Techbelt Energy Innovation Center
- Youngstown State Univ., OH (United States)
- TechBelt Energy Innovation Center, Warren, OH (United States)
This project consisted of three main components 1) The primary goal of the project was to renovate and upgrade an existing commercial building to the highest possible environmentally sustainable level for the purpose of creating an energy incubator. This initiative was part of the Infrastructure Technologies Program, through which a sustainable energy demonstration facility was to be created and used as a research and community outreach base for sustainable energy product and process incubation; 2) In addition, fundamental energy related research on wind energy was performed; a shrouded wind turbine on the Youngstown State University campus was commissioned; and educational initiatives were implemented; and 3) The project also included an education and outreach component to inform and educate the public in sustainable energy production and career opportunities. Youngstown State University and the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center (TBEIC) renovated a 37,000 square foot urban building which is now being used as a research and development hub for the region’s energy technology innovation industry. The building houses basic research facilities and business development in an incubator format. In addition, the TBEIC performs community outreach and education initiatives in advanced and sustainable energy. The building is linked to a back warehouse which will eventually be used as a build-out for energy laboratory facilities. The projects research component investigated shrouded wind turbines, and specifically the “Windcube” which was renamed the “Wind Sphere” during the course of the project. There was a specific focus on the development in the theory of shrouded wind turbines. The goal of this work was to increase the potential efficiency of wind turbines by improving the lift and drag characteristics. The work included computational modeling, scale models and full-sized design and construction of a test turbine. The full-sized turbine was built on the YSU campus as a grid-tie system that supplies the YSU research facility. Electrical power meters and weather monitors were installed to record the power generated and aid in continued study. In addition, an education/outreach component to help elicit creative engineering and design from amongst area students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and small business in the energy related fields was performed.
- Research Organization:
- Youngstown State Univ., OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0003778
- OSTI ID:
- 1367567
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-YSU-0003778
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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