Conference Session

Outreach Projects: Promoting Energy Efficiency and Education in General

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashley Banaszek, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Richard H Hall, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Mehdi Ferdowsi, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

consisting of five components: active learning, visual learning, challenge, applicability, and interest. Further, students rated the project courses significantly more positive on these dimensions. Finally, students were found to be near the mid-point on the ILS active/reflective and sequential/global dimensions; while strongly favoring a visual and sensing style on the visual/verbal and sensing/intuiting dimensions respectively.IntroductionElectric drive vehicles, or EDVs, represent a technology that has gained much attention over thepast decade. With the fluctuations in fuel prices as well as more visible pollution and recentdisasters, many industries and consumers alike are realizing the need for alternative

Conference Session

Outreach Projects: Promoting Energy Efficiency and Education in General

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmed Cherif Megri, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

design of the building.Fig 1a. Natural ventilation: cool and warm air Fig 1b. Day-lighting reflections (OWP/P)The rendering of Figure 1a shows the flow of cool air in through the windows and upthrough the open atrium. The cool air is exchanged for the warm air that leaves throughthe wind tower. Also seen in this figure are the heat sinks made of concrete on theceilings of each level. The concave design allows for a greater surface area to absorb andexpel energy when needed.This building also uses the same system that is used to allow for passive ventilation toallow for natural lighting to enter and reflect in the building and atrium. The dual use ofthe system allows for savings in initial cost and ongoing costs through energyconservation

Conference Session

Energy Education and Industrial Partnership Needs

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patrick A. Tebbe, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

level. As we have seen at MSU there are also ahost of opportunities to partner with industry in the development of short courses or continuingeducation offerings.VI. Concluding ThoughtsThe future of HVAC design is exciting and more important to the future of the U.S., and theworld, than at any point in the past. However, this places great educational demands on thecurrent systems in place to produce qualified HVAC entry level engineers. The needs ofindustry are growing and are not likely to stop any time soon. Students must be prepared tostudy more topics and material during school and after hire. Educators must be prepared toupdate existing curriculums to reflect changes in the industry. They must also be willing toembrace new teaching

Conference Session

Sustainable Energy Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Chasnov, Cedarville University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

variety of purposes around campus the majority is allocated forheating and cooling the campus buildings. This can be observed in the correlation between meanmonthly temperature and electicity and gas demand (Figures 3 & 4). Electricity varies in directrelation with temperature, which reflects that the majority of electric demand is due to airconditioning during warm periods. In contrast, natural gas varies inversely with temperature asits primary use is for heating during cool periods. Both electricity and gas are required for otherpurposes and these values can be seen as the“off-season” demand. These baseline values Page 22.566.6indicate the

Conference Session

Alternative Energy Laboratory Experiences

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Narayanan M. Komerath, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

footprint compatible with roof terraces in the developing world. It uses a reflective trough of aluminum sheeting formed by a simple wooden truss, covered with 99% reflective Mylar to focusFigure 2: 2m Wind turbine with flexible blades sunlight onto copper tubes that form the heatingin wind tunnel testing element of a gaseous heat engine. System analyses came to the conclusion in Spring 2010 that for the operating temperature range and safety constraints of the device, an open-return air

Conference Session

Alternative Energy Laboratory Experiences

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Oxana S. Pantchenko, University of California, Santa Cruz; Daniel Scott Tate, University of California, Santa Cruz; Daniel O'Leary, University of California, Santa Cruz; Michael S. Isaacson, University of California, Santa Cruz; Ali DUPE Shakouri

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

engineering and science majors to social aspect of renewable energy sources. Inaddition, all students learned about the important social impact of our energy infrastructure andappreciated the social implementation issues associated with the new technologies.Due to a wide range of students’ backgrounds a large number of learning styles were expected.According to Richard Felder and Linda Silverman, there are 32 different learning styles and the Page 22.621.3usual methods of engineering education usually implement only five categories; intuitive,auditory, deductive, reflective and sequential1. A mismatch between preferred learning styles andcorresponding

Conference Session

Digital Simulation Tools in Energy Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura J. Genik, Michigan State University; Craig W. Somerton, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

to showcase the uses of MATLAB in the context ofengineering applications. Learning objectives were developed for the introduction of MATLABto the courseA2. In courses focused on learning the tool, rather then the application, students canbecome muddled in the nuances of the tool rather then its overall usefulness to the discipline.This is the impetus for adding this component to a required class in the sophomore level.Students were informed on the syllabus that certain assignments would be computer intensiveand the point value for these problems would reflect the amount of expected effort. It was also Page 22.1642.2noted on the homework

Conference Session

Investigating Alternative Energy Concepts

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehmet Sozen, Grand Valley State University; David Faasse

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

. This model relies on the inverse relationshipbetween reflected irradiance from the clouds and atmosphere back into space and groundirradiance which is the radiation that reaches the surface of the earth. For more details one canrefer to the users’ manual of NSRDB4.Figure 2 depicts the comparison of total irradiance on a horizontal surface obtained fromdifferent models and direct measurements. Figure 2 Comparison of total solar irradiance on a horizontal surface.The direct (beam) radiation component of this is shown in Fig. 3. This was obtained by using the Page 22.975.5following model for the fraction of diffuse radiation on a

Conference Session

Digital Simulation Tools in Energy Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saeed Sean Monemi, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

15% Presentation 5% Self Evaluation 5% Communication and team work 5% Availability 5% Reflection 5%ConclusionBy developing this course the students will have enough understandings and techniques to takeon the challenges that are facing today’s power distribution network systems. As the size of thesmart grid system grows, the problem of decision making on day to day operations becomesobvious. The scaling issue has presented a problem and therefore a

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew L. Gerhart, Lawrence Technological University; Robert W. Fletcher, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

conclusion of the Fall 2010 Semester, 74students had completed the EGE 5303 Energy and Environmental Management I course over theseven times it had been offered, although not all of those students were intending to complete theCEEM. In other words a few of those students were taking the CEEM-required course as aMechanical Engineering degree elective only.) Some of the 36 students completed an earlieriteration of the requirements wherein students were required to complete only one course, butneeded 18 months of experience and/or training instead of 12 months. The following results area reflection of both sets of students. Page 22.467.8An anonymous

Conference Session

Project-Based Education in Energy Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hassan Moghbelli, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, Department of Mathematics; Haitham Abu_Rub, Texas A&M University at Qatar, ECE Department

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

of installation causes loss of significant part of solar radiation energybecause of the permanent reflection. The angle between light and the collector surface, and alsothe time length of the solar day, sun appearance time on the top of the solar collector, is shorterthan duration of normal day especially in the summer. Figure 6 shows the effect of the lightangle on the generated current on a sample solar cell. Fig.6: Solar cell current variation due to variation of the sun light radiation angel on the surface of the solar cell [2]3.5 Using Moveable photovoltaic arrays to Increase EnergyIn contrast with the fixed PV array, the solar collector (or PV-array) which follows the

Conference Session

Project-Based Education in Energy Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Radian G. Belu, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

the manufacturer data sheets, application notes, and technical manuals andcomponent specifications. The experience of teamwork, prototype design and test, which wouldbe difficult to complete individually, gives the students a sense of satisfaction andaccomplishment that is often lacking in many engineering courses, not including projects.Furthermore, the design experience motivates student learning and develops skills required inindustry. The students were able to make satisfactory estimations and calculations of theseprojects. Their results reflect that they have understood well all the basic ingredients of themodeling techniques and design of the renewable energy systems. They were also very pleasedwith the approach used to teach them. Our

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Margaret B. Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

to 3.5, careful analytical reading declined from 4.2 to 3.4,and so on, where a rating of five reflects a strong agreement and one represents a strongdisagreement with the provided statement. To improve clarity of the survey question, the 2005 Page 22.1351.10question related to “lifelong learning abilities” was rewritten to refer to “independent learningabilities” and the opinion data declined most significantly on this question from 3.7 in 2005 to2.9 in 2008. Table 3. 2008 Student Opinions Regarding Technical Book Review Project (n=28) Question

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert W. Fletcher, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

Page 22.100.3these systems, especially fuel cells, would be the dominant energy technology for the near future,or for the next several years. Lawrence Tech faculty believed then and continues to believe that amosaic of alternative energy technologies will be used to meet the growing energy demands inthe coming years. This opinion is reflected in the courses developed. Lawrence Tech believedthat this would better educate the student and would provide a broader understanding of theenergy options available to our country.From late summer 2003 through the end of 2003 Lansing Community College, also aNextEnergy grant recipient coordinated a serious of DACUM information panels, comprised oftopic specific technical professional experts, to determine

Conference Session

Project-Based Education in Energy Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Youakim Kalaani, Georgia Southern University; William Trotter Nichols

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

large facilities served by 3-phase, 480 voltfeeders. The electricity-use for both centers are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 respectively andthe cost per kWh over 12 months period is depicted in Figure 3.Shading AnalysisShading on PV modules can cause a significant drop in energy production. The Solar Pathfinder,a popular instrument to measure shading was used in this study. It contains a convex transparentdome placed over a sun path chart. When properly oriented, the reflection of the dome provides acomprehensive solar/shade evaluation for the entire year. Several pictures were taken by thePathfinder from different sites of the proposed locations. Each picture was then analyzed by theSolar Pathfinder Assistant program to determine the site