Design of an Alternative Cooling System for a Computer Building in Nueva Esperanza

Design of Alternative Cooling Systems for a Computer Building in Nueva Esperanza, El Salvador

Sponsor: Dr. Thomas Colledge, Engineers Without Frontiers

213 Hammond Building, University Park, PA 16801

Design Team: Los Ingenieros - Christopher Katzfey, Joseph Ceschini, Jeffrey Idzojtic

Jason Flynn, Neil Campbell, Michael Hast

Faculty Coach: Dr. Savas Yavuzkurt, 201B Reber Building, University Park, PA 16801

Executive Summary:

The village of Nueva Esperanza is a poor, rural area that has recently received a donation of 35 computers. However, the community cannot afford to adequately cool the computer building. An alternative method of cooling must be designed to sufficiently reduce the inside temperature of the building. It has been determined through hand calculations that the cooling load of the building will be 78,000 BTU/hr.

Due to the high cost of electricity, roughly 25¢ per kilowatt-hour, from the grid in the region, it is not practical to simply install air-conditioning units. Our group, Los Ingenieros, has decided that fin-tube liquid-to-air heat exchangers with fans manufactured by Lytron and available from McMaster-Carr Supply Company will be the best cooling option. Since this model of heat exchangers has a cooling rating of 8191 BTU/hr with ground water as the working fluid, the alternative system will need 14 heat exchangers.

The project will propose a method to cool the computer building to a comfortable operating temperature of approximately 78 to 83 °F as discussed with the project sponsor, Dr. Thomas Colledge. Not only will the project ensure a cooler air within the computer building, but it also focused on meeting standards set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). A major standard to adhere to when designing building cooling systems is a requirement to intake 15 cubic feet per minute per occupant. The proposed design will exceed this requirement by fresh-air venting two of the 550 cfm fans included within the system.

The building in which the computers are currently being housed is 10 meters by 17 meters and made of painted cinder block. The roof is made of corrugated steel. A picture of the building can be seen on the cover page of this report. With a cooling load of approximately 78,000 BTU/hr, the design will be able to provide sufficient cooling capacity. This proposed solution will also meet the requirements of the objectives, as it will be a low energy system with high maintainability.

The project will contain several deliverables upon completion. This includes heat transfer analysis of the building and cost analysis, explaining what the townspeople could expect to pay in order to run a properly sized air-conditioning (A/C) system. An alternative cooling apparatus will be designed and its performance and cost will be compared to that of the traditional air conditioning system.