P08423: Solar Thermal Collector Test Stand
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Project Overview

With the growing importance in finding alternatives to fossil fuels to meet the world's energy demands there is increasing emphasis on renewable energy technologies. Solar thermal applications have had some successes in the past ranging from low temperature applications such as pool heating, preheating ventilation, and crop drying to moderate temperatures used for space and water heating to high temperature application used for electric power generation and process heat. The heart of all these systems is the solar thermal collector, which must be well characterized for proper system design. This project will develop a test stand to measure the performance of liquid based solar thermal collectors in the spirit of the ASTM ANSI/ASHRAE 93-1986 and ANSI/ASHRAE 96-1980 solar collector testing standards. The primary goal of the project will be to design, build, and test a solar thermal test stand that can be used as an educational tool in several courses offered in RIT's Mechanical Engineering Department such as Cornerstone Design, Thermal Fluids Labs, Contemporary Issues in Energy and the Environment, and Renewable Energy System Design.

Image:Solar_Test_Stand.jpg

Administrative Information

Project Name
Solar Thermal Collector Test Stand
Project Number
P08423
Project Family
P07420 - Sustainable Technologies for the RIT Campus
Track
Sustainable Products, Systems, and Technologies
Start Term
2007-2
End Term
2007-3
Faculty Guide
Rob Stevens
Faculty Consultant
John Wellin
Graduate Teaching Assistant
TBD
Primary Customer
Ed Hensel, RIT ME Department
Customer contact information
Dr. Hensel
e-mail: echeme@rit.edu Office: 9-2203 Phone: 585-475-2162

Team Documents

ANSI/ASHRAE 93-2003 "Methods of Testing to Determine the Thermal Performance of Solar Collectors" (Library failed to notify upon arrival, scan and upload into private directory)

ANSI/ASHRAE 93-1986 (RA91) glazed solar collector and ANSI/ASHRAE 96-1980 (RA89) for unglazed solar collector testing standard.

Florida Solar Energy Center Standard 102-05 http://inactive.fsec.ucf.edu/stds/st/pdf/FSECstd_102-05.pdf

Focus on Energy: Flat Plate Collector Testing Procedures http://sel.me.wisc.edu/research/coltest/literature/sel/report5.pdf

Planning

Mission Statement

Staffing Requirements

Intellectual Property Considerations

Preliminary Work Breakdown Structure

Team Values and Norms

Grading and Assessment Scheme

Required Resources

Concept Development

Identify Customer Needs

Establish Target Specifications

Generate Product Concepts

Select Product Concept(s)

Test Product Concept(s)

Set Final Specifications

System Level Design

Product Architecture

Detail Design

Design for Manufacturing and Assembly

Robust Design

Design for the Environment and Sustainability

Design for Reliability

Design for Safety

Testing and Refinement

Prototyping

Published Documents

As you conclude the project, include links to all of your finished and fully polished documents here. The previous sections of the web site contain the entire design history of your project. This section contains the finished products. Add more links as needed.

Concept Design Review Documents (SD I)

Detailed Design Review Documents (SD I)

Managerial Design Review Presentation (SD I)

Technical Conference Publication (SD II)

Poster Publication (SD II)

Managerial Design Review Presentation (SD II)

Photo Gallery