When it opened in 1980, the UNM Mechanical Engineering Building was topped off with an impressive rooftop array of gleaming solar collector panels. The four-story building on the southwest corner of campus was designed to be a showcase for energy conservation and renewable energy. But as energy costs inched down toward the end of the decade, the thermal solar system was abandoned and left to deteriorate.
Photo: Andrea Mammoli, associate professor, stands among deteriorated solar energy collectors soon to be replaced.
Now, as energy costs are soaring, two faculty members see a golden opportunity to once again explore the potential of solar power. Andrea Mammoli and Peter Vorobieff, associate professors of Mechanical Engineering, have received a nearly $200,000 grant from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to breathe new life into the 25 year old solar system.
“I want this to save energy, but I also want this to be an educational facility,” Mammoli said. “And I think the best people to make this work are engineering students.” The current project will restore and enhance the existing infrastructure, allowing about $600,000 of abandoned equipment to be reactivated within the first year of operation.
The new system will include various solar collectors, large heat storage tanks, heat exchangers, a cooling tower, electric chillers and a water-powered absorption chiller.
In one year, Mammoli is predicting the cost of heating and cooling of the ME building will be reduced by 20 percent or more. He also believes the system will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 100 tons a year.
Mammoli has taught at UNM since 1998. On a recent sabbatical in Italy, he studied and researched modeling and monitoring of solar building concepts, including ventilated Trombe walls for passive cooling and heating. A result was he became focused on establishing a solar energy program at the UNM School of Engineering.
Funding will allow brand new panels, and some which were stored in the basement for years, to replace the broken equipment. New to the system will be an absorption chiller, which will help reduce cooling costs by operating during the summer peak cooling times of day. Existing heat storage tanks will be also repaired and upgraded.
Collaborators on the clean energy grant include Mechanical Engineering faculty Maurice Wildin and Arsalan Razani, and David Menicucci, a research engineer and manager of the Energy Surety Program at Sandia National Labs.
Media Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: gregj@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at May 1, 2006 10:45 AM