Civil and Mechanical Engineering Presentations (UMKC)
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Items in this collection are the scholarly output of the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering faculty, staff, and students, either alone or as co-authors, and which may or may not have been published in an alternate format.
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Item Energy Consumption and Product Throughput of Glass-Doored and Open Refrigerated Display Cases in Supermarkets [abstract](2009) Fricke, Brian A.; Becker, Bryan R.; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Refrigerated display cases are utilized by supermarkets to store and display food products in a manner that extends food shelf life and ensures food safety. Supermarkets operate their refrigeration systems continuously to maintain proper food storage conditions. Continual operation of this refrigeration equipment on a nationwide scale accounts for approximately 0.33 quads/yr of electrical energy. Infiltration accounts for over 70% of the refrigeration load in open refrigerated display cases. Clearly, an increase in the energy efficiency of refrigerated display cases will result in significantly reduced energy consumption and cost. Thus, the objective of this project is to compare a typical open refrigerated display case to a typical glass-doored refrigerated display case with the aim of quantifying the following: • The difference in overall energy consumption between the cases. • The normalized difference in food product sales between the cases. Two supermarkets are being used as test sites, which are similarly situated to ensure that climate, weather, time-of-year and economic conditions of the shoppers are comparable. One supermarket will receive an open refrigerated display case and the other will receive a doored refrigerated display case. Each refrigerated display case will be a medium temperature, self-service prepackaged deli or beverage case between 8 and 25 nominal linear feet. The thermal performance and product sales of each refrigerated display case will be monitored. Automated data logging systems will be used to measure quantities such as refrigeration load, voltage, current, temperature, humidity and pressure. Product sales for each refrigerated display case and total store product sales will be tracked using Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) and the supermarkets' computerized Point of Sale (POS) system. The resulting data will be analyzed to determine the difference in energy consumption and product sales between the two refrigerated cases.Item Green, Sustainable, Energy Efficient, Cost-Effective Refrigerated Storage Facilities(2009-04) Becker, Bryan R.; Fricke, Brian A.; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)A green, sustainable, energy efficient, cost-effective refrigerated storage facility is defined as a structure that maintains a safe and appropriate environment for the storage of perishable food items while limiting its impact on the Earth's natural resources including both energy and water. Where possible, such a facility will employ elegant, simple, passive design and engineering solutions to achieve this end. The annual refrigeration loads of a green, sustainable, energy efficient, cost-effective refrigerated storage facility will be reduced to the minimum needed to maintain a safe and appropriate environment for the storage of perishable food items. The equipment which removes these loads will be designed and constructed to be robust, reliable, maintainable with minimal effort and flexible with respect to changes in facility function and future improvements in technology. These characteristics will be measured by the system's annual cost of maintenance and its years of service life. The equipment will operate at high energy efficiency, as measured by its annual energy consumption. A green, sustainable, energy efficient, cost-effective refrigerated storage facility will be constructed of sustainable materials, as measured by their toxicity, their recycled content and their cost of recycling after they no longer serve their original purposes. The facility's refrigerant will be environmentally friendly with low ozone depletion potential and low global warming potential as compared to other refrigerants which can perform the same function with the same annual energy consumption. The design, construction, retrofit and operation of a green refrigerated storage facility requires knowledge and understanding of a wide range of complex issues. Therefore, the goal of this project is to realize increased energy conservation and environmental stewardship in refrigerated warehouse industry through the development of a comprehensive best practices 'GreenGuide' to provide engineers, contractors, owners and operators with practical information that will facilitate the design, construction, retrofit and operation of green, sustainable, energy efficient, cost-effective refrigerated facilities for the storage of perishable food items. The GreenGuide will provide guidance on how to participate effectively on teams charged with designing, constructing and/or retrofitting green storage facilities and will provide an understanding of the technical issues regarding high-performance integrated systems design and operation. Retrofitting existing cold storage facilities to become more energy efficient and sustainable enterprises is a large market segment and will provide an additional significant sustainability and energy efficiency benefit. The GreenGuide for refrigerated storage facilities will emphasize the following broad topics: Sustainable Structure Design; Refrigeration System Design and Use of Natural Refrigerants; Detailed, Comprehensive, Time-Dependent Load Calculations; and Energy Use and Facility Management. The GreenGuide will highlight elegant, simple, passive design and engineering solutions. An outreach program will be developed to disseminate the information contained in the GreenGuide to engineers, owners and operators. Short courses and seminars will be developed that will facilitate the design, construction, retrofit and operation of green, sustainable, energy efficient, cost-effective refrigerated storage facilities.