Mechanical Engineering

Back to myMajor

Interesting Mechanical Engineering student research:
“Air Curtain Development: An Energy Harvesting Solution for Hinged Doors”
Vineed Dayal
Assistant Professor Soobum Lee

The goal of this project is to develop a fully mechanical air curtain system that will be powered solely by harvested energy from common hinged doors. The average person uses this type of door several times a day with an almost unconscious amount of applied force and effort. This leads to a high potential of energy to be harvested in doorways that see high traffic and frequent operation. Frequently opened door entry ways have always been regarded as a major element that causes significant energy loss and contaminated air conditions in buildings. Private companies, particularly those with warehouses, have introduced commercial electrical air curtains to block the open entrances from invading cold air. This project intends to introduce an original design of air curtain which operates fans only when the door opens and closes, by directly converting door motion to fan rotation without any electronic motor or power cable. The air stream created by this device will prevent the transfer of outside air and contaminants. Research will be conducted to determine the most efficient method of harvesting energy from door use, and the prototyping process will be conducted to meet the required performance of current air curtain models. The final prototype will be installed to one of the hinged doors on the UMBC campus and a conclusive field test will be performed to verify the usefulness of the device.