On one of our classes on Friday, we were assigned to visit Boston’s Museum of Science (MOS) and to write a blog on some specific topics. It was not my first time visiting there; I have taking my little cousins to the museum more than three times, but I always learn something new every visit. You can always feel mesmerized every time you enter the place and can see how much knowledge you can absorb. The museum of science is a great way for kids to learn and have fun at the some time.

One of the topics that the professor assigned for us to write about was Innovative Engineers. I have chosen this topic because I know I will be benefiting from it and will increase my knowledge in the filed of engineering. When I have entered the section there were several brilliant engineers that have achieved a lot and have changed our world. I got inspired by a woman engineer her name is Helen Greiner. Helen Greiner not only has created a company, but she has created a community of academic and industry leaders.  People who are creating a technology that is saving lives and improving life experiences. Helen has taught me that dreams can become a reality. She believes that technology leaves a positive impact on society. She has inspired me to achieve my goals in life and become the excellent engineer I could.

Helen is the co founder of iRobot (Helen with one of the iRobot robot)

While walking to the MOS I have noticed that they have their own wind turbine to generate their power, which inspired me a lot. Knowing that they devote the museum for teaching the kids and at the same time using their knowledge to benefit themselves. Also I have seen the solar panel that the exhibit has and I was filed with joy; I know that was not my first time seeing it, but each time I see it I still feel joyful because it’s the only big real solar panel I have seen in my life. Furthermore, when I entered engineering I immediately devoted my interest to power. In addition, this section of the museum was very helpful to me. In the museum they have show us why wind and solar power are very important and where each source is located in the United State. Having to absorb this section in the museum I have learned for myself and I have fulfilled the assignment sheet. We have a saying in Arabic (I hit two birds with one stone) meaning that I have benefited my self and did my task at the same time.

It was a great trip to the museum of science with my friends. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot. The MOS visit was very informative and interesting overall and truly spectacular and impressive. By the time it was almost one a clock my stomach started making sounds and I have to shut it down by eating good food (silly) and because of that I left with my friends to get some food after finishing all the assignment that was required.

I have over slept at the day of the trip (Sad face!) and because of that I have not fully experienced the whole trip, but got some information about their lab through their website.

The MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory (MIT-NRL) is leading university laboratory that conducts in interdisciplinary research. MIT-NRL operates a 5 MW nuclear reactor in the United States. Our mission is to provide faculty and students from MIT and other institutions with both a state-of-the-art neutron source and the infrastructure required to facilitate to use of the reactor.

I have found some useful information from their brochure

– What are these? (Observe from left to right):

A) Reactor Top View.                                    B) Nuclear Reactor Core.

C) Reactor Floor View.                                  D) Reactor core with Cerenkov radiation.

E) Silicon area and Prompt Gamma Facility.

G) Control Panel for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy Irradiation

H) Fission Converter Process System I) The NRL control room

– Experimental facilities: The MITR operates at full power 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. A typical fuel cycle lasts about 6 weeks. Table 1 is summary of the neutron fluxes of the major experimental facilities.

Table 1.   MITR Neutron Flux Levels at 5 MW

Over all I have wanted to go badly, but sleep was to powerful to handle that morning, knowing that I had to spent all night writing our midterm exam (Ha Ha!).

President Obama has introduced a new national plan to confront the growing threat of the changing climate. Decades have pasted with carefully reviewed science, tells us our planet is changing in ways that will have profound impacts on the world we leave our children with. Already we know that the 12 warmest years on record history have all come in the last 15 years and the last year was the warmest in American history. While we know no single weather event is caused solely by climate change, we also know that in a world that’s getting warmer then it used to be, it, more extreme droughts, floods, wildfires, and hurricanes affect all weather events. Those who already feel the affects of a changing climate do not have time to deny it, they are busy dealing with it, the firefighters who brave longer wildfires seasons, the farmers who see crops wilted one year and washed with the next, western families worried about water that’s drying up; the costs of these events can be measures in lost lives, livelihoods, homes, businesses, and hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency services and disaster relief. American across the country are already paying the price of an action in higher food costs, insurance premiums, and the tab for rebuilding; so the question is not whether we need to act, the question is whether we will have the courage to act before it is to late.

The National Climate Action Plan that the president unveiled will cut carbon pollution, protect America from the impacts of climate change and lead the world in a coordinated assault on a changing climate. Therefore, to reduce carbon pollution the president have directed Environmental Protection Agency to work with stats and businesses to set new standards that put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution from our power plants. The president indicates that America will use more clean energy and waste less energy throughout its economy and to prepare from the impact of climate change that we cannot stop, but we can work with communities to build smarter more resilient infrastructure to protect our homes and businesses and withstand more powerful storms. America will lead global efforts to combat the threat of a changing climate by encouraging developing nations to transition to a cleaner sources of energy and by engaging our international partners in this pipe, while we comate businesses we also share plane too and we must all shoulder the responsibly for the future of America. Together this is the fight America can and will lead in the 21^st century, but it will require all of America’s citizens to do their part. America will need scientists to design new fuels and farmers to grow them, engineers to devise new technologies and businesses to make and sell, will need workers to man assembly lines that come with high-tech, zero carbon components and builders to have earned a place the foundation for a new, clean energy age. Will need to give a special care for people and communities unsettled by this transition and those of us in positions of responsibility will need to be less concerned with the judgment of special interests and well-connected donors and more concerned with the judgment of our children. If you agree with me I need us to act, educate our classmates and colleagues, our family and friends, speak up in our communities, remind everyone who represents you at every level of government that there is no contradiction between a sound environment and a strong economy and that sheltering future generation against the ravages of climate change is a prerequisite for us vote. We will be judged as a people, as a society, and as a country on where we go from here. The plan the president put forward to reduce carbon pollution and protect our country from the effects of climate change is the path we need to take and if we remember what is at stake the world we leave to our children I am convinced that this is a challenge that we will meet.

Sources:

– http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/climate-change

– http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org

– http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/president-obama-climate-change

To build or not to build the seventeen hundred mile Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Canadian oil from the northern border to American refineries on the Gulf Coast. The answer should be obvious when you consider that the US spends a million dollars a minute on OPEC oil and the pipelines have proven track record being the safest and the most economical means of transporting oil and natural gas. As the Business Manager of the UA Local 798, Danny Hendrix says: “We design it right, we build it right, we get the right contractors then we don’t have any problem, instead we will have a hundred years pipeline”.

To demonstrate that those who would build the Keystone XL have the skills to successfully complete this critical work, the organization responsible for training them made its case. Pipelines local 798 and the union representing workers in the pipe trades, invited the public in to witness the quality of its training and to hear how it will make the difference “first of all there’s not a better qualified or trained pipeline workforce in the world; we are the best we are pipelines that’s what we do that’s all we do” said the financial secretary of the UA local 798, David Barnett.

The United State currently spends almost one –half trillion dollars a year on oil from OPEC nations. Some say it helps to finance the other side in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Canada on the other hand is proven all and partner with common goals and values. Oil from keystone XL is projected to reduce consumption from OPEC by 12 to 15 percent. In the current economy job creation is the top priority, Keystone XL will put people to work, almost up to 13,0000 construction jobs. It is not jobs only it is generating tax revenue and generating income for everybody along the rout. Supporters at Keystone XL say it is the best way to ensure that America addresses current energy need while making the transition to alternative energy that is sustainable and green it’s. However, by stabilizing the economy in America, by providing jobs, by assuring that America have a reliable source of energy it can transition that technology and it can transition to the alternative sources of energy that is the future of America.

Sources:

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline

– http://www.foe.org/projects/climate-and-energy/tar-sands/keystone-xl-pipeline

-http://keystone-xl.com

First, I would say that the film was inserting to watch. It can actually makes you think deeply about how our future will be. Watching the film I think it is completely one sided. I was really disappointed to see almost no coverage of any interviews with experts about energy efficiency or renewable energy. For example, solar panels and wind turbine, when these are the cleanest, fastest and cheapest solutions to climate change. Furthermore, in the United State the utilities have tripled their investment in energy efficiency in the last two years. That’s making all of our homes, shops, and businesses get more energy services out of the power that we generate. Although, the film clearly says that alternative solutions like solar panels and wind turbine is not a real energy solution. The film also says that those alternative solutions will never going to be enough and that’s why oil companies invest in it and support it because they know it will never be a real solution.  From reading a lot of articles about Pandora’s Promise, that’s is not what people who are expert in the areas of renewable energy would say. The Natural Resources Defense believe that renewable’s wind turbine and solar panels energy efficiency alone could be 80% of the population needs by 2050 in the United State.

Some people will not agree with Natural Resources Defense because by doing the math, the reality is that renewable energies, non-hydro renewables, are less than 2% of global energy and the growth in global energy use is 2 to 3% a year. Meaning that 20 to 30 years of subsidies to renewable energies are supplying one year’s growth. From this information the population have to move forward. The people need abundant, affordable, and clean energy without cutting off any of those sources. One of those sources is also Nuclear power energy. Nuclear should be one of the options. The people, who favor nuclear don’t object solar panels or wind turbines. I have heard some people who favor Nuclear energy, but also cover their houses with solar panels. They can generate twice as much energy of their usage, but the problem is renewable energy advocates will first have to try to cut down nuclear energy so that the people have no choice. However, I do agree on both of the discussion I talked about on those two paragraphs. Acknowledging that I may not believe the Natural Resources Defense’s math on the renewable energy efficiency.

Being interested in the environment before and during this science class; I have found that leadership of the environmental movement does not support nuclear energy. Knowing that the dictator of the film was before opposed to nuclear energy. His first documentary was an anti-nuclear documentary. His last documentary was loving the history of the environment movement, but he had an over whelming support for the proposition to take his new film further. From this information we know that he got a lot of support to open to the world the benefits of nuclear power.

Friday march the 11th at 2:46 pm an exceptionally powerful earthquake hit the pacific coast of Honshu the main island of Japan at 3:36 pm, less than an hour after the earthquake a tsunami swept over the coast; the waves went all the way up to 10 kilometers in land. Results over 20,000 people dead, or missing, destroyed towns, ports, and land devastated. Nuclear power plants were also affected and one in particular namely the Fukushima Daishi. Fukushima Daishi is 250 kilometers northeast of Tokyo; the Nuclear power plant has six rectors. Each reactors’ successively commissioned during the nineteen seventies. Unit 1, 2, and 3 were operating at full power, the core in unit 4 was unloaded. Unit 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown.

Fukushima reactors have a different technology than the pressurized water reactors built by the French operator EDF, they are boiling water reactors called BWR, and it is called a rector because the heat in the core is produced by fission reactions. Boiling water because the water that removes the heat from the core turns into steam and the steam goes directly to the turbine. The turbine drives a generator that produces electricity. Afterwards, the steam is condensed with the help of the seawater cooling system and returns to the core. A boiling water reactor has only one single system combining feed water and steam. The core is composed of fuel assemblies containing uranium; control rods introduced from the bottom that can stop the fission reactions in case of an emergency. Fission as uranium nuclei produces radioactive atoms that in turn produces heat and this continues to occur even after rector shutdown, this is called residual heat; keeping the fuel confined and cooled is a major safety issue. The fuel was isolated from the environment by different containment barriers jut like the famous Russian dolls. A first barrier the fuel cladding of zirconium alloy, a second barrier the steel reactor vessel in combination with steam and water cooling systems, finally the third barrier the containment building in concrete leait tight steel liner. The fuel is kept under water in the reactor as well as in the adjacent pool where the spent fuel isn’t loaded. The pool is located at the top of the reactor vessel to facilitate the transfer fuel underwater.

When the earthquake hit the coast, seismic sensors triggered the insertion of control rods, although fission reactions stooped; the residual heat had to be removed. The offsite power supply was lost and the emergency diesel generators took over automatically, they supply electricity to the backup system needed for poor cooling. In reactors 2 and 3, it is a turbo pump and the steam generated by the reactor operates the terrible palm, which feeds water into the reactor vessel. The steam in condensed in the wet well suppression pool within the containment. In reactor 1, there was no turbo pump, but a heat exchanger, which condense steam from the reactor vessel. The condensed water was reintroduced into the reactor vessel by gravity. This heat exchanger provide core cooling by natural convection for more the 10 hours; until then everything seemed under control. However, reactors 1 due to excessive cooling force the operators to temporarily isolate the heat exchanger in compliance with operating procedures.

The tsunami wave arrived less then an hour after the earthquake. The waves went over the seawall, flooding the lower part of buildings and disabled the emergency diesel generators. On reactor 1, the operator was unable to reactivate the heat exchanger, the core was no longer cooled, and it would be the first to melt. On unit 2 and 3, the batteries were still operational, they operated sum of the valves. The turbine driven pumps ran for nearly 24 hours and then stopped and the course were no longer cooled. The meltdown scenario is almost the same with all three reactors, only the dates were different. The water in the reactor vessel evaporated and the fuel become uncovered and heated up to a temperature of 2300 degree Celsius causing the fuel to melt and be mixed with the materials from the structure to from a magma called corium. The corium flowed down to the bottom of the reactor vessel. According to Japanese officials say, it pierced the reactor vessel before falling on the concrete basement inside the containment.

What quantity of corium fell? How deep did it a root the concrete? Did it pierce the steel liner? Even today it is not possible to learn more about the state of the corium in the three reactors. At the same time the reactor vessel’s steam was loaded with radioactive elements in hydrogen. As the steam pressure rose to a dangerous level in the reactor vessel the depressurizing vessel opened and the gas was forced into the web wall suppression pool by inventing line. The water acted as an phishing filter by trapping much of the radioactive element, but the water was no longer cold because the emergency diesel generator were out of order and it soon began to boil there by reducing its filtration capacity. The web well suppression pool in the communicating containment begin to enter into an over pressure situation to avoid containment rupture the operator decided to release the gas into the atmosphere, normally the venting line should have led all the gas outside the building, but hydrogen was escaping through uncontrolled leakage pathways and it was released into the reactor building. Hydrogen reacts violently with oxygen in the air; the explosion blew apart the frame and apparently without damaging the containment building; radioactive elements were released into the environment. Due to the absence of usable freshwater on the site, the operators decided to inject seawater into the reactor vessel. In addition, since salt is chemically active had at least the advantage of cooling in stabilizing the corian.

In the four days following the tsunami, explosions damaged the four reactors and three of them with core melt. Although is has kept its structure intact, reactor 2 is the current source of the most important radioactive releases into the soil as well as into the sea. The explosion took place inside the building; operators have probably encountered difficulties depressurizing the containment and the wet wall suppression pool broke. The explosion on reactor 4 was due to hydrogen even though the core was completely unloaded. The hydrogen came from reactor 3 via a joint pipe. The reactor’s storage pools were also in a great concern because they have lost their cooling system. In addition, they were not protected by any containment.

Gradually this situation began to stabilize, by the end of March 2011; freshwater had replaced seawater. In July the reactor cooling system was again in operation in closed circuit. Thereby, avoiding discharges of contaminated water into the environment. In December 2011, Japanese authorities officially declared that the nuclear power plant reached the cold shut down state; an expression used when cooling water does not evaporate anymore and remains liquid below 100 degree Celsius.

Men working under extremely difficult conditions managed this nuclear crisis. They were cut off from the rest of the world, with no news from their families after the tsunami, without any power supply, threatened by radiation; they fought with all their force to cool the reactors and trying to make in vain the backup system work again.

(This figure describes the six reactors in Fukushima from the inside)

Sources: 

– https://www.wikipedia.org

– http://www.naturalnews.com/Fukushima.html

– http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/Campaign-reports/Nuclear-reports/Lessons-from-Fukushima/

– http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/08/130807-fukushima-radioactive-water-leak/b

Lego Robot#5

The fifth and sadly the last robot experiment we had, was very interesting. I am an electrical engineering student that wants to specialize in the power filed. Knowing that our last experiment using the Lego robot was about solar panels. Moreover, this lab explains how can the population produce power by using the sun and especially without harming the environment.

Equipment:

–       one solar cell

–       one voltage probe

–       one NXT adaptor

–       NXT with light sensor

–       One light sourse

–       Labview VI  solarlab1.vi

–       Ruler

–       Colored film filters

–       Excel sheet

Procedure:

After the instructor reviewed to the class what this labs assignment is, which is calculating the output voltage from a single solar cell, so that the students will be able to understand how to use the equipment to measure the voltage output of the solar cell and the light intensity output of the light sensor of the NXT.

After m partner and I have understood how the VI works, we erfomed several experiments to try to gain an understanding of the relationship btween the light intensity and the voltage output of the solar cell, my partner and I have also understood the relationship between the wavelength of the light and the voltage output of the solar cell.

While we were taking our measurements we had to vary the distance between the solar cell and the light source; to actually comprehend the different of the voltage output.

Data:

Figure 1

As you can see in figure 1 in the first row it shows you the different filters that was used to do the experiment, knowing that their was a part of this experiment that did not use flitters not light source. In figure 1, you can actually see on the last test that my partner and I have not used the light source to we can see if there is any voltage being produced from the solar cell, but as you can see it was a very low voltage output and it maybe from the light of the classroom. This table shows us that adding filters to the solar cell can affect the output voltage, but with out using any filters you can produce a large voltage from it.

Figure 2

In figure 2 you can see the relationship of the light source with the filter. From the graph it is obvious to see that with out any filters the output voltage is higher than with filters.

Conclusion:

It was a fun lab overall, it took a lot of time for my partner and I to complete it with all the filters that was required be used five time, but by the end of the class we did. I have learned a lot in this lab experiment, in which how the solar panel works and how much output is being produced from it

The fourth experiment using Lego robot was to generate voltage by shaking the generator by hand! Voltage can be described as the electric potential difference between two points; another name for voltage is (Electric potential difference).  It was very interesting lab to actually see how a single person can generate voltage just by applying force on the object. For example, People can generate electricity just by biking; this force will transfer to get an electricity output from it. Moreover, the primary purpose of this experiment was to see how voltage can be produced by people’s energy and the fun part is to see which group in class are the strongest to produce more voltage.

In this experiment my partner and I have set all the equipments and the programs that will be calculating our voltage output. First we were assigned to do the experiment five times and notice the difference between them when changing the numbers of shakes. Knowing that it will be tiring to do (Ha ha!) Noor (My partner) decided that we should take turns so we can have fun and be tired equally. We had a long talk about the last turn, nobody wants to do it. The second assignment was to add in all the data to excel and show the slop of the number of shakes versus the output voltage.

Data and Graph:

 Figure 1:

In figure one, it shows the number of shakes that were generated by my partner and I, the output voltage data calculated by Matlab, and finally the sum of all the output voltage From the graph we can notice that when there were no shakes on the generator there was barley an output voltage, but by the time we increased the number of shakes the output voltage increases tremendously, depending also how strong you are! This relationship is directly proportional.

Figure two: (Two pats):

In figure two, it shows us the relationship between the numbers of shake and the sum of the voltage for each shake column.

Iceland is well known to be a world leader in the use of geothermal district heating. After the second World War, Orkustofnun carried out research and development, which has led to the use of geothermal resources for heating of households. Today, about 9/10 households are heated with geothermal energy. Space heating is the largest component in the direct use of geothermal energy in Iceland. The figure here on the right gives a breakdown of the utilization of geothermal energy for 2011. In the year 2011, the total use of geothermal energy was 42,2 PJ, with space heating accounting for 45%.

Generating electricity with geothermal energy has increased significantly in recent years. As a result of a rapid expansion in Iceland’s energy intensive industry, the demand for electricity has increased considerably. Iceland is a pioneer in the use of geothermal energy for space heating. Generating electricity with geothermal energy has increased significantly in recent years. Geothermal power facilities currently generate 25% of the country’s total electricity production.

Often considered the model of geothermal development, Iceland continues to grow its

geothermal portfolio. With a small population, the country is currently generating 100% of its  power from renewable sources, deriving 25% of its electricity and 90% of its heating from geothermal resources.142 Seven geothermal power plants have been constructed in Iceland (six are currently operational) representing 575 MW of an estimated 4,255 MW of installable capacity.143 According to a recently released Iceland Geothermal Energy Market Report, “geothermal power projects represent the majority of planned capacity, or 1,068 MW of a total of 1,658 MW” planned energy capacity installations.144

The installed generation capacity of geothermal power plants  totaled  661 MW_e in 2012 and the production was 4,600 GWh, or 24.5% of the country’s total electricity production.

.Recent Geothermal Development Highlights

Icelandic geothermal producers Hitaveita Sudurnesja and Orkuveita Reykjavikur signed an agreement with Century Aluminum Co. to supply 250 MW geothermal electricity for aluminum production. The project, which will be commissioned in 2010, can be expanded to up to 435 MW. The IGA notes in its 2005-2010 Update Report that “this will be a very efficient way of exporting the surplus of cheap and abundant geothermal electricity production from Iceland.”145 ▪230 MW geothermal capacity is currently under construction.146

sources:

• http://www.nea.is/geothermal/
• http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/03/geothermal-energy-in-iceland-too-much-of-a-good-thing
• http://www.islandsbanki.is/english/industry-focus/sustainable-energy/research-and-publications/

Stirling Engine

Stirling engine is a simple, practical heat engine using a gas as working substance. Stirling engine contains a fixed amount of gas which is transferred back and forth between a “cold” and a “hot” end of a long cylinder. The “displacer piston” moves the gas between the two ends and the “power piston” changes the internal volume as the gas expands and contracts.

The gases used inside a Stirling engine never leave the engine. There are no exhaust valves that vent high-pressure gasses, as in a gasoline or diesel engine, and there are no explosions taking place. Because of this, Stirling engines are very quiet. The Stirling cycle uses an external heat source, which could be anything from gasoline to solar energy to the heat produced by decaying plants.

A Stirling engine uses the Stirling cycle,­ which is unlike the cycles used in internal-combustion engines.

• The gasses used inside a Stirling engine never leave the engine. There are no exhaust valves that vent high-pressure gasses, as in a gasoline or diesel engine, and there are no explosions taking place. Because of this, Stirling engines are very quiet.
• The Stirling cycle uses an external heat source, which could be anything from gasoline to solar energy to the heat produced by decaying plants. No combustion takes place inside the cylinders of the engine.

Stirling Engine Aplications:

• Stirling engines are used in some very specialized applications  where quiet operation is important like in submarines & auxiliary power generators

• Stirling Engines are extensively used in Solar Power Generation
• Stirling engines also works in reverse as a heat pump & find its’ applications as Stirling cryocoolers
• There is a potential for nuclear-powered Stirling engines in electric power generation plants
• Stirling engines are often used in automotive applications even though Stirling Engines have too low a power/weight ratio and too long a starting time.

Sources:

• http://auto.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine.htm
• http://stirlingshop.com/html/applications_.html
• http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~khirata/academic/kiriki/begin/general.htm.

Peltier effect

The Peltier effect is a temperature difference created by applying a voltage between two electrodes connected to a sample of semiconductor material. This phenomenon can be useful when it is necessary to transfer heat from one medium to another on a small scale.

See the figure below:

In a Peltier-effect device, the electrodes are typically made of a metal with excellent electrical conductivity. The semiconductor material between the electrodes creates two junctions between dissimilar materials, which, in turn, creates a pair of thermocouplevoltage   is applied to the electrodes to force electrical  current   through the semiconductor, thermal energy flows in the direction of the charge   carriers.

Aopplication:

• Peltier-effect devices are extensively used in refrigeration applications.
• These kinds of devices are used in semiconductor technology
• Peltier-effect devices are used in Instrumentation to change skin temeperature raidly

Sources:

• http://www.huimao.com/about/show.php?lang=en&id=4
• http://www.eng.fsu.edu/~dommelen/quantum/style_a/semicte.html
• http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0361923084902272