Week 8 Mechanical Systems

 Week 8 Mechanical Systems

Renewable energy is responsible for the development of all of America’s rich energy resources- including solar, wind, water, geothermal and bioenergy - will help ensure America’s continued leadership in clean energy. Moving forward, the Energy Department will continue to drive strategic investments in the transition to a cleaner, domestic and more secure energy future. U. S Department of Energy

There have been over time a number of debates about renewable energy and fossil fuels. This leads to the sources of fuel: Bioenergy, Fossil fuels, Hydrogen, Nuclear energy, Wind power, Hydropower, Solar, Fusion—plasma research.

Oil is a fossil fuel dependent on foreign sources in the middle and used in 99%  of vehicles and 40% of current use in the US.. Natural gas is also a fossil fuel known for “clean burning”. Obtaining Natural gas through “Fracking”- a controversial process that uses water, sand and chemicals to fracture rocks and release the natural gases from within. Toxic wastes from Fracking could endanger the local water supply. 

Coal is a fossil fuel obtained through underground miningCoal takes millions of years to form and after it has been used millennia to reconstitute. Coal is associated with pollution (mercury, nitrogen and sulfur) and controversial greenhouse gases.

Other sources of energy are hydrogen, nuclear energy in power plants in the U.S., hydropower, solar power, wind power (used in power plants throughout the US) and electric power (42% created from coal while natural gas is a growing fuel source). When looking at fuel it's important to determine the peak oil and the location of the extraction. 

 

HVAC provides for human comfort with heating, ventilation and air conditioning.  Human comfort is a major consideration for the experience we create as a designer. Because of this we have psychometric charts. They can determine the radiation, natural convection, conduction and forced convections. 

Heating systems are part of human comfort. Heating systems include Hydronic. In hydronic systems, water boilers are used in large buildings and multi-building complexes. Residential applications include radiators. Air is another natural system of heating (furnaces are forced air systems). Electric systems use radiant heat and rely on heating the surface of a space: walls, ceilings, and floors. Wood stoves are high efficiency wood burning systems (pellet stoves). Lastly, fireplaces and geothermal systems. Geothermal heat provides natural occurring energy obtained from below the earths surface

Cooling systems can be provided to a space in three basic ways: avoid heat gain, passive cooling strategies, and mechanical cooling. 

Types of mechanical cooling systems are heat pumps (forced air, central station, split system, and through the wall units. 

Interior designers have an impact on mechanical systems to ensure that the design intent and functional properties of the space will be realized. We also have to be aware of the placement of ducts, registers, and return integrated parts of the design and coordinate with light fixtures, sprinkler heads, projectors and screens, smoke detectors, and ceiling design details. 

I decided to look deeper into Hydropower renewable energy. Hydropower or hydro electric energy is electricity produced from generators driven by turbines that convert the potential energy of falling or fast-flowing water into mechanical energy. The water flows from a high elevation and through large pipes or tunnels, known as penstocks to generate electricity. “Hydroelectric power plants are usually located in dams that impound rivers, thereby raising the level of the water behind the dam and creating as high a head as is feasible”. The potential power that can be derived from a volume of water is directly proportional to the working head, so that a high-head installation requires a smaller volume of water than a low-head installation to produce an equal amount of power.

Hydroelectric power | Definition, Renewable Energy, Advantages, Disadvantages, & Facts | Britannica