Please join us tomorrow, 19 November 2013, in the Student Center Theatre from 1200 noon – 2pm to hear Mason Somerville, Ph.D., P. E., present his lecture entitled:“On Demand” Sustainable Energy and Energy Storage.Light Refreshments will be served.

Abstract:  Dr. Somerville will discuss how this presentation grew out of a funded research project whose objective was to design a prototype thermal storage system for over-the road (OTR) commercial, refrigerated tractor trailers.  The research objectives included replacing the on-demand, refrigeration systems currently used in OTR vehicles, commonly called “Reefers” with thermal storage units. 

 The role of energy storage has grown from virtually no market 40 years ago to an ever expanding one today.  Energy storage, both in thermal and work forms, is a very active research area. 

 The presentation explains the interactions between stochastic energy generation systems and the on-demand energy systems that we all use.  Also discussed are some of the opportunities that our need for on-demand systems creates for electrical load shifting. 

Theraison d’etre  behind this research project was to improve the efficiency of OTR refrigeration systems, lower their operating costs and shift the load to the electrical grid thereby implementing better environmental control over emissions. The design constraints of such a system and a proposed prototype will be discussed.  The results of an analytical model will be presented.  The work shows that while such a system can be built, its performance can only be assured through experimental testing.

About the Speaker – Dr. Somerville is a SUNYIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He has held numerous positions, including President of SUNYIT from 2002-2004. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University in 1972. Dr. Somerville is widely published in over 30 scientific journals, periodicals, and other texts.