Teruaki Mitamura

Synergization of Clean Energy Utilization, Clean Technology Development and Controlled Clean Environment Through Thermally Activated Desiccant Cooling System

The global problems of energy supply and demand, climatic change due to artificial global warming, and providing economical and clean human comfortable condition are a complex issue. These problems have become globally political, economical and technological in the center stage of global arena. Utilization of alternative energy resources which are clean and green, hand in hand with the development of alternative clean and green technologies can indeed reduce the global and environmental problems. This paper invasions the idea of harnessing the power of clean energy resources and of developing clean technology for the production of clean environmental conditions. Synergization of clean energy resources, clean technologies and production of clean environment is implemented through the thermally activated desiccant cooling system. The experimental facility is constructed which consists of thermal energy system, desiccant cooling system and the artificially controlled environmental conditions for experimental evaluation purposes. Preliminary experimental investigation is being undertaken to evaluate the performance of the thermal energy system and of the desiccant cooling system. Based on the results, thermal energy system is functioning to its expectations. However, the desiccant cooling system still needs improvement to optimize its cooling capacity. With this study, practical combination of clean energy utilization and of clean technology development for the production of clean environment is possible through proper design and implementation.Copyright

Initial Operation and Performance Evaluation of the Developed Solar Thermal and Electric Desiccant Cooling System

The system in this article was operated for electric heating and thermal storage, thermal storage and desiccant cooling, three days of controlled system operation, and a one-day actual outdoor air conditions operation. Results show that almost 9 h of electric heating is needed to store sufficient thermal energy and that same thermal stored energy is barely enough to support the desiccant cooling operation for only 7 h. It is also shown that excess thermal energy in the tank from the previous days operation cannot support the early-hour desiccant cooling the following day.

A Two Year Measurement of Energy Consumption and Indoor Temperature of 13 Houses in a Cold Climatic Region of Japan

Abstract The energy consumption and indoor temperature of 13 housing units sited in the northern region of Honshu Island, Japan were investigated for a full two years from Dec. 2002 to Nov. 2004. Five of the houses were installed with all-electric equipment. The annual and daily energy consumption profiles of two typical houses were analyzed, and the annual energy consumption per house was found to range from 40GJ/year to 120GJ/year. The difference of energy consumption between the two years was very small, while in some houses, energy consumption during the second year decreased due to a rise in energy saving awareness. The results indicated that the characteristics of energy consumption were not only greatly influenced by regional climate but also by the use of household equipment and lifestyle. Finally, the relationship between energy consumption for space heating and indoor temperature is discussed.

Measurement of Ventilation Airflow Rates of 39 Houses by Three Different Methods

Abstract This paper reports on the measurement results of ventilation rates in existing occupied houses in the northern region of Japan. A total of 61 measurements were made over a period of 4 years on 39 houses. Some houses were measured once a year over the four years investigation period. The ventilation systems equipped in some of the investigated houses were improved during the course of this investigation period. The effect of the improvement on ventilation airflow volume was reported. The ventilation rates were measured by three different methods, namely constant concentration method, measurement of airflow rate at inlets/outlets and passive homogeneous emission method. Through this investigation, the measurement results indicated that the ventilation rate was insufficient in many houses and some of the ventilation systems were not operated properly. In addition, the amount of air leakage in the house envelope and the amount of air change due to occupant behaviour were also determined.