An Interdisciplinary Solar Energy Project

An HVAC course, previously offered to students in Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET), has been re-structured to include students in Building Construction Management (BCM). A large project is always an integral part of this course, creating a unique opportunity for collaboration between two distinctly different groups of Technology students. This cooperation is particularly beneficial because MET and BCM graduates frequently cross paths during their professional careers. Many MET graduates operate and service heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment that was originally specified and installed by BCM graduates. This paper discusses and evaluates student interactions during a solar energy renovation project that was completed in the Spring of 1996

Remotely Accessible Solar Energy Laboratory for High School Students

A remotely accessible solar energy laboratory has been developed for real-time experimentation using solar heating and photovoltaic equipment that is physically located at Purdue University. Indiana high school students are the first customers for this on-line resource. In addition to sensor data, the web-based laboratory includes lesson plans, tutorials, assessment questions, and a feedback utility. This project is helping science teachers meet new state science standards from the Indiana Department of Education, which call for hands-on laboratory activities and real time data analysis. Remotely accessed labs are becoming popular because they offer the opportunity for large numbers of students to learn from state-of-the-art equipment. The cost of expensive laboratory equipment is easier to justify if it can be widely used

International Partnership Using Remotely Accessed Labs

An international project between the Mechanical Engineering Technology Department at Purdue University and the HVAC Engineering Department at HTA Lucerne (Switzerland) is testing the limits of the remote access concept by creating a laboratory network that is separated by thousands of miles. Using web-enabled HVAC equipment, U.S. students are determining the performance and return on investment for a heat recovery system that is physically located in Switzerland. The converse is also true, Swiss students have access to a variety of equipment located in the U.S. This remote access project is a good example of a sustainable partnership that adds an international perspective to undergraduate education. Although a relatively small number of students have visited the other institution in person, larger numbers of U.S./Swiss students are recognizing the globalization of engineering practice during routine laboratory work

Improving Steam System Operation and Management

This paper documents the design and construction of a world-class steam system institute. Steam systems provide heat and energy for high performance buildings. However, incoming technicians have little to no technical education for steam systems and no steam institutes exist today. While new technicians are introduced to steam systems for 20 hours of in class sessions, there are little opportunities for hands on experience. Furthermore, steam systems, if not maintained properly, are dangerous and new personnel need hands on experience to ensure safety and adherence to standard protocol. A new world-class steam system institute will provide incoming technicians with knowledge of proper steam distribution, condensation, and return. The system will contain a smaller scale of all necessary components seen in the field. Not only examples of equipment, but also common mistakes made in typical steam systems, such as poorly pitched pipe, will be demonstrated. The design of the steam system includes common valves, heat exchangers, steam traps, flash tanks, regulators, automation, and more. With the knowledge of steam system components and common mistakes, new technicians will be able to provide more satisfactory operations and management reducing maintenance costs. Understanding processes, and incorrect practices, before entering the field, will improve the safety and smoothness of steam system operations in facilities. The state-of-the-art steam system institute will prepare students with a comprehensive understanding of a scaled-down steam system and confidence in the field

Energy Modeling of a Botanical Air Filter

According to the U.S. EPA Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors where indoor air is two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. Toxins in the built environment have been found to cause adverse physical and mental health effects on occupants and are estimated to cost the U.S. 125 billion dollar annually in lost productivity. To address this challenge a novel botanical air filter was developed for improving indoor air quality in buildings. The “Biowall” is envisioned as an integral part of the heating and cooling system for a home or small commercial building; where it will remove airborne contaminants by leveraging the natural ability of plants to metabolize harmful volatile organic compounds. This research evaluated a prototype Biowall in an environmental chamber where temperature, relative humidity and toxin levels were precisely monitored. A known amount of contaminant was introduced into the chamber and then its decay was monitored both with and without the botanical air filter. The results showed that the Biowall reduced VOC levels by 60% without having an adverse effect on the relative humidity of the occupied space. This data was used to develop and calibrate a thermodynamic model of the Biowall. Long term, this research could lead to the development of performance based standards for indoor air quality that save energy by reducing the amount of outdoor ventilation air used for maintaining high levels of indoor air quality

Evaluating Net-Zero Energy Houses from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011

The Solar Decathlon is a two year, international project where university students compete to design, build, and test energy-efficient, net-zero homes. By definition, net-zero energy houses annually produce as much electricity as they consume. The 2011 Solar Decathlon, held in Washington D.C., had 19 university teams from around the world. Unfortunately, many past Solar Decathlon houses have traditionally been very costly. However, the 2011 Solar Decathlon was the first competition to have an affordability contest. The affordability contest required each home to be valued under an estimated builder’s cost of $250,000, forcing the teams to select economically feasible solutions for creating net zero energy houses, finding super-efficient, solar- powered, and affordable houses can be done by evaluating the contests associated with the Solar Decathlon 2011. The main cost-effective and energy saving components were discovered by researching final competition scoring of each specific contest. Heat pump water heaters, properly sized photovoltaic arrays, and HVAC systems with proper dehumidification were the main findings of this research, fortunately, all of these findings can immediately be implemented into the design of net-zero energy housing with off-the-shelf products

Design of a Heat Pump Assisted Solar Thermal System

This paper outlines the design of an active solar thermal loop system that will be integrated with an air source heat pump hot water heater to provide highly efficient heating of a water/propylene glycol mixture. This system design uses solar energy when available, but reverts to the heat pump at night or during cloudy weather. This new design will be used for hydronic heating in the Applied Energy Laboratory, a teaching laboratory at Purdue University, but it is more generally applicable for a residential scale system that could be used for both hydronic heating and hot water production. This combined system should provide efficient heating at a fraction of the operating costs of competing electric, gas, or even heat pump water heaters. The initial cost of installing a similar system is currently relatively high, but it should be noted that the design is still in the prototype stage. The price should reduce dramatically when the system is commercialized. There are multiple applications where the production of heated fluid by a combined solar/heat pump hydronic system can be much more attractive than conventional heating methods. Construction and implementation of this proposed design will take place summer of 2014 and data collection will be pursued afterwards

Microgrids for Improving Manufacturing Energy Efficiency

Thirty-one percent of annual energy consumption in the United States occurs within the industrial sector, where manufacturing processes account for the largest amount of energy consumption and carbon emissions. For this reason, energy efficiency in manufacturing facilities is increasingly important for reducing operating costs and improving profits. Using microgrids to generate local sustainable power should reduce energy consumption from the main utility grid along with energy costs and carbon emissions. Also, microgrids have the potential to serve as reliable energy generators in international locations where the utility grid is often unstable. For this research, a smart microgrid system was designed as part of an innovative load management option to improve energy utilization through active Demand-Side Management (DSM). An intelligent active DSM algorithm was developed to manage the intermittent nature of the microgrid and instantaneous demand of the site loads. The controlling algorithm required two input signals; one from the microgrid indicating the availability of renewable energy and another from the manufacturing process indicating energy use as a percent of peak production. Based on these inputs the algorithm had three modes of operation: normal (business as usual), curtailment (shutting off non-critical loads), and energy storage. The results show that active management of a manufacturing microgrid has the potential for saving energy and money by intelligent scheduling of process loads