Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Desuperheater Rating Method For Energy Code Calculations, Tim Merrigan

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to develop a rating method for desuperheater water heaters – heat exchangers that remove superheat from the refrigerant in an air conditioner’s compressor discharge line. The project methodology was to first determine the overall heat transfer coefficient-area product (UA) of the heat exchanger for three basic types of desuperheaters. Both heat transfer analysis and the laboratory performance data indicated that the number of transfer units (NTU) for each heat exchanger was relatively independent of the operating conditions for a properly-charged air conditioner with a single-speed compressor and a desuperheater with a single-speed circulating pump. …

Finite Impulse Response Utilizing The Principles Of Superposition, Scott Edward Carter

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Window functions have been greatly utilized in the synthesis of finite impulse response (FIR) filters implemented using surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. The critical parameter in any FIR design in the impulse response length, which must be optimized for the given design specifications in order to reduce the size of each device. To this end, many design algorithms have been introduced such as Remez exchange, linear programming, and least mean squares. A new algorithm has been derived which is efficient and accurate for the design of arbitrary filter specifications requiring less computations than the current algorithms. The FIR design is …

Solar Photovoltaic Air Conditioning Of Residential Buildings, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The use of photovoltaics (PV) for residential air conditioning (AC) represents an attractive application due to the close match between the diurnal cooling load and the availability of solar radiation. Conventional wisdom suggests that air conditioning is a process too energy intensive to be addressed by PV. Previous investigations have concentrated on the feasibility of matching PV output to vapor-compression machines, and the cost effectiveness of other solar cooling options. Recently, Japanese manufacturers have introduced small (8,000 Btu/hr) grid-connected solar assisted AC systems. These small room-sized systems are inadequately sized to meet air conditioning peak demands in larger U.S. homes …

Barriers To Commercialization Of Solar Energy In Florida, Florida Solar Energy Center, Colleen Mccann Kettles

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Florida has a distinct history of solar system development and use. Solar systems have been operating in the State since the 1920s. During the past several decades, solar technologies have advanced and matured, as have the business entities that deliver solar products to the end user. Solar products made in Florida are U.S. and world industry leaders. Quality control measures, such as collector and system testing and certification, contractor training and licensing, and follow-up site inspection, have assured consumer confidence in solar equipment and installation.

Real Life Applications Of Photovoltaic Power To Hurricane Andrew Relief, Florida Solar Energy Center, William Young

FSEC Energy Research Center®

On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck the coast of South Florida and devastated Dade County leaving several hundred-thousand people homeless. Over a million residences were without electrical service, functional water and sewage systems and medical services for days and weeks in the aftermath of the storm. Emergency management teams, medical personnel, the military and countless public and private organizations staged a massive relief effort.

The staff at the Florida Solar Energy Center and SANDIA National Laboratory responded to the disaster with photovoltaics (solar electric) powered equipment to assist in the relief effort. Electricity generated by these systems were used …

Synthesis Of Numerical Integrators For The Real-Time Digital Simulation Of Continuous Systems, Michael James Panzitta

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Real-time digital simulation is a powerful means for engineers and scientists in government, industry, and academia to perform research and training as well as serving as a basis for many commercial applications. Due to the special constraints imposed by digitally simulating continuous systems in real time, however, many of these systems either require costly high-speed components or are unable to provide suitable performance characteristics using affordable computers.

This dissertation describes a new technique for the synthesis of numerical integrators specifically designed for the real-time digital simulation of continuous systems. This methodology is based upon the fact that the state derivatives …

Integration Of Artificial Neural Networks And Simulation Modeling In A Decision Support System, Kenney Lecroy

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A simulation based decision support system is developed for AT&T Microelectronics in Orlando. This system uses simulation modeling to capture the complex nature of semiconductor test operations. Simulation, however, is not a tool for optimization by itself. Numerous executions of the simulation model must generally be performed to narrow in on a set of proper decision parameters. As a means of alleviating this shortcoming, artificial neural networks are used in conjunction with simulation modeling to aid management in the decision making process. The integration of simulation and neural networks in a comprehensive decision support system, in effect, learns the reverse …

Implementation Of Ultrafast Optical Characterization Techniques, Nicholas J. Croglio

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The single beam Z-Scan technique, a two beam Pulse-Delay Modulation Technique (PDMT), and a combination of these methods are implemented to measure both nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction in semiconductors. The laser source used is a Kerr Lens Modelocked (KLM) Ti:sapphire laser producing tunable near IR 100 femtosecond pulses of ~5 nJ of energy per pulse at a 90 MHz repetition rate. Specifically we monitor two photon absorption and the bound electronic nonlinear refraction in ZnSe and this nonlinear refraction in ZnS. These techniques open the spectral range where these nonlinear optical parameters can be measured by allowing tunable high …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Study Of Swirling Sonic Jets, Murphy Leo O'Dea

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Color Image Enhancement Using Both Chromatic And Luminance Components, George Eric Hague Ii

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A vast amount of work has been published regarding grayscale processing of digital images. Although some of this work has been adapted for color images, many of the resulting algorithms neglect the correlation that exists between the individual RGB color components. Consequently, they introduce color artifacts. Attempts have been made to decouple the RGB components through color space transformations that isolate the luminance from the chromatic information. Color image enhancement is then considered a two step process, where the luminance and the chromatic components are processed independently. However, the RGB color space only has a finite number of available colors, …

An Efficient Method For Representing And Computing Transitive Closure Over Temporal Relations, Vincent J. Kovarik

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The need for temporal reasoning is found throughout the engineering disciplines. James Allen introduced a representation for temporal reasoning based upon the concept of intervals. This approach provides a rich set of temporal relations for reasoning over events and changes in state. The full temporal algebra is NP-complete however. The algorithm developed by Allen executes in 0(n³) time but only ensures consistency between any three intervals.

This research presents an approach to representing interval relations as a bit-encoded form which captures the relationships between the end-points of the intervals. A bit-algebra is then defined which provides an …

Laboratory Testing Of The Reflectance Properties Of Roofing Materials, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Past simulation and test cell studies have shown potential reduction to building cooling loads from higher exterior surface solar reflectances (Givoni and Hoffman, 1968; Givoni, 1976; Chuan and Busching, 1983; Griggs and Shipp, 1988; Anderson, 1989; Akbari et al., 1990; Chandra and Moalla, 1991; Bansal et al., 1992). Furthermore, simulation analysis of macro-climatic effects have shown that light colored surfaces may reduce the magnitude of the urban heat island (Taha et al., 1988; Akbari et al, 1989; Akbari et al., 1992).

Figure 1 shows a graphic illustration of the potential influence of surface reflectance on roof solar heat gain. The …

Selecting Windows For South Florida Residences, Florida Solar Energy Center, Ross Mccluney

FSEC Energy Research Center®

To provide some guidance to the victims of hurricane Andrew in Dade County, we performed a study of various types of modern glazing systems that might be incorporated in windows for south Florida residences.

The dominant energy impact of residential windows in south Florida comes from the solar radiant heat gain entering these windows and the corresponding heat loads on cooling systems. Thus any extra dollars spent by homeowners to purchase improved replacement windows should be spent in lowering the solar gains of the windows purchased (by reducing glazing shading coefficients or by adding exterior shading devices or vegetation) rather …

Measuring And Compensating For Transport Delay In Real-Time Interactive Driving Simulation, Joseph D. Dumas Ii

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Real-time, man-in-the-loop simulators are important tools for operator training as well as human performance research. Simulator implementation using digital computers offers many important advantages but may also cause problems. One of the most significant and troublesome artifacts of digital computer simulation is the presence of transport delays in the operator/vehicle control loop. Transport delays have been shown to destabilize the system, resulting in poorer control of the simulated vehicle. They may also contribute to an increased likelihood of simulator sickness in human operators. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to quantify simulator transport delays and to compensate the system …

Design And Construction Of Maintainable Knowledge Bases Through Effective Use Of Entity-Relationship Modeling Techniques, William Yancey Pike

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The use of an accepted logical database design tool, Entity-Relationship Diagrams (E-RD), is explored as a method by which conceptual and pseudo-conceptual knowledge bases may be designed. Extensions to Peter Chen's classic E-RD method which can model knowledge structure used by knowledge-based applications are explored. The use of E-RDs to design knowledge bases is proposed as a two-stage process. In the first stage, and E-RD, termed the Essential E-RD, is developed of the realm of the problem or enterprise being modeled. The Essential E-RD is completely independent of any knowledge representation model (KRM) and is intended for the understanding of …

Consumption And Loss Of Formaldehyde In Electroless Copper Plating, Peter John F. Sutch

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to quantify formaldehyde consumption due to plating and parasitic reactions and determine the magnitude and distribution of formaldehyde losses from the electroless copper plating process. Plating and rinse bath samples obtained from three electroless copper plating operations were analyzed for formaldehyde and copper in order to develop a mass balance analysis about the plating bath for periods of active production and no production. Fugitive air and stack releases of formaldehyde were estimated using emission factors developed from air sampling at the three facilities. It was determined that approximately 90% of the formaldehyde added to …

Phosphorus Accumulation In Bottom Sediments Of Retention/Detention Ponds, Kriss Young Kaye

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Laboratory and field studies were conducted to characterize phosphorus in bottom sediments for retention/detention ponds. The laboratory studies, including batch and column experiments, were conducted to assess possible removal processes. Sediment core samples were collected from detention ponds receiving urban runoff. These cores were analyzed for phosphorus at different layers including accumulated top sediments and the lower parent soil beneath it at a depth of 1, 3, 5, 10 and greater than 10 cm. The phosphorus accumulation rate was found to decline with calculated overflow rates from an average storm. Also attenuation of phosphorus with sediment depth followed an exponential …

The Implementation Of Photovoltaic Transportation Devices, Florida Solar Energy Center, William Young

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) are currently involved in a program to implement solar electric (photovoltaic) powered applications in the transportation sector. The objective of the program is to encourage the widespread use of cost-effective, transportation related, photovoltaic-powered systems in all areas of traffic control.

Transportation departments have generally relied on conventional practices of using generators, primary batteries, and extensions of utility grid to fulfil their power needs. There exist many remote and conventional electric power requirements within the FDOT that may be effectively satisfied by photovoltaic (PV) power. Applications ranging from …

Rebuilding For Efficiency: Improving The Energy Use Of Reconstructed Residences In South Florida, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

On August 24th, 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated a large part of South Dade County in Florida. With over 35,000 homes to be rebuilt, there is interest in seeing if these reconstructed residences can be made more energy-efficient.

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of potential energy efficiency improvements for both new and existing homes in South Florida. Over forty energy-efficiency measures were considered in the analysis. Many homes in the effected zone experienced damage to their windows, roofs and the surrounding landscape. As a result, the analysis closely examined options associated with these design aspects. All major end-uses of electricity …

Project Smart: A Restoration/Demonstration, Martin Wanielista

BMP Trains Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Hurricane Andrew Photovoltaic Traffic Control Relief, Florida Solar Energy Center, William Young

FSEC Energy Research Center®

On August 24, 1992 Hurricane Andrew damaged and destroyed much of South Florida. The storm destroyed buildings, structures, and traffic devices along the highway. Travel was hazardous with debris in the roadway, traffic signals damaged or not working, and signs missing. This disaster offered a unique opportunity to research and evaluate the potential for using photovoltaic power systems in emergency traffic control situations. This report describes the findings of this study completed by the Florida Solar Energy Center sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Design Curves For The Reuse Of Stormwater, Martin Wanielista

BMP Trains Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Measured Electricity Savings Of Refrigerator Replacement: Case Study And Analysis, Florida Solar Energy Center, Ted Stedman

FSEC Energy Research Center®

There are approximately seven million refrigerator-freezers in the State of Florida. The average demand of these units is at least 1,000 MW. The average life of a residential refrigerator is approximately 20 years (U.S. DOE, 1989). At least 25% of Florida's existing stock are old inefficient units built before the advent of recent appliance efficiency standards. The least efficient are existing models of which approximately 5% of the stock is replaced each year. This represents a significant opportunity for efficiency improvement since recently established standards will greatly improve refrigerator efficiency by 1993 (NAECA, 1987). A number of studies have identified …

Fsec 3.0: Florida Software For Enervironment Computation: V3.0 Draft User's Manual. 01-92, Florida Solar Energy Center, Alp Kerestecioglu

FSEC Energy Research Center®

FSEC 3.0 was developed to support research. It is a general-purpose software package especially designed to simulate complex building science problems. The program offers several unique features.

The major feature is its ability to solve user-defined systems of governing equations. Up to 250 coupled differential equations and their corresponding boundary conditions may be either selected from libraries or defined by the user. The equations may be linear or nonlinear; spatially-lumped or spatially-distributed; steady-state or transient; ordinary or partial. The structure of the software also allows users to incorporate their own routines or programs. Thus, researchers may define their specific problem …

Simplified Sizing Procedure For Solar Domestic Hot Water Systems, Florida Solar Energy Center, Public Information Office

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This procedure was developed to size residential solar water heating systems in Florida.

Energy-Efficient Lighting For Florida Homes, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Although lighting doesn't constitute a major portion of the average homeowner's electric bill (generally from 3 to 15 percent), you can cut your lighting costs significantly by installing new energy-efficient bulbs. As an added plus for Florida residents, these new bulbs produce less heat, meaning less work for your air conditioner.

Measured Natural Cooling Enhancement Of A Whole House Fan, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

An experimental study was carried out in the summer of 1991 to investigate the natural cooling potential of use of a whole house fan in Central Florida's hot and humid climate. The residential building, in Cocoa Beach, FL, is typical of much of the existing housing stock in Florida: a concrete block structure with R-11 ceiling insulation. The building was ventilated with all windows open during the three month summer test period (June-August). Air temperatures and relative humidity inside the home interior along with exterior meteorological conditions (insolation, wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity) were scanned every five seconds with …

Limiting Solar Radiation Effects On Outdoor Air Temperature Measurement, Florida Solar Energy Center, Robin Vieira

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This experimental study compares various methods of reducing the effects of solar radiation on outdoor air temperature measurements. It indicates that radiation effects can introduce significant measurement error, even with the use of shielding devices and aspiration, and outlines efforts that were taken to lessen the error caused by radiation.

Two separate tests were conducted, one comparing naturally ventilated and fan-aspirated radiation shields, the other comparing seven identical fan-aspirated shields. Results from the first test showed that one of the naturally ventilated shields was generally more effective than a fan- aspirated unit-at some instances of high radiation giving daytime temperatures …

Electromagnetic Focusing Properties Of Chirped Metallic Gratings, Jeffrey C. Schmidt

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The focusing properties of chirped diffraction gratings have long been studied and often used in applications at optical frequencies. Chirped metallic gratings of this type have also been studied theoretically at microwave frequencies, but no attempt has been made to experimentally examine or utilize the focusing properties of these structures at microwave frequencies. This thesis presents an experimental analysis of the focusing properties of chirped metallic gratings. These gratings are designed to focus electromagnetic energy at a predetermined position by varying strip width and spacing as a function of position. The diffraction gratings are characterized, and experimentally measured results are …

Express Transit Service For The University Of Central Florida, Arturo J. Perez

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

As one of the fastest growing universities in the State of Florida, the University of Central Florida (UCF) is faced with the hardships placed on higher learning institutions across the nation. The increase of students paralleled by the increase of motor vehicles on the university campus, and the shortage of funding needed to construct the necessary parking facilities to support this growth, has left the University with a big dilemma, whether to try to overcome the parking space deficit by building the needed spaces to accommodate the demand, or provide a mass transit system that would reduce the number of …