Engineering Analysis
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Heat Transfer Analysis:
Based on Flagstaff, AZ:
Average Solar Radiation: for Fall/Winter = 647.92 W/sq m & for Spring/Summer = 923.96 W/sq m
Average Outside Temperature: for Fall/Winter = 46.67 degrees F & for Spring/Summer = 68.83 degrees F
Based on our heat transfer analysis calculations using the values of Flagstaff's average solar radiation and outside temperature, a heating system will not be needed during the testing of our prototypes to keep the interior at 70 degrees F. The next step would be to figure out the set up of the A/C system for each Prototype.
A/C System Set Up:
By using a simple, thermodynamic ideal gas mixture model for the air in the prototype, it was found that the air blowing in from the A/C unit would have to be approximately 65 degrees F in order to cool the air inside the prototypes from 75 degrees F (our chosen temperature to turn on the A/C unit) to 70 degrees F.
In order to figure out how many and the optimum placement of the inlets and outlets for the A/C system, a fluid model was created in the program Ansys. By using this program we were able to decided that the air from the A/C system should be about 62 degrees F and be blown in at 2 ft/sq m. There should also be a total of 6 inlet holes of 1in diameter and 4 outlet holes of 2in diameter. The outlet holes will just be simple holes which will allow for the interior of the prototype to naturally vent which will help not to build up unnecessary pressure within the prototype.
Placement of the Inlets and Outlets
