Transaera Internship
I was an intern at Transaera the summer and year of senior year. Transaera is developing an energy efficient air conditioning to help combat the rising number of households who will buy air conditioners as the climate warms. By current calculations, the amount of energy needed to run them will overwhelm the national electric grid around 2050. The air conditioning industry has been stagnant for the past forty years - it needs a major innovation to prompt cleaner and greener technology. Transaera is utilizing novel absorbent materials to remove the humidity from the air before cooling - thus decreasing the energy needed to cool the air, negating the need for a condenser line, and letting the rejected heat raise the temperature for the evaporator.
Materials
I synthesized and characterized the highly absorbent materials Transaera uses. Because they are novel materials, there is little existing research available. It's necessary to understand their kinetics, absorbent capacity, and fatigue response. I created a number of formulations to maximize these properties, changing the type of material, the binder chemicals, and the ratios of each component. I also tested adhesive properties, looking at an assay of different chemical and industrial adhesives. Additionally, I helped create the testing rig and test protocol for studying these materials.
Design and Fabrication
At Transaera, I helped with the design and manufacturing of various prototypes. For our first full-sized prototype, I assisted with assembly and electrical wiring, as well designing coating processes for the heat exchangers. I also worked on building and modifying a test rig to accurately cycle the water intake of our materials. This required tracking and maintaining specific humidities, which involved controlling a heater, fan, the water level, and cycling time. When designing a new version of our cycle rig, I assisted with the fabrication of laser cut panels, metal plates, and 3D printed housings. These responsibilities exposed me to a variety of manufacturing techniques, particularly when working with sheet metal, precision manufacturing, temperature limits, and electrical components.
Electronics
I helped wire the electronics box for Transaera's first full-size prototype, including creating the physical connections, following and modifying our wiring diagram, and calibrating various sensors. This task significantly improved my skills in wiring/crimping techniques as well as wire management planning. The debugging and testing process was also very instructional in general wiring strategies. For the next prototype iteration, I designed a Printed Circuit Board for the controls and sensor panel. I created this PCB shield using KiCad, planning out the layout and making custom footprints for each component. I then soldered the board and tested it using our Arduino code.
Software
I wrote and modified code for Arduino and Labview systems. The test rig I worked on ran with Arduino code which I modified to add more functions and safety checks, which would pause the program if water was low or the humidity got too high for too long. On our Labview control code for the prototype, I added more channels and user interfaces. This allowed us to view more data simultaneously, have better labeling and customization, and analyze trends in real-time. Additionally, I used KiCad to create the PCB shown above.
