Thesis Proposal
Thesis Proposal
Mechanical Depth
Alternative Design 1: Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is an alternative system that will be explored for possible energy reduction, utility cost reduction, and low payback period. CHP is a method of generating both electricity and thermal energy at the site instead of buying electricity from the grid. Separate heating power (SHP) is what the hotel was utilizing where it bought electricity from the Exelon Corporation to power the mechanical systems and boilers and cooling tower.
Felix hotel can be a good candidate for CHP technology because it has a high electrical demand as well as thermal demand all around the year. From technical assignment 2, we saw that the boiler was the biggest energy consumer in the mechanical system and we can potentially produce all the thermal energy required through one single prime mover that produces both electricity and thermal.
Alternative Design 2: Greywater heat recovery uses the principle of capturing some of the heat in drain-water, allowing it to be reused by incoming water. This can be done because it is said that 80-90 percent of energy used to heat water for domestic use goes down the drain.
A high rise hotel with many shower heads in the building can be a very good candidate for this system as it can reduce energy costs of water heating because the water heater can be sized significantly smaller. Another benefit of this system is it can increase the effective availability of hot water when it is needed the most, such as in the morning or night.
Breadths
An Acoustic breadth will be conducted. Because of the potential of adding a CHP system to a building in a downtown area could produce high levels of noise, a good acoustical study has to be done to ensure the noise level is not too high for the surrouding apartment complxes nearby.
An electrical breadth will also be conducted. With the introduction of a CHP system to the building, there is a potential for the power producing equipment to go down. To prevent all power from turning off during downtime, an emergency generator will have to be sized in additional to switch gears.
