Weekly Progress

Week 9

Most of the analysis and data collection is done, we have:

	Resistivity (m2oC/kW)	Loss/year (kWhr.)	Installation ($)
Cellulose	5429	122,992	237,464
Fiberglass batt	4319	156,396	164,915
Polystyrene	6333	106,660	142,560

The % lost is the percent of added heat lost with the type of insulation covering a 14000sqft/floor, 6 floor commercial building in Philadelphia.

We still need to figure out how much money we are saving each month with the types of insulation.

Week 8: Final testing and Analysis

During this week we will finish our final tests on the different kinds of insulation. With the results that we received from the test we now will have the  thermal resistivity of each each insulation. Although one insulation may have shown to have a better thermal resistivity it may not be economically plausible. We have found through the economic analysis that the price to install any of the insulation will require a bank loan. What we plan to accomplish by the end of the week, or beginning of the following week, is if we can save money through one of the particular insulation.

We have calculated the amount of electricity that a building similar to ours would regenerate in a years time. We have also focused that electricity to find how much of it is put into heating and cooling. We then found the cost to heat and cool a building in the Philadelphia region for an entire year. We plan on using this data to find if it is plausible to install one of our insulations. 

Also, this week we plan on having a risk analysis completed. To show what risks may come up when installing the material or future risks.

Week 7: Continuing Testing and Analysis

  This week we continued testing (testing takes a while with our project due to each test taking multiple hours). We started testing the cellulose and did more tests on the polystyrene and fiberglass insulation. We also started to wait for about an hour before turning off the heat source, light bulb, so that the temperature of the box would be stabilized. Then we began our testing so that our data would be more accurate and would not have a curve at the beginning.

  We were able to use the results we had gotten to figure out the thermal resistivity of each insulation measured in m2/W as well as the costs of each insulation for a building of six floors with 14,000 sqrft/floor. We figured out the cost efficiency of each insulation from the information we had gotten. We also did some risk analysis of the whole project as well as the risk analysis of each component of the project.

A couple of graphs we had:

Week 6: Continuing Testing

  This past week we conducted several tests outside of lab. The polystyrene box was tested and the fiberglass batt box was tested. Unfortunately there was a problem in our testing procedure; we did not allow the box’s temperature to become steady before taking data to calculate the cooling curve. Because of this we will be retesting and analyzing the data for these two boxes this next week. We will also be beginning the economic analysis.

  The testing procedure follows: the box is sealed and a light bulb is turned on for an hour. The light bulb is then unplugged and the box begins to cool. The cadence of internal temperature data collection differs for each type of insulation, but it follows the form of: every half minute for twenty minutes, ever minute for forty minutes, ever two minutes for an hour, and every five minutes for an hour or two. The data is then analyzed with the equation γ=ln[(T_in(f) - T_out)/(T_initial,in – T_out)]. The data is then plotted t VS γ, and a linear trend-line is applied. The slope of the trend line is proportional to the thermal conductivity, which is the inverse of the resistance, or insulating ability of the material.

Week 5: Beginning Initial Testing

  This week we began to do our initial testing. In class we set up our first experiment. We inserted out light bulb into the sheet rock and also made a tiny hole for the thermocouple. We had one end of the thermocouple inside of the sheet rock to tell us the temperature inside. The other end was outside of the unit to measure the temperature of the room. We then surrounded the sheet rock with our first insulation, Styrofoam. When everything was secure we turned on the light bulb and watched the temperature rise. Since time was running short we let the temperature rise to about twenty degree about room temperature. Then turned off the light source and recorded the degree difference every thirty seconds.
  This test was not an official test. It was in the place to get a fell for the length of time it would take to do each experiment. Also, to see how difficult it was to maintain each experiment. Later in the week the Styrofoam will be tested again for an official read. The fiber glass will also be tested.
  The most difficult part of doing these experiments is maintain consistency when testing. We have to make sure that the area where we are testing remains consistent. This will help us reduce our amount of error.

Week 4: Finishing Construction

This week we worked on finishing up making our models. We made the fiberglass model but it was quite difficult to measure, cut and put together. We had to use ducktape to keep it together but it still is quite flimsy but since it’s fluffy, it filled up the gap spaces if we had any. For safety reasons, we put the fiberglass part on the inside while the paper part was on the outside. The “box” as a whole looked good and the top piece fit very well. The fiberglass was 3.5 in thick, not 4 in, so that may also affect our calculations due to everything else being 4 in. The ducktape may also affect our calculations but it is also thin enough that it will not make a significant difference. Creating this "box" took the whole lab period due to the fiberglass being difficult to work with and not being prepared (we only had small scissors and a pocket knife). We also worked on our which calculations would need to be made and how we were going to figure out how we find the variables leading to finding the heat transfer value and also the r-value of our specific models.

Week 3: Initial Construction

We have hopefully finalized which insulations we will be working with: polystyrene or styrofoam board, closed cell polyurethane spray foam, fiberglass batt, cellulose wet spray, and possibly vacuum insulated panel. All were chosen because they are common in the building industry.
   We also have hopefully finalized the testing apparatus. It sill consist of a sheetrock box containing a light bulb and a thermo-couple. The thermo-couple will connect to a reader and will measure the heat in the box. The incandescent light bulb will provide the heat. There will be exterior boxes made of different types of insulation that will fit around all six sides of the major sheetrock box.

   Today we began construction of our physical model. We hope to being doing initial testing next week in lab. We went to the machine shop and, with the excellent help of Mr. Shiber and his staff, we familiarized our selves with the tools and procedures. Unfortunately the sheetrock was forgotten  so we were unable to construct the major box that will hold the light and the thermo-couples. However, we were able to build an exterior box out of styrofoam. During the weekend the sheetrock box and a fiber glass box should be built.

Week 2, In-depth Research

We started this week with turning in our proposal. After some positive feed about our project and what we hope to accomplished, we began doing in-depth research. This research consisted of analyzing about fifteen different types of insulation. When looking up information we looked for three main components to compare: the style, the R-value, and the cost per square inch. When finished comparing these fifteen different types we hope to narrow our search down to about four or three different kinds of insulation. these four or three types of insulation will be used for our physical model and testing. Also, during this week we will construct a more specific timeline of what needs to be done in order to complete this project.

Week 1, Background Research:

For our Insulation Efficiency project, we decided to spend this first week doing some background research. We researched different aspects of our project but mainly on insulation and energy efficiency through insulation. We collected information about what materials could be used to create a model of what we will be doing, what types of (basic) skills we would need to create the model but also understand what we had created, and how our project would be economically efficient.