Progress Report

MEMO

Date: September 27, 2010
To: Jason Bermiller, English Instructor
From: Kari de Wit, ARET Student
Subject: Progress on Technical Report

The purpose of this memo is to present the progress made on my Analytical Research Report. In this memo, I will describe the work that I have completed from the time this project began, the work that I am in the process of and the work that I have yet to complete. I will also describe the work that is needed to complete an outline and begin writing my Technical report based on the notes you have laid out in class. This report is to gather comparable data on Geothermal Heating (GH) and Sewage Heat Recovery (SHR) based on the operation and the energy efficient conclusions drawn by the two very similar but very different heating and cooling systems.

WORK COMPLETED:

As per Dale Parkes’ ARET 222 course, I have shaped a blog on my proposed Research Project. I have completed a first draft Research proposal which lays out my principle objectives, suggested goals and summer plans in researching GH and SHR. This proposal then lead up to the selection of a Fire Hall as my designated building in which to incorporate both systems. This Fire Hall was designed in a previous ARET course taught by Instructor Walter Prescott called ARET 250: Plumbing Design. In this course the class was separated into groups and my group of three designed the plumbing schematic for the Fire Hall. I am using this plumbing schematic as a base, as well as some additional changes to the grey water piping, allowing the GH system and the SHR system to fit. I have also written an Abstract Document to clarify the direction I am taking and the lead up to my final conclusion.

CURRENT WORK:

I am currently in the process of gathering the last details of my research. I have sent out emails to numerous companies asking for assistance in calculations and proposed drawing details. And now that mentors have been assigned I will be meeting with mine to confirm whether my analytical report is heading in the right direction and to assist me with the obstacles I am facing. I am currently working on creating a floor plan, a section drawing and a site plan. I am also updating my plumbing schematic of the changes brought to my attention through my research. I am in the midst of doing some preliminary calculations on the heating and cooling savings on a GH system compared to conventional electric and gas furnaces. In regards to all of my findings and progress, I am continuing to update my ARET 222 blog, keeping the companies I have contacted up to date on my research.

WORK YET TO BE COMPLETE

I am waiting on the final design schematics as well as heating and cooling calculations from two GH and SHR Companies. After that, I will need to do the following in order to complete my research study:
• Organize through gathered research information,
• Place information into charts and tables for proper presentation, and
• Apply and calculate the heating and cooling needs of the Fire Hall.
Next, I will start building on my Technical Report Document. I will construct the Central Section, Conclusion and Introduction along with the Back Matter and Front Matter of my Technical Report, based on the requirements and sections you made in ENG 2850. Provided below is a Gantt chart that illustrates my project schedule, with the start and finish dates of the summary elements of the report.

CONCLUSION:

So far, my Analytical Research Report is coming along well. I have not run into any major problems and have found plenty of material on my subject through the course of my research. However, I have not heard back from Earth Comfort or Manitoba Hydro, with information on GH efficiency and am concerned that I will not have the information needed to arrive at the conclusion of my report. To prevent this from happening, I plan on contacting an Energy Expert directly. I can foresee a minor problem regarding the creation and placement of graphics in my Technical report. My solution for one is to speak with my mentor of possible connects he may have or that he himself may already know. Another one would be with getting back into the school routine of ARET classes, assignments, mid-terms, as well as balancing this Analytical Report. With this I plan to keep a day planner of tasks and their deadlines and to set up some goals as well as rewards for completion to keep me motivated. In general, I am finding that the comparison of GH and SHR systems is an even more attractive topic then it first appeared. Full details on this will appear in the final report.

Sewage Heat Recovery

Abstract

For the 2010 Vancouver Olympics in the Athletes Village a system of using latent heat in sewer pipes were used. Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU) is a low temperature community energy system that brings domestic hot water and space heating to neighbouring buildings by means of heat extraction by heat pumps located at the sewage pump station. This Sewage Heat Recovery System is a less proven technology compared to Geo-exchange (Geothermal Heating). So far there have only been three systems world wide that recover heat from raw sewage. There is one in Tokyo, Japan and two in Oslo, Norway and now one in the Athletes Village in Vancouver, BC. This is the first system to be developed in North America.

The principle objective of this research study is to distinguish what would be the most energy efficient way to meet the heating and cooling needs of a Fire hall; Geo-exchange (Geothermal Heating) or a Sewage Heat Recovery System? And which one would result in being the most cost effective?

The plumbing layout of the Fire Hall has already been designed in a Fall Semester Course called ARET 250 – Plumbing design. Modifications to the plumbing arrangement will be made to the sanitary system, for at the moment the grey water and black water are incorporated into one system and need to be separated into two in order to apply the Sewage Heat Recovery System. This study will also incorporate the use of solar panels that will in sequence heat the domestic water supply of the Fire Hall.

All though Sewage Heat Recovery and Geo-exchange are very similar in design and functionality Chris Baber (the NEU Manager, from the City of Vancouver) states that raw sewage heat recovery would be more applicable and more useful for residential buildings and is more efficient due to the higher temperature and lower installation costs. With this concept in mind, the goal is to gather comparable data in relation to the application of the systems, the operation in which it works and the conclusions drawn by each systems energy efficiency. This data will be presented in form of auto-cad drawings, and comparisons in cost by use of spreadsheets.


References:

http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id33548/watersewer
http://www.thechallengeseries.ca/chapter-05/neighbourhood-energy-utility/

Aret 250 - Plumbing Design Fire Hall

Top: Front Elevation
Bottom Left: Office Side Elevation
Bottom Right: Side Elevation

Proposed Thesis Statement

Hey guys, so I am still fiddling around with my thesis statement, if you have any ideas on how I can make it better please post a comment.

Thesis Statement: How energy efficient and cost effictive is a Sewage Heat Recovery System combined with a solar heating for domestic water supply in a standard Fire Hall?

Sewage with a little Humour

Building Selection

So lately I have been racking my brain trying to figure out where I could apply this Sewage Heat Recovery System to. Suggestions were given to either do a residential home, an Neighbourhood area much like Sun Rivers or like the Athletes Village in Vancouver and/or the possibility of putting the system into the New Learning Building here on the TRU Campus. However, I talked to Walter Prescott (a Mechanical/Electrical Instructor at TRU) and he suggested that I use the Fire Hall we designed the plumping for in our ARET 250 course. It's not a huge building but a decent enough size that I could apply this system to. I already have the basic drawings of the Fire Hall and of course I will have to make quite a few changes to the plumbing design and then apply the system.

Latent Heat = Sewage Heat Recovery

Being in the Architectural and Engineering Technology Program (ARET), we learn to incorporate "Green Living" or "Green quality products" into our design and construction of Residential and Commercial Buildings. We also see that in order to think GREEN, you have to start off small and work your way up. True, in fact with everything else we do.
This is why Sewage Heat Recovery is so interesting, you take a small concept like the waste that we deposit daily and turn it into something huge that is beneficial to our way of living and for the environment!

Sewage Heat Recovery is a less proven technology compared to the energy source of biomass. So far there have only been 3 systems world wide that recover heat from raw sewage. One in Tokyo, Japan and two in Oslo, Norway and now one in Vancouver, BC. Based on an Article writen in April 27,2009 by Jean Sorensen, the system was designed for the athlete`s village and for the residents that live in the False Creek Area. The Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU) system is able to service an estimated 16,000 people which include residential, commericial and institutional facilities in an area of 32 hectares.

With this information, I hope to discover the advantages of Sewage Heat Recovery compared to Geothermal Heating and the application to an area much like Kamloops. And possibly answer the questions of whether it can be applied to an existing system, whether it`s causing more harm then good to the environment.

Info:
http://www.thechallengeseries.ca/chapter-05/neighbourhood-energy-utility/
http://canmetenergy-canmetenergie.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/eng/buildings_communities/communities/publications/false_creek.html
http://vancouver.ca/sustainability/building_neu.htm