Conference Session

Energy Conversion and Conservation Division Technical Session on Solar

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Hutzel, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Jan T. Lugowski, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

. Achieving these skills requires modernized teaching methodsthat engage students in open-ended assignments where students encounter uncertain data thatforces them to question the results of technical computations. These are some of the key reasonsfor a large energy transformation project underway in an Engineering Technology program. Thetransformation project crosses traditional course boundaries by highlighting similar energyconversion processes that occur in many different disciplines. As one example of the progress sofar, undergraduate students in a thermodynamics course assisted with the installation of an 8 kWsolar photovoltaic array on the roof of a campus building. More importantly, a web-basedgraphic interface was created so that future

Conference Session

Energy Conversion and Conservation Division Technical Session on Conservation and Optimization

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Farshid Zabihian, California State University, Sacramento

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

] and sometimes distinguishing them is not easy. The project-led education hasbeen very popular in engineering programs since the 1990s [2]. The project-based learning isextensively being used for teaching engineering design through capstone or senior designcourses. This is partly due to requirements of accreditation bodies [2].Considering the fact that teaching and research are two most important functions of highereducation systems, the integration of them has been an attractive idea. However, as reported byHealey [4], there are strong feeling among academicians on relationship between research andteaching. While some believe “university research often detracts from the quality ofteaching”[5], other stated “courses taught by those at the

Conference Session

Energy Conversion and Conservation Division Technical Session on Conservation and Optimization

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maher Shehadi, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

ToolAbstractOccupants’ behavior inside buildings is a vital parameter in determining the building energyconsumption. Occupancy density distribution is a wide uncertain parameter due to the difficultyin predicting the attendants’ behavior. Currently, occupancy detection tools and technologieshave been insufficient of determining the exact number of occupants and, thus, the spaceventilation requirements are not set at its optimized values.This capstone project was part of a bigger project conducted at Purdue Polytechnic Kokomo tobetter improve the energy consumption used for ventilation and AC in buildings. The objectiveof this capstone project was testing potential energy savings in an office space by using anoccupancy seat sensor. An experimental and

Conference Session

Energy Conversion and Conservation Division Technical Session on Energy Efficiency and Power Grid Security

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George D. Ford, Western Carolina University; Hayrettin B. Karayaka, Western Carolina University; Sung Joon Suk, Western Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

hands-on experience during the two-semester senior capstone project. [1]DiscussionThe turbine system inspected consists of four water-powered, impulse type turbines connected toabout 1320 feet of 8-inch seamless black plastic pipe. The pipe inlet provides 98 feet of head(42.2 psig) to power the turbines. The turbines provide a certain wattage generation based upondelivered water flow at a specific pressure, see Table 1. The higher the water flow and pressure,the higher the turbine wattage output. The turbines appear to operate correctly, but the supplywater pressure was measured to be less than optimum, affecting the turbine wattage output.Maximum output for each turbine is 1900 watts each, but for the system as installed, 1000 wattseach is

Conference Session

Energy Conversion and Conservation Division Best Papers

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jan T. Lugowski, Purdue University, West Lafayette; William Hutzel, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

thermodynamics course was re-imagined to present the overarchingenergy conversion topic in an integrated learning-in-context format, so that the learning occurredjust in time and the learning outcomes were tied to a practical hands-on experience to evaluate aheat exchanger. A survey to assess student learning showed that students 1) were more confidentin their technical knowledge after having completed this project and 2) preferred to have detailedinstructions to complete lab procedure (as opposed to working on their own).Energy TransformationHigher education has been going through a transformation of teaching in many disciplines [1] –[7]. The transformation helps recognize our interconnectedness with others [1], and that theinstructor must strike a