Heat Transfer, Combustion Commons^™

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 …

Vaccine Cooler For The Global Poor, Benjamin J. Larson, Cooper E. Gibson, Eilbron Younan, Cody R. Volk

Mechanical Engineering

Cal Poly physics professors Peter Schwartz and Nathan Heston approached the Solar Freeze team with the problem that remote communities in Africa have limited access to modern-day medicine or vaccines. They suggested that we try and design a cooling device that can keep vaccines cold for multiple days at a time while the medicine is transported to remote villages. Currently, there are vaccine cooler products on the market, but most of them are very expensive or lack portability. Peter and Nate have tasked the Solar Freeze team to come up with a less expensive solution that is also portable and …

Portable Thermoelectric Refrigerator, Cassandra Danielle Beck, Ryan Theodore Gelinas, Joshua Michael Dimaggio, Zachary David Wilson

Mechanical Engineering

This project created a versatile thermoelectric refrigerator that can be used via a wall outlet. The product is durable and effective. The refrigerator is functional in any ambient temperature, and uses thermoelectric cooling, and work from a standard 120V power outlet. By understanding existing products’ limitations and strengths, this project produced a product that outperforms what’s currently on the market. Many of the existing products’ operating temperature is dependent on the ambient temperature of the surroundings, which is a large drawback. Additionally, most of them take a long time to reach their lowest temperature, around 3 hours. One team member, …

Transient Heat Storage Systems, Ian M. Sweeney, Brock M. Johnson, Todd K. Lundberg

Mechanical Engineering

Phase change materials (PCM) have many applications in transient cooling systems, including those with high transient heat loads and low duty cycles. These materials allow a system to remain within a narrow temperature range with a relatively low weight compared to conventional heat sinks or high-power cooling systems. This senior capstone project includes the design of a PCM based thermal energy storage system to integrate into an existing cooling loop, as well as a determination of viable PCM’s for the application. This report contains the necessary information to build the test apparatus.

Driver Cooling System, Joseph Fatin Bolous, Jake Donald Deboer, Alvin Theodore Lau

Mechanical Engineering

This document provides our Final Design Review (FDR) for the Driver Cooling System Project. It contains our background research, which includes current product research, technical research, and information on our sponsor’s needs as a customer as well our manufacturing process, test results, and final design. We created a problem statement to define the scope of the project, discuss sponsor and consumer needs and wants, and technical specifications. After brainstorming, we ultimately selected a thermoelectric cooling system (TEC) after presenting our Preliminary Design Report and Critical Design Report. We built the final prototype, as can be seen in the manufacturing plan, …

3-Dimensional Automated Heat Flux Calibration Device, Victor Raul Chacon, David Madison Morrisset, Alex Michael Schnorr, Kevin Scott

Mechanical Engineering

This document aims to describe the problems in current radiant heat source heat flux calibration techniques and the approach our team took to solve them through automation. The following sections outline the basic premise of the problem we addressed and who our end product benefited. The proceeding sections addresses the research that we have performed regarding heat flux measurements and automation. This research includes current solutions – mostly partial solutions for problems that are similar but not exactly like ours. Following the background research, we define objectives, with specific details that outline how we evaluated different possible solutions, and how …

Upgrading The Sr-30 Miniature Turbojet For Adaptable Exhaust, Shannon Ferreira, Erin Mcmurchie, Peter Pratt

Mechanical Engineering

The California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly, SLO) Aerospace Department is requesting a variable nozzle adaptation for their SR-30 turbojet engine. The nozzle is intended for laboratory use in sophomore and junior level courses to supplement instruction on the effects that exhaust behavior has on the performance of propulsion technologies. Topics covered during a performance study of the SR-30 turbojet engine will include, but are not limited to: Brayton Cycle analysis, turbojet operation in ideal and non-ideal test conditions, instrumentation limitations, and basic nozzle operation. The SR-30 turbojet engine is similar in design and operation to engines …

Heat Flow Characterization Of Speakers, Sabrina M. Gough, Lydia K. Hedge, Nicolas M. Jones

Mechanical Engineering

Statement of Confidentiality: The complete senior project report was submitted to the project advisor and sponsor. The results of this project are of a confidential nature and will not be published at this time.

Jfs Turbine Engine For Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Department, Dorian Capps, Zoe Kai Tuggle

Mechanical Engineering

This project concerns the development of a gas turbine engine laboratory activity for use in one of Cal Poly’s technical elective courses in the Mechanical Engineering Department, ME 444: Combustion Engine Design. The class is taught by Dr. Patrick Lemieux, who is also in charge of the on-campus engines lab where the turbine engine will be installed. The engine itself is a JFS-100-13A turboshaft engine that will be coupled to an electric dynamometer inside of the dyno test cell. Students taking the ME 444 class, likely starting in Winter Quarter of 2018, will be able to perform hands-on experiments using …

Additive Manufacturing For Post-Processing, Nathan D. Goodwin, Andrew Furmidge

Mechanical Engineering

Additive Manufacturing for Post Processing (AMPP) is a team comprised of two Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering students: Nathan Goodwin and Andrew Furmidge. The project is focused in the area of metal additive manufacturing (AM) machines, which are still a developing technology. Improvements have been made to the quality of the machines in the past years, but many limitations still exist. One of these is the inability to print parts that are larger than the build volume. In an effort to solve this problem, whole parts are divided into pieces that are printed individually. This team’s senior project is to create …

Mini High Temperature Test Unit Final Design Report, Kevin Liu, Juan P. Castillo

Mechanical Engineering

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has invested considerable effort to develop new standard for nuclear grade HEPA filters that can withstand high temperatures along with methods to optimally test not only the experimental filter media, but also new frame seals and media binders. Therefore, LLNL in collaboration with Cal Poly has designed and built a Mini High Temperature Testing Unit (MHTTU) to recreate conditions observed during a fire and to test different materials in an effective, inexpensive, regulated and reliable method. The existing prototype was unable to achieve the ideal testing conditions of 1000°F air at the low flow rates of …

Photovoltaic Cooking In The Developing World, Tyler Watkins, Christopher O'Day, Omar Arriaga

Mechanical Engineering

The challenge of clean cooking is faced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. We present a cooking technology consisting of a solar panel directly connected to an electric heater in a well-insulated chamber. Assuming continued decrease in solar panel prices, we anticipate that in a few decades Solar Electric Cooking technologies will be the most common cooking technology for the poor. Appropriate use of insulation reduces the power demand making low-power Insulated Solar Electric Cooking systems already cost competitive.

Final Design Report: Allergen Mixing Assistant (Ama) Micro-Refrigeration Redesigning, Mitchell Parks, Minwoo (Michael) Suh

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Allergen Mixing Assistant (AMA) by Xtract Solutions is a device designed to more “effectively refrigerate, organize, and mix allergenic extracts”. Although Xtract Solutions intended the product to be fully automated, the company has decided against its automation and declared its current design as a minimum viable product whose components are too expensive, difficult to source and complex. Therefore, Cal Poly AMA design team - Mitchell Parks and Minwoo Suh - has decided to replace these expensive components with much more economical alternatives as shown below:

Stirling cooler

→

Thermoelectric (Peltier) cooler

Custom Arduino

Controller Card

→

TEC Thermostat *** …

Biofuel Gasification For Residential Heating, Bryan Duke, Courtney Mcintosh, Jeron Hogan

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Fluid Analysis In Solar Heat Pipes, Ben Krumholz, Michael Agavo, William Dundon

Mechanical Engineering

Evacuated tube solar collectors are efficient systems that use heat pipes to facilitate heat transfer. They use incoming solar radiation to heat water. Professor Mason Medizade tasked the team with choosing a component of the system to research and test its influence on system performance. The team investigated the working fluid that runs through the heat pipes. Distilled water, acetone, and ethanol at a range of fill volumes form 1 mL to 11 mL were tested. The team's goal was to find a volume for each fluid to maximize performance of the system. Performance was defined as average temperature rise …

Me 350 Air Conditioning Experiment, Joshua Baida, Ellie Hallner, Tyler Eschenbach

Mechanical Engineering

In keeping with Cal Poly's focus on physically applying the concepts learned in the classroom, our team of engineering students has compiled a laboratory experiment displaying the basic thermodynamic cycle found in air conditioning systems. This vapor compression cycle is displayed on a visualization board that features all four major components of the system: the compressor, the evaporator, the condenser, and the throttling valve. Students will take measurements of temperature and pressure at each stage in the cycle and also gauge the power draw from the compressor to gain an understanding of how performance and electricity cost come into play …

Micro Debris Generator, Gordan Bradaric, Ross Byers, Stephen Quanci

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project team at Cal Poly consisting of Stephen Quanci, Gordan Bradaric, and Ross Byers has been commissioned by Erik Brown of Lawrence Livermore National Labs to create a way to reliably and consistently entrain microscopic particles into the hot HTTU flow. These particles will be used to compare the loading rates of new HEPA filters by measuring the pressure drop across the filter. The generated particles would simulate typical conditions in which these HEPA filters are expected to operate, namely fine ash. The particles used for loading the filter are intended to simulate the particulate reaching the LLNL …

Efficiency Testing Of An Electronic Speed Controller, Grace Cowell, Matthew Hudson, Marcus Pereira

Mechanical Engineering

This project required the development of a rig that could experimentally determine the efficiency of an Electronic Speed Controller (ESC). The selected design focuses on measuring the losses due to heat from the device and comparing this to its input power. The selected design is a flow rig that utilizes the heat equation q=ṁcpΔT. The rig provides a steady state measurement of the ESC heat output by passing a known mass flow rate of air across the ESC and measuring the temperature difference. It uses a flowmeter to determine ṁ, thermocouples to determine ΔT, and a table lookup to determine …

Final Project Report: Heliostat-Concentrator Solar Cooker, Ian Davison, Devin Mast

Mechanical Engineering

This document is the full report for the senior project of Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering students Ian Davison and Devin Mast. The report encompasses the full project process, including background research, identification of need, design requirements, design development, proposed design, design realization, changes to proposed design, and design verification. We were tasked with the design and manufacture of a “dual mirror” solar cooker to verify a concept for a new type of off-axis parabolic solar cooker conceived by Dr. Pete Schwartz, the sponsor of the senior project and a physics professor at Cal Poly. Previously, off-axis parabolic solar cookers have …

High Temperature Hepa Filter Test Unit Upgrades, Alexander Krippner, Ian Corcorran, Michael Burlando

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Active Fog Catcher, Michael Giglio, Carson Hand, William Beechinor, Kai Zhang

Mechanical Engineering

The active fog catching senior project team has been asked to develop a device that will harvest water from the atmosphere, namely fog, using active means. The project will be centered on maximizing water collection rate, with efficiency as a secondary concern. The final design utilizes a refrigeration system in which fans pull air across the cold evaporators inside of a duct. Water condenses on the evaporators and drain into a collection container. It was decided to focus on maximizing water collection at the cost of efficiency because the feasibility of actively harvesting fog must be proved before trying to …

Mhttu Implementation Final Project Report, Angelica Ramirez, Julian Samayoa, Matt Keeble

Mechanical Engineering

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has invested considerable effort in developing fireproof high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters. Due to the nature of LLNL’s research, the air leaving its lab facilities must be filtered before it is released into the atmosphere; thus, each laboratory is equipped with large banks of HEPA filters through which all internal air is exhausted. Over the years, however, fires have erupted in the labs and entire banks of HEPA filters have been destroyed, resulting in repairs and crucial downtime that prove costly.

Engineers and scientists alike have been seeking a permanent solution to this problem, and one …

Temperature Controlled Packaging Container For Biologics And Pharmaceuticals, Melinda Phan, Yufay Chow-Yee, Abraham Ho

Mechanical Engineering

Clinical Supplies Management, Inc. (CSM) provides clinical trial services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies by shipping pharmaceuticals to clinics and other patients. In winter 2014, CSM presented a temperature control packaging project to the Cal Poly Senior Project class. As a result, three Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Students were tasked to design, manufacture, and qualify a shipping container that would maintain ten 10 mL vials between 2-8°C for 96 hours. The final product would have to cost less to ship than the Credo Cube, CSM’s current temperature control packaging product. After considerable research and analysis on possible temperature control technologies, …

Formula Sae Cooling System Design, Lisa Van Den Berg, Brandon Lofaro

Mechanical Engineering

The overall objective of this senior project is to develop, via testing and analysis, a guided process that will aid the Cal Poly Formula SAE team in designing their cooling system. More specifically, a set of designed tests will yield the results necessary in determining a combination of fan and radiator that will achieve appropriate cooling.

A test section that has the capability of interfacing with both the wind tunnel in the Thermal Science Lab and a radiator will be used to facilitate the necessary experiments. The wind tunnel is powered by fan controlled by a variable frequency drive that …

Sodhana Environmental - Final Design Report, Eric Taylor, Corissa Bellis, Cody Perez, Cameron Zeller

Mechanical Engineering

A fully designed cost-effective, sustainable, toilet for the developing world.

Heat Transfer Experiment: Energy Conservation, Ben Ward, Brett Wallace, Ryan Waltman

Mechanical Engineering

This proposal, prepared for the Mechanical Engineering Department by the HTEC design team will redesign and replace the current energy conversion lab that is inaccurate and out of date. The team will evaluate methods of energy conversion, specifically using braking systems, as well as existing labs in order to design an accurate and relatable experiment for this lab. The project team will work with Professor Kim Shollenberger in order to design an experiment that demonstrates energy conversion through the first law of thermodynamics while utilizing a common device that is practical in student’s lives. The final result of this project …

Barbeque Grill Temperature Distribution Design Improvement, Peter Gobell, Connor Mcgill, Thomas Willson

Mechanical Engineering

Team License to Grill set out to asses Bull Outdoor Products, Inc.’s barbeques and quantify the apparent uneven temperature distribution or “hot spots” and “cold spots” across the grill. This testing was accomplished with the design and fabrication of a test fixture allowing for accurate and repeatable temperature collection across the barbeque. With results that matched the sponsor’s claims of hot and cold spots, an engineering model was made using heat transfer and thermodynamic equations. Once the model somewhat resembled the experimental data, it was used to suggest different modifications that would allow for better temperature distribution. It was discovered …

High Temperature Filter Test Unit Upgrades, Blair Frandeen, Will Schill, Erick Shewmaker, Joshua Turgeon

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to improve the existing High Temperature Filter Test Unit (HTTU) by optimizing performance and adding new features. These features include viewing ports and a camera system for observation of tests, a leak detection system, and a flame impingement system. Additional considerations included improving the current operation of the HTTU by reducing test time and energy loss. The HTTU is designed to test High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters at temperatures up to 1300 ˚F, creating conditions which simulate a fire in a chemical processing facility. The HTTU was originally built as a Cal Poly …

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 …

Rocket Fuel Pressurization, Sean Green, Joe Marcinkowski, Andrew Nahab

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.