ENHANCING KNOWLEDGE OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS ON ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE SYSTEMS FOR THEIR APPLICATION IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

According to International Energy Agency (IEA), the global energy crisis is accelerating the use of renewable energy in the next five years. Furthermore, the building sector which accounts for about 30% of the final energy consumption, has a significant room for improvement in curbing its share of energy consumption and integrating renewable energy technologies. Hence, the ‘Skybelt’ project, co-funded by the EU under the framework of the Erasmus+ programme and coordinated by eCampus University - Italy, aims at enhancing the skills of engineering students at all levels for application of sustainable renewable energy solutions to be integrated into the built environment in several Asian and European universities. The market analyses conducted in the initial stage of the project have revealed that combined heating and power (CHP) and combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) are the most interesting applications of knowledge for future employees on renewable energy. Among the potential CHP and CCHP technologies, Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems are interesting for the building energy sector thanks to their capability to be combined with solar and biomass sources. Therefore, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Naresuan University (NU) opted to be equipped with non-regenerative ORC test benches for training of engineering students at different levels. In particular, bachelor students at UPM will work on the development of different control approaches on small-scale ORC units within the modernised module of ‘Control System Analysis’, and students at USM and NU will be trained on the operating performance of these systems to be combined with different renewable energy sources. Hence, the project has given the opportunity to foster knowledge about the ORC systems for engineering students at all levels with the perspective of adopting them in buildings.