2021 Capstone Group 20

     There's been an additional 5 tests the team has conducted since our last blog entry. In our 5th test, we configured our Peltier devices to run at 8.0 volts, 6.5 Amps and 7.5 volts, 5.0 Amps, respectively. Figure 1 below shows the results of this test, where lowering the amps resulted in an overall improvement in cooling our main loop by only slightly increasing the temperature of the radiator loop. For this test we applied a heat load to the main loop to simulate the heating effect produced by a person. This was done by connecting a 2 ft section of copper pipe to the main loop and submerging it in a large volume of 20 C water. This applied a heat load of approximately 4-5 W on 0.12 L of liquid which is about 2-3x the heating amount our final system will receive during operation since our final system will contain more liquid. Figure 1: Cooling the main loop with a heat load applied      The rest of the tests we conducted, Test 6 thru Test 9, were run a...

       As we prepared to continue work on our project, the Greater Houston area was threatened by Hurricane Nicholas of Category 1, which resulted in the school closing Sept. 13-14 due to possible flooding and strong winds. This natural event delayed when our team would meet by a couple of days and resulted in a shorter limited time for once we met again on Wednesday, Sept. 15. We began to set up our system, now integrating the water-cooling loop to cool down the Peltier devices and as we were ready to begin testing and gather data, we noticed the water pump for the water-cooling loop was no longer operational and we weren’t able to test our system that day. Once we got our hands on a new water pump, we began to run tests on multiple configurations and gather data so we can catch-up for the days lost and compare the two designs to each other. The first test, shown in Figure 1, was a basic model of our original system design using a heat sink and fan. We collected tem...

Thus far, our team has purchased 90% of the materials needed for the project in its entirety, but has enough materials on-hand to start testing our Temperature Control System. The team has performed preliminary testing of various set-ups of the system. Preliminary testing was necessary to develop our final system design. We have tested the Peltier devices individually at 5V and 12V. We tested various combinations of multiple Peltiers at different voltage levels. We combined the Peltier with heat sinks, thermal paste, and fans in different orientations to develop an understanding for how they affect the performance of the Peltier. We added the waterblock and pump to the system to test the temperature control capability to affect the water. Peltiers performance is heavily affected by the ability to remove the heat it produces. From testing we found the effectiveness of the Peltiers can be improved by increasing the heat sink size, increasing the airflow across the heat sink and Peltier u...

Blog Entry #4:           During the period between April 9th and 23rd, we accomplished several key aspects of our design for the spring semester. We made a mathematical model of our water loop system and how it interacts with the surface of the chair. Also, we created a 3D-CAD model of our thermoelectric cooler (TEC) Peltier system and how it will fit together. Figure 1: Model of chair showing pipes and waterloop.           This model simplifies the system by taking a 2D slice of the chair cushion with the waterloop installed. The pipes are cut across their cross-sections. The layers of the chair and waterloop are shown in green. Nodes are marked in red. The center to center distance of the end pipes is the distance 0 to L along the surface of the chair. We want to maintain a constant comfortable surface temperature of approximately 22°C. When a person rests on the seat, the surface will have a constant heat flux of approximate...

  Blog#1 :  Our team developed the idea for a small, lightweight, and easily maneuverable jack lift because one team member realized the current methods for moving furniture around one's home are inadequate for many people. Home furniture and appliances  on average range in weight from 150lb for a desk or dryer to almost 400lb for a refrigerator, and can fill a volume of space from 10 cubic feet to 30 respectively. In addition, there are many large, uniquely shaped, and heavy objects in people's homes such as fish tanks, tables, game machines, etc.. It is normal for people to want to shift large objects like these around their home to suit their needs and desires as they change over time. A common method for moving large furniture is to use a dolly, but it only has a mechanical advantage of 5. This advantage is not enough for many people, and the dolly is limited if the object has a large volume or a strange shape. The alternatives are to use more people, or hire someon...