Solar project description for Mount Rushmore Visitors' Center

Technical Report · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1979

OSTI ID:5696454

The solar energy system was retrofitted into the existing 7250 square foot Visitors' Center to heat the entire building and to cool the 2000 square foot Observation Room. The 2016 square foot collector array of Lennox/Honeywell double glazed, selectively coated, flat plate collectors are mounted at a tilt angle of 45/sup 0/ to the horizontal on the sloped roof of the building. Freeze protection for the collector loop is provided by the antifreeze solution. Thermal energy is stored in a 3000 gallon steel storage tank located in the mechanical room. The 7-foot diameter tank, which is 10 1/2 feet long, is insulated with 2 inches of fiberglass. Solar space heating is provided by: (1) circulating the antifreeze solution directly from the collectors to the duct coils in the multi-zone air handling unit; or (2) removing heat from the storage tank to the antifreeze solution in a system-to-storage heat exchanger. Auxiliary space heating is provided by a 550,000 Btu/h, oil-fired boiler. Solar space cooling for the Observation Room is provided by circulating the antifreeze solution from the collectors directly to three 3-ton absorption chillers. (MHR)

• Research Organization: Mueller Associates, Inc., Baltimore, MD (USA); Ehrenkrantz Group, New York (USA); PRC Energy Analysis Co., McLean, VA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5696454
• Report Number(s): SOLAR/2019-79/50
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140901* -- Solar Thermal Utilization-- Space Heating & Cooling
AIR CONDITIONING
ANTIFREEZE
AUXILIARY HEATING
BUILDINGS
CONTAINERS
DESIGN
ENERGY STORAGE
EQUIPMENT
FLAT PLATE COLLECTORS
GLAZING MATERIALS
HEAT STORAGE
HEATING
HEATING SYSTEMS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
RETROFITTING
SENSIBLE HEAT STORAGE
SOLAR AIR CONDITIONING
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR COOLING SYSTEMS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR HEATING
SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS
SOLAR SPACE HEATING
SPACE HEATING
SPECIFICATIONS
SPECTRALLY SELECTIVE SURFACES
STORAGE
SURFACES
TANKS
WATER