Energy Systems Commons^™

Numerical Investigation Of The Thermal Performance Of An Axially Rotating Internally Finned Receiver Tube Of A Parabolic Trough Concentrator, Andrew S. Tanious,, Ahmed A. Abdel-Rehim

Mechanical Engineering

Enhancement of the thermal performance of the parabolic trough receiver tube is one of the approaches to energy sustainability. In the present work, the thermal performance of an axially rotating receiver tube equipped with internal flat longitudinal fins is studied. The effects of both the fin height and the rate of axial rotation are investigated at low values of axial Reynold’s number. The numerical analysis is held at various rotation rates using ANSYS Fluent. The numerical findings showed that the effect of the axial rotation on the internally finned receiver tube is not significant yet negative where a maximum reduction …

Modeling, Simulation, And Testing Of Sweeping Convection, Amir Kiaee

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the new convection heat transfer concept of sweeping convection, using large particles flowing with a fluid in a channel, is considered. This novel concept is inspired by the gas exchange process in alveolar capillaries, where red blood cells (RBCs) flow with blood plasma, yielding very high gas transfer efficiency. An important characteristic of alveolar capillary blood flow, believed to be related to the high efficiency of the lungs, is the snug fitting of the RBCs into the capillaries. This tight fitting sets the RBCs (particles) acting like pistons as they flow downstream with the plasma (fluid), facilitating …

Potential Energy Generation From Agricultural Residue In Indonesia, Adrian Rizqi Irhamna

International Programs

Indonesia has great potential of biomass sources from their agricultural residue, which can potentially be used for alternative energy generation. This preliminary research explores the most suitable technology for energy generation from agricultural residue and its challenge for application in Indonesia. The study showed that biomass utilization via the direct combustion process is recommended for energy generation. It is also reported that the pretreatment process of drying and washing, are required to increase the fuel quality and plant efficiency.

Study Of Heat Transfer And Friction Loss Of Nanofluid Suspension Flow In Square Pipe Heat Exchanger, Krishnan Jayprasanth

Student Works (2020-2029)

An experimentational analysis was done to evaluate heat transfer features of graphene oxide (GO) nanofluid inside the cross section of square cross tube that was exposed to a uniform constant heat flux of the test segments. Lately huge figures of researches have been are proceeded out to examine the outcome of nanofluid in augmentation of the heat transfer rate in numerous heat exchangers particularly using hummer method to attain GO. In this case, advanced hummer method was used to obtain GO and further analyses the effect of the nanofluids. The viscosity and thermal conductivity for the (GO) nanofluids at the …

Kinetic Study Of In-Pipe Water Flow For Power Generation, Surendaran Venuthan

Student Works (2020-2029)

In-pipe turbine generator has a potential to harvest energy from an existing water flow from distribution pipe which have natural and pumping capacity. That flow will be used to convert kinetic energy from the pipe to rotate the turbine. In turn, the turbine may be connected to a generator to produce electric power. The fact that the in-pipe turbine generator will be a useful energy harvesting tool with potential with industrial application is recommended by many scholars. However, there is a concern where there are many types and sizes of pipe that is readily used in the water works industry. …

Study Of Heat Transfer And Friction Loss Of Nanofluid Suspension Flow In Circular Pipe Heat Exchanger, Ramadas Sandru

Student Works (2020-2029)

This stated experiment focused on the study of convective heat transfer and friction loss in a circular flow passage for Graphene oxide-based nanofluids which are consist of Graphene Oxide/Distilled water with their different wt. % concentrations. These GO/DW based nanofluids where been prepared by using a facile two-step method, while the GO particles were synthesized by a modified hummer method. Four different (0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1 wt. %) were produced by dispersing graphene particles in distilled water under high probe sonication. The GO/DW based nanofluids flowing in a horizontal shell and tube heat exchanger counter flow under turbulent flow …

What Difference Does A Catalyst Make?, Tammy Guthrie, Mike Jackson, Holly Haney

High School Lesson Plans

Students will use different catalysts for the decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide, to determine if different catalysts affect the energy that is generated during the reaction.

Portable Calorimeter For Fire Experiments, Kayla Collins, Kara Hewson, Christopher Chen, Joel Keddie

Mechanical Engineering

Executive Summary

An oxygen consumption calorimeter works by measuring the heat release rate of a burning substance. This value is calculated by measuring the oxygen and byproducts in smoke from afire.In order to get these values two types of sensors were used. A non-dispersive infrared sensor (NDIR) that measured CO and CO2 and a zirconium O2 sensor were used to find their respective gas concentrations.The design to calculate the heat release rate is focused on maximizing sensor accuracy and portability while simplifying the manufacturing by using off-the-shelf components. The goal included making the system simple to recreate and package in …

Computational Analysis Of A New Planar Mixing Layer Flame Configuration To Study Soot Inception, Carmen Ciardiello

Honors Scholar Theses

The production of soot is omnipresent in society today. Soot is the product of many of the combustion processes that provide the bulk of the usable energy throughout the world. Furthermore, soot particulate poses a great danger to both the environment and all forms of life on Earth. It has proven to pollute ecosystems, foster health problems for human beings, and degrade air quality [1].

These dangers make studying and understanding soot particulate paramount for improving the quality of life. Thus, this study introduces a new flame configuration for studying soot inception. Presently, various common flame configurations have been found …

The Application Of Evolutionary Algorithms In Multi-Objective Design And Optimization Of Air Cooled Heatsinks, Younis Osama Abdelsalam, Sajad Alimohammadi, Tim Persoons

Articles

Genetic algorithms (GAs) are considered to be one of the main types of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) and are being increasingly used in various engineering design applications. To a large extent, plate-fin heatsinks are used in the thermal management of compact electronic equipment and data centers. The shape optimization of the heatsinks is not rigorously investigated during the design process of high power electronics. Any improvements in the effectiveness of the heatsinks impact the energy consumed by large-scale information communication technology (ICT) facilities including data centers and telecommunication systems and promote a more sustainable use of raw materials. This paper investigates …

Effect Of Chromium Trioxide Coating On The Thermal Performance Of Solar Thermal Collector, Èkram Hadi Alaskaree, Osamah Raad Skheel Alkhafaji, Nizar F. O. Al-Muhsen

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

This paper compared the thermal performance of two solar collectors. The first collector is coated by a dark black absorbent solar collector, and the second one coated by the chromium trioxide. The results of the second collector show a better selectivity in terms of greater radiation absorption, and less emission compared to the first collector. At the minimum solar irradiance time, the absorbed energy is increased from 908.28J to 1221.5J, and the thermal efficiency is improved from 37.3% to 50.1% when the chromium trioxide coating is used. Besides, at the maximum solar irradiance time, the absorbed energy is increased from …

Dartmouth Formula Racing: Full Electric Battery System Design, Matt Gardner, Jacob Hagler, Ruthie Nordhoff, Otto Salmi

ENGS 89/90 Reports

Dartmouth Formula Racing (DFR) lacked an electrical energy storage system that was Formula Hybrid rules-compliant, optimized for FH events, safe, reliable, and integrated with the rest of their vehicle. Additionally, the team lacked the academic and professional resources required to bring a thorough, analytical approach to the design, testing, and documentation of the new storage system. Our team designed and built a Lithium-Ion battery pack (accumulator) containing energy storage, active cooling, battery management and temperature monitoring systems, and control circuitry compatible with DFR’s vehicle. Collaboration throughout design, fabrication, assembly and testing processes ensured effective knowledge transfer to the DFR team.

Residential Thermal Storage And Cooling, Joao Marcelo Rocha Belmonte, Jacob Anderson, Andrew Clarke, Daphne Forester, Bianca Hardtke, Josh Hartman, Marc D. Compere

Sustainability Conference

No abstract provided.

Generation Of Premix Laminar Flame Speed Library, Sai Prashanth Kumar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Laminar flame speed is an essential parameter in measuring turbulent premixed combustion applied in Spark ignition engines. Instead of using power-law correlations, which is valid only for particular ranges, the procedure for generating a premixed laminar flame speed library is defined using MTU – Master mechanism for a wide range of charge mixture conditions inside an engine combustion chamber: Temperature (300 – 700 K), Pressure (1 – 70 bar) and reactant mixture composition of equivalence ratio (0.4 – 2.0) Laminar flame speed library is generated for methane. The mechanism's performance was improved by adjusting the pre-exponential factor of the …

Electrification Of Domestic Hot Water To Aid The Integration Of Renewable Energy In The California Grid, Alejandro Cervantes

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Water heating in residential buildings, also known as domestic hot water (DHW), is the third largest use of energy after appliances and space conditioning. About 90% of the residential buildings in the state use natural gas fueled water heaters, 6% use electricity, and a small percent use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or solar water heaters. The current energy use associated with residential water heating is small relative to the total amount of energy consumption in the residential building sector, but it is still a contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Improving hot water systems can be beneficial for bill customer …

Energetic And Exergetic Analysis Of A Heat Pipe Evacuated Tube Solar Collector Using Mwcnt/Water Nanofluid, Mahmoud Eltaweel, Ahmed A. Abdel-Rehim

Mechanical Engineering

Increasing the energy demand and the limited availability of conventional energy sources are the main challenges to secure the human future. Solar energy is an attractive source of energy to ensure the sustainability of energy in this world for now and for the future. Evacuated tube solar collector is a solar thermal collector mostly used for domestic applications. The replacement of the working fluid with nanofluid can enhance the heat transfer even for low temperature applications. The effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and water nanofluid as working fluid in evacuated tube solar collector is used to experimentally investigate the energy …

Internet Of Things In Sustainable Energy Systems, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

Our planet has abundant renewable and conventional energy resources but technological capability and capacity gaps coupled with water-energy needs limit the benefits of these resources to citizens. Through IoT technology solutions and state-of-the-art IoT sensing and communications approaches, the sustainable energy-related research and innovation can bring a revolution in this area. Moreover, by the leveraging current infrastructure, including renewable energy technologies, microgrids, and power-to-gas (P2G) hydrogen systems, the Internet of Things in sustainable energy systems can address challenges in energy security to the community, with a minimal trade-off to environment and culture. In this chapter, the IoT in sustainable energy …

High-Performance Zero Liquid Discharge (Zld) Treatment Of High-Salinity Brines Using A Multiple-Effect Absorption Distillation Concept, Sunil Pinnu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

State-of-the-art zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technologies are currently bound with either intensive use of high-grade electrical energy such as mechanical vacuum vapor compressors utilized in brine crystallizers or high capital cost with environmental concerns such as evaporation ponds. The present study aims to address these issues by an innovative desiccant-based ZLD system in which a multiple-effect distillation (MED) unit is uniquely embedded at the heart of an absorption-desorption system. Here, the MED and absorption systems are inherently coupled enabling both heat and mass transfer processes between a high-salinity water and a desiccant solution. The proposed technology employs an absorption-based thermally-driven …

Development Of An Activity-Based Windowing Approach To Evaluate Real-World Nox Emissions From Modern Medium And Heavy-Duty Diesel Trucks, Rasik Pondicherry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The introduction of in-use emissions regulations by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) requires medium-duty (MD) and heavy-duty (HD) engine manufacturers to demonstrate emissions compliance during in-fleet operation. In the United States (U.S.), the Not-to-Exceed (NTE) method is used to evaluate real-world emissions compliance from on-highway MD and HD trucks. Regulatory agencies, engine manufacturers and research entities have identified that the NTE method incorporates numerous exclusions and evaluates emissions compliance only under selective operating conditions that are favorable for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions efficiently. Such operation is typically encountered only …

Measured And Modeled Performance Of A Spring Dominant Free Piston Engine Generator, Ramanjaneya Mehar Baba Bade

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Free Piston Engine Generators (FPEG) directly convert the reciprocating piston motion into electricity by using a linear alternator. Unlike conventional engines with piston motion restricted by a crankshaft mechanism, the FPEG piston motion is constrained by the energy available in the system. When stiff springs are considered in the design, the FPEG system attains high frequency with high power and efficiency. The main objective of this research was to model stiff spring-assisted FPEG system dynamics and performance accurately, and to apply the modeling results to the development of a 1kW, spark ignited, natural gas fueled, FPEG experimental prototype. The experimental …

The Improvement Of The Solar Air Heater Duct By Wired Ribs Utilization, Osamah Raad Skheel Alkhafaji

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Abstract Heat transfer coefficient of the solar air heater duct (SAH) is low due increasing the thermal performance of its absorber. The present study tends to enhance the thermal characteristics of the SAH by adopting the wired ribs on the absorber under different ribs dimensions and arrangements. A rectangular duct is used to form the SAH with length L=1500mm, width w=100mm and height H=30mm. The used heat fluxes over the absorber are 1000W/m2 and 500W/m2 while the operated Reynolds number range is 708 ~ 6375. The utilized wired ribs are arranged over the absorber so as to develop a relative …

A Techno-Economic Analysis Of Current Cooling Techniques In Irish Data Centres, Lee Gibbons, Bryan Coyne, David Kennedy, Sajad Alimohammadi

Articles

This research is part of a comprehensive study to determine reformative actions for cooling regimes within the Irish data centre market. To achieve this goal, preliminary Exergy, Entropy change and operational cost analyses are used. It is determined that there is no clear advantage for using one cooling method over another without knowing the data centres secondary function (e.g. district heating, energy generation). Air cooling technology is a good candidate for a highly reliable system due to the low exhaust temperatures of 30°C. Two-phase immersion is a possibility for economically viable data centres where operational costs are to be minimised, …

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.

Biomethane Production From Distillery Wastewater, Zachary Christman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Distillery wastewater treatment is a great ecological problem, for example, India produces 2.7 billion liters of alcohol that results in 40 billion liters of wastewater. However, this material can be seen as a resource since 11 million cubic meters of biogas at 60% methane could be produced in addition to cleaning the water. The distillery has two options of what to do with the biogas. The first is to use the biogas to fuel the distillery making the production plant more energy efficient and removing some of the need to buy natural gas. The other is to upgrade the biogas …

Insulated Solar Electric Cooker With Phase Change Thermal Storage Medium, Justin Brett Unger, Nathan Robert Christler, Matthew Weeman, Marcus Edward Strutz

Mechanical Engineering

This final design review document outlines the senior design project carried out by a team of four mechanical engineering students at the California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo under the sponsorship of Dr. Peter Schwartz of the Cal Poly Physics department. The aim of this project was to improve upon the design of previously developed Insulated Solar Electric Cookers (ISECs) by adding a thermal storage system to allow for quicker cook times and the ability to cook food at non-peak solar hours. The team’s goal was to develop a working prototype utilizing a phase change medium as the …

Numerical Investigation Of Inclination On The Thermal Performance Of Porous Fin Heatsink Using Pseudospectral Collocation Method, George Oguntala, Gbeminiyi Sobamowo, Raed Abd-Alhameed, James Noras

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Numerical investigation of inclination effect on the thermal performance of a porous fin heat sink is presented. The developed thermal model is solved using pseudo-spectral collocation method (PSCM). Parametric studies are carried out using PSCM, and the thermal characterization of heat sink with the inclined porous fin of rectangular geometry is presented. Results show that heat sink of inclined porous fin exhibits higher thermal performance than heat sink of vertical porous fin operating under the same thermal conditions with the same geometrical configurations. Performance of inclined or tilted fin increases with decrease in length-thickness aspect ratio. However, increase in the …

Proposed Delivery And Return Water Temperatures For Dartmouth College Hot Water Network, Storm Mata

ENGS 86 Independent Projects (AB Students)

This study aimed to verify the viability of the planned hot water heating network at Dartmouth, and determine the necessary hot water radiator areas needed to satisfy the empirically-determined heat demand for buildings on campus, using 5 year of steam con- sumption data. In order to verify viability, the pressure and temperature of the delivery steam and return condensate of the current heating network were used to find the amount of heat delivered per pound of steam to campus. The above-mentioned steam consump- tion data were then used to find the max heat demand for the past five years and …

Optimization And Comparison Of Over-Expanded And Other High Efficiency Four-Stroke Spark-Ignited Boosted Engines, Zhuyong Yang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Recent fuel economy and emission regulations are the major concern of the research and development of modern internal combustion engine. Such technologies include variable valve timing (VVT), direct injection (DI), turbocharging, downsizing, and over-expanded cycle are used by many manufacturers to improve engine fuel economy or increase power density.

Current Atkinson cycle technology in the production engine is mainly realized by an advanced valvetrain system to reduce the effective compression ratio while maintaining the same expansion ratio. Another approach to realize over-expanded cycle engine is to utilize a multi-link cranktrain mechanism. Although the Atkinson cycle was originally patented in the …

Influence Of Micro-Nucleate Boiling On Annular Flow Regime Heat Transfer Coefficient Values And Flow Parameters – For High Heat-Flux Flow Boiling Of Water, Soroush Sepahyar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Analysis of results from steady and steady-in-the-mean high heat-flux (15 - 70 W/cm², with water as working fluid) shear driven annular flow-boiling experiments presented here - and low heat-flux (0.1- 1 W/cm², with FC-72 as working fluid) experiments presented elsewhere – together lead to a key conclusion. The conclusion is that heat carrying nucleation rates go often undetected by the typically used visualization approaches for flow boiling – as such flows often involve µm- to sub- µm scale bubble diameters in millimeter-scale ducts. These nucleation rates play a significant role in most of the so-called convective …

Laser Ablation Of Aluminum, Erika Nosal, Zachary Rahe, Arthur Pamboukis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The laser ablation of metal carries relevance in a variety of engineering industries. This includes, but is not limited to, processes such as micromachining, or implementation on aircraft weaponry. The latter application is the reasoning for why aluminum is the specific metal in consideration, as it is commonly used for the construction of aircraft components.

The scope of this project was to optimize the energy dispersed through laser ablation on aluminum by mathematical modeling. The transient conduction process in the aluminum was modeled using a 2-dimensional cylindrical coordinate system in both MATLAB and ANSYS/Fluent. These models were adopted to simulate …