We had a very eventful and exciting day. As part of the "Alternative Energy" studio, we visited a few of MIT energy-related programs. We started by visiting the CO-GENENERATION plant, then we talked with Nick Gayeski, a PhD in Building Technology about his research. we capped the day by visiting the Fusion Center.

The combustion turbine

Very complicated inside!

The control room

We spent the next hour at Nick's lab talking about his dissertation research on low-lift cooling technologies. His research is done in collaboration with MASDAR, a new city in Abu Dhabi that will rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology. Nick's research focuses on the consumption side. Since the climate in Abu Dhabi is very hot, most of the energy goes into cooling the buildings. As his research indicates, the potential of low-lift cooling savings is as much as 75% of cooling energy. To achieve this, Nick is using multiple technologies, such as variable speed chiller, radiant cooling, monitoring with system identification, and optimal predictive control.

For the afternoon session, we visited the

The crane that is used to take apart the reactor before every experiment

The heavy door that separates the reactor from the rest of the building

The monitor room