Occupant comfort in naturally ventilated and mixed-mode spaces within air-conditioned offices. The Australian Greenhouse Office indicates that air conditioning is responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Australia's commercial sector. The sector's uptake of energy efficient strategies and sustainable design will depend on post-occupancy evaluated exemplars that have been demonstrated to enhance, rather than detract from, workplace amenity, worker satisfaction and prod ....Occupant comfort in naturally ventilated and mixed-mode spaces within air-conditioned offices. The Australian Greenhouse Office indicates that air conditioning is responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Australia's commercial sector. The sector's uptake of energy efficient strategies and sustainable design will depend on post-occupancy evaluated exemplars that have been demonstrated to enhance, rather than detract from, workplace amenity, worker satisfaction and productivity. Naturally ventilated spaces within air-conditioned offices can readily be designed into new buildings, and retrofitted to many existing buildings. This project will document how such spaces are used, and interpret their costs/benefits to workers, organisations and environment.
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Performance of Centrifugal Chillers using Hydrocarbons. Centrifugal chillers cool most large buildings. Their energy consumption and fluorocarbon emissions are a global environmental concern. A 40% increase in rotational speed and replacement of the fluorocarbon refrigerant by a hydrocarbon is proposed. Over 4% energy savings with no performance changes is predicted. The aims are to prepare a conversion protocol, measure chiller performance before and after conversion, develop a new model of ....Performance of Centrifugal Chillers using Hydrocarbons. Centrifugal chillers cool most large buildings. Their energy consumption and fluorocarbon emissions are a global environmental concern. A 40% increase in rotational speed and replacement of the fluorocarbon refrigerant by a hydrocarbon is proposed. Over 4% energy savings with no performance changes is predicted. The aims are to prepare a conversion protocol, measure chiller performance before and after conversion, develop a new model of evaporator heat transfer and correlate the model with chiller measurements. The capital cost of compliance with the Montreal Protocol for a large building will be reduced by $10,000 with about $5,000 in annual energy cost savings.Read moreRead less
Design and Optimisation of Novel Enthalpy Heat Exchangers. This project deals with the thermal design and optimisation of a novel type of latent energy heat exchanger. This new heat exchanger overcomes the practical implementation problems of previous latent energy heat exchangers such as heat-wheels. The main application of this innovative heat exchanger will be to improve the capacity and efficiency of air conditioning systems. As the new heat exchanger is very compact it will be ideally sui ....Design and Optimisation of Novel Enthalpy Heat Exchangers. This project deals with the thermal design and optimisation of a novel type of latent energy heat exchanger. This new heat exchanger overcomes the practical implementation problems of previous latent energy heat exchangers such as heat-wheels. The main application of this innovative heat exchanger will be to improve the capacity and efficiency of air conditioning systems. As the new heat exchanger is very compact it will be ideally suited for integration with air conditioning coils. Existing latent heat wheels are very bulky and are difficult to integrate into standard air conditioner installations.Read moreRead less
The use of numerical and experimental techniques to develop energy efficient open refrigerated display cabinets. This project will provide knowledge for Australian industry to develop new energy efficient refrigerated display cabinets, putting Australia in the forefront of commercial refrigeration display cabinet technologies. This will have a significant impact on sustainability of our environment and will assist Australia to meet present and future international climate obligations by contrib ....The use of numerical and experimental techniques to develop energy efficient open refrigerated display cabinets. This project will provide knowledge for Australian industry to develop new energy efficient refrigerated display cabinets, putting Australia in the forefront of commercial refrigeration display cabinet technologies. This will have a significant impact on sustainability of our environment and will assist Australia to meet present and future international climate obligations by contributing to the reduction of greenhouse emissions. The Government has already introduced new MEPS levels, and are planning to increase these to more stringent levels in 2007. The development of the techniques proposed in this application will be essential for manufacturers if they are to economically meet these MEPS level requirements. Read moreRead less
Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Equipment. The proposed Project will make significant contribution towards the both fundamental understanding of heat transfer enhancement using dimpled surfaces and the design of heat exchangers and, in particular to the application of dimpled surfaces in air conditioning and refrigeration industries. Unlike the previous CFD studies which have been made on the assumptions that the flow is steady and decoupled from the ....Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Equipment. The proposed Project will make significant contribution towards the both fundamental understanding of heat transfer enhancement using dimpled surfaces and the design of heat exchangers and, in particular to the application of dimpled surfaces in air conditioning and refrigeration industries. Unlike the previous CFD studies which have been made on the assumptions that the flow is steady and decoupled from the heat transfer calculations in this Project the fully coupled problem will be solved, in which unsteady flows are allowed to occur over a dimpled surfaces. As a result we will be able to more accurately determine the resultant effects on the pressure drop and heat transfer. Read moreRead less
Heat transfer processes in evacuated tubular solar absorbers. The aim of this project is to improve the understanding of the complex heat transfer processes in evacuated tubular solar water heaters. This project will develop thermal and hydrodynamic models for advanced solar water heaters incorporating evacuated tubular absorbers and will assess the accuracy of the models through a series of outdoor experiments on prototype evacuated tubular solar water heaters. The outcomes will lead to the d ....Heat transfer processes in evacuated tubular solar absorbers. The aim of this project is to improve the understanding of the complex heat transfer processes in evacuated tubular solar water heaters. This project will develop thermal and hydrodynamic models for advanced solar water heaters incorporating evacuated tubular absorbers and will assess the accuracy of the models through a series of outdoor experiments on prototype evacuated tubular solar water heaters. The outcomes will lead to the design and manufacturing of more efficient solar collectors, which can greatly benefit both Australian domestic and export markets.Read moreRead less
Research into techniques for enhancing the heat transfer performance of finned-tube heat exchangers. This project explores several methods for enhancing the heat transfer performance of mechanically bonded finned tube heat exchangers. The methods would be analysed experimentally, and using finite elements, numerically. Any increase in heat transfer efficiency would contribute to the conservation of energy, and therefore, of natural resources. An improved design of heat exchangers would give a de ....Research into techniques for enhancing the heat transfer performance of finned-tube heat exchangers. This project explores several methods for enhancing the heat transfer performance of mechanically bonded finned tube heat exchangers. The methods would be analysed experimentally, and using finite elements, numerically. Any increase in heat transfer efficiency would contribute to the conservation of energy, and therefore, of natural resources. An improved design of heat exchangers would give a definite competitive edge to the Australian manufacturer. An equally significant outcome would be the training of a research person in industry-related research and skilled both in experimental and numerical procedures.Read moreRead less