At the last class, we all went to doing other teams science experiment, what I chose to did and interested about is the fruit battery experiment.

The experiment they chose was to create a battery out of a fruit with lemons, limes, oranges, bananas, and through the different materials, like zinc, copper, and iron as electrical conductor to measure the voltage that different fruits  distribute.

on the experiment, I test out that copper was the least conductive metal, only come out with about 0.1 voltages with lemon.  The galvanized (zinc)  brings the highest about 0.84 voltages in an orange. and banana also produced high numbers on zinc, which is about 0.8, near the orange.

so I think the conclusion is the voltages generate is depend on the fruits acid.

A Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. Or more specifically, a closed-cycle regenerative heat engine with a permanently gaseous working fluid, where closed-cycle is defined as a thermodynamic system in which the working fluid is permanently contained within the system, and regenerative describes the use of a specific type of internal heat exchanger and thermal store, known as the regenerator. It is the inclusion of a regenerator that differentiates the Stirling engine from other closed cycle hot air engines.

The Stirling engine is noted for its high efficiency compared to steam engines, quiet operation, and the ease with which it can use almost any heat source. This compatibility with alternative and renewable energy sources has become increasingly significant as the price of conventional fuels rises, and also in light of concerns such as peak oil and climate change. This engine is currently exciting interest as the core component of micro combined heat and power (CHP) units, in which it is more efficient and safer than a comparable steam engine.

And how Stirling engine works, 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.

Why Aren’t Stirling Engines More Common?

There are a couple of key characteristics that make Stirling engines impractical for use in many applications, including in most cars and trucks.
Because the heat source is external, it takes a little while for the engine to respond to changes in the amount of heat being applied to the cylinder — it takes time for the heat to be conducted through the cylinder walls and into the gas inside the engine. This means that:
The engine requires some time to warm up before it can produce useful power.
The engine can not change its power output quickly.
These shortcomings all but guarantee that it won’t replace the internal-combustion engine in cars. However, a Stirling-engine-powered hybrid car might be feasible.

Reference:

How Stirling Engines Work by Karim Nice http://auto.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine.htm

Stirling engine From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

Animated Engines http://www.animatedengines.com/vstirling.html

http://www.dekaresearch.com/stirling.shtml

Last week, we got a chance to travel to MIT to see the nuclear research center.

The MIT Nuclear Research Reactor (MITR) serves the research purposes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is a tank-type 6 MW reactor that is moderated and cooled by light water and uses heavy water as a reflector. It is the second largest university based research reactor in the U.S. (after the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center) and has been in operation since 1958. It is the fourth-oldest operating reactor in the country.

Refueling takes place 3 to 4 times every year. A single refueling consists of rearranging the assemblies in the core or a combination of rearranging and replacement of old assemblies with new ones. This is more frequent than both nuclear power plants, which may go 17 to 23 months between refueling outages when they rearrange the entire core and replace 1/3 to 1/2 of the core, and most research reactors (particularly university reactors), many of which go decades without refueling due to the high energy density of nuclear fuel and infrequent use at high power levels.

It was a good experience but there are too much things we need to learn, and we just got this little bit time to spend on the tour, it was kind rushed, but anyway, I really enjoy it.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was an energy accident at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, initiated primarily by the tsunami of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The damage caused by the tsunami produced equipment failures, and without this equipment a Loss of Coolant Accident followed with nuclear meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials beginning on March 12. It is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 and the second disaster (along with Chernobyl) to measure Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, releasing an estimated 10 to 30% of the radiation of the Chernobyl accident.

Japan’s new energy.

Fujitsu’s Smart Energy vision focuses on three trends:

1. local generation and consumption
2. increased sensing and remote control in transmission and distribution grids
3. increased demand response (DR) technologies and distribution grid-sited storage.

Local generation and consumption has a fair number of terms associated with it such as decentralized generation of renewable energy, in wide use in Germany as part of their Energiewende vision. The phrase distributed energy resources (DER) enjoys more use here in North America, and covers more technologies like energy storage and DR programs rather than have a focus solely on generation sources. While there are subtle differences in these terms, the end goals are the same, to use technology disrupters like solar panels (disrupted by virtue of technology, policy, and finance innovations) to redefine existing models of how electricity is distributed and managed.

Increased sensing and remote controls rely on technology innovations that are delivering a supply of cheap, low-powered, long-lasting wired and wireless sensors for a growing range of machine to machine (M2M) applications. Smart meters and phasor measurement units (PMUs) are two of the first applications within the energy sector, but there are emerging applications in smart cities, transportation, and personal health too.  There will certainly be disruptive services as a result of M2M technologies. Smart meters enable proactive outage reporting – obviating the need for customers to call in to notify utilities of service interruptions. But other sensors attached to other equipment used in generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption of electricity will help us move from unrestricted consumption to sustainable consumption.

This transformation of consumption models is where DR and energy storage come into play. Consumption changes from a passive state to an active state and enables market participation in generation of negawatts or kilowatts. While negawatt generation is typically focused on DR programs, energy efficiency (EE) activities arguably could also be included in consumption. Manufacturers like Fujitsu are developing new circuits that reduce energy consumption by reusing energy stored in specific transistors.  These circuits could show up in the power supply units of servers by 2014. Fujitsu demonstrated their OpenADR 2.0 server software which could send messages on a wide scale to devices enabled to receive signals and reduce energy usage in reaction to those signals. Ability to communicate at a scale of thousands to millions of devices, as opposed to today’s hundreds, will be crucial for residential or commercial DR programs to be fully effective in the future.

Fujitsu researchers described a very interesting variation of the typical DR program. In this scenario, specialized plug loads that have their own battery resources (ie laptops) are controlled in an office building to “disconnect” from the grid and run on battery power. When aggregated over a sufficient number of devices, building loads decrease. It’s a creative alternative to the usual reductions in lighting or HVAC loads for organizations that want to participate in DR programs that reduce energy use at peak times and save money for building occupants (reduced energy bills or increased DR payments) and ratepayers (avoidance of investment in new generation assets).

The Smart Energy trends discussed by Fujitsu during their Forum illustrate significant synergies. If we have intelligence in the grid and the associated communications networks to build situational awareness of devices, regardless of their status as generating, storing, transmitting, or consuming electricity, we can create completely different grid that co-locates generation (or storage) with consumption. Reducing reliance on geographically remote generation reliant on vulnerable transmission and distribution wires does deliver energy surety as well as grid reliability and resiliency.

reference:

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Ongoing Lessons. http://fairewinds.org/podcast/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-accident-ongoing-lessons

Japan’s Nuclear Migraine: A Never-Ending Disaster at Fukushima. http://abcnews.go.com/International/japans-nuclear-migraine-ending-disaster-fukushima/story?id=20226885&page=2

Japan’s new energy strategy By Hisane Masaki.http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/HA13Dh01.html

Seven-point plan for Japan’s energy strategy post-Fukushima http://bnef.com/PressReleases/view/154

our solar energy lab was fine during last week in class.

we did 10 times experience, first we did no light, 0 cm and then did light with 0 cm, light with 4 cm, light with 8 cm, light with 12 cm, and light with 16 cm. then we did the light with 0 cm, and covered with green, purple, red, and blue paper.

we found out that the number we get are from big then going down, because the distance of the flashlight, we pull it more far at each time. also, when we doing the color paper, we found out the green color are the most not block the light, it comes the number 0.70379, it is close to the light with 0 cm, 0.730733. and the red paper blocked most energy, which the number is only 0.697375.

it is a fun experience, and here is the chart we came up with.

Solar energy powers everything on the Earth, directly or indirectly. Without the sun no life could exist. There is another use for solar energy, however: it can be turned into electricity using photo voltaic cells or solar panels. Using solar energy this way has many positive effects on a number of different factors. Solar energy can also be used passively to bring about positive effects such as increased health.

Using solar power to produce electricity reduces pollution. Although pollution is still created during the manufacture of the solar panels required to turn solar energy into electricity, no pollution is created whilst they operate. This has many positive effects on the planet, reducing the strain on natural ecosystems  saving natural habitats from oil companies and helping to stop deforestation for charcoal.

The economy at the moment is based upon oil. This valuable resource is spread unevenly throughout the world, causing tensions to rise between countries who possess oil and those who do not. In contrast, solar energy is available to the entire world. It is unlimited and free. By switching our main power provider to solar energy, the economy would not fluctuate with the price of oil.

Fossil fuels such as oil and gas are volatile and dangerous. A small crack in piping to a building can be devastating to both property and lives if ignited. The use of gas can also produce CO2 or carbon monoxide which can kill over long exposure. Solar energy is not unstable, and there is no risk of explosion or poisoning from its use.

Remote locations can be powered by solar energy allowing people to live in remoter locations without the need of large utilities being installed. Solar cells can be constructed anywhere and angled to make best use of any sunlight. They do not require large amounts of cable or a factory to process the power. They can be used to get power to people who otherwise would not have access to electricity.

Solar energy does not need to be harnessed through solar panels to have a positive effect on the way we live. Sunlight is a major contributory factor to heat. By placing windows to the south and tilting them to make the best use of available sunlight in the area, buildings can be heated without any need of artificial heating. Thermal mass can also be used with solar energy to provide heat. By using a dense material for walls and floors and making them double the usual thickness, they can store heat and radiate it back into the room on an evening. This reduces the need for other heating means saving money and reducing pollution.

SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder is a serious condition that is currently being researched. It is believed to be linked to a lack of light exposure and a deficiency in vitamins received from sunlight. The symptoms of SAD are a change of appetite, decreased energy, depression, difficulty concentrating and feelings of anxiety. A large problem with SAD, is that people are working in buildings that are artificially lit for most of their time. To help avoid his, light tunnels could be installed in buildings to funnel solar energy into an otherwise dark portion of a building, helping to relive the effects of this disorder.

Reference:

http://solarenergy.com/ solar energy

http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ResearchScience/Topics/OtherConservationInformation/Pages/cc_climate_change_renewable_energy_efforts.aspx RENEWABLE ENERGY EFFORTS

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/environmental-impacts-solar-power.html Environmental Impacts of Solar Power

What is Natural Gas Hydraulic Fracturing, before I research this topic, I didn’t know what kind of thing was that, but after that, I realized, Hydraulic fracturing is an energy- and water-intensive, highly toxic process whereby methane trapped in impermeable rock (shale and tight sands) might now be mined. Because of this technology, previously inaccessible methane deposits can now be mined.

In the northeast U.S.’s Marcellus Shale, the gas industry’s promise of easy money is attracting some landowners. Many landowners, concerned about the impacts of hydrofracking on their way of life, their water and air, and rural economy, are holding out . A nationwide movement is building to stop the caustic legacy of natural gas extraction from poisoning New York State before more land and water tables are laid to waste.

Hydraulic fracturing, as used for natural gas extraction, is the process by which water, frequently mixed with proppants and chemicals, is forced down a well bore at extremely high pressure in order to create or expand fractures to release gas from the rock formation in which it is trapped. Proppants are small particles such as sand or synthetic beads, that hold open the newly-created fractures so that released gas can flow towards the well. The process is also known as fracking, hydrofracking, or any of several other variants.

And various forms of hydraulic fracturing have been developed for differing circumstances. The one now causing intense concern here in New York is known as ‘high-volume hydraulic fracturing’ (HVHF), and ‘slick water fracturing.’ In this method, millions of gallons of initially clean water per well are intentionally contaminated with the addition of a wide range and large volume of very toxic chemical additives. This technique combines “water with a friction-reducing chemical additive which allows the water to be pumped faster into the formation.

The United States has enormous energy demands; hydrofracking the country’s vast shale gas and oil reserves can go a long way towards meeting those needs. If done responsibly, the risks associated with hydrofracking can be mitigated. Rather than trying to manipulate anecdotes to push for an outright ban on fracking, it would be better if environmental groups instead pushed for strict regulation of the industry. And it would be better if oil and gas companies acted responsibly and did all they reasonably could to reduce the impact fracking has on both the environment and the communities where they work.  As Cuadrilla demonstrates, this approach is not only possible but beneficial to the industry as well.

References:

Hydraulic fracturing, Wikipedia.

“What is Hydrofracking?” http://www.peacecouncil.net/NOON/hydrofrac/HdryoFrac2.htm

“Hydrofracking Fact and Fiction: What You Need to Know About the Controversial Practice” http://www.policymic.com/articles/10408/hydrofracking-fact-and-fiction-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-controversial-practice

“Potential Health and Environmental Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin, Montana” http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/hydrofracking_w.html

Last week, we did the generator lab, me and my partner did totally five times checking, at first one we didn’t count our number of shake very exactly, so it makes our number looks very weird, and after we count our number of shakes carefully, we gradually make it to the similar number as professor shows on the computer. Here is our chart we come up with

As we did lab on the Lego robot, me and my team partner we built the robot very well, and for the first lab, we didn’t get into the program, we only built the robot, and at second lab we get into the program and ran our robot, also we calculated the error percentage, which are 1.7%, 5.55%, and 6.04%. So, there are some error between the program and actual. I am enjoy in this program because this experience is fun and we can control the robot.

Nowadays, technology always improves, time doesn’t stop and people are creating more and more stuff to build our world more efficiently. Cars are like a casual thing in today world, most people in the world own at least one car. But there is a problem, or a chance we can make our life better, because we know the gas is expensive, and there are more and more ideas coming out to improve the car to be more efficiency, to use less gas, or to have more gas mileage.

Besides a smaller, more efficient engine, today’s hybrids use many other tricks to increase fuel efficiency. Some of those tricks will help any type of car get better mileage, and some only apply to a hybrid. To squeeze every last mile out of a gallon of gasoline, a hybrid car can Recover energy and store it in the battery, Sometimes shut off the engine, Use advanced aerodynamics to reduce drag, Use low-rolling resistance tires, and Use lightweight materials.

Also, as I found the resources online, the engine could boost fuel economy by half, a major parts supplier to automakers, Delphi, is developing an engine technology that could improve the fuel economy of gas-powered cars by 50 percent, potentially rivaling the performance of hybrid vehicles while costing less. A test engine based on the technology is similar in some ways to a highly efficient diesel engine, but runs on gasoline.

His company has demonstrated the technology in a single-piston test engine under a wide range of operating conditions. It is beginning tests on a multi cylinder engine that will more closely approximate a production engine. Its fuel economy estimates suggest that engines based on the technology could be far more efficient than even diesel engines. Those estimates are based on simulations of how a mid-sized vehicle would perform with a multicylinder version of the new engine.

The Delphi technology is the latest attempt by researchers to combine the best qualities of diesel and gasoline engines. Diesel engines are 40 to 45 percent efficient in using the energy in fuel to propel a vehicle, compared to roughly 30 percent efficiency for gasoline engines. But diesel engines are dirty and require expensive exhaust-treatment technology to meet emissions regulations.

Reference:

Kevin Bullis, “Engine Could Boost Fuel Economy by Half” , May 17, 2012

Jeff Green, “Better Gas Mileage, Thanks to the Pentagon”, May 17, 2012

BILL VLASIC, “U.S. Sets Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards”, August 28, 2012