Power and Energy Commons^™

Progress Of Lithium Rich Cathode Materials For Li-Ion Batteries, Jie Zhang, Jiu-Lin Wang, Jun Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Lithium rich materials xLi₂MnO₃·(1-x)LiMO₂ (0-1 and low cost. However, the large irreversible capacity during the first cycle, low rate capability and structure collapse during cycling remain impediments in developing these cathodes for applications. The structure analyses and charge/discharge mechanisms for lithium rich materials are currently main research contents. Although whether the lithium rich materials are solid solutions or composite is still controversial, oxygen release mechanism on the first charge 4.5 V plateau of lithium rich materials has come to consistency. Several modifications, such as bulk doping, surface coating and microstructure control, demonstrate promising strategies to …

Electrochemical Performance Of Al-Doped Spinel Limn2O4 Cathode Material For Li-Ion Batteries, Yong-Long Wang, Wen-Ge Wang, Qian Zhang, Xin Wang, Jian-Sheng Cao, Shi-Hai Ye

Journal of Electrochemistry

Spinel LiMn₂O₄, a cathode material for Li-ion batteries, is featured as good high-rate performance, low cost and environmental friendly. The pristine and Al-doped LiMn₂O₄ samples were prepared by sol-gel method. The structure and micromorphology of the as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrated that the as-prepared LiMn₂O₄ samples had a typical cubic spinel structure and were composed of sphere-like particles with a diameter range of 300 ~ 500 nm. Galvanostatic charge-discharge tests showed that the LiMn₂O₄ samples doped …

Influence Of Media Composition On The Growth Rate Of Chlorella Vulgaris And Scenedesmus Acutus Utilized For Co2 Mitigation, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Xinyi E, Aubrey Shea, Michael D. Montross, Mark Crocker, Rodney Andrews

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased since the industrial revolution due to increasing combustion of fossil fuels. One possible CO₂ mitigation strategy is the use of microalgae for mitigation of CO₂. This paper focuses on the influence of media composition on the growth rate of two microalgae strains, Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus actus. A KNO₃ based medium was found to work better for Chlorella, while a urea based equivalent worked better for Scenedesmus. The urea based media investigated here resulted in growth similar to that found with previously reported KNO₃ based media. …

Ocean Wave Generator Using Electromagnetic Induction, Sutton Smiley, Adam Mccuistion

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Off Grid Solar Powered Street Light, Justin Fang, Billy Pham

Electrical Engineering

Street lights are fixtures found in every city and serve the important purpose of illuminating the streets and keeping the roads safe for pedestrians and drivers. Current street lights are powered by the grid, power which is paid for by the taxpayers and could have been used to power homes instead. With this project, our goal is to design and implement an electric power system that collects and stores solar energy, and delivers power to an LED smart street light. The resulting system would reduce street light energy costs by 100% since they would not draw any power from the …

Energy Dashboard Tool For Cal Poly Dormitories, Katie Zombro

Electrical Engineering

This project defines the needs, uses, and future projects (as well as business cases and procurement) of a University Housing dashboard tool, utilized by the Red Brick Dormitories on the Cal Poly campus. This easily accessed tool provides simple information regarding energy trending data, allowing for all student residents no matter their academic discipline, to understand their energy trends and opportunities for reduction. With the Energy Dashboard in place, Cal Poly’s red brick dormitories experienced savings ranging from 10%-20% from the 2011-2012 school year baseline, by the end of the 2012-2013 academic year. With the help of the Dashboard, competitions …

Differential Transformer Protection Using The Sel 387 And Sel 587 Microprocessor Relays, Ryan Chun

Electrical Engineering

The objective of this Senior Project is to use the SEL 387 current differential and overcurrent microprocessor relays to protect three-single-phase 1 KVA 120:208 transformers configured in ∆-∆, Y-Y, Y-∆, and ∆-Y connections. In the second phase of this project, is to create a functioning lab that uses the SEL 587 relay to teach basic differential transformer protection for the upcoming EE-444 students.

The protection schemes developed in both of the senior project phases require the use of differential and overcurrent protection elements by monitoring the changes of the input and output current through the transformer. When these currents fail …

Design Of Improved Distribution Panel For The Dc House, Nolan Joksch

Electrical Engineering

The DC House is a humanitarian project intended to provide electricity to rural areas that would benefit from electricity, but are too remote to have access to it. This particular project is to design and construct the feeder box for the electrical distribution system to distribute power to the system as well as protect it. Building an electrical panel that is easily maintained and, above all, safe for the user is key to this project.

Merry-Go-Round Human Powered Generator, Daniel Barnicle, Dario Romero

Electrical Engineering

This project entails the design and construction of a Merry-Go-Round Human Powered Generator for the DC House project. The Merry-Go-Round Human-Powered-Generator is a sustainable project focusing on utilizing renewable human mechanical energy. As young children play on the Merry-Go-Round, the generator converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy for the DC House. The Merry-Go-Round Generator boosts the generated voltage output to power a battery. This electrical energy then transfers from the battery to the DC House to provide power to it.

Alternative Wheelchair Control System, Jessica Hendricks, Tara Keigharn

Electrical Engineering

We geared this project towards assisting an individual with limited[1] motor function to operate a wheelchair. The product targets individuals who find use of a joystick is ineffective or painful. We focused our design on the wheelchair bought from Adaptive Driving Systems (Driving, 2013); but ultimately we would like to field a final product capable of applying to any electric wheelchair. Our goal: a person to operate the electric wheelchair using sensors that transmit a translation of an individual’s hand movement through a wireless transmission to a microcontroller installed on the wheel chair that then controls the wheelchair’s movement. …

Wind And Hydroelectric Power Simulation For The Dc House Project, Randy Lormand, Christopher Goloskie

Electrical Engineering

This project details the design and integration of a wind and hydroelectric power simulation system in correlation with the DC House Project. The simulator uses variable speed drives to rotate a DC motor which then drives a generator to produce output. This output is then regulated using a DC to DC converter which holds the voltage level constant making it easier to interface with other power sources for the house. The test results indicate that the simulator will be able to produce two separate power outputs that will provide at least 70 Watts of power in the acceptable speed range …

Swing Human Powered Generator: For The Dc House Project, Juan Vicente Avelar, Juan Jose Galindo, Juan Pramyr Ramos

Electrical Engineering

The Play Park Human Powered Generator project addresses various ways of generating power. More specifically, this project entails the design and construction of the Swing Power Generator to provide electrical power from mechanical energy. The swing generator will eventually be used as part of the human-powered generators utilized in the DC House project.

A swing generator prototype was built for this project, which demonstrates the feasibility of its use for electrical power source. Detailed design and construction of the swing generator is presented in this report along with results from hardware testing.

Cal Poly Wind Power Research Center Power Regulator, Ricardo Rodriguez, Steven Bounchareune

Electrical Engineering

Through funding from the California Central Coast Research Partnership (C3RP) the

CPWRC, led by Dr. Patrick Lemieux, has erected a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) at the

Cal Poly Escuela Ranch site EL04. With the help of Dr. John Ridgely and Dr. Art MacCarley, the team has implemented a controller that delivers the power being generated by the turbine to a resistor bank which maintains a safe working speed for the turbine. The authors objectives for this project are to (1) become familiar with the operation of the turbine, (2) develop an AC-DC converter that regulates the output of the …

Rapid Tool Heating, Jason Chi, Bobby Dodge

Mechanical Engineering

Quatro Composites creates various molded parts for an array of industries. They are seeking to improve their thermoplastic molding process by decreasing the amount of time to heat up the steel tool that molds the thermoplastics. Currently, it takes approximately 1 hour to heat up their 120 pound steel mold from room temperature to approximately 700°F. The goal of this project is to create an optimum heating method that will minimize that heating time to about 20 minutes or less. It is critical for the stakeholders (Quatro Composites) to have a faster heating time in order to increase their production …

Design Of An Energy Efficient Virtual End Node Client Using Openadr2.0a And Smap, Kevin Navero

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Demand Response (DR) describes the set of actions taken to impose a reduction in electrical loads to stabilize the power grid and decrease costs. It is used when power grid emergencies or extremely high demand and congestion, threaten the electricity supply-demand balance. Automated Demand Response (ADR) describes a web-based control system that triggers DR events automatically by signaling other pre-programmed control systems. This project intends to use the OpenADR2.0 specifications provided by the OpenADR Alliance to construct an open source Virtual End Node (VEN) client to retrieve DR signals. The Simple Measurement and Actuation Profile (sMAP) software is also used …

Unipolar Pulse Width Modulation Inverter, Randy Baggao, Gabriel Tam

Electrical Engineering

This project portrays the design and construction of a pulse width modulation (PWM) inverter. The inverter is implemented as a unipolar converter. The inverter provides a steady single-phase sinusoidal 60Hz AC voltage output from a DC input. This is a basic DC-AC power converter that is built in 3 separate phases and integrated altogether at the end. The inverter can be broken down into the control unit, firing circuit, and the H-bridge. By using the PWM method, one can control the frequency and amplitude of the output by using a reference signal. This method will also avoid using a transformer …

Low Speed Alternator Design, Scott Merrick

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Micro Hydropower System, Christpher Neally, Ian Verstuyft

Electrical Engineering

The micro hydropower project strives to meet the needs of a specific village in northern Thailand in partnership with Engineers Without Borders. Specifically, the electrical side of the system must be designed to convert the mechanical power of a flowing river that is turning a turbine into sustainable and dependable power. Currently available hydropower systems will be considered, analyzed, and tailored to suit the specific needs of the community in need. The system to be designed will be flexible enough to demonstrate proof-of-concept with the limited maximum generable power in lab while having the ability to be easily scaled for …

Multiple Input Single Output (Miso) Tablet/ Phone Charger, Kevin Wong

Master's Theses

This thesis entails the design and implementation of a multiple input single output (MISO) DC-DC converter using the flyback topology to charge tablets/ smartphones or any USB powered portable device. The MISO converter will enable the use of various renewable energy sources such as a solar panel/ rechargeable battery combination, bicycle dynamo, hydroelectric power, and wind turbine. This paper will cover the design, simulations, and test results of the MISO converter. The flyback topology was chosen due to its low part count and its efficiency at low power. The proposed converter has a nominal 12V input to output USB 2.0 …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of An Emr Based Orbital Debris Impact Testing Platform, Jeffrey J. Maniglia Jr.

Master's Theses

This paper describes the changes made from Cal Poly’s initial railgun system, the Mk. 1 railgun, to the Mk. 1.1 system, as well as the design, fabrication, and testing of a newer and larger Mk. 2 railgun system. The Mk. 1.1 system is developed as a more efficient alteration of the original Mk. 1 system, but is found to be defective due to hardware deficiencies and failure, as well as unforeseen efficiency losses. A Mk. 2 system is developed and built around donated hardware from the Naval Postgraduate School. The Mk. 2 system strove to implement an efficient, augmented, electromagnetic …

Impact Of Photovoltaic System Penetration On The Operation Of Voltage Regulator Equipment, Abesh Sorab Mubaraki

Master's Theses

The growing popularity of photovoltaic (PV) generation systems leads to an increase in the number of residential and commercial grid-tied PV systems that interconnect to the distribution circuit. This affects the characteristics of the distribution circuit; for example, the assumption that the voltage profile of a radial line decreases down-stream becomes invalid because of the addition of the PV system on the line. This poses new challenges when setting the parameters of voltage regulating devices. Add to that the fact that PV systems are intermittent, especially on cloudy days, which make the line even more difficult to regulate, and the …

The Bicycle-Powered Smartphone Charger, Chris Arntzen

Master's Theses

This thesis entails the design and fabrication of a smartphone charger that is powered by a bicycle dynamo hub. In addition to the design and validation of the charger prototype, this thesis involves the testing and characterization of the dynamo hub power source, the design and construction of specialized test equipment, and the design and prototyping of a handlebar-mounted case for the smartphone and charging electronics. With the intention of making the device a commercial product, price, aesthetics, and marketability are of importance to the design. An appropriate description of the charger circuit is a microcontroller-based energy management system, tailored …

Bi-Directional Flyback Dc-Dc Converter For Battery System Of The Dc House Project, Austin J. Luan

Master's Theses

The DC House project strongly relies on renewable energy sources to provide power to the house for various loads. However, when these sources are unable to provide power at a certain time, a back-up energy source from a battery must be readily available to fulfill the house’s power needs. This thesis proposes a bi-directional flyback power converter to allow a single-stage power path to charge the battery from and to discharge the battery to the DC House 48 V system bus. The design, simulation, and hardware prototype of the proposed flyback bi-directional converter will be conducted to demonstrate its feasibility. …

Design Of Portable Dc Light Bulb For The Dc House Project, Jan Marvin Perez Macairan

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on the design and implementation of the Portable DC Light Bulb system for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s DC House Project. The DC Portable Light Bulb highlights the NiMH battery charging circuit, buck converter, and boost converter. The system is intended as a flashlight adaptor placed in between the dimmable DC light bulb and its screw base. The adaptor adds a portability feature to the DC light bulb to provide lighting wherever the user pleases. The Portable DC Light Bulb system is designed to operate with an input range of 24V-60V and regulate an output voltage of …

Designing Anti-Islanding Detection Using The Synchrophasor Vector Processor, Ruth Christiana Huang

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Designing Anti-Islanding Detection Using the Synchrophasor Vector Processor

Ruth Huang

The need for distributed generation (DG) has become more and more popular because of the adverse effects of fossil fuels and the fear of running out of fossil fuels. By having DG, there are less transmission losses, voltage support, controllability of the system, decreased costs in transmission and distribution, power quality improvement, energy efficiency, and reduced reserve margin. The adverse effects of DG are voltage flicker, harmonics, and islanding. Islanding occurs when the DG continues to energize the power system when the main utility is disconnected. Detecting islanding is …

Micro Modeling Study Of Cathode/Electrolyte Interfacial Stresses For Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Xinfang Jin, Xingjian Xue

Faculty Publications

Delamination of the cathode/electrolyte interface is an important degradation phenomenon in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). While the thermal stress has been widely recognized as one of the major reasons for such delamination failures, the role of chemical stress does not receive too much attention. In this paper, a micro-model is developed to study the cathode/electrolyte interfacial stresses, coupling oxygen ion transport process with structural mechanics. Results indicate that the distributions of chemical stress are very complicated at the cathode/electrolyte interface and show different patterns from those of thermal stress. The maximum principal stresses take place at the cathode/electrolyte interface …

The Effect Of Platinum In Nafion For Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Elliott Korb

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Under the growing pressure to veer from fossil fuel use to more environmentally conscious energy options, fuel cells of all kinds are coming to the forefront as viable options to replace part of fossil fuels’ present role. This effort not only includes automobiles, but fuel cells are also emerging as options for emergency generators, modern war ships and submarines, portable charging devices, and space applications. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are likely to dominate the smaller or more domestic applications of fuel cell technology. For the membrane, DuPont’s polymer Nafion was used in varying sizes. Using small testing platforms …

Intermediate Band Solar Cells Based On Inas Quantum Dots Embedded In Ingaas Quantum Well, Ramesh Vasan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Intermediate band solar cells based on quantum dots and quantum wells with anti-reflection coating are investigated in this thesis. The demand for high efficient solar cells as an alternate source of energy is the main motivation for this research project. Intermediate band solar cells based on quantum dots were the subject of intensive research in recent years. High power conversion efficiency was predicted from InAs/GaAs intermediate band solar cells as the presence of InAs quantum dots increased the absorption below the band gap of the host material.

In this thesis, an attempt has been made to further increase the absorption …

Synthesis Of Optimized Inp/Zns Core/Shell Nanocrystals And Tio2 Nanotubes For Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells, Seungyong Lee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Synthesis of InP/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals and TiO₂ nanotubes and the optimization study to couple them together were explored for quantum dot sensitized solar cells. Its intrinsic nontoxicity makes the direct band gap InP/ZnS core/shell be one of the most promising semiconductor nanocrystals for optoelectric applications, with the advantage of tuning the optical absorption range in the desired solar spectrum region. Highly luminescent and monodisperse InP/ZnS nanocrystals were synthesized in a non-coordinating solvent. By varying the synthesis scheme, different size InP/ZnS nanocrystals with emission peaks ranging from 520 nm to 620 nm were grown. For the purpose of ensuring air …

Energy-Efficient Smart Home System: Optimization Of Residential Electricity Load Management System, Sangeun Sarah Cho

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In this project, an algorithm for electrical load management in a hypothetical household setting is proposed, developed and simulated. There are two main goals for the algorithm; firstly, to minimize the total electricity cost when a variable pricing model is applied; secondly, to flatten the demand curve over 24 hours, which, when applied to real-life settings, will minimize investment costs for the utilities – including building more generation plants and transmission lines – as well as the total bill for customers. To simulate the algorithm, mathematical models for appliances are developed based on typical usage and operation patterns.