INSTITUTE CODE: 113

Heating water using AC/Refrigerator Exhausts

PM College of Engineering
7/31/2012

Project report for the final project assigned in the CEP Workshop held at IIT-D organized by Department of Management Sciences

Contributing team members Bhawna Pandey Chetan Pareek Chirag Malik Deeksha Sharma Kawaljeet Singh Mohd. Safder Navdeep Gaur, Ncat: 11232 Ravi Khatri Vaibhav Gupta ECE ECE EEE CSE ME ECE CSE CSE ECE "B.tech, 2nd year" "B.tech, 2nd year" "B.tech, 3rd year" "B.tech, 1st year" "B.tech, 1st year" "Polytechnic, Passed out" "B.tech, 2nd year" "B.tech, 1st year" "B.tech, 2nd year"

Problem Definition

The Problem
Energy, in any form is essential for our day to day progress. Conventionally, we obtain it from different sources as fossil fuels etc. As we are progressing towards a more developed future, we are continuously consuming our mere natural resources of energy. The overutilization of natural resources is making them diminish and is affecting our planet severely. Pollution, global warming, degradation of ecosystems are only some of the consequences being faced by our planet Earth, which too, are said to have occurred because of non-judicious use of such scarce resources. The increasing overutilization of the resources is leading them to diminish. This marks the need for us to understand responsibility towards the environment. For a bright future of both, the earth and its people, we must understand and head towards sustainable development, which is development without harming the nature. Conclusively, it is a dire need to introduce major paradigm shifts in the way we use our resources. Problem thus is, Scarce energy resources Inefficiency in existing methods of resource utilization

And for solving this problem we need To find ways to use already scarce resources more efficiently without radically changing the underlying infrastructure, reducing the demand for such resources. To introduce vital process changes in the existing methodologies of resource utilization.

Effect of Problem on the Environment

Effect on the Environment

Major environmental issues are forest and agricultural degradation of land, resource depletion (water, mineral, forest, sand, rocks etc.), environmental degradation, public health, loss of biodiversity, loss of resilience in ecosystems, livelihood security for the poor. Some of the direct effects of the problem thus described are Pollution Utilization of such resources causes emission of many harmful pollutants that pollute the environment. Depletion of Energy Resources Non-judicious and wasteful use of energy resources has led to an escalated rate of resource depletion.

Not only that, the problem can compound in to the following Global warming Health problems Depletion of ozone layer Over breeding of disease carrying vectors

Analysis

Some facts
The following statistics show the consumption of power by some home electrical equipment used worldwide.

World ratings of power consumption in home use:

Generalized chart

Chart for cooler regions

Chart for a metropolitan household

The previously illustrated charts give a fair overview of the consumption of energy resources in institutional and residential settings.

Thus, one feature of our solution should be that it addresses at least some of the preexisting power usage patterns observed above.

Alternatives with pros and cons

Some of the ways of saving energy in institutional or residential settings are:

Power Savers
It is a small device which is to be plugged in any of the AC sockets in the house (Mostly near Energy Meter).

Pros
Some of the companies claim that their power savers save up to 40% of the energy.

Cons
Power factor correction devices improve power quality but do not generally improve energy efficiency (meaning they would not reduce your energy bill). *(ref: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:MAGGdGQhuUoJ:electricalengineering-portal.com/the-real-truth-behind-household-powersavers+disadvantages+of+power+savers&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in) Added cost without guarantee of effectiveness.

Solar Energy
Complex installments to harness the abundant solar energy

Pros
Unlimited supply, constrained only by space, time and solar affinity.

Cons
Highly expensive installation, space constraints, subject to availability of sunlight among many others.* (ref: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_solar_energy) Not easily affordable Provides no way of making existing practices more efficient.

Several other solutions exist which despite being very helpful are not easy to implement. The situation thus calls for a more basic reform in the existing infrastructure.

Another look at the researched material reveals the major power consumption areas

It is very easy to conclude that cooling, refrigeration and water heating, if compounded together, are the most power consuming activities involved in universal settings.

Thus, if our solution addresses these areas of power consumption we are bound to reach an optimal solution to our problem.

Using Waste Heat from Exhausts of Various Appliances*

Many existing appliances release lot of energy in the form of heat, the majority being refrigeration and air conditioning systems if harnessed properly this energy can be reused properly.

Pros
Utilizes the heat energy thrown out by air conditioners Reuses energy Eco-friendly (energy going waste is used) If implemented properly, it may even improve the efficiency of airconditioning/refrigeration systems*(ref: http://powerknot.com/measuring-enthalpy-tocalculate-efficiency.html) Refrigerators are in use throughout the year, thus heat discharge is there to be harnessed perennially.

Cons
How to put such heat to use? Air cooling systems are used subject to whether conditions

*(Please refer to the appendix for the technical overview.)

Solution

The major issue faced in the alternative that was last proposed was How to put such heat to use? The heat being thermal discharges from air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

One solution is to use this heat in pre-heating water for activities that require hot water. Not only does this solution address the problem of using heat discharge from appliances, it also addresses a major area of power consumption namely, heating water and cooking.

Explanation
Cooking involves boiling or heating water to high temperatures. Usually, we start the cooking process with cold water or water at room temperature that requires more heating. Considerable amount of fuel can be saved only if we are to start the cooking process with water that is already heated.

It is here that our innovation comes into picture. If we are to, somehow, utilize the heat exhaust from refrigerating and air conditioning systems in heating water; we can reduce the fuel requirements for cooking or heating water and also provide better cooling for the air conditioning/refrigeration heat sink.

Not only cooking, water heated by heat exhaust of various appliances has uses like
Potable purposes Dish washing Cleaning purposes

Help needed
Technical
The product (please refer to the appendix) requires to be innovated in such a way that it absorbs the most heat from the AC exhaust and delivers it to the water. For that we need to experiment with The material of pipe(refer to the appendix) Mode of water flow in the pipe (1.gravitation or 2.convection currents in the pipe) Thickness of the pipe (for allowing better convection currents) Structure of the coil Container design Plumbing Quantitative measurements of effects on efficiency of refrigerators or air conditioners Etc

Production
Once having decided the final product design we will need financial inputs for Piping Container fabrication Plumbing Assembling Etc

Marketing
We plan to market our product through well established air conditioning and refrigeration markets citing the positive effects of our product on efficiency of corresponding appliances.(increments in energy efficiency star ratings) We also hope to cash on the drawbacks of already existing water heating equipments. Another plus point that we can count on is the eco-friendly nature of our product.

Since the competition is almost non-existent, and the size of the market using air conditioners and refrigerators is huge, even when we narrow it down to educational institutions, we enjoy the privilege of having a large audience for our services.

Appendix
Technical Overview
We have proposed a device that is easy to install, is highly portable, light in weight and can be used to heat water from heat exhaust of air conditioners in an eco friendly manner.

Illustration:

Working
A water filled container is so placed that the water from it can be redirected to a heat conducting pipe coiled around the heat exhausts of an air conditioning system.

When the water passes through the pipe it gets heated as it absorbs heat from the pipe that is in turn heated from the heat exhaust of the AC. The heat from the AC is thus used to heat the water in the bucket.

Pictures of the prototype depicting portability and easy installation