The Investigation of Traditional House Heating
Systems and the Alternative Solutions of
Sustainable Energy
RPI – Master’s Project
David Wang
Main Advisor: Sudhangshu Bose
April 12, 2012
Background
Current Conditions of Building Heating Technologies:
General House Heating Fuels:
• Wood
• Heating Oil
• Natural Gas
• Electricity
Retrieved from Furnacecompare.com
Retrieved from renovation-headquarters.com
Retrieved from mass.gov
Interior Problems lead to Heat Loss:
• Single-Glazing Windows
• Door Gap
• Chimney / Kitchen Funnel
• Wall or Floor Structure without
Heat-Insulation Consideration
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Justin Mottershead, South Africa’s Solar Power
Plant Plans Unveiled, Oct 26, 2010. Retrieved
from thinkaboutit.edu.
2
Existing Problems of Traditional House
Heating Systems
Effects to Individual Family:
•
•
•
Low Efficiency of House Warming (Low Extraction of Heat Energy from
Fuels)
High Prices of Fossil Fuels
Potential Danger from Flammable Fluids
Environmental Impacts:
•
•
•
Excessive Disafforestation
Terrain Demolishment
Global Warming (Green House Effect)
Other:
Limited Supply and Non-Regenerated Source
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Resolutions / Improvements
Object: To find some alternative solutions for reducing the dependence
of human activities on fossil fuel or improving the efficiency of fuel
usage
Considered Options:
(based on New London, CT)
Sustainable Energy
•
Wind Energy
•
Solar Energy
Improvement of Fuel Usage
•
Window Insulation Film
Gabriel Harding, Jan 15, 2009. Retrieved
from solarenergydream.com
Evelyn Lee, SUNPOWER: New super-efficient solar
panels, Oct. 24, 2006. Retrieved from inhabitat.com
Retrieved from DetectEnergy.com
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Comparison Criteria to Natural Gas and Alternative
Solution and Improved Strategy of Fuel Usage
Fossil Fuel Energy:
• Heat amounts produced by
burning natural gas.
• The produced CO2 amount.
• Prices per year.
• Impact to environment.
Improved Strategy to Fossil Fuel:
• Heat amounts saved by
installing window insulation
films.
• Impact to environment.
• Installation Cost.
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Sustainable Energy:
• Heat amounts respectively
produced from solar panel,
wind turbine and substituted
percentage to natural gas.
• The produced CO2 amount.
• Prices for installing
equipments of sustainable
energy.
• Impact to environment.
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Evaluation of House Heating with Natural Gas
Burning Process of Natural Gas to Produce Heat:
2008 Carbon Dioxide Emission Ranking:
CH4[ g ]  2O2[ g ]  CO2[ g ]  2H 2O[l ]  891kJ
Evaluation of Monthly Natural Gas Consumption & Emission
Month
2011
CO2 Mass
(kg)
2) Industrial (1,589.1)
Natural Gas
Volume (m3)
CH4 Mass
(kg)
1
583.33
341.25
19,003,257
938.43
3) Residential (1,220.1)
2
368.12
215.35
11,992,347
592.21
4) Commercial (1,075.1)
3
325.65
190.50
10,608,615
523.88
4
186.89
109.33
6,088,422
300.66
5
67.96
39.76
2,213,972
109.33
6
53.80
31.47
1,752,728
86.55
7
48.14
28.16
1,568,230
77.44
8
39.64
23.19
1,291,484
63.78
9
42.48
24.85
1,383,732
68.33
10
121.76
71.23
3,966,699
195.89
11
229.37
134.18
7,472,155
369.00
12
345.47
202.10
11,254,356
555.77
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Produced
Energy (kJ)
1) Transporation (1,930.1)
Unit: Million Metric Tons
House heating is the primary part
of the residential carbon dioxide
source. The main fuel of house
heating basically relies on fossil
fuels, such as heating oil and
natural gas for general family.
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Wind Energy and Its Features
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Chart #2, Monthly Average Wind Speed in 2011
Wind Speed
8.00
Average Wind Speed (m/s)
Features:
Pros:
• Stable wind resource over a year
in New London, CT (Wind Speed:
4.35 ~ 7.13 meter per second)
• Easy Installation & Low
Maintenance Cost
• Relatively high efficiency with less
topographical limitation or timing
restriction
• No pollution
Cons:
• Device’s elevation determines its
efficiency
• Expensive Device
7.02
7.13
6.45
7.00
6.04
6.00
6.48
6.48
5.00
5.92
4.72
4.46
5
6
4.35
4.68
4.87
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
1
2
3
4
7
8
9
10
11
12
Months, 2011
Equipment: Honeywell WT6500 Wind
Turbine (3 Units)
MANE-6980 Master's Project
Retrieved from Honeywellstore.com
7
Solar Energy and Its Features
Features:
Pros:
• No pollution
• Easy Installation & Low
Maintenance Cost
Cons:
• Low efficiency
• Expensive Devices
• Timing and Regional Restriction
• Extensive Installation Area
Retrieved from ecoSolargy.com
Equipment: ORION Series Solar
Panels (44 Units)
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Window Insulation Film and Its Features
Window Insulation Film is not an alternative energy, but an effective solution
to reduce energy loss so that it eventually decrease the dependence of house
heating on fossil fuel.
Features:
Pros:
• High efficiency to prevent energy loss
(Theoretically save 90% of heat loss
through windows)
• Low or affordable cost
• Easy installation and no renovation
required
• Simple technique
• No pollution to Environment
Cons:
Nothing
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Substitution of Alternative Energy to Fossil
Fuel Energy
Month
2011
Natural Gas
Energy
Wind
Energy
Solar
Energy
Wind Substituted
To Natural Gas
Solar Substituted
To Natural Gas
Total Substitution
Of Wind & Solar
1
19,003,257
1,634,870
19,507
8.6%
0.1%
8.7%
2
11,992,347
2,314,232
27,920
19.3%
0.2%
19.5%
3
10,608,615
2,690,415
49,774
25.4%
0.5%
25.8%
4
6,088,422
1,953,342
62,860
32.1%
1.0%
33.1%
5
2,213,972
776,557
89,274
35.1%
4.0%
39.1%
6
1,752,728
637,730
97,684
36.4%
5.6%
42.0%
7
1,568,230
610,503
95,426
38.9%
6.1%
45.0%
8
1,291,484
760,989
83,210
58.9%
6.4%
65.4%
9
1,383,732
828,430
59,664
59.9%
4.3%
64.2%
10
3,966,699
1,991,592
38,649
50.2%
1.0%
51.2%
11
7,472,155
1,947,960
20,730
26.1%
0.3%
26.3%
12
11,254,356
1,534,033
15,721
13.6%
0.1%
13.8%
Result: Wind energy can substitute a decent percentage of natural gas-released energy. Solar
energy can produce very limited energy compared to natural gas.
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Price Comparison between Natural Gas &
Alternative Solutions
Prices Comparison of Natural Gas, Wind Energy, Solar Energy & Window Insulation Film
Natural
Gas
Cost
$1,352.62
per year
Wind
Energy
Cost
Window
Insulation
Film
Solar
Energy
Cost
Wind Turbine
(per unit)
$5,495.00
Solar Panel
(per unit)
$232.97
3 Units
$16,485.00
44 Units
$10,250.68
Inverter
$1,995.00
Inverter
$1,995.00
System Meter
$35.00
System Meter
$35.00
Charge Controller
$64.00
Charge Controller
$64.00
Battery Bank
$8,455.00
Battery Bank
$8,455.00
Total
$27,034.00
Total
$20,799.68
Film
(per Unit)
$14.95
8 Units
$119.60
Total
$119.60
Result: Natural gas is relatively cheap when comparing to the beginning investment of alternative
energy, wind energy and solar energy. If considering the long-term operation, alternative energy
will only require little or no operational cost and it doesn’t cause pollution to environment. Window
insulation film is not an alternative energy solution, but a good and efficient strategy to reduce the
cost of house heating and the dependence of human activities on fossil fuel.
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conclusion
The Advantage of Sustainable Energy:
Benefits to Individual Family
• Reduce the cost of house warming.
• Decrease the dependence of human on fossil fuels.
• Eliminate or decrease the potential danger of flammable fluids inside a
house.
Impacts to Environment
• Reduce the carbon dioxide emission from burning fossil fuels.
• Reduce the demolishment of terrain, wood & forest.
• Decrease the impacts to Global Warming & Climate Change
The Disadvantages of Sustainable Energy:
•
Big Beginning Investment for Equipment Purchasing
•
Geographical or Topographical and Timing or Seasonal Limitations
•
Relatively Low Efficiency of Energy Conversion due to Current Technology
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