NSF SGER: A Smart Indoor Air Quality Sensor Network
My NSF SGER project, "A Smart Indoor Air Quality Sensor Network", aims at designing and implementing a smart indoor air quality (IAQ) sensor system in a real demonstration building. The proposed IAQ sensor network consists of sensors that supply long term continuous measurements for indoor gas pollutants, particle pollutants, and bio-aerosol pollutants. The design and evaluation methodologies for a comprehensive IAQ sensor network will be explored. The data collection and analysis methods will be examined. The innovation of the proposed study include: 1) systematically examine how to design and evaluate the next generation comprehensive IAQ sensor network; and 2) construction and implementation of a smart IAQ sensor network which includes large variety of IAQ sensors in a real building to supply long-term real time IAQ measurements for the relevant research society and to demonstrate the next generation IAQ sensor network concept. The findings from this project would supply guidance to the industry about how to design, implement, and evaluate next generation IAQ sensor network. The collected field data would further assist the research society in the following areas: 1) Next generation building ventilation/decontamination system design and control strategies; 2) IAQ model validation; 3) Human health and productivity related research; and 4) Multi-hazard mitigation, emergency response and disaster preparation. The project involves international collaboration between the United States and China.
ASHRAE 1312: Tools for Evaluating Fault Detection and Diagnostic Methods for Air-Handling Units
The objectives of the project, "Tools for Evaluating Fault Detection and Diagnostic Methods for Air-Handling Units", are to develop and validate a simulation tool that can be used to simulate both fault free and faulty operation data of an air handling unit (AHU) for AHU fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) developers. Although modern buildings are using increasingly sophisticated systems that have tremendous control and monitoring capabilities, building routinely fail to perform as designed. Various faults including design faults, installation faults, sensor faults, equipment faults and control faults often exist in the building Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system and associated EMCS without being noticed for long periods of time. Such faults cause increased energy consumption and utility cost, uncomfortable and unhealthy indoor environment, as well as equipment failures. An AHU connects primary heating and cooling plants with building zones, controls building ventilation intake, and significantly impact building energy use, health, and comfort aspects. Nevertheless, only limited experimental studies under restrictive scope are available to evaluate AHU AFDD methods. A dynamic AHU simulation model that is capable of producing fault free and faulty operation data for commonly used AHU configurations and control & operation strategies is thus needed. To develop and validate such AHU simulation tool to produce fault free and faulty data that can be used to assess the performance of AHU automated fault detection and diagnosis (AFDD) methods, this project intends to: 1) Identify common AHU faults, including their features and severities; 2) Identify and adapt an existing AHU simulation model, and combine such an AHU model with necessary building zone and terminal unit models to produce fault free and faulty operation data; 3) collect existing and perform additional experiments at the Iowa Energy Center Energy Resource Station (ERS) to validate the AHU model under fault-free and faulty operation conditions; and 4) Develop user-friendly interface that would enable the simulation tool to work with various AFDD tools.
NSF REU Site: SENSORS - Design to Implementation
In the engineering education research area, I am interested in how to involve undergraduate students in research activities, how to effectively increase the graduate student research ability, and how to efficiently teach Engineering material. A proposal that I collaborated with another junior faculty from the Dept. of Material Science and Engineering: REU Site: SENSORS - Design to Implementation, has just been awarded by NSF. The objective of this REU proposal is to provide the selected REU participants with a rare research opportunity, exposing them to the entire exploration process of creating a viable sensor and sensor network for various real-life applications. Hands-on research activities, a multi-disciplinary working environment, systematic research education, strong industrial connections, and comprehensive ethics activities are designed to increase the participants' knowledge and interest in research and sensor technology from design to implementation, as well as instill a strong desire to continue with research at the graduate level. The project includes a wide range of faculty from the entire Engineer College as well as Medical School as senior investigators.
http://www.mse.drexel.edu/programs/sensors/
Other Research Interests
Besides the projects described above, I am also doing research in the following areas: 1) building information system - I am interested in applying modern information science techniques, such as data mining and data visualization techniques, in large building control system data analysis processes; 2) Indoor contaminant dispersion - I have started to collaborate with faculty from School of Public Health to develop numerical simulation methodologies and tools which simulate indoor contaminant dispersion for indoor environment assessment purposes; and 3) residential building HVAC system operation strategy - I am developing new operation strategies for large residential houses which will improve the energy efficiency from the whole house view point.