Conference Session

Alternative-energy Laboratory Experiences

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura Genik, Michigan State University; Craig Somerton, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Connecting Lab Experiments to a Design ProjectIntroductionA senior level heat transfer laboratory course incorporates a major design and build projectcompetition which accounts for about 1/3 of the course. This project addresses the ABETMechanical Engineering Program Criteria that requires graduates to possess the ability to designin the thermal engineering area. The remaining 2/3 of the laboratory course consists of standardthermal engineering experiments on such topics as thermocouples, convection, and power plants.A unique feature of these standard experiments is the way in which they support the designproject. With the variety of experiments available, the students run

Conference Session

Sustainable-energy Education: Lessons Learned

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tom Ferguson, University of Minnesota, Duluth; Paul Weber, University of Minnesota, Duluth

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

disciplineshave a sound understanding of energy issues as they design their systems. Such facets includenot only conversion technology, but also resource availability, energy delivery, policy,reliability, and short and long-term financial, social, and environmental costs.This paper will describe class projects in energy conversion that attempt to raise awareness inthese areas, and do so with respect to a diverse group of senior and graduate engineeringstudents. For the projects, students chose a conversion technology primarily for electric powergeneration, wrote a paper outlining why they supported or opposed its implementation, and thenpresented their research to their peers. Meanwhile, the entire class was split up into groups ofshort and long term

Conference Session

Learning about Power Systems and Power Consumption

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carl Spezia, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

Ph.D. from SIUC in 1991 and 2002 respectively. He teaches courses in electric power and machinery, industrial automation, and electric circuits. His research interests include power systems economics, power markets, and electric energy management. Page 14.534.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Energy Management and Renewable Power Design Projects from a University Power GridAbstractProject-based learning is a recognized method for engaging students. Projects involvingindustrial power systems give students exposure to current methods and practices relevant

Conference Session

Sustainable-energy Education: Lessons Learned

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sharon deMonsabert, George Mason University; Jeremy Jessup, George Mason University; Lenna Storm, George Mason University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

of Sustainability in Higher Education. Page 14.532.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Encouraging Students to Eat French Fries? Lessons learned from student sustainability projectsAbstractGeorge Mason University (GMU) is one of approximately 500 universities that have endorsedthe American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) whichpromises to reduce carbon emissions. As a part of this challenge, GMU is undertaking manysteps to decrease its footprint including the production and use of biodiesel. As a studentengineering project, biodiesel generation on the

Conference Session

Solar, Wind, and Novel Energy-System Initiatives

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Samuel Lakeou, University of the District of Columbia; Ben Latigo, University of the District of Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

AC 2009-765: ANATOMY OF A UNIVERSITY-SPONSORED SUCCESSFULHYBRID SOLAR- AND WIND-BASED RENEWABLE-ENERGY PROJECT INRURAL ETHIOPIASamuel Lakeou, University of the District of Columbia Dr. Samuel Lakeou is Chair of the Department of Electrical ENgineering at UDC. He is also Director of the Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy at UDC.Ben Latigo, University of the District of Columbia Dr. Ben O. Latigo is Dean of the School of Engineering and Apllied Sciences at UDC. Page 14.217.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009Anatomy of a University Sponsored Successful Hybrid Solar and Wind Based

Conference Session

Learning about Power Systems and Power Consumption

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mike Hay, University of Northern Iowa; Recayi 'Reg' Pecen

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

AC 2009-2411: A STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECT: MYTH AND FACTS ONINRUSH POWER CONSUMPTION AND MERCURY CONTENT OFINCANDESCENT VERSUS COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHTSMike Hay, University of Northern Iowa Mr. Mike Hay holds a BT in Industrial Technology/Mechanical Design from the University of Northern Iowa and an MA in Industrial Technology from the University of Northern Iowa. Mr. Hay has over 30 years of professional work experience in various Engineering positions and is listed on seven US patents. His graduate research was in planning optimum small-scale wind-electric systems. He has worked on several renewable energy and electric vehicle projects as well.Recayi "Reg" Pecen, University of Northern Iowa

Conference Session

Investigating Alternative-energy Concepts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Narayanan Komerath, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

Armageddon is upon us. Others hold that the recent risein energy prices is one of numerous transient oil price spikes2 driven by chance or evenmanipulation. Either way, the present situation is similar to the Sputnik launch in its potential toinspire concerted action towards the long-delayed dream of energy independence. Through mostof 2008 in US cities, the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline3 exceeded the projected pumpprice of the energy equivalent in hydrogen.Coupled with growing fears of GlobalWarming4 and the reality of carbon penalties5and credits6, this poses an excellent opportunityto bring college students and faculty into aproject-based learning environment whereeveryone wants to participate in achieving realresults. The intellectual

Conference Session

Solar, Wind, and Novel Energy-System Initiatives

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Recayi 'Reg' Pecen; Jill Humston, University of Northern Iowa

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

Awards, UNI. Dr. Pecen is an Engineering Technology Editor of American Journal of Undergraduate Research (AJUR). He has been serving as a reviewer on the IEEE Transactions on Electronics Packaging Manufacturing since 2001. Dr. Pecen has served on ASEE Engineering Technology Division (ETD) in Annual ASEE Conferences as a paper reviewer, session moderator, and co-moderator since 2002. He is elected to serve as an officer on ASEE Energy Conversion and Conservation Division and serving on advisory boards of International Sustainable World Project Olympiad (isweep.org) and International Hydrogen Energy Congress.Jill Humston, University of Northern Iowa Jill Humston, Ph.D., is an

Conference Session

Sustainable Education and the Environment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elaine Scott, Seattle Pacific University; John Lindberg, Seattle Pacific University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

developing countries to participate in this program to bring critical skills back to theirnative countries. Finally, as our own resources become limited in this country, the need forengineers to address issues related to sustainability will grow, and students from this programwill be well equipped to address this challenge here in the U.S. This program joins a growingnumber of program addressing sustainability and appropriate technology issues (e.g., theEngineering for Developing Communities program at Univ. of Colorado, Boulder.2)This paper is focused on development of the program’s learning outcomes, the resultingcurriculum development, the use of project-based courses, and program assessment.Program Learning OutcomesThe program learning outcomes

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig Somerton, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

agency that provides energy and environmentalinformation and services, a mechanical engineering capstone design team has taken on thechallenge of designing and implementing a heating system for the worms. In keeping with thetheme of the worm composting, it was decided that this heating system must utilize renewableand sustainable energy sources. This paper will share the design process and the details of thefinal design implementation. The project was unique in that it involved considerable interactionamong the mechanical engineering students, the staff of the non-profit community agency, andthe staff and students of Woodcreek Elementary School. The paper will share the lessonslearned through such interactions and will provide some guidance to

Conference Session

Investigating Alternative-energy Concepts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Faruk Yildiz, Sam Houston State University; Keith Coogler, Sam Houston State University; Dominick Fazarro, Sam Houston State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

electrical energy.Sources of ambient (environmental) energy were determined prior to design of the house in orderto construct a house of maximum efficiency from ambient energy sources as a purpose of thisresearch. This paper served to explain the first phase of the project which was to identify ambientenergy sources and group in specific categories. The sources identified and listed in the table wassupported by the literature review in academia and industry. The research works have beenconducted so far, support the idea of having specific energy sources to power the house. Theambient energy collected from different sources was characterized as high, medium, and lowpower sources. Energy generation from solar, wind, and hydroelectric power sources

Conference Session

Sustainable-energy Education: Lessons Learned

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Bass, Oregon Institute of Technology; Thomas White, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

AC 2009-689: CURRICULUM CHANGES RESULTING IN A NEW B.S. INRENEWABLE ENERGY ENGINEERINGRobert Bass, Oregon Institute of Technology Dr. Robert Bass is an assistant professor at the Oregon Institute of Technology, where he directs the Renewable Energy Engineering bachelors degree program (BSREE), the first engineering program of its kind in North America. He is also a member of the Oregon Renewable Energy Center, OREC, where he participates in undergraduate research projects concerning microhydro power generation, solar thermal absorption chillers and electrochemical production of hydrogen. In addition to running the BSREE program, Dr. Bass also specializes in teaching courses in

Conference Session

Sustainable-energy Education: Lessons Learned

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linfeng Zhang, University of Bridgeport; Xingguo Xiong, University of Bridgeport; Junling Hu, University of Bridgeport

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

solar cells 2 weeks: power deliveringThis part may be difficult to most of the students and it will cover some basic knowledge inpower electronics, such as DC Regulation and Voltage Conversion, Inverters, Fuel Cell/PV cellor Capacitor Hybrid Systems Page 14.752.6In the teaching of the above contents, discussions in the class are helpful to ensure that studentsare not overwhelmed by the multidisciplinary material or the course pace, thus they can followthe lecture notes with strong interest. In the mean time, the feedback from the discussion is veryhelpful to improve the course design, especially in the homework and project

Conference Session

Computer Applications in Energy Conversion

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Liping Guo, Northern Illinois University; Paul Curtis, Northern Illinois University; Andrew Barendregt, Northern Illinois University; Anthony Surillo, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

of Phi Kappa Phi.Paul Curtis, Northern Illinois UniversityAndrew Barendregt, Northern Illinois UniversityAnthony Surillo , Northern Illinois University Page 14.122.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Design and Implementation of A Sun Tracking Solar Power SystemABSTRACTA senior design project is an integral part of the undergraduate engineering technologydegree program requirements at a four-year engineering technology institution. Allstudents are required to complete a two-semester long (4 credit hours) senior designproject. Three electrical engineering technology undergraduate students formed a seniordesign project

Conference Session

Alternative-energy Laboratory Experiences

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anurag Srivastava, Mississippi State University; Noel Schulz, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

Digital Simulator (RTDS) is an effective tool for modeling andsimulation of power and control systems. RTDS hardware employs high-speed DSP (digitalsignal processor) chips, operating in parallel, to compute simulation results with simulation stepsizes as small as two microseconds. This paper discusses projects and activities used in bothteaching and research activities to provide exposure of the Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS)for power system applications.IntroductionThe approach to teaching traditional power system topics needs to be revisited to ensure that thenew graduates are equipped with the required knowledge needed in a more competitive industry.Also these new pedagogical approaches need to renew interest in power engineering to

Conference Session

Sustainable Education and the Environment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Omer Onar, Illinois Institute of Technology; Alireza Khaligh, Illinois Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

AC 2009-649: AN ENERGY-HARVESTING CURRICULUM DEVELOPED ANDOFFERED AT THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYOmer Onar, Illinois Institute of Technology (IEEE S’05) received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from Yildiz Technical University, Turkey, in 2004 and 2006 respectively. He was a research scholar in Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of South Alabama (USA) from August 2005 to August 2006 and involved US Department of Energy projects based on power management for fuel cell applications. Currently, he is a doctoral research assistant at the Energy Harvesting and Renewable Energies Laboratory (EHREL) at the Electric Power and Power Electronics Center

Conference Session

Investigating Alternative-energy Concepts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Mark Jansson, Rowan University; Ulrich Schwabe, Rowan University; Kevin Bellomo - Whitten, Rowan University; Jonathan Bucca, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

incorporates their new amorphous silicon modules which Page 14.210.2promise lower losses of performance in higher temperatures when compared to conventionalsolar modules. Seeing it as a great opportunity for an additional clinic project, Dr. Rowan alongwith his graduate student and four undergraduates added the project to their list of objectives.The first semester included the design and installation of the system including data collection forfuture analysis. In the fall 2008 semester, part of a clinic project entailed the analysis of thecollected data to give an insight into the operational efficiency of the new module type versustwo existing

Conference Session

Sustainable Education and the Environment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roger Beardsley, Central Washington University; Stephen Morton, Central Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

Page 14.437.7 2007 No Data No Data 1710 (Projected)Table 5: Energy Intensity and CO2 Emissions of Domestic Air Travel Fiscal Estimated Passenger Passenger Miles per Estimated Air Travel Year Miles Traveled Metric Ton CO2 GHG footprint, MT CO2-e 2003-4 4,016,500 1466 2739 2004-5 2,971,500 1540 1930 2005-6 3,075,500 1595 1928 2006-7 3,742,200 1653 2264 2007-8 3,940,600 1710 (Projected) 2304Table 6: CWU Air Travel CO2-e Emission EstimatesTables 5 & 6 show

Conference Session

Learning about Power Systems and Power Consumption

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kala Meah, York College of Pennsylvania; Wayne Blanding, York College of Pennsylvania

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

installed around the globe in more than 100 projects and over 25,000 MW ofadditional HVDC transmission capacity is under construction. The HVDC system is suitable forinterconnecting two asynchronous power systems, as well as for undersea and undergroundelectric transmission systems. For bulk power transmission over long distances, HVDC systemsare less expensive and suffer lower losses compared to high voltage alternating current (HVAC)transmission systems. Multi-terminal HVDC systems may provide a better alternative forunderground transmission systems in urban areas and large cities. As a power systems engineer itis important to have a basic understanding of HVDC transmission system operation, controlfeatures, advantages and disadvantages compared

Conference Session

Computer Applications in Energy Conversion

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Faruk Yildiz, Sam Houston State University; Ayhan Zora, Deere and Company

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

thus the students are given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with theoperation of software packages that most likely they will use after they join the workforce. Asubstantial portion of the classroom projects in engineering technology curriculum that requirethe use of advanced software tools has been increased in many higher institutions for bothundergraduate and graduate levels.Emerging virtual applications may enhance understanding both theoretical and appliedexperiences of engineering technology students by supporting laboratory experiments. Easy5,AMESim are some of the well known system modeling, analyzing, and simulation software toolsthat offer solutions to many problems in mechanical, hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical

Conference Session

Solar, Wind, and Novel Energy-System Initiatives

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Faruk Yildiz, Sam Houston State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

analyticalcomparisons. The steps of investigation of hydraulic door closer, door opening/closing phases,selection of a viable storage device, and camera integration have been conducted by seniorelectronics major students. Each student spent approximately 8 hours in the Electronics lab in the___________ Building at ________ State University. Progress meetings were scheduled everyWednesday to discuss issues and problems that encountered during research with courseinstructor. Some of the students spent their own money to purchase parts to help the project. Thedevices in the Electronics lab used for this experimental research project. Also, students wereprovided easy access to the lab any time during the day

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Max Rabiee, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

Engineering Education ̇ Traveling Energy Education Exhibition in cooperation with the Cincinnati Museum Center ̇ Development of permanent Energy Education Exhibition at the Cincinnati Museum Center ̇ Technology conferences for alternative energy and industry development ̇ Career center for power generation industry ̇ Career center for power distribution and control industry ̇ Community Outreach for conservation projects – Cincinnati Go Green effort Ü CAS Online – expansion – provide course content for distance learning in this sectorFuture Plans:Duke Energy and the UC College of Applied Science have a demonstrated long and