Facilities
New -- Building Energy and Environmental Systems Laboratory (BEESL)
An Energy Systems Engineering Laboratory has been developed and it currently has the following equipment:
- Vapor-compression refrigeration and heat pump trainer --- a test bench to illustrate the fundamental aspects of the cycle and allow for the measurement of important parameters;
- Recirculating air conditioner --- an advanced test bench to explore air conditioning and climate control process;
- Fluid friction table --- for experiments on pipe flows;
- Precision scientific gas calorimeter;
- Fan test chamber --- for experiments on fans and duct sizing;
- Small environmental chambers --- for testing material emissions;
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software --- for air and contaminant flow simulations.
Additional equipment to be added to the teaching laboratory in the near future will include:
- Residential gas furnace --- a trainer for the study of current residential burner, duct, fan, and flue designs;
- Shell-and-tube heat exchanger --- a small-scale heat exchanger to study parametric effects;
- Apparatus for demonstrating the measurement of air-tightness of buildings and their components;
- Apparatus for demonstrating the measurement of ventilation rate and effectiveness;
- Apparatus for demonstrating the measurement of indoor environmental quality including thermal, air, lighting and acoustic quality;
- Computer software and hardware for simulating the energy and environmental systems
The overall philosophy for the design and development of the teaching laboratory is to provide students with hands-on experiences with equipment and instruments that reflect current industrial practice. The focus is on the applications of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat and mass transfer fundamentals in individual components and full energy and building environmental systems. The mix of equipment in the teaching laboratory will also provide opportunities for project exploration and research.
A Building Energy and Environmental Systems Laboratory (BEESL) has been developed. Major facilities include:
- A fan test chamber
- A small-scale environmental chamber test facility for studying/testing the volatile organic compound emissions from building materials and consumer products, and the sorption characteristics of building materials;
A state-of-the-art full-scale thermal and air quality research facility that can be used for:
- Characterization of emission sources
- Performance evaluation of air cleaning devices
- Room air & air contaminant distribution studies
- Micro-environmental modeling for exposure and health risk assessment
- Studies of thermal and indoor air quality performance of wall and window components/systems
- Evaluation of indoor environmental sensors and control systems
A test atmosphere generation system that can be used for the evaluation and development of:
- Ambient air samplers;
- Industrial hygiene monitors;
- Indoor air quality monitors;
- Assessment of occupational protective equipment and materials.
- GC/FID and GC/MS systems for chemical analysis
Computer simulation facility for:
- Building energy analysis;
- Study of multi-zone air and air contaminant transport in buildings;
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of room air and air contaminant distributions;
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of HVAC components and systems.
A full-scale research facility for studying the combined effects of thermal comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), lighting and acoustic quality on occupants' satisfaction;
- An instrumented building for the development and demonstration of innovative energy and indoor environmental technologies.
These research facilities will also be used for teaching undergraduate and graduate courses.