If I do tonight right, and tomorrow...I should finally have some free time.
And I've figured out how to spend it. I've been putting it off for a long time...(well, aside from winter exercises) - but I've never done it during the school year...
I'm going to exercise. Every day.
I want to loose my pudge, and gain some muscle mass. This will have two advantages:
1. I will live longer
2. It will make me physically more attractive.
Yes, the latter is petty and vain and silly. Nope, I don't care that it is at all.
I've been talking to people who work out, and I've figured out a plan and how I'm going to do this, and I will.
Down with pudge!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Standing in the Snow at Dawn
Well, its not quite dawn right now, but nearly so. As I start this, I've just spent 40 minutes or so standing in it...rather foolishly, might I add. Not for fun, like in the rain at night - though I have been meaning to take a good walk in the snow, I'd probably want to be wearing a few pairs of socks when I did so. Ugh, wet feet.
In any case, while looking at the snowflakes falling off of the buildings and the tree, and (trying not to stare) at the hazy yellow-white sun, obscured by snow and clouds, I was thinking about the nature of Good and Evil.
It occurs to me that, perhaps - the greatest of evils is not Murder but Ignorance, the most deadly of Sins not an excess of Wrath but a lack of Compassion, and the duty of each human being not to struggle against the evils of another but against the darkness within themselves.
Before I get to the logical argument, let me state that I believe that these principles are at the heart and soul of all religions; that my fundamental point is written upon the innate...sense of ethics of all mankind. I do believe we have a certain innate sense of moral values. One can argue whether or not this is so, but I take the point to be so self-evident that I will not here discuss it, nor bother to argue it. In any event, gaze upon some of the following religious quotes first:
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" - Jesus the Nazarene, 5 B.CE - 33 BCE (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31, Luke 10:25)
None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." — Muhammad (c. 571 – 632 CE) Hadith.
"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD." — Torah Leviticus 19:18 (Judaism)
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18
(Bhuddism)
That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn. (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a. --Hillel the Elder) (Judaism)
"This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you." - Mahabharata 5.15.17 (Text from a famous Hindu epic)
"All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." - Black Elk (Native American Spirituality)
"Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." - T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien. (Taoism)
"Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do." - Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 1970 BCE, Ancient Egypt.
As you can see, all religions have some version or concept of compassion. Though not necessarily emphasized by the /followers/ of each religion, I propose that an adherence to this universal law of compassion is a prerequisite for any being to be morally upright, and the lack of it is (along with Ignorance and a lack of Curiosity) one of the signs of the greatest forms of evil, no matter the moral system of the person in question.
Case in point. While one can murder a man and by so doing destroy him, and thereafter scatter both his ashes and his memory to each and every corner of the earth, making it as if he had never been - and some would call this (rightfully so) an evil; it is an evil due to a lack of that individual caring for the well-being of his victim, of caring for his rights. It is innately the same sin as rape; which is also a lack of respect and understanding for another being, of caring for your rights and feelings over theirs. Theft, adultery - all sins can be traced back to a simple lack of empathy and compassion.
A person with true qualities of compassion would not commit murder, because it would feel to him as if he were murdering himself. He would not steal from another because his conscience would in turn steal from him any satisfaction from the event, any mental peace or happiness regarding it, and so would feel as if he had stolen from himself. The difference is the degree to the lack of compassion. Some can merely tell lies, or treat another unfairly. Others feel comfortable with taking away the legal rights of others, or in insuring they have less medical or social rights (this is the same sin) - while others are capable of murder or even genocide. In the end, though the acts are different, each cause is the same.
And yet, sometimes even reasonably compassionate folk can overcome their own better judgment. They know they will feel poorly about it later on, but they commit such acts anyways as to cause themselves pain. What causes this? Lack of foresight? Certainly not - often (or at least sometimes), such compassionate folk know they will regret it later on. Perhaps they feel as if they have no choice, or like many other sins - it just feels too good at the present moment for them to pass up.
And yet there are others whom tell themselves that certain types of human beings are not worthy of compassion. Southern ministers during the 1800's in America routinely preached on the inferiority of African Americans. Many ministers today - not all, not most - but still many - preach on the subservient role of women, and decry feminine leadership in the home, and in churches. That particular lack of compassion is not limited to Christianity, but can be found in Judaism and Buddhism too.
Other forms of this evil are more sinister; the economic or political American leader whom convinces his voters/followers that it is not 'our job' to ensure people have basic health care, that economic policies which increase the economic gap between rich and poor are acceptable - because it is their fault; as if (even were that true) - that would make it better. And then of course, the classic psychopathic insanities of the ethnic cleansing of the Taliban or the Nazis; evils so obvious all can agree on them.
But they are not the worst of evil, for they can be confronted and destroyed.
The most subtle forms of this evil cannot be, unfortunately. Discrimination against women in the church, or against the poor by the majority of America. Even September 11th could have been avoided had we taken care of the Taliban in 1997. We knew how they treated women. They were participating in 'ethnic cleansing' of the Hazara ethnic group, killing them by the thousands, taking their homes, raping their women, or simply beating them to death in the streets. By the /thousands/ - and we knew.
We could have toppled them at any time. But we did not. We cared about our pocketbooks more then we did the welfare of others, and we suffered. Even in Bosnia, when hundreds of thousands (perhaps more) were killed by Milosevic on the visible theater of global politics, congress /bitterly/ complained that it was not their duty to interfere in the governments and actions of other nations.
In the long run, doing an action because it is right - even if it seems against your best 'personal interests' - will always be in your benefit. Hindsight is 20/20 - and we could not have foreseen what the Taliban would be a party to in the future, that they would be a threat to us. But that is the problem. We did not (and even had the president tried then, congress would not have let him) think to do an action because it was morally correct for that sake and that sake alone. But that is the attitude we should have.
Ignorance - by which I mean a lack of curiosity and a certainty in your own moral assumptions and cultural beliefs, a lack of compassion, and a lack of will to do what it is right for its sake alone; this is the central root of evil, and the greatest of its examples.
In any case, while looking at the snowflakes falling off of the buildings and the tree, and (trying not to stare) at the hazy yellow-white sun, obscured by snow and clouds, I was thinking about the nature of Good and Evil.
It occurs to me that, perhaps - the greatest of evils is not Murder but Ignorance, the most deadly of Sins not an excess of Wrath but a lack of Compassion, and the duty of each human being not to struggle against the evils of another but against the darkness within themselves.
Before I get to the logical argument, let me state that I believe that these principles are at the heart and soul of all religions; that my fundamental point is written upon the innate...sense of ethics of all mankind. I do believe we have a certain innate sense of moral values. One can argue whether or not this is so, but I take the point to be so self-evident that I will not here discuss it, nor bother to argue it. In any event, gaze upon some of the following religious quotes first:
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" - Jesus the Nazarene, 5 B.CE - 33 BCE (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31, Luke 10:25)
None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." — Muhammad (c. 571 – 632 CE) Hadith.
"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD." — Torah Leviticus 19:18 (Judaism)
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18
(Bhuddism)
That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn. (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a. --Hillel the Elder) (Judaism)
"This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you." - Mahabharata 5.15.17 (Text from a famous Hindu epic)
"All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." - Black Elk (Native American Spirituality)
"Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." - T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien. (Taoism)
"Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do." - Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 1970 BCE, Ancient Egypt.
As you can see, all religions have some version or concept of compassion. Though not necessarily emphasized by the /followers/ of each religion, I propose that an adherence to this universal law of compassion is a prerequisite for any being to be morally upright, and the lack of it is (along with Ignorance and a lack of Curiosity) one of the signs of the greatest forms of evil, no matter the moral system of the person in question.
Case in point. While one can murder a man and by so doing destroy him, and thereafter scatter both his ashes and his memory to each and every corner of the earth, making it as if he had never been - and some would call this (rightfully so) an evil; it is an evil due to a lack of that individual caring for the well-being of his victim, of caring for his rights. It is innately the same sin as rape; which is also a lack of respect and understanding for another being, of caring for your rights and feelings over theirs. Theft, adultery - all sins can be traced back to a simple lack of empathy and compassion.
A person with true qualities of compassion would not commit murder, because it would feel to him as if he were murdering himself. He would not steal from another because his conscience would in turn steal from him any satisfaction from the event, any mental peace or happiness regarding it, and so would feel as if he had stolen from himself. The difference is the degree to the lack of compassion. Some can merely tell lies, or treat another unfairly. Others feel comfortable with taking away the legal rights of others, or in insuring they have less medical or social rights (this is the same sin) - while others are capable of murder or even genocide. In the end, though the acts are different, each cause is the same.
And yet, sometimes even reasonably compassionate folk can overcome their own better judgment. They know they will feel poorly about it later on, but they commit such acts anyways as to cause themselves pain. What causes this? Lack of foresight? Certainly not - often (or at least sometimes), such compassionate folk know they will regret it later on. Perhaps they feel as if they have no choice, or like many other sins - it just feels too good at the present moment for them to pass up.
And yet there are others whom tell themselves that certain types of human beings are not worthy of compassion. Southern ministers during the 1800's in America routinely preached on the inferiority of African Americans. Many ministers today - not all, not most - but still many - preach on the subservient role of women, and decry feminine leadership in the home, and in churches. That particular lack of compassion is not limited to Christianity, but can be found in Judaism and Buddhism too.
Other forms of this evil are more sinister; the economic or political American leader whom convinces his voters/followers that it is not 'our job' to ensure people have basic health care, that economic policies which increase the economic gap between rich and poor are acceptable - because it is their fault; as if (even were that true) - that would make it better. And then of course, the classic psychopathic insanities of the ethnic cleansing of the Taliban or the Nazis; evils so obvious all can agree on them.
But they are not the worst of evil, for they can be confronted and destroyed.
The most subtle forms of this evil cannot be, unfortunately. Discrimination against women in the church, or against the poor by the majority of America. Even September 11th could have been avoided had we taken care of the Taliban in 1997. We knew how they treated women. They were participating in 'ethnic cleansing' of the Hazara ethnic group, killing them by the thousands, taking their homes, raping their women, or simply beating them to death in the streets. By the /thousands/ - and we knew.
We could have toppled them at any time. But we did not. We cared about our pocketbooks more then we did the welfare of others, and we suffered. Even in Bosnia, when hundreds of thousands (perhaps more) were killed by Milosevic on the visible theater of global politics, congress /bitterly/ complained that it was not their duty to interfere in the governments and actions of other nations.
In the long run, doing an action because it is right - even if it seems against your best 'personal interests' - will always be in your benefit. Hindsight is 20/20 - and we could not have foreseen what the Taliban would be a party to in the future, that they would be a threat to us. But that is the problem. We did not (and even had the president tried then, congress would not have let him) think to do an action because it was morally correct for that sake and that sake alone. But that is the attitude we should have.
Ignorance - by which I mean a lack of curiosity and a certainty in your own moral assumptions and cultural beliefs, a lack of compassion, and a lack of will to do what it is right for its sake alone; this is the central root of evil, and the greatest of its examples.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
His Reply!!!
Hi Charles
I know what you mean about clarion email -- there is serious discussion about going for gmail 100% of campus.
If you are thinking about grad school -- it will be important to try to publish.
This project is going to lead to a paper. We may not be able to use a microturbine for part c,d -- perhaps something like the FreeWatt system.
Start with part a - that is pretty straight forward.
What is a number and time/days you a typically free -- I will give you a call and we can discuss the project in more detail.
JMP
I know what you mean about clarion email -- there is serious discussion about going for gmail 100% of campus.
If you are thinking about grad school -- it will be important to try to publish.
This project is going to lead to a paper. We may not be able to use a microturbine for part c,d -- perhaps something like the FreeWatt system.
Start with part a - that is pretty straight forward.
What is a number and time/days you a typically free -- I will give you a call and we can discuss the project in more detail.
JMP
My Response
Dr. Pearce:
I don't check my spammy Clarion.edu often, so I didn't see your research email until today.
I'm a physics major (I've had analog electronics, thermodynamics, solid state, optics, mathphys, Modern 1; probably some others I can't remember) - and I'm interested in these opportunities. Not for the money (I mean, I'm still a college student but..) - I'd like to do some research to boost my gradschool resume. Or start one; I don't have much of one yet.
Are any of them still open? Presumably you got a rush of emails about this.
-Charles
I don't check my spammy Clarion.edu often, so I didn't see your research email until today.
I'm a physics major (I've had analog electronics, thermodynamics, solid state, optics, mathphys, Modern 1; probably some others I can't remember) - and I'm interested in these opportunities. Not for the money (I mean, I'm still a college student but..) - I'd like to do some research to boost my gradschool resume. Or start one; I don't have much of one yet.
Are any of them still open? Presumably you got a rush of emails about this.
-Charles
Valentine's Day
One should focus upon the positives, goes the old maxim with a thousand variations. Even more sterotypical is the idea of thoughts on singlehood on Valentine's Day; a fact as universally sterotypical as how bubbly couples are on this day.
So, I am single. I currently have no prospects for dating (noone I plan to ask out anytime soon, nor anyone I believe is interested in me); which is not unusual for me, as I tend to be picky. I tend to like extremely intelligent, yet pretty girls with fairly dorky interests, and those are rare. Rarer still ones not dating, or interested in me. So I will likely be single for awhile.
Does this really bother me? I look deep within my heart, and I don't think it does, no. A part of me regrets it of course, but that part is a shallow and hollow thing- the metaphorical whispers that creeps in our ear at night when we sleep - and I heed it not.
In truth, far greater a concern to me is physics, and trying to succeed in it. I know I will not, and in truth I am having trouble summoning up the motavation to study or do homework right now. I am watching the Daily Show instead. I slept most of the day - a snow day (Clarion's first cancellation in 13 years) - and yet I find myself still tired. I have deprived myself of sleep.
And so, when it is over, I shall study. And combat the only thing which truely gives me cause for grief. Physics.
Valentine's Day isn't really so bad. Sometimes, old sterotypes are just that - things to be ignored.
So, I am single. I currently have no prospects for dating (noone I plan to ask out anytime soon, nor anyone I believe is interested in me); which is not unusual for me, as I tend to be picky. I tend to like extremely intelligent, yet pretty girls with fairly dorky interests, and those are rare. Rarer still ones not dating, or interested in me. So I will likely be single for awhile.
Does this really bother me? I look deep within my heart, and I don't think it does, no. A part of me regrets it of course, but that part is a shallow and hollow thing- the metaphorical whispers that creeps in our ear at night when we sleep - and I heed it not.
In truth, far greater a concern to me is physics, and trying to succeed in it. I know I will not, and in truth I am having trouble summoning up the motavation to study or do homework right now. I am watching the Daily Show instead. I slept most of the day - a snow day (Clarion's first cancellation in 13 years) - and yet I find myself still tired. I have deprived myself of sleep.
And so, when it is over, I shall study. And combat the only thing which truely gives me cause for grief. Physics.
Valentine's Day isn't really so bad. Sometimes, old sterotypes are just that - things to be ignored.
Research Opportunity Email
Joshua Pearce wrote:
Dear Physics Students
Every science major should do research, but the time commitment to do an independent study or to write an undergraduate research proposal is often intimidating. Here, I am proposing a way for you to get your feet wet with applied research without committing a lot of your time. Better yet, if you are successful, you will get paid! Please find a list of opportunities below to earn cash rewards you can spend any way you like for completing short research related tasks. If something on the list interests you please email me immediately and I will reserve the task for you and provide you with additional information. Upon completing the task, Kathy will help you complete the necessary paperwork for your reward.
For any of the projects any sources you use must be reliable (e.g. peer reviewed or government etc.) the following page will be useful for finding information you will need:
http://jupiter.clarion.edu/~jpearce/lit.html
*Projects:*
National Fuel -- We are going to be demonstrating a microturbine (
http://www.microturbine.com/prodsol/products/index.asp ) in the new Science and Technology Center. However, the major challenge with combined heat and power (CHP) systems like the microturbine is finding a year round heat sink for the waste heat. If you do not use the heat it is wasted and your efficiency drops from the 80-90's to the 30's. One promising location for another CHP system is the pool - we would heat the pool and basically get free electricity.
1. Determine the variables in order to size a CHP system for the pool ($100):
1. Determine the size (area) and capacity (volume) of the Tippen pool.
2. Is there a pool cover of any kind?
3. What are its hours of operation throughout the week and the year.
4. What temperature is pool kept at – and are there any kind of temperature set backs?
5. Get the 'degree days' for Clarion and the assumed input and output temperatures of the water...and determine if any data is present - if not you may have to calculate heat loss to the building for which you willneed the CUP set points.
6. From a-e calculate the thermal requirements for the Clarion U. pool in Tippen in btu per day throughout a typical year.
2. Another application of waste heat in a distributed generation system is for refrigeration. For this project I will supply you with technical information, prices and model numbers for a number types of refrigeration/freezing systems. You will then determine their standard operating energy inputs to determine the life cycle performance of the systems. In this case we are most interested in economics so you will do an engineering economics calculation of the various systems and
determine the return on investing in the more efficient models. ($100)
3. CHP systems can be coupled with a photovoltaic (PV) source to provide continuous electric power while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.
This is tricky however, because solar cells only work when the sun shines. Night is easy to account for – but clouds and the variations throughout the day are more challenging. We are going to be prototyping a hybrid microturbine –PV system on the new Science Center. In our system the components are smaller than the building's needs.
Analysis is needed, however, to determine if a coupled system sized
appropriately to a building could work. To figure this out do the following ($200) :
1. Determine the electrical demand in a typical household in PA throughout the day by the hour. I can provide you with the solar flux and then create a graph of the two superimposed.
2. Do the same exercise in (a) throughout the year.
3. For a PV system designed to meet the peak demand during the day and the year – determine the backup energy that would need tobe provided by the microturbine.
4. Size a microturbine to match the demand for a typical UShome.
From (c) you will know how often the microturbine must be running and at what capacity. Get its efficiency curve as a function of
load from a manufacturer and then calculate the amount of heat delivered by the microturbine on a typical day and throughout the year.
5. Finally match this btu/hour graph with the thermal needs of a typical home in Clarion.
6. Once you have completed this for Clarion – we may do the analysis for other locations to find the most promising ones and we would discuss further compensation.
Clarion Boards currently uses a standard boiler to produce the thermal energy to process the fiber board. There are almost certainly cost and efficiency advantages to utilizing combined heat and power applications but we must 'do the math'.
1. HOMER is a computer model that simplifies the task of evaluating design options for both off-grid and grid-connected power systems for remote, stand-alone, and distributed generation (DG) applications. HOMER's optimization and sensitivity analysis algorithms allow you to evaluate the economic and technical feasibility of a large number of technology options and to account for variation in technology costs and energy resource availability. http://www.nrel.gov/homer/
A good source to find lists of manufacturers for each type of CHP system ishttp://www.energy.ca.gov/distgen/equipment/equipment.html Contact actual manufacturers of the following devices and
a) determine prices and specs for their different models,
b) ask them for a HOMER model for their devices – if they do not have it, make it yourself based on their spec sheets. Assume that everything is grid connected.
Download HOMER and make a complete model for the following technologies. (This could be work
for several students working independently or in a team).
1. Reciprocating Engine ($25 up to 2)
2. Microturbine (recuperated) ($25 up to 4)
3. Combustion Turbine ($25 up to 2)
4. Stirling Engine ($25 up to 4)
5. PEM Fuel Cell ($25 up to 4)
Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: At the Clarion Boards plant we are
considering bringing in a mushroom cultivation business to use the waste wood fiber and heat from the plant to produce another valuable product while increasing plant efficiency.
1. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: Determine the biological
efficiencies for exotic edible mushrooms (= no white button articles, which represent the bulk of what's out there) on different substrates mixes. List the types of mushrooms available on each substrate ($5 per substrate mix for reliable peer reviewed sources up to $50)
2. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: Literature review with ten articles
in pdf delivered electronically on the following:
1. Oyster (pleurotus ostreatus) mushrooms ($10)
2. King Oyster mushrooms ($10)
3. appropriate technology implementations in mushroom
cultivation ($10)
4. eco-friendly practices in mushroom cultivation ($10)
5. systems approaches in mushroom cultivation ($10)
3. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: Carbon Impact of mushroom
cultivation – literature search first to determine if it has been done – if not do the analysis yourself ($50)
8. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: For bioremediation of
pollutants - The EPA site has state-by-state data for their brownfields (nothing nationwide). Find or develop a chart of the brownfields *by contaminant* in PA first and then make an overlay of the mushroom contaminant uptake chart from Mycelium Running. I can send a copy/scan if you need it. ($50)
Last but not least – this project would make a very nice Clarion
University Undergraduate Research Grant – these grants are due on Feb 9th – this Friday! You can request up to $500 for supplies (note this is not spendingmoney – but will look great on your resume).
Another form of distributed generation can use the sun with
photovoltaics. Using as little money as possible- fabricate a light emitting diode (LED)>based solar photovoltaic lighting system using old cell phone batteriesas storage.
1. Create a spec sheet for your device including an electric circuit diagram of your apparatus, component tolerances.
2. Design a simple packaging system that could be easily used and constructed in developing countries.
3. Write a detailed description of your device and its construction (you can substitute a digital video of you doing this for the written piece)
4. Build the device (I can help you source some of the
components) and demonstrate it for the department – We have a solar simulator in the room next Kathy's office you can use to test it.
--
Joshua M. Pearce, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Physics
Coordinator of Nanotechnology and Sustainability: Science and Policy Programs
Dear Physics Students
Every science major should do research, but the time commitment to do an independent study or to write an undergraduate research proposal is often intimidating. Here, I am proposing a way for you to get your feet wet with applied research without committing a lot of your time. Better yet, if you are successful, you will get paid! Please find a list of opportunities below to earn cash rewards you can spend any way you like for completing short research related tasks. If something on the list interests you please email me immediately and I will reserve the task for you and provide you with additional information. Upon completing the task, Kathy will help you complete the necessary paperwork for your reward.
For any of the projects any sources you use must be reliable (e.g. peer reviewed or government etc.) the following page will be useful for finding information you will need:
http://jupiter.clarion.edu/~jpearce/lit.html
*Projects:*
National Fuel -- We are going to be demonstrating a microturbine (
http://www.microturbine.com/prodsol/products/index.asp ) in the new Science and Technology Center. However, the major challenge with combined heat and power (CHP) systems like the microturbine is finding a year round heat sink for the waste heat. If you do not use the heat it is wasted and your efficiency drops from the 80-90's to the 30's. One promising location for another CHP system is the pool - we would heat the pool and basically get free electricity.
1. Determine the variables in order to size a CHP system for the pool ($100):
1. Determine the size (area) and capacity (volume) of the Tippen pool.
2. Is there a pool cover of any kind?
3. What are its hours of operation throughout the week and the year.
4. What temperature is pool kept at – and are there any kind of temperature set backs?
5. Get the 'degree days' for Clarion and the assumed input and output temperatures of the water...and determine if any data is present - if not you may have to calculate heat loss to the building for which you willneed the CUP set points.
6. From a-e calculate the thermal requirements for the Clarion U. pool in Tippen in btu per day throughout a typical year.
2. Another application of waste heat in a distributed generation system is for refrigeration. For this project I will supply you with technical information, prices and model numbers for a number types of refrigeration/freezing systems. You will then determine their standard operating energy inputs to determine the life cycle performance of the systems. In this case we are most interested in economics so you will do an engineering economics calculation of the various systems and
determine the return on investing in the more efficient models. ($100)
3. CHP systems can be coupled with a photovoltaic (PV) source to provide continuous electric power while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.
This is tricky however, because solar cells only work when the sun shines. Night is easy to account for – but clouds and the variations throughout the day are more challenging. We are going to be prototyping a hybrid microturbine –PV system on the new Science Center. In our system the components are smaller than the building's needs.
Analysis is needed, however, to determine if a coupled system sized
appropriately to a building could work. To figure this out do the following ($200) :
1. Determine the electrical demand in a typical household in PA throughout the day by the hour. I can provide you with the solar flux and then create a graph of the two superimposed.
2. Do the same exercise in (a) throughout the year.
3. For a PV system designed to meet the peak demand during the day and the year – determine the backup energy that would need tobe provided by the microturbine.
4. Size a microturbine to match the demand for a typical UShome.
From (c) you will know how often the microturbine must be running and at what capacity. Get its efficiency curve as a function of
load from a manufacturer and then calculate the amount of heat delivered by the microturbine on a typical day and throughout the year.
5. Finally match this btu/hour graph with the thermal needs of a typical home in Clarion.
6. Once you have completed this for Clarion – we may do the analysis for other locations to find the most promising ones and we would discuss further compensation.
Clarion Boards currently uses a standard boiler to produce the thermal energy to process the fiber board. There are almost certainly cost and efficiency advantages to utilizing combined heat and power applications but we must 'do the math'.
1. HOMER is a computer model that simplifies the task of evaluating design options for both off-grid and grid-connected power systems for remote, stand-alone, and distributed generation (DG) applications. HOMER's optimization and sensitivity analysis algorithms allow you to evaluate the economic and technical feasibility of a large number of technology options and to account for variation in technology costs and energy resource availability. http://www.nrel.gov/homer/
A good source to find lists of manufacturers for each type of CHP system ishttp://www.energy.ca.gov/distgen/equipment/equipment.html Contact actual manufacturers of the following devices and
a) determine prices and specs for their different models,
b) ask them for a HOMER model for their devices – if they do not have it, make it yourself based on their spec sheets. Assume that everything is grid connected.
Download HOMER and make a complete model for the following technologies. (This could be work
for several students working independently or in a team).
1. Reciprocating Engine ($25 up to 2)
2. Microturbine (recuperated) ($25 up to 4)
3. Combustion Turbine ($25 up to 2)
4. Stirling Engine ($25 up to 4)
5. PEM Fuel Cell ($25 up to 4)
Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: At the Clarion Boards plant we are
considering bringing in a mushroom cultivation business to use the waste wood fiber and heat from the plant to produce another valuable product while increasing plant efficiency.
1. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: Determine the biological
efficiencies for exotic edible mushrooms (= no white button articles, which represent the bulk of what's out there) on different substrates mixes. List the types of mushrooms available on each substrate ($5 per substrate mix for reliable peer reviewed sources up to $50)
2. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: Literature review with ten articles
in pdf delivered electronically on the following:
1. Oyster (pleurotus ostreatus) mushrooms ($10)
2. King Oyster mushrooms ($10)
3. appropriate technology implementations in mushroom
cultivation ($10)
4. eco-friendly practices in mushroom cultivation ($10)
5. systems approaches in mushroom cultivation ($10)
3. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: Carbon Impact of mushroom
cultivation – literature search first to determine if it has been done – if not do the analysis yourself ($50)
8. Clarion Boards/Manamushrooms: For bioremediation of
pollutants - The EPA site has state-by-state data for their brownfields (nothing nationwide). Find or develop a chart of the brownfields *by contaminant* in PA first and then make an overlay of the mushroom contaminant uptake chart from Mycelium Running. I can send a copy/scan if you need it. ($50)
Last but not least – this project would make a very nice Clarion
University Undergraduate Research Grant – these grants are due on Feb 9th – this Friday! You can request up to $500 for supplies (note this is not spendingmoney – but will look great on your resume).
Another form of distributed generation can use the sun with
photovoltaics. Using as little money as possible- fabricate a light emitting diode (LED)>based solar photovoltaic lighting system using old cell phone batteriesas storage.
1. Create a spec sheet for your device including an electric circuit diagram of your apparatus, component tolerances.
2. Design a simple packaging system that could be easily used and constructed in developing countries.
3. Write a detailed description of your device and its construction (you can substitute a digital video of you doing this for the written piece)
4. Build the device (I can help you source some of the
components) and demonstrate it for the department – We have a solar simulator in the room next Kathy's office you can use to test it.
--
Joshua M. Pearce, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Physics
Coordinator of Nanotechnology and Sustainability: Science and Policy Programs
Introduction
My name Charles Baran. Sortof.
Actually, for most of my childhood I thought of myself as Charles Murray. Its interesting how an identity can change. As far as I knew, my name /was/ Charles Murray. Actually, it was just the name I was enrolled in highschool as, by my biological father. My name was Charles Baran (my mothers maiden name) - as she had declined to list him as the father when I was born. Everyone had declined to inform me of this until it came time for me to attend college, and they insisted no Charles Murray had ever existed; all in the head of me, my family, and those whom had known me at highschool; a dream of my crazy demented father.
I was born on May 19th, 1983. The result of an 'out of wedlock' situation; not that I knew that until years after I had found out my name was false. As you can probably guess, I have a strange family; I won't get into that full story right now.
I have had many dreams in my life. My life has been defined by my dreams. When I was 4, I wanted to be like King Solomon. When I was 6, I wanted to be a Paladin like King Arthur. 7, I wanted to be like Encyclopedia Brown - a boy I had read of in a book. He read his entire local library and remembered everything, and used that knowledge to solve mysteries and help people. Ironically, I havn't done much to help people, but he is the figure from my life I have managed to emulate the most successfully; it is so easy to read. And I have read so very much. I don't even remember it all; its in there, somewhere - like spider webs in a dusty closet. I recall it at randomn times, triggered by things people say. My head is always full of facts, a mixture of the babble of others speaking around me with the memory of the endless multitude of books I have read.
Ironically, it is I who often babble. I talk too much. Perhaps because words have so very little to say. I would prefer to write everything if I could. The idea is preposterous of course, everyone with large scrolls and feather-ink pens scribing messages to each other all day instead of talking, but there it is - I would prefer such. Words are so sudden and incomplete. As I said, I talk too much.
In third grade I was systematically reading the elementary library. I was at the 'M' section - mythology. I had read of the so-called 'heroes of reknown, great men of old' - the greek myths and legends, other stories of other people. And then after that I got to P. Physics. The first book was entitled 'Quasars, Pulsars and Black Holes' You can get it from amazon.com for 1 cent today.
http://www.amazon.com/Quasars-Pulsars-Black-Frederic-Golden/dp/0684181436/sr=8-3/qid=1171454838/ref=sr_1_3/105-1262851-2583669?ie=UTF8&s=books
After that, I wanted only to see the universe and understand how it works. Such was my dream, though that dream took many forms over the years, the nature was consistant.
I am a person defined by his dreams. When I dream, I dream higher then most I know. Ambition is a part of me, as much as it seems my inevitable failure. I have many weaknesses. I have very little social skills - I often come across as rather annoying (I am actually slightly intimidated by socialization at times) I am easily frustrated by mathematics homework, an irony in a physics major.
But I am at a crossroads in my life, for I have dreamed my dream, but now that dream is gone from me. I have no hope of getting into graduate school for physics; I have no research experience and a poor gpa. I am not certain I would succeed even if I did. I have no other dream with which to replace it. I have withdrawn from what little social life I had - in truth, I had little to begin with. I am disillusioned with myself and with others. The world, as a child; was a bright and shining place with infinite horizons of grace and learning, where one could become anything.
But it is not so. And yet I am a person defined by his dreams, and thus I am now without a definition for the first time in my life.
And so instead of dream I struggle. I work through my classes as best I can, turning my thoughts from far horizons to dreary futures, and contemplate my options while wishing for my dreams.
Actually, for most of my childhood I thought of myself as Charles Murray. Its interesting how an identity can change. As far as I knew, my name /was/ Charles Murray. Actually, it was just the name I was enrolled in highschool as, by my biological father. My name was Charles Baran (my mothers maiden name) - as she had declined to list him as the father when I was born. Everyone had declined to inform me of this until it came time for me to attend college, and they insisted no Charles Murray had ever existed; all in the head of me, my family, and those whom had known me at highschool; a dream of my crazy demented father.
I was born on May 19th, 1983. The result of an 'out of wedlock' situation; not that I knew that until years after I had found out my name was false. As you can probably guess, I have a strange family; I won't get into that full story right now.
I have had many dreams in my life. My life has been defined by my dreams. When I was 4, I wanted to be like King Solomon. When I was 6, I wanted to be a Paladin like King Arthur. 7, I wanted to be like Encyclopedia Brown - a boy I had read of in a book. He read his entire local library and remembered everything, and used that knowledge to solve mysteries and help people. Ironically, I havn't done much to help people, but he is the figure from my life I have managed to emulate the most successfully; it is so easy to read. And I have read so very much. I don't even remember it all; its in there, somewhere - like spider webs in a dusty closet. I recall it at randomn times, triggered by things people say. My head is always full of facts, a mixture of the babble of others speaking around me with the memory of the endless multitude of books I have read.
Ironically, it is I who often babble. I talk too much. Perhaps because words have so very little to say. I would prefer to write everything if I could. The idea is preposterous of course, everyone with large scrolls and feather-ink pens scribing messages to each other all day instead of talking, but there it is - I would prefer such. Words are so sudden and incomplete. As I said, I talk too much.
In third grade I was systematically reading the elementary library. I was at the 'M' section - mythology. I had read of the so-called 'heroes of reknown, great men of old' - the greek myths and legends, other stories of other people. And then after that I got to P. Physics. The first book was entitled 'Quasars, Pulsars and Black Holes' You can get it from amazon.com for 1 cent today.
http://www.amazon.com/Quasars-Pulsars-Black-Frederic-Golden/dp/0684181436/sr=8-3/qid=1171454838/ref=sr_1_3/105-1262851-2583669?ie=UTF8&s=books
After that, I wanted only to see the universe and understand how it works. Such was my dream, though that dream took many forms over the years, the nature was consistant.
I am a person defined by his dreams. When I dream, I dream higher then most I know. Ambition is a part of me, as much as it seems my inevitable failure. I have many weaknesses. I have very little social skills - I often come across as rather annoying (I am actually slightly intimidated by socialization at times) I am easily frustrated by mathematics homework, an irony in a physics major.
But I am at a crossroads in my life, for I have dreamed my dream, but now that dream is gone from me. I have no hope of getting into graduate school for physics; I have no research experience and a poor gpa. I am not certain I would succeed even if I did. I have no other dream with which to replace it. I have withdrawn from what little social life I had - in truth, I had little to begin with. I am disillusioned with myself and with others. The world, as a child; was a bright and shining place with infinite horizons of grace and learning, where one could become anything.
But it is not so. And yet I am a person defined by his dreams, and thus I am now without a definition for the first time in my life.
And so instead of dream I struggle. I work through my classes as best I can, turning my thoughts from far horizons to dreary futures, and contemplate my options while wishing for my dreams.
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