"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Tag: Mechanical Engineering
The Impact of Vehicle HVAC on Sustainability
1/10/18
“How can the HVAC systems of vehicles affect their gas-mileage?”
Although HVAC is typically seen as something for stationary environments, they are commonly implemented in personal vehicle systems as well. However, just like their building-oriented counterparts, vehicle HVAC consumes a massive amount of energy as well. As a result, when designing more efficient vehicles, We must take into account the impact of vehicle HVAC on sustainability.
Nozzles
09/09/17
“How can we control the flow of a fluid?”
Fluid flows can be used for a wide variety of processes, whether it be in regulating an HVAC system, maintaining a nuclear power plant, or operating a jet engine. However, sometimes we may have to modify the flow’s characteristics to fit our needs. So how can we accomplish this using our engineering mindset? Well, what if we were to make a tube of varying cross-sectional area that would force the fluid into changing? This is the fundamental idea behind a nozzle and is used in a wide range of engineering systems.
Vehicle to Building Integration
01/08/18
“How can we integrate electric vehicles with buildings energy systems?”
With the ascent of building integrated renewable energy, the need for storage is now more important than ever. However, current forms can be quite expensive and difficult to implement. So how can we use our engineering mindset to think outside of the box for this problem? Well, many people now own electric vehicles, which have onboard batteries. So what if we were to connect these batteries to homes, enabling a quick and portable storage solution for renewable energy? Well, this technology is known as Vehicle to Building Integration, and will be a hot topic in the coming decade. V2B is very similar to Vehicle to Grid Systems, except that they work with buildings instead of grids
Building Heating Loads
01/06/18
“What are the heating requirements of buildings?”
We know that the electricity needed by the building represents its energy load, but electricity is often not the only thing that a building requires. Furthermore, said building will also need heating and cooling. So how can we represent this in a quantitative fashion? Well, taking inspiration from energy loads, we can use a building energy load to show the information for heating or cooling in a building. The building energy load can be regulated through the use of an HVAC system.
Building Energy Loads
01/06/17
“What exactly draws energy in a building?”
The vast majority of people (in the developed world) spend the vast majority of their lives within a building. Whether it be the hospital they were born, the house they grew up in, or the school they attended, they were in some sort of edifice. And being modern society, we also use electricity within these buildings. And if we were to summate all of the energy-using technologies inside a building, then we would obtain the Building Energy Load. People are billed for how high their energy load is, so the less energy used the more money will be saved. Building Energy Loads also illustrate how important HVAC technology is since typically half of the energy supplied to a building is taken up by heating and cooling needs.
DOE VOLTTRON
01/05/17
“How can we make an application based framework for sensing and control?”
The modern world of engineering is evolving more and more towards the internet of things. However, most appliances nowadays use proprietary means to connect with each other. This makes building a truly open internet of things nearly impossible! However, the good people for the U.S Department of Energy want to fix this, specifically in the area of energy utilization with the use of a little technology known as VOLTTRON. VOLTTRON is an application framework that software developers can use to import and manage data and actions collected by devices. This allows for greater control over their efficiency and can support real-time agent-based communications. VOLTTRON is language agnostic, meaning that it can be written in any desired programming language, making it easier for developers to get their hands on it. VOLTTRON has a wide range of appliances, from utility research to building automation systems and even to vehicle-grid integration!
Remote Terminal Units
01/04/17
“How can we implement a distributed control system?”
Distributed Control Systems are famous for their ability to transmit data and control the physical world over distant ranges. However, how exactly can we implement these systems in real life, without making the components too expensive? Well, let’s use our scientific mindset to find out. We know that microcontrollers can send and receive information on a rapid basis. And these microcontrollers can then connect to one another to form a greater network. So what if we were to simply use these microcontrollers as the interface for distributed control systems? Well, these special microcontrollers are called Remote Terminal Units. Remote Terminal Units can be likened to the tentacles of an octopus, each a separate part of a grander control system.
How Local Wildlife Can Affect a Building’s Power
01/03/18
“How can a building’s energy be shut down by a little critter?”
Something very interesting happened at my school today. A little squirrel found its way into the central power line and decided to have a nibble on the insulation cord. Soon enough, (s)he had destroyed the connection, knocking out power to the entire university, even the cogeneration facilities! I think that this little event illustrates how local wildlife can affect a building’s power systems. To guard against such an event, construction managers add further insulation from the external world or apply animal repellent in the wires. If such an event does happen, then local generators, batteries, or solar panels can be placed to allow for backup power
BACnet
01/02/17
“What is the communications protocol for building automation systems?”
Building automation systems are amazing for optimizing building energy systems. However, in order to operate, they need their own communications protocol. So how can we use our engineering mindset to solve this problem? Well, after many years of research, the good engineers of ASHRAE have been able to develop a protocol known as BACnet. BACnet stands for Building Automation and Control network and is the standard for all BAS systems.
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