driven Desalination System, Brandon Proetto

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Water demand is increasing at a rapid pace due to population increase, industrial expansion, and agricultural development. The use of desalination technology to meet the high water demands has increased global online desalination capacity from 47 million m^3/d in 2007 to 92.5 million m^3/d as of June 2017 [49]. Membrane and thermal processes are the two mainstream desalination categories used worldwide for desalination plants. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the most widely used membrane process and it has become the dominant technology for building desalination plants over recent decades. Thermal distillation, however, has become less and less competitive due to its …

Visualization And 3d Printing Of A 3d Solar Tracker Model Using Mayavi And Pov-Ray, Aditya Mehra

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In this work, we have created a realistic model of a solar tracker using Mayavi: 3D scientific data visualization and plotting in Python, Enthought Canopy:a comprehensive Python analysis environment and Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, or POV-Ray, a ray tracing program which generates photo-realistic images from a text-based scene description, a model of the solar tracker was also 3D printed.

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 …

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 …

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, …

Why Waste The Wind? A Look Into Small Scale Wind Energy, Mitchell Negus, Jon Swanton, Ben Chilcoat, Mark Settembrino

Student Showcase

The human race’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation has started to cause major changes in the environment. Climate change is a universal issue and it is evident that our current energy schematic is not sustainable. At the University of Massachusetts, small-scale wind power has the potential to be a key component in UMass’ energy portfolio as the university shifts from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy. Strategically placed turbines would produce clean, renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help to decentralize energy dependence on the Central Heating Plant. Small-scale turbines, like the eddyGT, are tested technologies …

Odnawialne Źródła Energii W., Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

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 …

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.

Proceedings From Scientific Conference On Green Energy And It, Dr. Erik Dahlquist

Dr. Erik Dahlquist

This conference is part of the annual Energitinget, a national arena for energy in Sweden, with some 2500 participants. The focus with this session is to give a forum for researchers to present scientific results, and also to discuss these with other researchers. It contains papers in the area of Energy and IT as well as Green energy generally

Feasibility Study Of Maine's Small Hydropower Potential, James D. Sysko

Maine Collection

Feasibility Study of Maine's Small Hydropower Potential

Prepared by James D. Sysko, Small Hydro East, for the Maine State Planning Office, Maine Office of Energy Resources, January 1989.

"This study focuses on finding potential hydropower sites of approximately 50 kw to 1000 kw in capacity."