2. An electrical circuit is a neatly constructed path in which a flow of electrons can occur. There are two main types of electrical circuit, parallel and series. A parallel circuit is a costly and quantitatively consuming circuit in which there are multiple paths for electron flow. Not only does this make the circuit more complex, but it also protects its own integrity because no matter where a problem or breakage in the circuit occurs, only the path to which the breakage is in will be affected, while the other loads will remain un-affected. Compared to a parallel circuit, a series circuit is easier to build, requires less material and less money, but poses as a risk to the users’ discretion because if a breakage occurs anywhere in the circuit, the flow of electrons will be obstructed, thus causing the entire circuit to fail. Also, if for example 3 volts of electricity are fed through a parallel circuit, those 3 volts can power multiple loads because it has multiple paths to which 3 volts of electricity flow through while a series circuit can only power one three volt load as the electrons must power (pass through) the first load to get to the next.
3. To construct an electrical circuit, one must begin by obtaining a reliable power source which will provide a consistent flow of electrons throughout the entirety of the circuit. Then, a path for the electricity to flow through must be created by soldering connection to conductors (wires that are carefully cut and stripped to prevent increased resistance). Now that a source and path are established, the electricity needs to do work, and to do that, a load or device that converts electrical energy into the desired function (ex. A light would illuminate due the flow of electrons passing through its filament). Also, make sure that the load is acquitted to receive either direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) as it will damage the load if the wrong current is introduced. Without a load, the purpose of building a circuit is lost because what is the use of building something that does not provide any significant service. Leads connecting the source to the circuit known as alligator clips are required for ease of connection and disconnection. Upon the builder’s discretion, a switch may be added in between two conductors thus opening (“breaking” the circuit so the electricity cannot flow through it) or closing (“re-connecting” the circuit thus restoring the path of electron flow) the circuit. To keep the circuit aesthetically pleasing and functioning properly, the path must be “tied down” to the base surface by means of electrical tape, hot glue, or staples. Now, dependent upon what type of circuit is to be constructed, the quantity and placement materials need to be altered in order for the circuit to operate as it should. A parallel circuit would have multiple paths, thus costing more money and requiring strategic placement of switches and conductors to allow for correct flow of electricity while a series circuit is cost-efficient and simple, yet is easily problematic. Obviously, there are many more components to enhance your circuit, some for the desired output (motors, light, sound, etc.) or to solve problems (resistors that increase electrical resistance to step the current’s voltage down to prevent damage to lower voltage loads or fuses that protect the circuit).
4. In Ontario, the five most lucrative methods of electrical generation (listed in order from most lucrative to the least lucrative) are; Nuclear, hydroelectric, fossil fuel (coal), wind, and solar/biomass/geothermal. With the Darlington and Pickering nuclear power plants accounting for 60% of Ontario’s overall electrical generation, it is the most efficient. Not only does it generate over 46.6 TwH annually, but it does so from small refined uranium pellets that under-go nuclear fission. Hydroelectric is next with 38 TwH produced annually. Coal and other fossil fuel contribute to global warming due to their greenhouse gas emissions released as they’re burned, not only making it unpopular, but also constituting to smog, acid rain, and other health hazards along with 668 premature deaths in 2011. Responsible for 3% of Ontario’s electricity, wind power is the second largest clean and renewable form of energy after hydroelectricity, showing that even though you pay more for the turbine than you do for fossil fuel plants, the long-term result is much better. By grouping wind turbines into wind farms near the great lakes, we are capable of maximizing electrical generation due to the great winds that pass over the great lakes. Finally, biomass, solar, and geothermal are alternate forms of green power such as thermal, solar and biomass have yet to be relied on for any significant portion of Ontario's power. Together, they contribute to only one or two percent of total energy production. They are considered ideal sources for their zero emissions and low operating costs, but have yet to be implemented to any significant degree because of their very high initial infrastructure costs. As electricity demand increases and fossil fuels deplete, these sources of energy will be increasingly relied on in the province.
5. In the beautiful province of Ontario, the times of day to which correspond with the “peak demand” (a term used to describe the time of which electricity is consumed the most) of electrical consumption are from 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M to 7:00 P.M. This is because during these times of day, people are either waking up or going home, increasing the use of appliance and therefore the “peak demand.” This statistic is the most up to date calculated at 8:32 P.M, Thursday December, 6th provided by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB). Although, this is not the constant peak demand throughout the year, in fact, the peak demand differs from season to season as displayed in figure 1.0. The cost difference is actually quite interesting as not only does it increase when the demand increases, but it does so dramatically. The off peak price is 6.3 cents /KwH, the on peak price is 9.9 cents/KwH and the peak demand price is 11.9 cents/KwH. These prices are effective as of November 1st, 2012 and apply to consumption with the residential limit of 1000 KwH.
6. If sky high power bills have you thinking about ways to reduce your electricity consumption, you may be pleased to learn that you can cut back without affecting your standard of living. Firstly inspect your home’s insulation. Poorly insulated exterior walls and crawlspaces allow warm and cool air to escape from the dwelling causing your furnace or air conditioner to work harder to maintain a comfortable temperature in the home. Also, replace outdated appliances with new energy efficient models. Appliances carrying the Energy Star label run 75 percent more efficiently than appliances manufactured even a few years ago. Some electric companies will even give homeowners a discount on their power bills just for using appliances that require less electricity to operate. By replacing incandescent light bulbs with new compact florescent bulbs, you can reduce consumption because florescent bulbs use less energy, burn brighter and last longer than standard bulbs. Turn the thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter. The energy used to run furnaces and central air conditioning systems makes up the majority of all energy usage for the typical American household. Keep your thermostat set at 78 degrees in the summer and 70 degrees in the winter to reduce electricity consumption and keep your home at a comfortable temperature year-round. Most obvious of all is to turn off any appliances that aren’t in use as they are using electricity to operate for no purpose whatsoever.
7. Every month when you receive your electricity bill, you probably cringe at the amount you must pay, so to reduce that cost, use the following tips. Firstly, try using any appliance after peak demand or on peak hours of electrical consumption as the price per Kwh decreases with the amount of consumed electricity. By inspecting/re-insulating or weather stripping your walls, windows, and doors, your house will heat faster and remain heated for longer as drafts cannot enter the house to cause the furnace to do more work. Again, when something is not in use, un-plug it as it is consuming electricity for no intended purpose. By simply and routinely cleaning vents and areas where there is machinery such as the refrigerator or furnace, you can prevent it from working harder thus consuming more electricity. In conjunction with the methods of saving electrical consumption in question six, not only are you saving a lot of money, but you are also helping the environment. Although, there is one more way of permanently reducing your electrical bill to $0.00 a month and that is to go “off the grid.” Basically, what this means that you disconnect your house from electrical supply by government means and install your own power plant, more specifically, a eco-friendly one that actually supply’s the government’s grid, thus providing you with money (a 100% profit as you don’t have to pay for electricity anymore). Even though it is costly, it pays for itself in as little as six months, but only if your supply has a catalyst. See, with any form of electrical generation, you must have a catalyst, which is something that is used to generate electricity. For example, the sun catalyzes the sun’s photonic energy into electricity, but without the sun, you don’t have a catalyst, and therefore, you don’t have electricity. This problem can be solved though, by purchasing humongous yet extremely expensive batteries that store electricity and power you house when your generator is not.
Summary of Observations
In every group, there are three main classifications to which each group member can be labelled as; the leader, a follower/supporter, or a slacker. Having completed this project, I can easily determine that I was the leader of my group mainly because I was the person with the most knowledge of this assignment, in terms of electrical generation and design proven by my design and explanation of a new and revolutionary type of microbial fuel cell known as the photoautotrophic microbial fuel cell. Not only did I possess the knowledge that would evidently lead my team to moderate success, but I wasn’t afraid to take any risks because any great discovery was made by inventing your own boundaries, not by following previous set limitations. If that happened, the world would still we considered flat, the Earth would still be considered to be at the centre of the universe, and E-MC2 would not exist, thus preventing future development and discoveries. By using an experimental fuel cell technology that is currently still in testing, and a bicycle pump that has only the laws of physics at its side, I didn’t cower away from the idea, rather faced it head on with a variety of innovations (such as the yeast and sugar container to increase electrical generation and balance microbial metabolism) with a calm and collected attitude, lots of research and theories at my side, thus proving that such technologies are possible and effective at generating electricity. Personally, I enjoy a challenge, one that makes you not only think in terms of innovation, but also how to plan ahead and how to utilise my group members effectively. By pairing my group members with their strengths, we were capable of getting our tasks completed faster such as the pump mount where Michael and I are good at positioning and reinforcing the bicycle to its mount, we have no expertise at mounting centrifugal pumps and that was where Stephonia and Zenab came in. This doesn’t mean that we only stuck to our strengths as I encouraged everyone to do something that they have never done before for the beneficial experience (exemplified by myself encouraging my group to solder even though they’ve never done t before). If help was needed, I would assist in any way that I possibly could before consulting my teacher for assistance. Every day, before and after a period of work, my group would meet up to prioritize the construction of certain aspects of the project over others while also planning what needed to be brought in material wise to complete a specific task the next day. Any leader could continue listing pre-determined attributes and how he/she exemplified them, but I feel as if the leader is a person who provides vital support and morale to his/her group (like a skeleton that prevents us from becoming a gelatinous blob) while connecting with its members, knowing their comfort zones and skill sets to which could be exaggerated for completion of this task. I can faithfully stand behind my position as the leader of my group as we did not only achieve moderate success with electrical generation and our consumer, but I came away from this experience knowing that I have taught my group well and most importantly, I have gained the power of communication and time-management, two important traits that need to be balanced in order to succeed, which was a lesson learnt from our mistakes in keeping up with our gargantuan task that was too much to handle in the allotted time.
After having completed this ever-lasting and challenging assignment, time-management and self-regulation are two undeniably harsh yet important lessons learnt from our mistakes during the construction of both the generators and the consumer. Overall, I believe that this project was a moderate success primarily because we barely met the deadline and didn’t meet my expectations fully. Being the leader of my group, the ability to control my excitement when our generators worked and various other emotions as a result of a problem in the building of the circuit for example had to be mastered because if they weren’t, my group would either lose hope in the project, or acquire too much hope in this project. By remaining calm and slowing slight emotion, my group was capable of understanding the reality of the situation without over-exaggerating it. The most troublesome aspect of self-regulation in my opinion was goal setting. This is due to the fact that you can prioritize specific things and set goals to complete certain tasks, but unless you monitor and manage these goals, they are practically useless. This is where I believe my team could’ve improved because if we enforced priorities and deadlines more and adapted to the seemingly worsening situation by making better critical decisions instead of just creating a goal, than we would’ve finished everything we set-out to do (build two generators that sufficiently power 10 L.E.Ds for The Air Canada Centre). Decision making is where we faulted as well since it proved to almost make us fail by opting to spend time on a second generator rather than the consumer or the circuit (which were ultimately the areas that didn’t meet my standards or goals). As a result, I could feel the constant pressure to finish the project, and combined with the sheer amount of work we had to do, it made me a little bit emotional as failure was quickly becoming a reality. Aside from decision making and goal setting, we were constantly on task, striving to complete the project while limiting communications with other groups to asking if we could borrow certain tools. Academically speaking, I am really good with innovating a implementing new ways/enhancements for electrical generation while I am weak when it comes to making critical decisions, thus with the influx of more ideas, yet unreliable goals and horrible decision making created great turmoil and despair.
As I stated before, I believe that this project was a moderate success, not a failure or a success. With that being said, I think that we did an excellent job of keeping the anode anaerobic (air tight) which was vital in order for the photoautotrophic fuel cell to work (refer to figure 1.1), an excellent job pertaining to the aesthetics of the hockey rink, and nice construction of the water pump and respected mounts. We also did fantastic in terms of electrical generation as the fuel cell more than doubled our expectation (since we predicted that it would only generate three volts when it actually generated eight volts) and the bicycle pump not only recycled any water it used as it should’ve, but also generated an additional nine volts. When we began to solder, the connections were as “un-deformed,” as possible and by drawing the circuit out on our base, it was easy to make the circuit aesthetically pleasing by bending the wires at 90° angles. Finally, the turbine was brilliantly designed utilising spoons to catch the water (thus create a definitive weight that would push the turbine in the right direction) and Lego pieces as a mount that was sturdy and cool. The only downfall to the photoautotrophic fuel cell is that because of the gases relinquished by decomposition, the fuel cell smelled abhorred and volatile.
There were a few challenges we face while building this that required extensive research and innovation such as making the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM). At first, we couldn’t get the gelatinous mixture to remain in the open ended tube, and after aluminum foil and tape didn’t work, we glued the tube down to a flat service using an easily removable water resistant adhesive (better known as silicone) thus creating a water tight seal. We then encountered a loss of suction in the eater pump, and after a little research, we discovered that we installed the check valve upside down, so we re-installed it right side up. Drilling the holes in the fragile acrylic containers was also difficult and required some guts and patience along with two people to tell you if your drill is lined up properly. While soldering, the base metal wouldn’t heat up, thus preventing the solder from melting into the connections open pores since the soldering iron was broken, so we replaced it with a new one and carried on with our work. The gears on the hydro turbine were constantly clashing with each other, thus making it harder to spin, so we simply re-aligned the gears and altered the distance between them so that they would mesh properly and therefore spin faster. While mounting the bicycle, it would sway too much when a force was applied to it, so we simply screwed the seat to the wooden base to solve the problem. Lastly, since the aesthetics were quite complex, we simply designed them on Microsoft word n interest of time, which was our greatest problem overall that could’ve been solved by better decision making and goal setting. If we were given the opportunity to re-do the assignment, we wouldn’t change much other than adding zooplankton to the river sediment mixture to decompose the dead phytoplankton faster, thus creating electricity at a faster rate. We would also take more time into carefully planning and making each decision and goal before making one, comparing the benefits and the consequences of doing something or not doing something. In conclusion, this experience has not taught me the value of time management/self-regulation, but also how to prevent such an issue from occurring again by setting better goals and by making more time-based (rather than performance-based) decisions.
Additional Pictures
On this page, pictures pertaining to this report can be found;
Works Cited
Throughout the duration of this experiment, I utilised a variety of resources to further my knowledge of electricity and power generation. These resources include:
- Brown, James T. "Building Electrical Circuits." Www.engineeringinteract.com. N.p., 18 July 1990. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.engineeringinteract.org/resources/siliconspies/flash/concepts/buildingcircuits.htm>.
- Thake, Henry. "Physics4kids." Physics4kids. N.p., 14 Mar. 1995. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://www.physics4kids.com/files/elec_intro.html>.
- Ri, William. Electricity. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.
- Wong, Allan. Science Daily. 2nd ed. Boston: ScienceDaily Magazine., 2000. Print. Ser. 1.
- Trill, Waangari. "Electricity." Wikipedia.ca. Wikipedia.org, 24 Apr. 1999. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity>.
- Drane, Benny. "HowStuffWorks-Electricity." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, 18 Sept. 1998. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.science.howstuffworks.com/electricity>.
- Raymes, Arthur. "Renewable Energy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 June 2012. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy>.
- Kittmer, Lucas. "Ontario Energy Sources." EHow. Demand Media, 15 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2012.
- "Customer Service." Time-of-Use Rates. Ontario Power Generation, 2 July 1999. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.oakvillehydro.com/ohedi/rates_time_of_use.aspx>.
by
science13 (student)
