The Investigation of Traditional House Heating
Systems and the Alternative Solutions of
Sustainable Energy
RPI – Master’s Project
David Wang
Main Advisor: Sudhangshu Bose
March 01, 2012
Background
House Heating Systems
Traditional Heating Fuels:
• Wood
Cutting Tree.
• Heating Oil
Retrieved from renovation-headquarters.com
Retrieved from Furnacecompare.com
Retrieved from mass.gov
A mixture of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons.
• Natural Gas
A mixture consisting primarily of methane.
• Electricity
Justin Mottershead, South Africa’s Solar Power
Plant Plans Unveiled, Oct 26, 2010. Retrieved
from thinkaboutit.edu.
Workload created by electric current going through electric resistor.
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Existing Issues to Traditional House
Heating Systems
Effect to Individual Family:
•
•
•
Low Efficiency of House Heating (Low Extraction of Heat Energy from Fuels)
High Prices of Fossil Fuels
Potential Danger of Flammable Fluids
Environmental Impact:
•
•
•
Excessive Disafforestation
Terrain Demolishment
Global Warming (Green House Effect)
Supply:
Limited and Non-Sustainable Resource
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Resolutions / Improvements
Object: To reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and
improve the efficiency of fuel usage
Considered Options:
Sustainable/Regenerated Energy
•
Wind Energy
•
Solar Energy
Improvement of Fuel Usage
•
Fuel Cell
Jennifer Gangi, Fuel Cells 2000.
Gabriel Harding, Jan 15, 2009. Retrieved
from solarenergydream.com
Retrieved from earthtoys.com
Examining Location: New London, CT
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MANE-6980 Master's Project
Evelyn Lee, SUNPOWER: New super-efficient solar
panels, Oct. 24, 2006. Retrieved from inhabitat.com
4
Comparison of Carbon Dioxide Produced by
Traditional Heating and Sustainable Energy
Traditional Energy:
Sustainable Energy:
• Heat amounts
respectively produced by
burning per unit of wood,
heating oil & natural gas.
• The produced CO2
amount.
• Prices per unit of heat.
• Impact to environment.
• Heat amounts respectively
produced from solar panel,
wind turbine & fuel cell.
• The produced CO2 amount.
• Prices per unit of heat
after installing equipments
of sustainable energy.
• Impact to environment.
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conclusion
The Advantages of Sustainable Energy:
Benefits to Individual Family
• Reduce the cost of house heating.
• Decrease the dependence of human on fossil fuels.
• Eliminate or decrease the potential danger of flammable fluids inside
a house.
Impact to Environment
• Calculate the percentage of decreasing carbon dioxide production
by comparing the traditional fuels’ burning and the application of
sustainable energy.
• Reduce the demolishment of terrain, wood & forest.
• Release the impact to Global Warming & Climate Change
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