• Energy Research

The automotive industry has been developed over the years to build lighter and more efficient vehicles; however, the manufacturing processes still have an important environmental impact starting from the acquisition of the raw material until the end of its useful life. In this sense, life cycle engineering contributes to solve the environmental issues produced by the traditional manufacturing industry by considering a process that evaluates the technical aspects of the product but also weights the importance of the environmental impact. However, since there are some alternatives that can be considered as suitable for their technical, environmental, or cost qualities, the multicriteria decision methods used as an engineering tool have been useful to balance all the needed criteria in order to make the best selection. In this sense, this research provided an analysis of five materials that could be used in a rack and pinion system and were submitted to a process of life cycle analysis to consider the environmental parameters as part of the criteria to be assessed by the multicriteria decision methods such as entropy, the Technique of Order Preference Similarity method, the complex proportional assessment method, and the multicriteria optimization and compromise solution, leading to the selection of the best material to be considered for a rack and pinion system. In this sense, the process allowed us to conclude that some materials that are useful can be evaluated by multicriteria decision methods regarding the life cycle analysis, contributing to the application of these methods to make a more environmentally responsible material selection for automotive parts. Furthermore, among all the materials, the best suited for the rack and pinion system was the AISI 4340, which was validated by finite elements simulation, showing that the selection was optimal with a maximum stress of 216.14 MPa, a maximum deformation of 0.0081 mm, and a minimum safety factor of 3.56. In this sense, the simulation validated the selection made before, guaranteeing that the methods used are feasible for automotive applications.

The automotive industry has been developed over the years to build lighter and more efficient vehicles; however, the manufacturing processes still have an important environmental impact starting from the acquisition of the raw material until the end of its useful life. In this sense, life cycle engineering contributes to solve the environmental issues produced by the traditional manufacturing industry by considering a process that evaluates the technical aspects of the product but also weights the importance of the environmental impact. However, since there are some alternatives that can be considered as suitable for their technical, environmental, or cost qualities, the multicriteria decision methods used as an engineering tool have been useful to balance all the needed criteria in order to make the best selection. In this sense, this research provided an analysis of five materials that could be used in a rack and pinion system and were submitted to a process of life cycle analysis to consider the environmental parameters as part of the criteria to be assessed by the multicriteria decision methods such as entropy, the Technique of Order Preference Similarity method, the complex proportional assessment method, and the multicriteria optimization and compromise solution, leading to the selection of the best material to be considered for a rack and pinion system. In this sense, the process allowed us to conclude that some materials that are useful can be evaluated by multicriteria decision methods regarding the life cycle analysis, contributing to the application of these methods to make a more environmentally responsible material selection for automotive parts. Furthermore, among all the materials, the best suited for the rack and pinion system was the AISI 4340, which was validated by finite elements simulation, showing that the selection was optimal with a maximum stress of 216.14 MPa, a maximum deformation of 0.0081 mm, and a minimum safety factor of 3.56. In this sense, the simulation validated the selection made before, guaranteeing that the methods used are feasible for automotive applications.

AbstractThe efficient use of energy is a priority when a technology migration plan is being executed. Several factors must be taken into account in order to achieve this goal. In this paper the migration from liquefied petroleum gas based cookers to electric induction cookers is analyzed, emphasizing on the selection of the best material to produce the cookware suitable for induction cookers in terms of energy saving and performance. To accomplish this study, several tests have been performed in three kind of pots made of different materials: stainless steel, cast iron and aluminium. These tests have allowed to evaluate some material properties as rust resistance, structural stability of pot bottom under thermal impact conditions, energy efficiency measurements in different body cookware materials, energy efficiency with different distances between induction zone and pot bottom, relation between energy efficiency and initial measurements of concavity/convexity and energy efficiency before and after thermal impact conditions. After completing this research, it has been found that the enameled cast iron and the stainless steel present higher efficiency in the same stove.

AbstractThe efficient use of energy is a priority when a technology migration plan is being executed. Several factors must be taken into account in order to achieve this goal. In this paper the migration from liquefied petroleum gas based cookers to electric induction cookers is analyzed, emphasizing on the selection of the best material to produce the cookware suitable for induction cookers in terms of energy saving and performance. To accomplish this study, several tests have been performed in three kind of pots made of different materials: stainless steel, cast iron and aluminium. These tests have allowed to evaluate some material properties as rust resistance, structural stability of pot bottom under thermal impact conditions, energy efficiency measurements in different body cookware materials, energy efficiency with different distances between induction zone and pot bottom, relation between energy efficiency and initial measurements of concavity/convexity and energy efficiency before and after thermal impact conditions. After completing this research, it has been found that the enameled cast iron and the stainless steel present higher efficiency in the same stove.

The use of vehicles is a daily matter worldwide, however, they remain parked most of the time and commonly under the heating sun, leading to a rise in the internal temperature that provokes heating discomfort, and when the temperature drops this discomfort to the user is felt as cold. In this way, to reduce the distress drivers use air-conditioners in the first case and heaters in the second event as needed, making the consumption of energy a common activity. This research method takes a list of phase change materials used in some applications and makes a novel selection of the best material to be implemented on a vehicle's rooftop, which is done by Multicriteria Decision Methods means. The weighting is done by the Entropy weighting method compared with the new method based on the removal effect of criteria (MEREC), the decision-making methods VIKOR, COPRAS and TOPSIS choose the best material and the Spearman's correlation verify its agreement. The best material selected unanimously is the savENRG PCM-HS22P, which latter was simulated by finite elements methods, resulting in the reduction of 9 °C in the internal air when heating and conservation of 4 °C in the cooling with an increasing Phase Change Material layer. Universidad International SEK

The use of vehicles is a daily matter worldwide, however, they remain parked most of the time and commonly under the heating sun, leading to a rise in the internal temperature that provokes heating discomfort, and when the temperature drops this discomfort to the user is felt as cold. In this way, to reduce the distress drivers use air-conditioners in the first case and heaters in the second event as needed, making the consumption of energy a common activity. This research method takes a list of phase change materials used in some applications and makes a novel selection of the best material to be implemented on a vehicle's rooftop, which is done by Multicriteria Decision Methods means. The weighting is done by the Entropy weighting method compared with the new method based on the removal effect of criteria (MEREC), the decision-making methods VIKOR, COPRAS and TOPSIS choose the best material and the Spearman's correlation verify its agreement. The best material selected unanimously is the savENRG PCM-HS22P, which latter was simulated by finite elements methods, resulting in the reduction of 9 °C in the internal air when heating and conservation of 4 °C in the cooling with an increasing Phase Change Material layer. Universidad International SEK

This research aims to analyze cooking parameters in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electric resistance and induction stoves for eight dishes of the Ecuadorian cuisine. During tests, it has been monitored the temperature, time, electrical grid parameters, concentrations of CO and CO2. In addition it has been studied the microbiological and physiochemical changes produced by the thermal treatment in food and a discriminative triangular test for determining the differences in the consumers perception between samples made with induction and LPG based stoves. The results showed which even with an exhaust hood working, there was still a significant value of concentration of CO and CO2 during cooking with a LPG stoves. As a result of these analyses the induction stove shows a better response during the heating process and energy efficiency which have influence in temperatures, taste, vitamin preservation, cooking times, energy consumption and cost to the user.