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Riviera Beach Maritime Academy
Alternative Energy Project

Scope:

The scope of this project is to install alternate energy sources to run the science rooms’ computers, overheads, and fish tanks.  These sources are to include solar power, wind generators, and fuel cell technology.  The students will be responsible for the installation and maintenance of the system.

Purpose:

Given the United States’ reliance on foreign oil, coal, and nuclear power which are all non-renewable energy sources we will be facing an energy shortage in the near future.  Some experts predict this shortage to become catastrophic in as little as 50 years.  There are many alternative sources of fuel including bio-diesel, wind, hydroelectric, solar, fuel cells, and (reportedly) cold fusion.

Students should be able to objectively look at the growing energy crises and decide the best course of action.  Their generation is the one that will be most affected by the shortage and they will need to be able to formulate a plan and get themselves out of trouble, hopefully before they feel the effects.  In order to accomplish this they will need to know what alternatives there are, the benefits and weaknesses of each, and be able to discover the alternative sources that we have not discovered yet but are theoretically possible (like cold fusion).

This project will allow students to install three different energy systems to power 11 computers, three fish tanks, and other laboratory and class equipment as needed.  During this time students will research power alternatives and become familiar with wind generators, solar power, and fuel cell technology.  All three of these technologies are forms of renewable energy. 

The project will be incorporated into the drafting one, drafting two, biology, chemistry, and marine science curriculum.  The drafting students will plan the installation of the equipment and lay out how it is going to work effectively.  This will need to include safety, elemental protection (including hurricane), back up power, and system integration.  The biology class will review renewable vs. nonrenewable energy sources and incorporate tests of efficiency of these systems and required peak power loads for specific current draws.  The chemistry class will focus on how the technology works to produce electricity and will become proficient at all three versions of electricity generation.

The marine science class will focus on a more specific task.  In marine science today AUV’s (autonomous underwater vehicles) are being developed to do tasks from laying cables, monitoring seismic activities, water temperatures, salinity, and marine organisms.  These systems rely predominately on battery power.  Given light fades very quickly at depth solar power is not practical for these vehicles.  A new trend in these vehicles is to power them by fuel cells.  This is an alternative that allows the vehicle to stay deployed longer.  This is accomplished by having a hydrogen generator on the vehicle that will split the water into it’s’ components (hydrogen and oxygen) which is then used to power the cell.   The proposed fuel cell to be purchased is portable with an output of 30 amps, more than enough to power a ROV.  Students will learn how a fuel cell works and the drawbacks of the power (lack of hydrogen sources).  They will then design and build an ROV powered by the fuel cell.

Cost:

The solar and wind power system is capable of generating 127Kwh/month based on 6.5 peak hours of sun and a wind zone IV location.  The fuel cell produces 100 watts of power per hydrogen tank at 30amps.  The refill system plugs into a 110 volt wall socket to produce more hydrogen.

The power generation is low as compared with the schools demand of 12067 kWh/month but is a good step in showing the students that power is important.  A secondary project that should grow out of this one is to determine how to become more efficient at energy usage at this school, and in turn their lives.