Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Solar Collector and Storage Kit Made with Tire Inner Tubes
EPA Grant Number: SU833923Title: Solar Collector and Storage Kit Made with Tire Inner Tubes
Investigators: Moaveni, Saeed , Chou, Karen , Tebbe, Patrick
Institution: Minnesota State University - Mankato
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2008 through August 14, 2009
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2008) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
For ordinary people living in the villages of developing countries such as Ghana in West Africa, access to hot water supply is limited. Home-hot-water-heating systems are expensive to own and operate. Typically, in these villages, dry wood is used as a fuel and burned to heat water. This practice contributes to pollution and deforestation. The growing scarcity of fuel-wood is another major problem facing people living in these areas. If the current trend persists, more people will be living in areas where the fuel-wood would become extremely scarce. As an alternative, we designed, built, and tested an inexpensive solar-hot-water system that is made with tire inner tubes. Moreover, we designed the system such that it could be packaged as a kit that could be easily distributed and put together.
Because the system makes use of solar energy, it reduces the need to burn dry-wood to heat water, and as the result it reduces pollution and the consequent hazards to human health and the environment. By not burning wood to heat water, the solar design reduces impacts on the environment and directly benefits human health and diminishes resource consumption. The system was designed for small initial cost (less than $50). It requires no additional long-term cost to operate and maintain.
Even though, the solar-hot-water system described here is intended to be used to heat water for daily consumption such as grooming and alike. In cold climates, if the solar collector is placed against a south facing window, it could also serve as a passive solar space heating system. The thermal energy stored in water during the day would transfer to the surrounding space at night by natural convection and radiation to keep a room warm. It could also be used to keep a green house – where food is grown – warm at night.
Three collector designs were considered; these are shown in Figure 1. Each design was analyzed and tested for performance and ease of assembly. From the data collected, then the most effective design was identified and made into an easy-to-assemble kit (Figure 1(a).
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 1. The three designs that were considered during Phase I of this study. (a) The inner tube design; (b) The bladder design; (c) The drain tile tube design
This project was an integral part of senior design capstone courses, and was carried out collaboratively by engineering students from Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, Africa. Mechanical engineering students from MSU and KNUST worked together to test the performance and usability of the solar collectors in West Africa. In February 2009, two students from MSU traveled to Ghana to carry out the tests and to learn about the people who would be using the collectors. Through this collaboration, the students have experienced firsthand the sustainability issues currently present in developing countries and have gained the ability to function on multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams.
The MSU team considered numerous technical/non-technical factors associated with the project and sought feedback on their designs from their peers, faculty advisor, an environmental engineer, and a chemist. Communication and interpersonal skills were stressed extensively during the project. The MSU team gave formal and informal progress reports and presentations. In addition, in December 2008 the team was required to submit a comprehensive mid-progress report.
Proposed Phase II Objectives and Strategies:
For the proposed Phase II, we will fabricate and distribute 300 inexpensive solar collectors (solar kits) made with tire inner tubes to people living in the villages of Ghana, West Africa. As shown in Phase I final report, tire inner tubes make good solar collectors because of their desirable mechanical strength and thermal radiation properties. The tests conducted in Minnesota and Ghana also proved this novel idea. The low cost solution offered here would alleviate some of the daily hot water supply needs in developing countries. After the units are distributed, their effectiveness and userfriendliness will be monitored closely. During the first round of the proposed study, 200 collectors will be distributed and their use will be surveyed. The results of surveys and frequent on-site inspections would lead to additional modification that may be necessary. Those modifications will then be made and 100 new-generation collectors will be fabricated and distributed. Additional surveys also will be conducted for potential improvements. The main objectives for the Phase-Two of this study are:
- To study the effectiveness and user-friendliness of the solar kits and make modification if necessary.
- To study how these inexpensive environmentally friendly hot-water systems could be promoted
- To promote cultural exchange and understanding of sustainable global issues.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The project developed the students’ ability to function on multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams (a team member also is a computer science major and was instrumental in setting up the data acquisition system). The project broadened the students’ education necessary to understand the sustainability issues and the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context. Moreover, through their work on the project the students came to realize that engineering practice need not always be motivated by profit. Humanitarian factors are also very important. The project had a clear balance between people, prosperity and planet. Collaborative efforts between students at MSU and KNUST allowed for the students from each university to develop a more accurate view of an unfamiliar culture. It also helped address design flaws through direct feedback from Ghana. MSU students also learned that the supplies for the proposed kit could all be purchased from Ghanaian suppliers. If the kits can gain popularity both within Ghana and other neighboring countries, the project could prove to be very prosperous for the Ghanaian economy. The proposed solar-hot-water system is very eco-friendly. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, and by finding a new use for expired or used tire inner tubes, it reduces solid waste.
Team members from both MSU and KNUST were able to measure success both objectively and subjectively. Design performance parameters were exceeded with multiple designs, achieving water temperature reaching approximately 50 °C, during testing both in Minnesota and in Ghana. Because of the successful performance tests, a reduction in the total amount of materials for the final kit could be justified, and as a result the cost would be reduced. Another objective success worth noting is the development of a simple mathematical model, which predicts accurately (within 20%) the thermal performance of the collectors.
Conclusions:
The ability to collaborate with students thousands of miles away was a challenge for both American and Ghanaian students. Originally, the proposed communication path, video conferencing on Skype, required a fast, reliable internet connection, which was not available on the KNUST campus. Even e-mail communication was very difficult, because picture sizes overloaded the internet resources available at KNUST. During the visit to KNUST, it was found that Facebook, a social networking site, allowed for successful communication between the two groups of students, because the site allows users to post pictures and leave messages.
Even with the successes achieved during Phase I, one change would be recommended. The American students’ visit to the KNUST campus in Ghana should have taken place much sooner in the project. A number of design changes resulted from the visit. Many assumptions or ideas about the end user’s habits, needs, and resources were incomplete, but this was not evident until the visit to Ghana in mid February. Before the visit to Ghana, communication between MSU students and KNUST students was very slow. Since the visit, the communication has been much better for two reasons: the identification of a convenient communication gateway and a stronger sense of connection between the two groups of students.
The project has great potential for making steps toward sustainability. The solar-hot-water system is a start to meeting the needs of the current population without taking resources from future generations. It utilizes an inexhaustible energy resource, reducing pollution and reducing solid waste.
A number of people assisted the team of students during the course of the project. Technicians, machinists and carpenters from MSU and KNUST assisted in constructing components of the prototypes. An MSU environmental engineering professor as well as professors from the MSU Chemistry department were consulted. Funding for the MSU students’ visit to Ghana was provided by the Minnesota State University’s Office of Academic Affairs. MSU’s Office of Institutional Diversity and the Minnesota Center for Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence donated various good-gesture items for the visit as well. The KNUST provided housing during students stay in Ghana. The KNUST also provided cultural tours and field trips.
Supplemental Keywords:
Solar energy, solar water heating, recycled materials, waste to value, renewable energy, cost benefit assessment, reuse, design for the environment, global considerations, holistic design,The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.