Thermo Fluid Systems Assignment

PDE20001 THERMOFLUID SYSTEMS - DESIGN ASSIGNMENT

2020 Semester 2

Due: Week 12 Submission: Via Canvas. Marks: 40% of the final mark for PDE20001. Submit the Faculty assignment cover sheet with your completed assignment.

BRIEF The management of energy consumption, and the greenhouse gas emissions that come from typical large-scale energy production processes, is becoming one of the defining challenges of our age. Many governments at all levels are looking for ways to reduce the greenhouse gas production from their energy infrastructure. Other than decommissioning fossil-fuel burning power plants, a primary focus is on increasing the efficiency of infrastructure to reduce energy consumption. Space conditioning, i.e, heating and cooling, make up a huge proportion of domestic energy use. In Victoria, around 50% of energy consumption is dedicated to space conditioning. More broadly, a recent study from the United Nations environment program and the International Energy Agency has estimated that globally, 460 billion tonnes - equivalent to 8 years of total current emissions - could be saved in the next four decades simply by improving the efficiency of cooling (unenvironment.org). The objective of this design assignment is to design or redesign a space with the goal of minimising its greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining the space’s condition and function. “Function” here means that the space continues to be able to serve its purpose (i.e. you can’t improve the insulation in a train carriage by simply covering all the windows).

THE ASSIGNMENT Imagine Swinburne has put out a call to tender for projects in the following areas of its business:

• the design of new flexible teaching rooms that can be reconfigured, even potentially being erected and pulled down depending on requirements

• the design of a new data centre to host a large computer system to accommodate better access to on-line and remote learning, OR the redesign of the existing OzSTAR supercomputer centre

• the design of custom train carriages for an express service between Flinders st station and Glen- ferrie station that would exclusively carry Swinburne students and staff in the event of prolonged social distancing.

The focus of these projects is the energy efficiency of the design. Which area, and the exact specifi- cation of the space, is up to you. You will need to produce a report with the following details:

• (4 marks) A basic outline of the space you will analyse with details such as

– its size and dimensions

– its intended orientation (ground level, full sun or shaded, moving speed or stationary, etc).

– critical specifications for heat transfer (wall and roof materials and construction)

• (20 marks) Active air-conditioning requirements in peak Melbourne summer conditions, and heating requirements in peak Melbourne winter conditions. This should

– provide a circuit diagram of the air-conditioning system

– provide the cooling and heating loads in the room (theory covered in week 8)

– specify at least the rate of cooling of the cooling units using psychrometry (theory for this is covered in week 8)

– specify the refrigeration units based on a p − H diagram (theory for this is covered in week 7)

– analyse the energy required to pump the air through at least a portion of the circuit (theory for this is covered in week 10).

• (10 marks) Any passive measures that your design includes to minimise the need for active heating and cooling. At a minimum this should include

– an analysis of the insulation to minimise heat transfer through the walls (theory for this is covered in weeks 5 and 6)

– n analysis including convective heat transfer if your space is exposed to wind or moving air (theory for this is covered in week 6).

• (6 marks) The specification for how you will power your air conditioning and heating and enough analysis to show

– it is at least feasible (i.e. if you specify solar panels you need to show that enough solar radiation reaches an area that is available somewhere on your building or at Swinburne).

– a comparison with the performance of a conventional diesel or petrol driven generator using a p − V diagram (theory for this is covered in week 4) - potentially outlining the benefit of how much CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas is avoided with your method.

You can use all the resources at your disposal, and discuss the project and your analyses with other students. However, your final report must be your own work, and its format must be able to make this clear - if you need to include hand-written calculations to do this, that is acceptable. Your report is due on the final day of the regular semester.