Matching Items (7)
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- Creators: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
The global energy demand is expected to grow significantly in the next several decades and support for energy generation with high carbon emissions is continuing to decline. Alternative methods have gained interest, and wind energy has established itself as a viable source. Standard wind farms have limited room for growth and improvement, so wind energy has started to explore different directions. The urban environment is a potential direction for wind energy due to its proximity to the bulk of energy demand. CFD analysis has demonstrated that the presence of buildings can accelerate wind speeds between buildings and on rooftops. However, buildings generate areas of increased turbulence at their surface. The turbulence thickness and intensity vary with roof shape, building height, and building orientation. The analysis has concluded that good wind resource is possible in the urban environment in specific locations. With that, turbine selection becomes very important. A comparison has concluded that vertical axis wind turbines are more useful in the urban environment than horizontal axis wind turbines. Furthermore, building-augmented wind turbines are recommended because they are architecturally integrated into a building for the specific purpose of generating more energy. The research has concluded that large-scale generation in the urban environment is unlikely to be successful, but small-scale generation is quite viable. Continued research and investigation on urban wind energy is recommended.
ContributorsKlumpers, Ryan Scott (Author) / Calhoun, Ronald (Thesis director) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This project involved research into solar thermal and geothermal energy generation as possible solutions to the growing U.S. energy crisis. Background research into this topic revealed the effects of climate and environmental impacts as major variables in determining optimal states. Delving into thermodynamic engineering analyses, the main deliverables of this research were mathematical models to analyze plant efficiency improvements in order to optimize the cost of operating solar thermal and geothermal power plants. The project concludes with possible future research areas relating to this field.
ContributorsRattner, Andrew (Author) / Beyer, Luke (Co-author) / Kwon, Beomjin (Thesis director) / Wilbur, Joshua (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This project involved research into solar thermal and geothermal energy generation as possible solutions to the growing U.S. energy crisis. Background research into this topic revealed the effects of climate and environmental impacts as major variables in determining optimal states. Delving into thermodynamic engineering analyses, the main deliverables of this research were mathematical models to analyze plant efficiency improvements in order to optimize the cost of operating solar thermal and geothermal power plants. The project concludes with possible future research areas relating to this field.
ContributorsBeyer, Luke (Author) / Rattner, Andrew (Co-author) / Kwon, Beomjin (Thesis director) / Wilbur, Joshua (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
As the need for environmentally friendly and renewable fuel sources rises, many are considering alternative fuel sources, such as solar power. The device explored in this report uses solar power, in theory, to heat a metal oxide, cerium oxide, to a desired temperature. At specific temperatures and pressures, a reaction between an input gas, carbon dioxide or water vapor, and the metal oxide may produce fuel in the form of hydrogen or carbon monoxide. In order to reach the temperatures required by the reaction, a filament inside a high-temperature radiant heater must be heated to the desired temperature. In addition, the system’s pressure range must be satisfied. A pressure and temperature measurement device, as well as a voltage control, must be connected to an interface with a computer in order to monitor the pressure and temperature of different parts of the system. The cerium oxide element must also be constructed and placed inside the system. The desired shape of the cerium oxide material is a tube, to allow the flow of gas through the tubes and system and to provide mechanical strength. To construct the metal oxide tubes, they need to be extruded, dried, and sintered correctly. All the manufactured elements described serve an essential purpose in the system and are discussed further in this document.
This report focuses on the manufacturing of ceria tubes, the construction of a high-temperature radiant heater filament, and the implementation of a pressure measurement device. The manufacturing of ceria tubes includes the extrusion, the drying, and the sintering of the tubes. In addition, heating element filament construction consists of spot-welding certain metals together to create a device similar to that of a light bulb filament. Different methods were considered in each of these areas, and they are described in this report. All of the explorations in this document move towards the final device, a thermochemical reactor for the production of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) from water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
The results of this report indicate that there are several important manufacturing steps to create the most desirable results, in terms of tube manufacturing and heating element design. For the correct tube construction, they must be dried in a drying rack, and they must be sintered in V-groove plates. In addition, the results of the heating element manufacturing indicate that the ideal heating element filament needs to be simple in design (easily fixed), cost-effective, require little construction time, attach to the ends of the system easily, provide mechanical flexibility, and prevent the coil from touching the walls of the tube it lies in. Each aspect of the ideal elements, whether they are tubes or heating elements, is explored in this report.
This report focuses on the manufacturing of ceria tubes, the construction of a high-temperature radiant heater filament, and the implementation of a pressure measurement device. The manufacturing of ceria tubes includes the extrusion, the drying, and the sintering of the tubes. In addition, heating element filament construction consists of spot-welding certain metals together to create a device similar to that of a light bulb filament. Different methods were considered in each of these areas, and they are described in this report. All of the explorations in this document move towards the final device, a thermochemical reactor for the production of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) from water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
The results of this report indicate that there are several important manufacturing steps to create the most desirable results, in terms of tube manufacturing and heating element design. For the correct tube construction, they must be dried in a drying rack, and they must be sintered in V-groove plates. In addition, the results of the heating element manufacturing indicate that the ideal heating element filament needs to be simple in design (easily fixed), cost-effective, require little construction time, attach to the ends of the system easily, provide mechanical flexibility, and prevent the coil from touching the walls of the tube it lies in. Each aspect of the ideal elements, whether they are tubes or heating elements, is explored in this report.
ContributorsCaron, Danielle (Author) / Milcarek, Ryan (Thesis director) / Ermanoski, Ivan (Committee member) / Stechel, Ellen (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Ensuring that people across the globe have enough water and electricity are two large issues that continue to grow. This study performs a test on whether using solar photovoltaic modules to shade water can potentially help diminish the issues of water and power. Using the setup of a PV module shading water, a stand-alone PV module, and unshaded water, it was found that shading water can reduce evaporation and lower PV module operating temperature at the same time. Using averaged data from two days of testing, the volume per unit surface area of water that evaporated per hour was 0.319 cm3/cm2 less for the shaded water compared to the unshaded water. The evaporation rates found in the experiment are compared to those of Lake Mead to see the amount of water lost on a large scale. For the operating temperature of the PV module, the module used for shading had a consistently lower temperature than the stand-alone module. On the first day, the shading module had an average temperature 5.1 C lower than the stand-alone module average temperature. On day two, the shading module had an average temperature 3.4 C lower than the stand-alone module average temperature. Using average temperatures between the two days from 10:30am and 4:45pm, the average daily temperature of the panel used for shading was 4.5C less than the temperature of the stand-alone panel. These results prove water shading by solar PV modules to be effective in reducing evaporation and lowering module operating temperature. Last, suggestions for future studies are discussed, such as performance analysis of the PV modules in this setting, economic analysis of using PV modules as shading, and the isolation of the different factors of evaporation (temperature, wind speed, and humidity).
ContributorsLee, John C (Author) / Phelan, Patrick (Thesis director) / Roedel, Ronald (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The goal of the presented research is using Electro Field-assisted Nano Ink Writing(EF-NIW) to deposit poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate, or PEDOT, on a substrate to serve as a basis for designing high-efficiency, scalable solar cells. Through the analysis of parameters that affect electrospray deposition, methods to accurately produce a PEDOT film will be determined. With the finished, contingent film, tests for efficacy can be performed. The film will be analyzed for profilometry, determining the thickness of the film. The film will then be put up to a conductivity test.
ContributorsHutchins, John (Author) / Li, Xiangjia (Thesis director) / Zhu, Yizhen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2021-12
Description
Thermophotovoltaic energy conversion is seen as a viable option for efficiently converting heat to electricity. There are three key components to a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system: a heat source, a heat emitter and a photovoltaic (PV) cell. A heat source heats up the emitter which causes the emitter to release thermal radiation. The photons are absorbed by a PV cell when they are acting above the bandgap energy. The PV cell then generates electricity from this thermal radiation. In theory, efficiency of a TPV system can be well above 50%. In order for TPV to reach large-scale adaptation, an efficiency at or above 20% is needed. In this project, a high-temperature heater capable of reaching 1000K was developed. The heater involved a copper block machined to hold two cartridge heaters, as well as two thermocouples. It has an accompanying copper lid that can be screwed tight to the main block, with an emitter in between. There is an aperture to allow radiation through the casing towards the PV cell. Preliminary thermal analysis showed that the heater provides uniform temperature distribution across the emitter, which is necessary for proper radiation. A mounting system was also designed to implement the heater into the overall TPV system. Current work is being done to lower the radiation loss from the heater and mounting system, as well as implementation of all auxiliary components to begin testing. The maximum temperature of the heater, radiation heat flux received by the cell, and overall power output and efficiency of the system will be tested.
ContributorsDeffigos, Nikolas (Author) / Wang, Liping (Thesis director) / Milcarek, Ryan (Committee member) / Ni, Qing (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2021-12