"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Tag: Mechanical Engineering
Why Hydrogen Fuel Cells Work for Heavy Trucking
02/05/19
“Why might hydrogen fuels cells be the future of heavy trucking?”
In order to decarbonize heavy trucking freight transport, the replacement system needs to have high energy density and low weight so it doesn’t bog down the cars on their long rides. This way Hydrogen Fuel Cells would be perfect due to satisfying both of these. This is Why Hydrogen Fuel Cells Work for Heavy Trucking.
How a Toyota Hybrid System Works
01/30/19
“How does a Prius receive propulsion from both a battery and a conventional engine?”
Toyota Hybrid Systems are able to draw upon both its battery and internal combustion engine for propulsion. The motor is directly powered by the battery while the internal combustion moves a generator to produce electricity. These are both combined in the power split device that varies the energy from the engine between electrical generation and driving according to the current needs. The energy generated is regulated by a Power Control Unit. The extra energy is fed back into the Battery.
The engine and motor are used in different combinations depending on the needs of the moment. During the starting phase and low-speed driving, the motor is completely in control. During acceleration, the ICE is used for propulsion. During normal driving, the engine is used to charge the battery. During deceleration, regenerative braking is performed to charge the battery.
This is How a Toyota Hybrid System Works.
Image Credit: https://blog.toyota.co.uk
Recycling Rare Earth Minerals
01/28/19
“How can we reuse rare earth minerals?”
Rare Earth Minerals are vital for the operation of distributed energy technologies. But their extraction process is extremely pollutive and their supply is limited. But what if were to simply reuse them from old products? This way, we can increase the availability of their supply and help create a circular economy. As a result Recycling Rare Earth Minerals can be of great use to the world.
Image credit https://climate.nasa.gov
Prefabrication
01/23/19
“Can we complete a structure before bringing it over to the assemblage site?”
In traditional means of construction, components are fabricated on the assemblage site. But with the advent of technologies such as smart manufacturing and the internet of things, this is no longer necessary. Instead, structures can be built in a remote factory and then brought over for assemblage in a process known as Prefabrication. This can save on time, money, and carbon emissions.
Image credit media.bizj.us
Copper Losses
01/04/18
“How is electricity lost in copper?”
Current flow is one of the basis of operation for transformers. However, when the current will heat up the transformer, causing energy losses. These are known as Copper Losses and must be taken into account during transformer design.
Synchronous Compensators
01/02/18
“How can we use synchronous motors to stabilize the grid?”
Synchronous Motors are great for precision control applications. But their usage can be applied to grid stabilizations. Since voltage in a grid can fluctuate, by running synchronous motors at no-load speeds we can effectively have a load that adds inertia to the system, therefore mellowing out the voltage fluctuation. These devices are known as a Synchronous Compensators and are a vital part of the modern grid.
LNG Engines
12/22/18
“How can vehicles be powered by Liquid Nitrogen Gas?”
Most cars these days are powered by petroleum. But there exists technology which allows for Natural Gas to be used. This works by holding Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in a very cold (Between -140 and -130 degrees C) isolation chamber, pushing it out through a pressurized nozzle when desired, converting it to a gasified form, feeding it through a tank that changes the temperature and pressure to desired levels and then moving it into an Internal Combustion Engine. These are known as LNG Engines and may serve a transitory role before the mass advent of electric vehicles.
Accelerometers
12/13/18
“How can we measure the acceleration of an object?”
Acceleration can be one of the most important things for an engineer to measure. But we will need a tool to accomplish this. This is how we can use accelerometers, which measure the stresses on piezoelectric material to determine acceleration.
Gyroscopes
12/12/18
“How can we measure angular velocity and distance traveled?”
When working with machines that undergo angular movement such as motors, it is very useful to know their rotational velocity. This can be accomplished with the use of Gyroscopes. The velocity of a gyroscope can be integrated to find the distance traveled.
Image credit Wikipedia
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