Filtering by
- All Subjects: energy
- Creators: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
A novel concept for integration of flame-assisted fuel cells (FFC) with a gas turbine is analyzed in this paper. Six different fuels (CH4, C3H8, JP-4, JP-5, JP-10(L), and H2) are investigated for the analytical model of the FFC integrated gas turbine hybrid system. As equivalence ratio increases, the efficiency of the hybrid system increases initially then decreases because the decreasing flow rate of air begins to outweigh the increasing hydrogen concentration. This occurs at an equivalence ratio of 2 for CH4. The thermodynamic cycle is analyzed using a temperature entropy diagram and a pressure volume diagram. These thermodynamic diagrams show as equivalence ratio increases, the power generated by the turbine in the hybrid setup decreases. Thermodynamic analysis was performed to verify that energy is conserved and the total chemical energy going into the system was equal to the heat rejected by the system plus the power generated by the system. Of the six fuels, the hybrid system performs best with H2 as the fuel. The electrical efficiency with H2 is predicted to be 27%, CH4 is 24%, C3H8 is 22%, JP-4 is 21%, JP-5 is 20%, and JP-10(L) is 20%. When H2 fuel is used, the overall integrated system is predicted to be 24.5% more efficient than the standard gas turbine system. The integrated system is predicted to be 23.0% more efficient with CH4, 21.9% more efficient with C3H8, 22.7% more efficient with JP-4, 21.3% more efficient with JP-5, and 20.8% more efficient with JP-10(L). The sensitivity of the model is investigated using various fuel utilizations. When CH4 fuel is used, the integrated system is predicted to be 22.7% more efficient with a fuel utilization efficiency of 90% compared to that of 30%.
The first step in this analysis was collecting relevant data which includes: location, electricity rates, energy consumption, and existing assets. The data was entered into a program called HOMER. HOMER is a program which analyzes an electrical system and determines the best configuration and usage of assets to get the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE). In HOMER, five different analyses were performed. They reviewed the hospital’s energy usage over 25 years: the current situation, one of the current situation with added solar panels, and another where the solar panels have single axis tracking. The other two analyses created incentives to have more solar panels, one situation with net metering, and one with a sellback rate of 0.03 $/kWh. The result of the analysis concluded that the ideal situation would have solar panels with a capacity of 300 kW, and the LCOE in this situation will be 0.153 $/kWh. The analysis shows that investing in solar panels will save the hospital approximately $65,500 per year, but the initial investment of $910,000 only allows for a total savings of $61,253 over the life of the project. The analysis also shows that if the electricity company, Sonabel, eventually buys back electricity then net metering would be more profitable than reselling electricity for the hospital.
Solar panels will help the hospital save money over time, but they will not stop power outages from happening at the hospital. For the outages to stop affecting the hospital’s operations they will have to invest in an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). The UPS will power the hospital for the time between when the power goes out and when their generators are turning on which makes it an essential investment. This will stop outages from affecting the hospital, and if the power goes out during the day then the solar panels can help supplement the energy production which will take some of the strain from their generators.
The results of this study will be sent to officials at the hospital and they can decide if the large initial investment justifies the savings. If the solar panels and UPS can save one life, then maybe the large initial investment is worth it.
The objective of this report is to discover a skyhook’s ability to change the plane of another spacecraft’s orbit while ensuring that each vehicle’s orbital energy remains constant. Skyhooks are a proposed momentum exchange device in which a tether is attached to a counterweight at one end and at the other, a capturing device intended to intercept rendezvousing spacecraft. Trigonometric velocity vector relations, along with objective comparisons to traditionally proposed uses for skyhooks and gravity-assist maneuvers were responsible for the ultimate parameterization of the proposed energy neutral maneuver. From this methodology, it was determined that a spacecraft’s initial relative velocity vector must be perpendicular to, and rotated about the skyhook’s total velocity vector if it is to benefit from an energy neutral plane change maneuver. A quaternion was used to model the rotation of the incoming spacecraft’s relative velocity vector. The potential post-maneuver spacecraft orbits vary in their inclinations depending on the ratio between the skyhook and spacecraft’s total velocities at the point of rendezvous as defined by the parameter called the alpha criterion. For many cases, the proposed maneuver will serve as a desirable alternative to currently practiced propulsive plane change methods because it does not costly require a substantial amount of propellant. The proposed maneuver is also more accessible than alternative methods that involve gravity-assist and aerodynamic forces. Additionally, by avoiding orbital degradation through the achievement of unchanging total orbital energy, the skyhook will be able to continually and self-sustainably provide plane changes to any spacecraft that belong to orbits that abide by the identified parameters.
Dr. Ivan Ermanoski has been working towards creating a thermochemical reactor for the purposes of hydrogen production for several years. After testing the initial design, there were found to be several areas in which possible improvements could be made. It is the purpose of this thesis project to look over the shortcomings of the previous reactor design and make improvements. The primary focus of these improvements centers around increasing the heat retention of the reactor, with a secondary focus on improving the workability and ease of construction for the reactor.