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.— . Session 2633

A Student Designed Instructional Cogeneration Laboratory

Ngo Dinh Thinh, Andrew Banta California State University, Sacramento

Abstract Student Design of the Cogeneration Plant

The Mechanical Engineering Department at California The design and construction of a senior project is State University, Sacramento (CSUS) has received a required of all students in the Mechanical Engineering $220,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, and Mechanical Engineering Technology programs at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Pacific Gas CSUS. The first semester is &voted to the design of the and Electric, and the CSUS to replace the aging steam project and the second semester to its construction and power plant in its Energy Systems laboratory with an testing. In the case of the cogeneration laboratory the updated cogeneration system. Three teams of students procedure was modified to have the students work on the have worked on this project for the last three semesters design as a continuing project. Design teams of six to from the initial design state to the selection of eight students have worked on the project for three components. This paper describes this special student semesters and one summer starting in the fall of 1993. project from initial design to the selection of the 75 kW gas turbine generator connected to an electrical load While the proposal to NSF outlined a design including a bank, the waste heat boiler, four heat exchangers, the gas turbine, a boiler, heat exchangers, an absorption absorption chiller, the existing cooling tower, and the cooler and air handler, with tentative sizes, there were computer based data acquisition system. many variations to be studied. During the first semester 18 students worked on developing alternative &signs of Introduction the system. A key question was the selection of turbine size and fuel as described below. As the project Cogeneration has gained world wide importance for progressed other question, some minor and some small scale energy production. Following this trend, in significant, arose. For example, the use of the electricity 1993 the Mechanical Engineering Department at generated was extensively studied by one group of California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), students. One member of this group has considerable undertook the design and construction of a cogeneration experience with an electrical utility and was a key player laboratory. The purpose of this scaled-down in designing an interconnection to the campus electric cogeneration plant is to allow students to conduct grid. The other option was to simply dissipate the experiments using current technology in conjunction with energy as heat in the load bank Ease of changing the the study of thermodynamics systems. This project has load and fears (probably unfounded) about causing surges provided an excellent learning environment for on the campus electrical system led to using the load Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering bank option. Technology students in their senior project classes; much of the design was completed by the students. By The prior experience of students proved very helpful designing an operating cogeneration plant the students when it came to developing a final design with vents, encountered “real world engineering problems, learned surge tanks, drain valves, etc. While being aware of a about several individua1 components and calculated how need to include such items this is clearly an area where the integrated system would perform. the faculty investigators had limited practical experience.

---- . . - {tixi$j 1996 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings ‘Jlll# .

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Thinh, N. D., & Banta, A. (1996, June), A Student Designed Instructional Cogeneration Laboratory Paper presented at 1996 Annual Conference, Washington, District of Columbia. 10.18260/1-2--6296