GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

ME 2110 - Creative Decisions and Design Summer 2008

STUDIO 2

- MINI DESIGN PROJECT:

LOW-COST SOLAR WATER HEATER INTRODUCTION There is a growing societal interest and need for significant reductions in residential energy consumption. A significant portion of the energy usage in home is in water heating. The design objective for this project is to conceptualize, analyze and propose a design of a low-cost solar-powered residential water heater. A key design parameter is the cost of implementation of the system. The broad acceptance of the water heater will be largely determined by the initial cost of the system since the average home owner, or end-user in this case, is more concerned with cost of installation than long-term cost recovery through the reduction in energy consumption from the utilities. In addition to the domestic market usage of this design, you should consider the application of your design to addressing the need for water heating in the large rural communities in the third world and developing world. In the sub-Saharan African context, water heating is largely achieved through open-fire boiling of the water, or in some cases, wood-burning water heaters. The unintended consequence of this approach is the massive destruction of the natural forest resources, and has significantly accelerated the desertification of large tracts of land. A cheap, long-lasting, simple water heater that could produce hot water for an individual family homestead could have a significant impact on the rate of wood harvesting and deforestation in these communities.

Figure 1. Existing techniques for low-cost water heating include (a) wood-pellet stoves and (b) solar-water heaters [pictures from Wikipedia]

Some reference sites:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification 2. http://www.unccd.int/main.php 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_fuel

INSTRUCTIONS During the early part of your process, you should thoroughly investigate the existing designs and heating techniques being used for water heating. You can incorporate the best features from them into your design. Each member of the design team must create their own individual House of Quality for Homework #1. Furthermore, each team member will also create a specification list for Homework #2. Those related individual assignments can be incorporated into the final team report. Deliverables due at the beginning of studio next week

1. A short presentation on five preliminary design ideas. (In PowerPoint ~ 5 minutes). Clearly describe the functionality of your designs and be prepared to answer questions about the designs.

Deliverables due at the beginning of studio in two weeks

1. A presentation on your final design (In PowerPoint ~ 5 minutes) 2. Two copies of a report containing the following:

A. A statement defining the overall function of your system and your customer needs.

B. A listing of specific design requirements and performance metrics. C. A detailed description of your design including quality sketches that show its

parts and how it operates. D. Four alternatives design solution. E. Written explanation of why you chose your design from among the five

considered designs. Use a structured evaluation process. F. Discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of your chosen design. G. A simple Problem Understanding Form (center part of House of Quality)

demonstrating that you have considered the voice of the customer in your design.

H. A specification list. The report should include a maximum of four pages of writing, plus figures and tables. A sample layout of the report is given on the following page.

ME 2110 Suggested Report Format for the Studio Mini-project Evaluation of design alternatives As you prepare your report, you should first review the Guide’s instructions and examples. Then you should determine which format sections are of most importance in this project report. For the mini-project, you are asked to develop and evaluate design alternatives; consequently your Methods and Results section should present your design alternatives, and it should present your method of evaluating alternatives to select the preferred design. Abstract Introduction Design Overview Presentation of your preferred design. Methods and Results Presentation of alternatives and of evaluation methods. Conclusion