September 2001

BFRL Monthly Highlights

June 2001

July 2001

August 2001

Sept. 2001

PAST Highlights

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Solar Water Heater

An experimental NIST-developed solar water heater system at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers evidence that over the long term solar powered utilities can save resources and cut emissions harmful to air quality significantly. Data from 1999, the last year of a four-year study of the solar water heating system patented by NIST, show the system provided nearly 60 percent of the energy needed by the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Researchers also recorded annual energy savings of $134.33 with annual emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide reduced respectively by 22 pounds, 41 pounds, and 8,988 pounds. Twenty-five year savings estimates are more impressive. Based on Environmental Protection Agency calculations for a system the size that NIST provided the National Park Service, 25-year energy savings are expected to amount to energy savings of $3,358.35. Nitrogen oxide reduction will be 550 pounds. Sulfur dioxide reduction will be 1,025 pounds. Carbon dioxide reduction should amount to 224,700 pounds or 112.35 tons. Unlike traditional solar water heaters that often are prone to breakdown as well as difficult to install, NIST’s system operates without pipes, fluids that can leak or freeze, or moving parts that can fail. Instead panels of semiconductor devices called photovoltaic cells convert sunlight to electricity. A microprocessor continuously monitors solar conditions and directs the energy produced by the photovoltaic cells to various combinations of resistive heating elements in storage or hot water tanks. Conventional house wiring transports the electrical energy to the separately located hot water tanks, BFRL mechanical engineers, Hunter Fanney and Brian Dougherty developed and patented the system in 1994. The novel system was installed at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in 1996 as a joint venture between the U.S. National Park Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and NIST. Although the initial field tests are over, it remains in place to provide low-cost energy to the visitor center. It is also expected to continue providing researchers with an opportunity to study system characteristics and advance the use of photovoltaics as an alternate energy source.

CONTACT: Hunter Fanney, 301-975-5864
Leader, Heat Transfer and Alternative Energy Systems Group
Building Environment Division

 

BFRL/MEL Collaboration on Tip Measurement Software

Software, developed by John Villarrubia to determine tip shape by analysis of scanning probe microscope images acquired with the tip, is being transferred from MEL to BFRL. This software has proven useful in the analysis of nanoindentor tips used to probe the mechanical properties of polymer thin films. As a result of this collaboration both MEL and BFRL researchers benefited. BFRL researchers receive the software, instruction on its use, and help with data analysis issues from the MEL developer. In turn, the BFRL participants converted the software code, developed on a UNIX platform, for use on a PC. The software is now available for to perform future data analysis on either platform.

CONTACT: John Villarrubia, 301-975-3958

BFRL Supports the U.S. Steel Construction Industry

Researchers in BFRL are working collaboratively with the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) to make electronic data interchange (EDI) a reality in U.S. steel construction. Previously, Kent Reed from BFRL participated in the AISC EDI task force that recommended adoption of Version 2 of the CIMSteel Integration Standard (CIS/2), an emerging standard for the electronic exchange of information about structural steel design and construction that was developed in Europe with U.S. input. Now, Robert Lipman from BFRL is collaborating with the AISC working group of steel work software vendors who have undertaken to implement the standard.

Lipman has developed a prototype CIS/2 exchange file visualizer and deployed it to an external NIST Web server for use by the implementers. Already functional for major portions of CIS/2 and continuously being improved, this program reads CIS/2 files submitted to the Web server and returns easy-to-browse VRML representations of the structural steelwork described in the files. This service provides CIS/2 translator writers with an easy to use independent check of their work leading to rapid improvement of their programs. Representative results of this work have been posted to the official CIS/2 website by its maintainer, the Steel Construction Institute in the U.K. Researchers at Georgia Tech have asked for permission to use portions of the BFRL work as part of a user interface to their CIS/2-based information server.

CONTACT: Kent Reed, 301-975-5852
Leader, Computer Integrated Construction Group
Building Environment Division

 

Strategic Planning of Research for Air-Conditioning Industry

On September 26 and 27, 2001, BFRL will be hosting a strategic planning workshop organized by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute within its “Research for the 21 Century” initiative. The workshop will involve 100 research professionals and will culminate a long-range planning process aimed at identifying and prioritizing research needs that would position industry for the 2010-2015 marketplace. The planning process started in January 2001 with a core group of 18 experts from industry, academia, and public/private companies. During a series of three two-day meetings, the participants identified predetermined events, trends, and drivers; developed scenarios to facilitate the interpretation of possible uncertain future states; and identified potential opportunities that focus on customer’s priorities. David Didion and Piotr Domanski of BFRL have participated in the core planning activities. The September workshop will focus on finalizing an integrated research framework.

CONTACT: Piotr Domanski, 301-975-5877
Leader, Thermal Machinery Group
Building Environment Division

 

SIMA Annual Program Review

The FY01 MEL SIMA program review was conducted on July 13, 2001. Five of the 20 SIMA-supported technical efforts focusing on interface standards and information access presented demonstrations during the program review. Harry Scott (ISD/MEL) and John Horst (ISD/MEL) led a presentation of the common machine interface project. Richard Schneeman (MMD/MEL) presented and demonstrated the smart transducer interface information model project. Kevin Brady (ED/EEEL) presented progress achieved by the electronic commerce for the electronics industry project. Kent Reed (BED/BFRL) gave a presentation of the product data standards for HVAC/R systems project. Kevin Jurrens (MMD/MEL) and his team presented highlights of the agent-based process information integration effort. Additional information is available at http://www-i.cme.nist.gov/internal/projs/sima/sima.htm or by contacting the SIMA program office (220/A247).

CONTACT: James Fowler, 301-975-3180

 

 

 

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