Memorandum

Date: 30th June 2018

To: Dr. Amy Hodges, Dr.Yasser Al-Hamidi, Dr. LeeAnn Rudd

From: Asmahan Al-Kuwari, Aisha Al-Naemi, Nicholas Manavi, Mai AlShakhs

Subject: Needs Analysis

The Idea
The inspiration for this project arose from a recognition of the hard life refugees face in
Palestinian and Lebanese camps. There is a power crisis in these communities, some of which
generate electricity for as little as six hours a day. This is not nearly enough power to satisfy their
basic human rights for proper healthcare needs. This raises the question: how and what could we
create to help generate electricity at Refugee sites, specifically for medical clinics? We as a team
of engineers realized that organizations mainly focused on meeting needs such as food, shelter
and healthcare facilities. Yet, those organizations have neglected offering refugees reliable
avenues of generating electricity, which they could use to cook, heat water and even for their
medical supplies in their healthcare units. As diverse engineers, we want to be able to provide
them all the assistance we are capable of offering. Therefore, if we were able to generate
electricity at those camps, and keep the portable clinic running all day long through all seasons,
we would have accomplished a goal that many other big organizations and companies had failed
to do. We are determined that we will be able to achieve that goal and help refugee camps in
order to increase the quality of life of those living there.

Meeting a Refugee
Our team met with Ghassan, a student from TAMUQ, who experienced life as a Lebanese
refugee. He mentioned how electricity is an issue in all seven refugee camps there. They would
go up to 18 hours a day without electricity, and they would stand in the Sun's heat without air
conditioning. Furthermore, due to lack of electricity, there weren’t any good clinics, nor
advanced machines, like sterilizers and x-ray machines, to help the people in need. There are
only clinics that serve those who suffer from diabetes and also monitor blood pressure.
Shockingly, he also stated that many murders occur at refugee camps. If someone is shot, the
medical clinics do not have the surgical and medical machinery to help. Even if these machines
were provided, electricity is too scarce in these communities to offer reliable use. Therefore,
injured people would have no choice but to reach out to a hospital outside of camp. In a nutshell,
generating electricity is vital to help those who are living under these circumstances and
undergoing these deteriorating conditions.
Problem Statement
Refugees need electricity to power important machinery and charge essential items like their
phones for use. The most difficult obstacle for these people to overcome is a lack of funding.
Developing a cost-effective solution towards harnessing available resources and natural energy is
the core of our team’s goal.

Solar Thermal Energy Research

The stirling engine is more efficient at converting sunlight into energy than most photovoltaic
panels.
Efficient by 31% compared to 14-18% of photovoltaic panels ​(Rogdakis, Antonakos &
Koronaki, 2016).

Figure 1. An Image of Stirling engine parabolic mirrors (Barbee, 2015)

Solar thermal stirling engines use parabolic mirrors as lenses to capture sunlight and create heat.
This heat (thermal energy) is converted to mechanical power (kinetic energy) used to operate the
heat engine, which then turns a generator to produce electricity. This system is most effective in
hot and dry climates where the system would convert ⅓ of solar energy to electricity (​Barbee,
2015)​.​ Some of the advantages that stirling engines have over photovoltaic cells include:

1. Solar cells produce DC (Direct Current). Thich means it requires an inverter to

convert the current to AC for clinic use
 2. Solar thermal energy components are eco-fiendly. Unlike Photovoltaic cells
which are made up of poisonous material and could impact or harm the
environment
3. Photovoltaics can only operate during the day where Stirling Engine can for 24
hrs
4. Its is also a quiet operation that consist of little maintenance. (Rogdakis,
Antonakos & Koronaki, 2016)

For these reasons we have ruled out solar cells as a source that harvests from the sun as it lacks
in various properties compared to the stirling engine.

Windmill Research
From research, we determined that the minimum speed required to run a wind turbine is 8mph
and to reach its best efficiency it must reach 36mph. (​How to calculate power output of wind,
2018). ​Therefore, we went on to ascertain the wind speed in different areas in the middle east.
We started searching lebanon’s climate. The average wind speed throughout the year in this area
is barely 8mph, as shown below in Figure 2; therefore, it is not the most reasonable solution.

Figure 2​. Represents the average wind speed in lebanon throughout the year (Weather Spark, 2018).

Similarly we looked at wind speeds in Jordan, Palestine and different areas in the Middle East.
and we have reached the same results, that it isn’t the best method to implement. Nevertheless,
we will still keep this method in mind in case we are dealing with different areas around the
world where this method is more suitable.

A good advantage that these windmills have is that they last 20-25 years. Moreover, they are
considered the most safe source of energy out there. The blades rotate between 50 to 100
revolutions depending on how efficient the machine in hand is. ​A very interesting fact is that a
1.8 megawatts turbine can actually accomodate the needs of over 900 households (EDF Energy
Renewables, 2018).

Figure 3. Illustrates a chart representing the windmill efficiency at different wind speeds (windmill
efficiency, n.d.)

Figure 3 shows the efficiency in windmills. When the power induced and speed are high, the
output is high.

The table below emphasises why the stirling engine was chosen as part of the hybrid. It
highlights key criteria that our team has chosen as comparison points, and shows how the stirling
engine has more benefits than setbacks compared to the PV cells and windmills as a renewable
energy source.
 Table 1. Shows a summarized comparison between three methods of renewable energy
production.
Photovoltaic cells
Performance ● Converting sunlight into
/Efficiency energy at a rate of 14-18%
● Loss of 5% efficiency first
year and additional 1% each
following year. (DAO, 2017)
● · Operates during the day.
● Inconsistent power production.
(DAO, 2017)
● Distributed modular system, If
part of the system is damaged
the rest still can operate. (DAO,
2017)
long-term
20-25 Years (DAO, 2017)
durability
Maintenance ● Need to be checked a couple of
times a year. (The Solar
Company, n.d.)
● Require daily cleaning for dust
accumulation. (The Solar
Company, n.d.)
Constraints ● Power production drops if the
path between the panel and the
sun is obscured.
● Solar cells produce Direct
Current which needs an inverter
to convert it to AC.(IEEE, n.d.)
● Made up of poisonous material
and could impact or harm the
environment.
Stirling Engine Windmills
● Converting sunlight to
energy at a rate of 31%
(Rogdakis, Antonakos
& Koronaki, 2016)
● Effective not only hot
and dry climates but
also cold ones ​(Barbee,
2015)
● Operates for 24 Hours.
(Barbee, 2015)
● Diverse and adaptable
to any kind of hot
source.(Gras, n.d.)
20-25 years (EDF Energy Renewables,
(Not yet Determined)
● Great reliability.
(Gras, n.d.)
● Requires little
maintenance. (Gras,
n.d.)
● Maintenance every 4
months
● Rarely implemented
and tested. (Gras, n.d.)
● Not employed in the
competitive market.
(Gras, n.d.)
● The blades rotate between 50 and
100 revolutions. (EDF Energy
Renewables, 2018)
● High efficiency when using high
power units. (EDF Energy
Renewables, 2018)
● Works ​70-85% of the time. ​(EDF
Energy Renewables, 2018)
2018)
● It is really hard to perform
maintenance because the turbines
are about 30 ft high up (Various
disadvantages, 2014)
● Planned maintenance is
recommended. (Various
disadvantages, 2014)
● Wind speed needs to be taken into
consideration. (windmill
efficiency, n.d.)
● Lubricants may need to be
applied every now and
then(Various disadvantages, 2014)
● High capital investment (EDF
Energy Renewables, 2018)
● Causes many deaths in birds
(Various disadvantages, 2014)
● Noise disturbance if more than
one is present (Various
disadvantages, 2014)
Outcome of Research
After considering the three methods to produce renewable energy we have come to the
realization that clean energy alone will not suffice. Renewable energy sources are highly
dependent on weather and environment, and thus will not produce a reliable amount of energy
for day to day use (DAO, 2017). Moreover most energy harvesting sources, even windmills, are
not economically friendly, and will trump our objective of making the project implementable in
refugee sites. Therefore, we concluded that the best method of power production that
incorporates our aim of reliable and cost effective energy is to have a stirling engine/ gas hybrid.

Limitations to the Research

We aim to engage with experts who have experience with the technical and peripheral aspects of
the project. We will take guidance from professors at TAMUQ who are currently researching
methods of producing renewable energy, such as Dr.Yasser.

Time constraint is a major issue. At first, we assumed research would take a day or two, but the
more we dig into the work, the more we realize how many problems there are to solve for the
refugees. These people face numerous barriers to a normal lifestyle. Therefore, it was hard to
keep our focus on generating electricity, when multiple deaths occur due to starvation, diseases,
poor construction and much more (Palestinian Refugees, 2014).

Mitigating the Limitations

We focused on the single complication of energy production. Our objective is to solve the issue
of power generation so we can give refugees one less problem to worry about.

Moreover, the whole team researched different methods for energy generation--both renewable
and non-renewable. The findings of our research were described above with citations for support.
We used these findings to determine advantages and disadvantages of each energy source,
comparing them to each other to help us determine the best hybrid model. Dr. Yasser was of
great help, providing information for our group regarding solar energy efficiency and output. He
even allowed us to use instruments, such as the parabolic mirror, and offered to order parts.
Videos online of generating homemade electricity sources assisted in giving us a good
introduction to the design. The efficiency in the sources is not guaranteed, but we are planning
on improving our design to the point where it can be considered a reliable energy source that can
produce a steady state of power for 24 hours. Therefore, we decided to use one renewable energy
source along with another reliable energy source, gas. Gas is efficient so that if the stirling
engine was out of order, the gas would be used to generate energy temporarily.
Possible Limitations in Design
Finding the most reliable source of energy has proven to be a more difficult challenge than
expected. The climate of the Middle East makes it difficult to utilize windmills effectively, and
this means that including them into our hybridized design might be an ineffective use of
resources. Our initial ideal scenario to utilize all forms of renewable energy sustainably might
therefore be unrealistic. Since our main plan is to accommodate a portable clinic, the final design
of the power-generating unit will need to be compact and easily movable. The design will also
aim to generate the maximum amount of storable energy to power the clinic, so orientation and
placement of parts of the device, such as the collector plate, will be studied carefully, in order to
best utilize the given space.
 References

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