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Home My WebLink AboutAPA3201TJ 163.2 5 .A4 F76 1984 '.t.,t.'ll~ " 11 , nJ HCl~ l'Tf RJ: tJ I. Di!.::''T OF 1NT£1:l .• l0 TT -"-~~~.\ n\':~0\l RC'~~-1_T-::.W 1\RY I ~}/5 ll.L DEPT. OF IN fll,r.1 0J. r 1 ~.,. Frontier Energy Appropriate Thchnology in Alaska, 197'9-1984 ARLIS Alaska Resources · Library & .Illformabon Services ~-chorage,AJaska 11 -1 I This book was prepared with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grant No. DE-FG51-81R000680. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of DOE or the State of Alaska. ii AUG 2 1 1985 ~IX A Rt~~O'Uft G~ 1 'TPW 4..Rl" tl .l.. DEPT. OF L"iT Ji.' .n J;. Frontier Energy Appropriate ·Thchnology in Alaska, 1979-1984 State of Alaska Bill Sheffield, Governor Department of Community & Regional Affairs .................... Emil Notti, Commissioner Division of Community Development .............. Karen Perdue, Director Energy Conservation Program ............................... Steve Baden, Chief Appropriate Technol ogy Programs ............................... Norman Bair, Manager Editorial, Design, Production Assistance by The Alaska Group December, 1984 lll A cknowledgements · · Pre fa ce THE PROJECTS Table of Contents EARTHSHELTERED BUILDINGS Dome house w ith a difference .............. . R. Ky le Green Uni que co n s tr uction method : Inflatable house ......... . Advanced, Inc. .............. ix ... xi . .. 1 . .. 2 Underground greenhouse a major success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Wind-N-Sun Enterprises, Inc. ']want to li ve as soft upon the earth as I can' ..................................... . . .................. 6 Jerry Brown ATTACHED GREENHOUSES Fuel b ill s down, vegetable crop up .................... . .. .8 Alice Grant Greenhouse more than an indoor garden . 10 No rman Aaberg Greenhouse first step to energy self-sufficiency .......... . . ... 11 Mark ]. Garrett Greenhouse overcomes severe climate .................. , ...........•.................................... 13 Steven Behnke So larium a n asse t during Alaska winter Larry Cline Rustic co mfort: Solar-heated log cabin. Jack Segle SUPER INSULATION Bu ild in g a n airtight environment .. Matanuska Borough School District Home's 's hell' holds heat. . ................. . Terence L. Duszynski GREENPIOUSES Chickens provide greenhouse heat supply .......... . Elizabeth Hart ....................... 15 .17 .19 ..21 . ........... 23 Waste heat increases growing season MTNT, Ltd. ............................................................. 25 Greenhouse crop s upplements traditional lifestyle .....•...................................... .28 Kuskokwim N ative Association Construction p lans put on hold ......... . . ..... 30 Kotzebue l.R.A. Council Recycled tire rubber provides thermal mass ........................................................ . . .. 31 Paul Robinson "The ground acts as a very big radiator " . John Co llette Community g re enhouse provides example ................ . Alaska Federation for Community Self Reliance, Inc. A lesson in greenhouse improvement. SAVE I H ig h School WINDOW INSULATION Search for a n energy-saving window shutter Ed McGrath . .. 32 . .... 33 . ...................... 35 ............. 37 Polystyrene bea ds to prevent heat loss ................................ . . ........................... 38 Jerry and Judy Miller ENERG Y STORAGE, MASS Home's wall used as giant duct Mark S. Merrill AIR INFILT RATION Heat lo ss reduced with rubber gaskets Jerolyn Wroble PASSIVE SOLAR HEATING Solar collector has unexpected results Clifford Cantor .......................... 39 ...................................... 41 ... 43 v ACTIVE SOLAR SPACE HEAT Solar water heating system falls short in Fairbanks ...................... . . ........................... 45 H. Jack Coutts Solar heat works well in Copper Center ..... . .......................................................... u Kenny Lake Community League DOMESTIC SOLAR HOI WATER A comparison: Three solar water heating systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............... 51 Municipality of Anchorage Solar powered pump increases efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 54 Dais Dallas Automobile radiator reduces home fuel bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................... 57 Mark A. Miller SOLAR GRAIN DRYER Palmer's energy farm proves up ................ . Thomas E. Williams METHANE DIGESTER Crab waste produces methane gas supply R. Charles Vowell Design allows for continuous gas production ................................. . McKee Inc. PHOIOVOLTAICS Solar power helps count fish .................... . Alaska Department of Fish and Game Capturing energy above the Arctic Circle ............... . James A. Schwarber Electric lights a wilderness luxury .......................... . Susan E. Rainey . ...... 59 . ...................... 63 . ......... 65 . ... 67 . .. 68 Photovoltaics perform well in Alaska Bush . . ............................................................ 69 Thomas H. Vaden THERMOELECTRIC Electric current from wood stove heat W Findlay Abbott WOOD SPACE HEAT BOILERS Gold miner tries new boiler system .. John W Greene, Jr. ................................................................... n . .............................................................. n Design goal: Energy efficiency ........... . David R. Newcombe WOOD-FIRED STEAM BOILER AND ENGINE Stea:rrWloat to ply the Holitna River ...................................................................... 77 Grant Fairbanks Wood-fired boiler requires fuel supply and attention ....................................................... 79 Guy Matthews From wood to steam to electric lights ..................................................................... 80 Warren F. Powers Driftwood and boiler to heat home ...................................................................... 82 Kenneth Duckett Fishing boat to be powered by steam engine .............................................................. 84 Michael Broili WOOD HEAT STORAGE SYSTEMS Outdoor furnace heats home ........................................................................... 85 Wilbur LaPage Novel system provides heat and hot water ................................................................ 87 Patrick Yourkowski WIND GENERATOR, INTERCONNECT Wind power supplements local utility ................................................................... 89 Northwest Arctic School District Wind generator impresses villagers ...................................................................... 90 Hooper Bay High School Salmon hatchery aided by wind power .................................................................. 93 Sand Point School School District harnesses wind ......................................................................... 94 Metlakatla Indian Community Guard takes conservation to the Bush .................................................................... 95 Alaska Dept. of Military Affairs Danes' experience adds to local know-how ............................................................... 97 Steven Smiley vi 'i WIND GENERATOR WITH BATTERIES Generator hits rough weather at sea ..................................................................... 99 Jon W. Seager Wind power practical in remote location ..... . ........................................................ 101 Richard/. Logghe Floating wind generator a partial success ................................................................ 103 Frank Simpson Wind-powered telephone system .........................................................•............ 105 Interior Telephone Company Teacher, students build a wind generator ................................................................ 107 Lake and Peninsula School District Students learn from wind project ...................................................................... 108 Lower Kuskokwim School District WINDMILL, WATER PUMPING Windmill pumps hatchery water .............. . . ................................................. 111 Nerka, Inc HYDROELECTRIC OVERSHOI WHEEL Waterwheel made more efficient ................. . Robert Nelson HYDROELECTRIC, PELTON . ............................................... 113 Hydro system powers hatchery ........................................................................ 115 Eugene Richards Micro-hydro project generates interest .................................................................. 117 Roy Lawrence ' Willie Nelson regulates power output .................................................................. 119 Chester Johnson Water beats wind for reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............ 120 Ken Cassell " ... care involved when you become your own power crew" ....... . Louis A. Butera Hydro success requires careful planning ....................... . ]ames and Maureen Gohr What a difference a hot bath makes ......................... . Richard Mathews HYDRAULIC RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 . .... 125 . .................................. 127 Hydraulic ram ensures reliable water supply ........................ . . ............................... 131 Don Chaney RANKINE CYCLE ENGINE Freon system propels turbine Arthur Manning REFRIGERATION .................... 133 A water-powered refrigerator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..................... 137 Don Bailey Bush refrigerator an unqualified success ........... . . .......................... 139 Perry E. Hilleary HEAT EXCHANGER, AIR Kenai City Hall saves energy City of Kenai HEAT EXCHANGER, WATER ..................................................................... 141 A wastewater heat exchange system .................................................................... 143 Mark Gudschinsky Heat exchanger cuts fuel bills ......................................................................... 144 Richard Runser MONITORING AND TESTING Computer prioritizes wind energy use Stanley A. Baltzo ........................................................... 147 Automatic stack dampers installed ........................ . . .148 ·KNOMRadio Building a fire-prooCchimney ............................ . . ... 150 David Norton Monitoring system collects useful data ................ . . ..... 152 Jeremy and Linda Weld Demonstration project a success ................. . . ..... 154 Stan A. Moberly Satellite aids in cord wood inventory .............................................................. . . .. 157 Dr. William Stringer Ethanol production requires large amounts of energy .......................................... . . .... 160 Neldon Wagner vii STUDIES Energy-efficient salmon drying facility studied ........................................................... 161 Iguigig and Levelock Natives, Ltd. Salmon waste study shows good result . . . . . . . . ..................................... . . .............. 162 Dr. Leroy C. Reid, Jr. Wood gasification studied by timber mill ..... Mitkof Lumber Company CURRICULUM AND MEDIA MATERIALS Media and curriculum projects expand energy knowledge APPENDICES . ............ 164 .... 167 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........... 171 AT grants to libraries, 1980-1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................. 173 AT edited videotape project material ................................................................... 174 Grant awards returned or not accepted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..................................... 175 Grant projects terminated before completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... 176 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS KEY TO SYMBOLS ............................. . . .............................. xiii MAPS Locations of Case Studies in Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................ xv Climate Zones of Alaska ............................................................................. xvi Mean Annual Precipitation in Inches in Alaska .................. ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........................ xvi viii i' T l ' Acknowledgements The State of Alaska, Department of Community and Regional Affairs, and the editors of this report wish to thank the many AT grant recipients who made the effort to report on their projects so that others might learn from them in this report. That effort came in the form of laboriously lengthy hand-written letters, to printed, bound final reports. And by telephone, once-weekly mail service, and messenger. Both the Department and editors wished these direct communications could each be printed in their entirety. Unfortunately, limitations of space and disparate writing styles made this impossible. The editors also wish to acknowledge the two principal writers for the project, Cary Virtue, of Anchorage, and Alan Geist, of Fairbanks, for their good nature and on- time production on short deadlines. Ralph Nichols, of Anchorage, also contributed. A special salute is due Miki Ballard and Joyce Talley for well-managed typographical production above and beyond. Naomi Manabe and Johnny Ellis were valuable in managing proofreading, quality control and other minute details of a publication of this size. And finally, state project manager Norman Bair gave unflagging support and guidance to the project. ix Preface The U.S. Department of Energy's Appropriate Tech- nology Small Grants program was a three-year program that gave individuals, companies and governments the opportunity to devise and apply various appropriate technologies, principally for energy-related projects. 'Appropriate Technology" is a term coined by Ernest Friedrich Schumacher, of Germany: student of Oxford University; economist with the British National Coal board from 1950-1970; United Nations economic advisor to Third World countries; and outspoken defender of the poor. After observing that the introduction of modern technologies did not always bring benefits to the poor of underdeveloped countries, he described a new kind of economic development, based on a technology "more productive than the (local) technology but immensely cheaper than the ... technology of modern industry:' Hence, a technology "appropriate" to the local condition. According to Schumacher, this intermediate, ("appro- priate") technology should have four characteristics; it should: • create employment in rural areas to reduce out- migration to the cities, with their high unemploy- ment rates; • rely more on local labor than expensive machinery and resources • be simple enough for local people to make and repair, themselves • be used mainly to produce goods or services for local use Alaska is among 50 states and U.S. possessions that participated in the grants program from 1979-1981. Ironically, with one of the nation's highest per capita incomes, Alaska may be far from the poor nations' plight that Schumacher envisioned improving when he energized the movement. Nonetheless, Alaska certainly has unique circum- stances of local geography, climate, and custom. Some 365 million acres of land area. Four geographic time zones. Nearly 34,000 miles of coastline, 50% more than all other states combined. Annual temperature variations of 140 degrees in some areas. A population density so low that a New Yorker would be hard pressed to imagine it. Four economically maturing Native cultures. The nation's largest producing oilfield. And remoteness, spawning high costs for transportation, fuel and every other necessity. With transportation and energy costs affecting urban, Bush and rural Alaska alike, it was predictable that sup- port would evolve for Alaska to participate in the federal grant program. (Alaska was the only state providing additional funds, allowing almost twice as many grants to be awarded.) During the years the program was funded, the federal government and State of Alaska jointly awarded 205 grants with nearly 100 AT grant projects at a total grant cost of $1.3 million, ranging from simple greenhouse structures to complex wind generators and waste recov- ery systems. XI The projects were executed by a diverse group of Alaskans. They live along the western coast, where winds and cold seas carve the landscape; in Southeast, where 100 inches of rain is common; in the Interior, where sunlight is minimal during four months of the year. Everywhere, energy costs are high. In many areas, roads, telephones, sewer and water, and power utility lines have not reached remote homesites and settlements; until the mid-1970s, television was something watched only in larger cities, themselves with a two-week delay from the rest of the United States. The grantees are homesteaders, teachers, fishermen, students, entrepreneurs, carpenters, cabinetmakers, engi- neers, housewives, professionals-and public utilities, libraries and government agencies. Some found new applications for old technologies. Others converted con- ventional materials and appliances to energy-producing or conservation systems. Still others recycled wasted products to create new energy sources or worked to spread knowledge and appreciation for the potential of any individual to be an independent energy producer. Some are innovators, devising systems that may well have wider applications in the future. For some grantees, the AT program was a means for survival; for others, the program was a catalyst to develop less costly, more efficient ways to heat homes, produce food, or improve safety. The OPEC oil embargoes of the early 1970s left a last- ing impression on a number of the Alaskans who par- ticipated in these projects. Others recalled simpler times when windmills dotted the Great Plains, providing a reliable energy source long before rural electrification took hold; or the common use of hydraulic rams to tap abundant water resources; or the power of the captured sun to manufacture plant life; or the capability of a sim- ple waterwheel to heat a home and create light where none was before. Several were optimistic that their chosen design would improve their business, by reducing their costs or improving their performance in the field. Other enthusiasts produced instructional, training or information materials to show others the way. The program was a pioneering one, from those who had seldom lifted a hammer to the man who devised a new use for crab wastes in the heart of the king crab fishery. There were projects that had high promise, and fulfilled that promise, such as the wind system for a remote cabinetmaker or the hydro project that operates a fish hatchery. There were projects with great promise that never achieved their goal, such as the (somewhat humorous) tale of a family's bout with black flies breed- ing in the solar collector and infesting the home. There were several wind generator projects that exceed- ed even their highest expectations. There was tragedy in the grantees whose unexpected personal problems halted projects altogether; but there was victory for some. All of the projects were practical, planned to allow the grantee to save money and simplify the challenge of creating energy supply. And it's apparent that the concept and its applications have not died with the termination of government sup- port three years ago. Commercial enterprises have sprung up nationwide, like the entrepreneurial com- panies that specialize in wind generators and small hydro projects. Replication of the government-funded projects may be found everywhere, from greenhouse construc- tion, to cooperative power use in small communities. At the same time, systems that were devised with the for- tuitous help of the government continue to perform well long after the last of the paperwork has been supplied to the sponsoring government agencies. The stories of a major portion of these projects and the people who tried to make them work is the subject of this final report on Alaska's partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy Appropriate Technology Small Grants program. Although federal and state funding of this program ended with the 1981 funding year, final reporting and close-out of the program continued in 1984. This report is organized by project type (eg. solar greenhouses, wood-fired boilers, small hydroelectric, etc.). In some cases, projects had more than one applica- tion; these are clearly symbolized in the beginning of each. Some of the project reports were highly technical and edited for general readership; this overall report was compiled so that newcomers to the concept would not be overwhelmed with technical detail and jargon. Thus, for example, temperature references became Fahrenheit rather than Celsius; more common "brand" names were Xll used instead of their technical, chemical trade names; and common building materials (such as "two-by-fours") were written the way most people hear them. This book is also designed for browsing, and for learning of others' experience in specific areas. For many of the grantees and federal! state coordinators of the proj- ect, it was produced in the hope that others 'will take the same road and accept a challenge of improving on cir- cumstances that surround a chosen lifestyle-be that lifestyle that of a remote subsistence homesteader or commander of a military organization that must improve its power-generating efficiency. All the materials produced from these projects will be archived in the Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs' Division of Community Development library, for those seeking a more detailed description of the project described. These materials include indi- viduals' original applications for the grants; their prog- ress reports along the way; photos of their labors; descriptions of costs; newspaper and newsletter articles about various projects; video tapes filmed by the media or by independent producers; final reports as they were submitted by most of the grantees; and several research reports. But perhaps the best sources for individual projects are the grant recipients, themselves. Many are quite accustomed to questions from someone who has heard of their endeavors. The following pages tell their stories. Key to Symbols Primary Energy Sources Sun Wind Heat Exchanger I ti.?JI Refrigeration ~~ r I ~ I ~ I Window or Window Insulation .. ~. u Distillation Earth -sheltered Dwelling I ~ I Demched Greenhouse Attached Greenhouse X lll Water ttJ Water Wheel [I!] Monitoring ~ g Battery, Storage or Operation [jliJ Documentation 'IZJ Media ~.~ ~ Woodfuel ~ Insulation EiJ Hydro QJ Water Pump [] Vocational and Technical Training ~ Pelton Wheel I ~-~~ Combustion ~ Mass 10 I Recycle Air Infiltration ~ ~ Electricity ~~ Biomass Ia Home Enhancement " xiv X < 0 0~ ,._ ==<! v ... 4 • • • ,. Locations of Case Studies in Alaska ;;.. .. xvi Climate Zones of Alaska D -Arctic • -Continental D -Transition D-Maritime SOURCE: AE ID C Mean Annual Precipitation in Inches in Alaska D 0 '-'-10 " • 10'-'-40" D 40'-'-160" D 160 '-'-3 20 " SOURCE : AEIDC r. Dome house with a difference Kyle Green has designed a geodesic dome house with a twist. Part of it will be sheltered by the earth to boost its heating efficiency. In fact , Green designed his home to reduce heat loss as much as possible . Further, the house was planned to reduce windwash, the exterior surface area to floor area ratio, and window and entryway heat loss. He hopes stored solar heat will keep the geodesic dome warm and cozy in winter. The home is being built on a south-facing hillside in Wasilla, which is about 40 miles north of Anchorage. A completed module of the home serves as an office while the main house is under construction. House Design The main floor is a concrete slab at grade with a 17- foot-diameter water tank located in the center, below grade. (Access to the tank is through a wood hatch in the floor.) The water in the storage tank will be heated by the fireplace and by active solar collectors behind the house above the roof line. The egg-shaped house will be earth-bermed along the north side. The smaller office module similar in design to the main house , will be connected to the main house. The basic dome shape is accomplished by crisscrossing re- bar in an elliptical grid. Wire lathing is attached to the formed rebar and cement is applied in a thickness of two to three inches. Three inches of urethane is then applied to the outside of the cement and a protective coating is put on the urethane to prevent ultraviolet degradation. One small triple-paned window looks to the south from inside the office. The office module will be heated from the main heating system. 1 EARTHSHELTERED BUILDINGS Construction The office module was completed in the second half of 1979, along with the main house slab and rebar struc- ture. Initial plans to use blown-on ferrocement were abandoned due to limitations of supply and cost. In- stead, the cement was troweled onto the wire lath. The excavation for the main house removed gravel down to sand. Plans to have an earth-formed water tank in the gravel were modified , since this was not feasible in sand . Instead, corrugated culvert sections were used as con- crete forms for a seventeen-foot diameter tank that is five feet deep. Solaroll-brand mat tubing was placed below the con- crete slab for distributing heat to the house from the storage tank . Some progress on the main house rebar structure and storage tank has been made, but additional funds are needed to complete the project. Problems It appears that total construction costs for such a structure would exceed conventional construction costs . The office module has a number of holes .in the insu- lation where birds have tried to make a nest. Interim bank financing was not available for the funding requirements. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $47,900 Grant Recipient R. Kyle Green SRA Box 6268 Palmer, Alaska 99645 Kyle Green 's Wasilla home (/eft) being built using a steel rebar superstructure. This arched window (above) is located in the comp leted portion of the house that is used as an office. Unique construction method: Inflatable house The economic hub of Interior Alaska-with Prudhoe Bay oil fields to the north, mineral deposits to the west, and regional corporations nearby-Fairbanks has remained vital since its Gold Rush days early in the century. Fairbanks is hardy-few have not shivered through Robert Service's tales of what strange things the cold can do to inhabitants of the frozen North. Advanced, Inc. of Fairbanks received a grant in 1980 to design a dome house that could dig in against the grip of the cold winters Service described so eloquently decades ago. The company proposed a unique rubber construction approach to this earthsheltered house on the hillside. (The project assumed 1 ~,344 heating degree days with a minus 60 degrees winter design temperature ). Design Cri teria The house was designed to be highly energy efficient . Fuel use was to be limited to 225 gallons of oil per year, and conventional materials were used (no sophisticated energy saving sys tem s). The project also was desig ned to have minimum impact on surroundings and to use a southern exposure. House Design and Construction The house shape is an elliptical dome with earth- sheltering in all directions but the south. The unique design of the house was combined with an unique method of construction. An elliptical concrete slab was poured at the excavated grade level over urethane insu- lation sprayed directly on the ground two to four inches thick. .. ~.- :;--,.. __ 2 Solaroll-brand flat tubing was snaked over the ure- thane before the concrete was poured. This provides for the radiant hot water heating of the house. A vinyl plastic balloon was fabricated and fastened to the concrete slab. The balloon was inflated with a large fan to take the shape of the final structure. A double- door entry system allowed workers to enter and exit the balloon without altering the structure. This allowed for the majority of the activities equivalent to frame-up to be performed out of the weather. Window and door openings were marked on the inside of the balloon. An initial coat of urethane insulation was sprayed on the inside of the balloon . Eight-inch wire rods with peel and stick bases were fastened to the urethane in a one-foot square grid pattern. The final five inches of urethane were sprayed on, securing the wire rods in place. A vapor barrier also was s prayed on the urethane. Rebar (three-eighth-inch diameter) was curved and fastened to each of the wire rods to form a uniform grid pattern. Additional rebar was shaped and fastened a round the wi ndow and door openings. An eight bag gunite concrete mix was sprayed to a thickness of six inches at the base, tapering to 2 1/z inches on the roof. With all the concrete on the inside of the urethane, the h ouse has a large thermal storage mass. This helps to minimize the problems of freeze -up that can occ ur with a heating or power failure. After the concrete had cured, the reusable balloon was peeled off the o utside of the s hell. The interior was , A concrete slab (ab ove left) w as pou red as a foundati o n fo r th e dome house. The completed st ructure is abo ve right. 1 finished w ith normal stud w alls to prov ide a 2 ,200- square-foot, three-bedroom house. A glassed-in plant room on the north wall brings daylight into the house from a skylight. Performance The house has been lived in since February, 1981. Although it uses less oil than most for its size , the 850 to 1 ,200-gallon annual use is more than the predicted 225 gallons per year. The floor layout and high ceilings pro- v ide open s paciousness which is very nice during the long, cold w inters of Fairbanks. Problems The radiant heating sy stem does not always keep the house at a comfortable temperature on colder days. Some possible reasons are inadequate tubing under the slab for the required heat transfer; or inadequate pressure to keep the slab from flattening the tubing when the concrete was poured, or inadequate size of the heat exchanger on the hot water heater, or inadequate hot water heater temperature on cold days. The garage and front entryways are recessed about four feet from the edge of the slab. This means that portions of the slab are allowed to freeze and there is no thermal break from the outside to the inside in the slab. The slab has heaved slightly at the front door, causing interior walls to crack and misalign entry doors. Either shrinkage of the shell or a slight movement inward from the earthsheltered side may have caused sheetrock bulging in the inner plant room. The skylight has a chronic leakage problem that is increased with condensation buildup in the plant room. Mildew grows on the inside sills of some south windows from condensation buildup. An air-to-air heat exchanger was in the plans but never installed. This could have controlled the interior humidity. The garage door was installed at a slope to match the slope of the exterior walls. Gravity keeps the door from sealing tight against the door stop and air infiltration is evident. Tips It is important that a prospective contractor have a good record of project management before a unique project like this is undertaken. For the first-time home- owner/builder, a homeowner/contractor pretraining course could help decrease problems that arise between the homeowner and contractor. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Advanced, Inc. Box 2424 Fairbanks, AK 99707 $20,804 20,804 Underground greenhouse • a maJor success Everett Drashner is raising fresh vegetables and flowers year-round despite frigid temperatures and little wind or sunlight in Alaska's heartland. His secret? An earth-sheltered commercial greenhouse powered by wind generators and solar panels. 'Tm diversified," said Drashner, a retired construction worker and owner of Wind-N-Sun-Enterprises. "I raise cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squash, all kinds of herbs, some flowers , greens of all kinds, lettuce, beets and dill. The whole project is working better than our fondest expectations." Drashner's enterprise is on the Denali Highway some miles east of its junction with the Parks Highway. It's near Old Cantwell, about 210 miles north of Anchorage and 160 miles south of Fairbanks. "In this area you can't grow very much outside in summer because we're 2,000 feet up and it can freeze 11 months out of the year;' Drashner said . 'That's why the emphasis is on greenhouses. And there's no doubt t h at it can be done in the Interior. That it's feasible. We've already had success:' System Design The building-44 feet long by 40 feet wide-juts out from the south side of a sandbank overlooking Drashner Lake. Only the greenhouse roof and south wall protrude 3 above ground. The structure also is divided in half into a growing area and a work area, each of which is 20-foot- wide-by-44-foot-long. In designing the building, Drashner took a number of factors into consideration, including: Conservation of electrical energy. A 10 kilowatt wind- powered generator produces electricity for direct use and storage in batteries. The power is used for lights, fans, pumps and heating water in a 1,000 gallon tank; batteries supply power when the wind is not b lowing. Conservation of heat. The entire greenhouse was designed as a large heat sink. Smaller heat sinks within the building include a 1,000-gallon hot water tank; a sauna; a three-tiered sand floor in the greenhouse heated by pipes in the sand carrying hot water; two plant watering tanks w i th a total capacity of 350 gal- lons; a septic tank; an emergency battery-charging engine; and, an emergency coal-fired furnace. Use of new materials. Some of the products and materials used were new to Alaska, and few had been tested in Cantwell 's rigorous climate. Knowledge gained through 25 years of underground building experience in the area. Before the greenhouse was started, the Drashners had been living in an earth- sheltered house with two tunnels leading to out- buildings. They a lso had developed an earth-sheltered barn. When it was completed, the greenhouse also was connected to the house by a tunnel. Little sunlight. During the shortest days of the year, between December 21 and 22, there are only three hours and 42 minute s between sunrise and sunset at Cantwell's latitude of 63 degrees north and 148 degrees west. Construction Excavation was done in May, 1981, followed by erection of con crete block wall s during June. The ground under the flo or was covered with six-milli- meter Visqueen, a la yer of sa nd, and three-inch foam- glas. Two thousand feet of three-quarter-inch polybu- tylene pipe was laid over the foamglas so hot water could be pumped throughout the building . The pipes also heat three terraced sand beds in the greenhouse. All the walls were heavily insulated on the outside with three-inch foamg las. Sheets of Tuffak-Twinwall , a brand of double wall polycarbonated glazing material , was installed on the south wall, ceiling a nd on the top sec tion of the end walls in the greenhouse. Nine inches of fiberglass also were added to insulate the ceiling. Interior surfaces were paneled with Wafer-Weld , and painted white . An aluminum reflective material also was installed on some of the walls to e nhance li ght reflection for photosynthesis during low-light days. A 1,000-gallon water tank was lowered onto its cradle before the roof was finished and covered with a foot of sand. A cement floor was poured in the work area before freeze-up . And 10 tons of lignite coal was stored in the building. Performance and Problems Overall, Drashner has been very pleased with his com- mercial enterprise. He's been able to harvest two crops of vegetables between March and December, and raise flowers such as begonias (which require littl e light ) between December a nd March. Drashner also has considered putting rabbits in the greenhouse, although he says animals can cause frost build-up on the south wall glazing. One problem, however, has surfaced. The greenhouse conserves heat so well that Drashner has to find new ways to prevent the building from overheating on hot summer days. A lthough operating at capacity, the solar fans were not sufficient. He said opening vents, doors and windows did not help much. "As long as the wind is blowing, we can cool it down;' Drashner said. "It's when there's no movement of air that we have overheating. But we hope to have it shipshape by the spring of 1985. Basically, the thing is done, but we have to finish the refinements, which takes some experimenting." 4 Modifications and Tips Based on the greenhouse's performance, Drashner believes s everal modifications would be beneficial. These include plans to: M o dify th e solar co llec tors. Redesign the system so that extra heat can be used to warm the outside ground adjacent to the greenhouse for planting during spring and summer. By thermosyphoning, warm water can be ci rculated through t he earth in pipes without using electricit y. The sys tem will be virtually maintenance free since it will automaticall y start operating when the sun returns in February. M odify the emergency coal furnace. Origi nally, Drashner planned to build a large elaborate coal fur- nace surrounded by sand. But he discovered that the furnace was not needed because his pot-bellied stove was able to keep the 16,000-cubic-foot greenhouse at a cozy 50 degrees-even when it was minus 40 outside. He plans to improve t he sto ve by adding a coil water jacket which will be connected to the 1 ,000-gallon water tank. He also will wrap half-inch copper tubing around the stove's mid-s ection . The cold water will thermosyphon from the bottom of the water tank through the coil to the top of the hot water tank when the stove is hot. It will act as a back-up to the wind generators. Imp ro v e tempe rature control and increase humidity. In stall larger photovoltaic panels which will increase the speed of ventilating fans and turbines. In addition, Drashner is fashionin g an evaporative cooler and equipping it with an adequate DC motor. Bo ost power. Install two more four-kilowatt w ind generators to supplement the 10-kilowatt generator. The additional power will be used to heat the 1 ,000 gallon water tank. Funding State of Alaska U.S . Department of Energy Grant Recipient Wind-N-Sun Enterprises, Inc. Everett Drashner Mile 131 Denali Highway Cantwell, Alaska 99729 $ 24,760 24 ,760 5 The greenhouse roof (above) before backfilling. A view of the interior of the Drashners' greenhouse (middle). A so la r- powered rotary turbine w as used in the design (bottom). 1 want to live as soft I O I upon the earth as I can' V (Editor's note: At press time, this project was still under construction.) Jerry Brown, seeking to live as se lf-sufficiently as possible, is building a solar-energy-heated, earth- she ltered home in Southcentral Alaska. "I've had a specific five-year plan during which I wanted to see how self-sufficiently I could live," says Brown, a former junior high school music teacher. "I wanted to see how much an individual could divorce himself from the economic sys tem. I was wondering how much I could cut down on what I spent and on what I made:· Brown's solar-heated home is four miles north of Palmer on Soapstone Road, about 45 miles north of Anchorage in the Matanuska Va lley. The home, which he hopes to complete by the fall of 1984, is on top of a wooded, five -acre gravel hill about 300 feet above the valley floor. It has good southern exposure. Brown hopes that the knowledge he gains from his project w ill be of some assis t ance in developing low cost housin g for people living in rural A laska. "''m interested in developing those things that will actually help and are low tech," he said. More importantly, Brown wants to make as little impact on the environment as possible . "I want to live as soft upon t he ear th as I can," he said. Design The two-bedroom concrete b lock home, which has a sleeping loft, is 32 feet wide and 40 feet long. It also has a bath and a four-foot by six-foot fireplace in the center. The front of the house, which protrudes from the ground and faces south, is made of vertical thermo pane glazing. A south-facing clerestory with three by four feet of glazing will be installed below the roof. Underground, the concrete block is insulated on the outside with two inches of polystyrene . The south side (40 feet ) is a ll windows. There is a clerestory with sleep- ing lofts behind it. The bathroom and bedrooms are across the back. Otherwise, it is all open to make it easier to heat. This projec t sought to answer four main questions: • Will the thermal dynamic advantages remain the same (a nd will it cost less to build an underground h ouse) if the six-foo t excavation around the structure is not backfilled, and a superinsulated roof is extended over the excavation to a concrete abutment? This construction method eliminated cost of backfilling; allowed building with any material , since it doesn't have to stand the weight of backfilling; and enabled the excavated area (600 squ are feet ) to be used as a dry storage and root cellar. • Can a concrete b lock and firebrick stove burn trash and garbage by adding large amounts of outside air to the c h amber? Can these tempera- tures be stored efficiently in water tanks located in the fireplace and in the concrete b lock walls of 6 the structure? Can a house be heated sufficiently with this stove by firing it up once or twice a day? Does t rash burn better loose or compacted? Can hot air from the solar collector windows be stored in the water tanks? These questions are still under stud y. • Will this type of simplified hot air co ll ector con- tribute the greatest amount of available sola r heat to the home? It consists of a standard double- g lazed thermal window with a single sheet of glass mounted two inches inside the window, open at the top and bottom. "Space blanket" curtains are hung between the glazing, foil side out. T hey can be closed to prevent light and heat coming into the structure but heat can still be co llected, tran s- ferred to the highest point of the building and blown down across the fireplace water tanks. • Can reflection of light into a structure increase heat? Can interior heat be m agnified and con- troll ed by reflec ting light with venetian blinds on wa ll s? To determine whether this is the case crushed white gravel or quartz will be spread under the windows outside the structure; a ll interior walls will be painted dark brown to absorb heat; Venetian blinds will be mounted over them (lowered and angled various degrees to reflect heat when necessary); and ground floor windows will have homemade awnings that are adjustable. Construction and Modifications Brown began building his home in May, 1981, devel- oping and modifying designs to improve its efficiency and to reduce costs. The concrete blocks were poured solid to provide more mass for heat storage. Rebar was placed every 16 inches vertica lly and every three courses horizontally. Brown doubled the amoun t of steel he p lanned to install, for greater protection again st earthquakes. A steel 'T' beam was used in pl ace of a glue-lam wooden beam because of its low cost and availability. The beam, spanning leng thwi se across the middle of the building, will be covered with two layers of half-inch sheetrock for fire protection. The fireplace also was redesigned . The chimney was ex tended into the firebox to prevent smoke from billow- ing up the hot-air flue. The firebox will be made of sheet- metal and lined with firebrick . A drawer bin w ill be added below the grate to catc h falling ashes. Brown enlarged the outside air duct to four inches to enhance air flow. And, the air holes in the lower fireplace were enlarged to 18-inches-by-18-inches to boost circulation. In the roof, Brown p lans to use two-by-twelve-foot roof joists and to insulate with 12 inches of fiberglass and two inches of styrofoam. Brown a lso plans to save money by installing the i windows upright with a 90 degree angle instead of trying to place them at a 77-degree tilt. Trying to s lant the windows at the more acute angle would have cost more for an additional heat-collection gain of o nly three perce nt by Brown's calculati~:ms. Moreover, a two-inch s pace will separate the :xten~r thermal ?la~s fro~ the interior side of the glazmg to 1mprove a1r c1rcu latwn . Floor vents beneath the windows have been enlarged to enhance air flow. A second wall behind the clerestory windows also was removed and the loft extended to the windows to cut costs and improve heating efficiency. Vents were placed in the side walls of the loft to allow hot air to escape. Because there was not enough space wher:e heat could gather after the inner clerestory wall was eliminated, the loft above the bathroom was removed. Heat that collects there will be blown across the water tanks. Finally, a six-foot square arctic entryway was rede- signed to provide more room inside the home. Tips Brown has several suggestions from his experience, including : • Check on whether federal taxes apply to the grant; these taxes can be an unexpected, unwelcome "cost :' 7 • Don't rely on donated labor from friends . People's li ves change, they move and th ey are busy with their own projects. P lan on paid labor for any- thing you can't do yourse lf. It is cheaper and faster in the long run. But when contracting for labor, check references. • Consider refusing the grant if you are offered only a portion of what you requested, unless you have independent resources to see the project to fruition. • Discuss your plans with friends and people in the building industry. They may have information that w ill save you time and money. Building supply houses w ill supply roof load fac tors, beam sizes and just about anything else you need . • When buying supplies, check all the lumber yards and supply houses for prices. Don't buy a11 your materials from one place. Prices vary a lot. Take advantage of sales, but only after comparing the sale p r ice w ith regular prices. Funding State of Alaska U.S.Department of Energy Grant Recipient Jerry Brown P.O. Box 374 Palmer, Alaska 99645 $ 7,032 3 ,014 These are the walls of an earthsheltered house Jerry Brown is building near Palmer (/eft). ATTACHED GREENHOUSES : ... Fuel bills down, vegetable crop up Try planting an outdoor garden in Petersburg . It's a drenching experien ce. Each year more than a 100 inches of rain pelts this small Southeast Alaskan community, which is on Mitkof Is land between Juneau and Ketchikan. But gardener Alice Grant has discovered a unique solution to this perplexity. She a nd her husband, Herbert, built a 190-square-foot, solar-heated green- house onto their home in 1983. "I s truggled along trying to garden outside," says Grant. "But it was so discouraging that putting things in a greenhouse appealed to me." Thanks to the greenhouse, she now enjoys harve sting strawberries, beans, peas, onions, tomatoes and other vegetables virtually year-round w ithout having to worry a bout getting wet outdoors. It's also a convenient place to raise rabbits and chickens and to dry firewood. And the Grants have been able to slash their heating oil bills in half by recycling warm air from the green- house into their home. "It's been a big boost to the house," says Grant, who also works as a gardener raising saplings for the U.S. Forest Service. "It's already performing well:' System Design The Grants decided to build their greenhouse where it could get the most sun-on the southern side of their rectangular, 60-foot-long by 24-foot-wide h ouse. The greenhouse, 24 feet long by eight feet wide, encloses the front door and two bedroom windows. "Wh enever the sun does shine we open the windows and front door and the heat from the greenhouse wi ll come right into the house;' says Alice . "We use half the amount of oil we used before:' The greenhouse roof, built of plywood and insulated to R-30, was formed by extending the aluminum roof o n the Grants' house by eight feet. The roof was built a lo n g the lines of the ex isting roof to make it easy for the snow to slide to the ground. The east wall was built of ply- wood and two-by-fours and insulated to prevent heat loss . Sliding glass patio doors were used for the south and west walls instead of the slanting glass panes, that are usually pictured on so lar greenhouses. Research showed t hat at Petersburg's latitude the vert ical wall would be more efficient if it were able to capture th e maximum amount of solar energy w he n the sun is at a low angle- during the spring, fa ll and w inter. Daylight varies from about six hours in December to about 21 hours in June. Cost comparisons showed that ready-made patio doors were cheaper than buying the glass and frames. The sliding doors, which came with screens and locks, were easier to install. And they also can be opened and closed for ventilation. Originally, the Grants intended to build a concrete foundation, but local building codes would have re- quired pilings to support the concrete, at a cost exceed- ing the entire project. 8 So they built the foundation on two feet of shotrock fill , consisting of gravel, rock and earth. Sill plates of pressure-treated lumber six inches wide a nd 12 inches high support the wall s. The floor of the greenhouse was laid with polyethy- lene over the shotrock; covered with fo ur-inch rigid polystyrene insulation a nd half-inch plywood; and filled with rocks up to the door-sill. A top layer of garden earth smooths out the walkway. All seams, openin gs and cracks were caulked and insulated to prevent heat loss . Performance Beginning on February 1, 1983, bedding p lants were sown, incl uding tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, squash, and flowers . Daytime temper- atures inside the greenhouse were averaging SO to 60 degrees; nighttime temperatures were averaging 35 to 40 degrees. Outdoor temperatures averaged 35 to 40 degrees, and many nights were below freezing. The hours of day- light began getting long, gaining fi ve minutes per day. The crops grew nicely and were transplanted outside in late April and early May. The tomatoes, kept in the greenhou se for the full season, flourished. Lettuce, gree n onions and radishes, which were grown in flats, kept the Grants furnished with fresh sa lads daily from April until October. "We don't get a big bountiful harvest, but we get enough to munch on and keep us s upplied with salads," says Alice. Flowers grown in hanging baskets provided fresh blossoms for Thanksgiving. There were even fuch sias blooming on Christmas day in spite of three weeks of 10 to 20-degree weather. The greenhouse also has been used as a place to brood baby chicks, which the Grants used to do in their living room. Pet ducks acted as slug control until the birds outgrew the g reenhouse space and began munching on the salad greens. Pet cats , dogs and rabbits have been shel tered in the greenhouse during bad weather. The greenhouse a lso is a great p lace to dry firewood and store pet food. Heat recycled from the greenhouse is saving the Grants money. Before building the greenhouse, they were spending about $1,232 (1984 prices) on 1,200 gallons of oil per year, and about $210 for six cords of wood. But now the Grants use only about 600 gallons of oil annually, because of the solar greenhouse and a more efficient woodstove that only uses four cords of wood. That's a savings of $613 on oil and $70 on wood. Another s urprising feature about the greenhouse is that it never overheats. During summer, its aluminum roof shades the plants from the hot sun. The highest recorded temperature was 86 degrees. On the same day that conventional plastic greenhouses needed to be cooled by electrical fans and vents, the Grants' solar greenhouse required no electricity. I Problems and Modifica tions There have been some minor p roblems with the roof leaking and insulation getting soaked, but these were easily fi xed. Originally, the Grants planned to place bl ack, painted water drums in the greenhouse to provide thermal mass by absorbing heat and releasing it as the temperature dropped. However, the drums leaked and took up so much space that they decided to use just six 30-gallon drums. In addition, they also placed 100 one-gallon, plastic milk containers (eac h filled with water tinted black) around the potted p lants for thermal mass. Tips The sliding doors a ll ow various degrees of ven tilati on as well as four different exits from the greenhouse into the garden. The sliding feature eliminates the problems of swingin g doors . Plan ti n g in buckets makes plants portable. They can be turned toward the sun, tall ones move d behind s h orter ones, and dise ased plants removed. It is m uch neater than permanently ins talled beds. 9 Hooks on the cei lin g are convenient for hanging baskets of flower s or t ying up tall p lants. Water and fertili zer are mixed in a garbage can, and heated by the sun before being appli ed to the p lants. Different mixtures of fertil izer are put in different cans and labeled. Pegboards on the house wall a re handy for hanging tools, etc. Recycled wire book racks for paperback books can be fitted with small pots to use vertical space. The racks rotate to give a ll the p lants exposure to the sun. Some sort of thermal curtain or shutters might be made for ni ghttime use. This greenhouse has none to date, but they would prevent more heat loss at n ight. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $4,294 Grant Recipient Alice Grant P.O. Box 1143 Petersburg, A laska 99833 Sliding glass d oors (/eft) enclose the f ront of Alice Grant's greenhouse. Greenhouse more than an indoor garden Tucked away in Pedro Bay on th e north east end of Iliamna Lake, some 150 air miles southwest of A n chor- age, is Norman Aaberg's solar greenhouse . The greenhouse was added o n to Aaberg's home, one of a handful of dwellings in this Bush community of about 50 people. 'The greenhouse was to serve as a source of heat year- round, fo r starting a nd growing vege tables, and for wood (fuel ) storage during the winter months," he said. 'The project has proven a real asset:' Design and Cons tru c tion Construction of the greenhouse (eight by 24 by seven feet high in size ) began in mid-1981 when Aaberg started expanding his home. Originally, Aaberg planned to excavate a one-foot space under the h ouse for an air space. Heated air from a solar panel on the back wall of the green house would flow up thro ugh the collectors into the house. Cold a ir on the floor a t the opposite s ide of the house would drop through vents in the fl oor and return to the greenhouse. There is no electric utility in Pedr o Bay, so the system was designed to work naturally with no electricity. Bu t he abandoned this plan because the ground was too r ocky a n d he could not excavate enough space for an air- tig h t system under t he house. He also used two-by-six planks to save money and time in building the floor instead of pouring concrete. So far, the wooden floor has worked fine. 10 T he west wall of the house, which abu ts the east wall of the greenhouse, was covered with half-inch COX p lywood. This d idn't work out very well because t he hot air and moisture weathered the wood too quickly. The lower half of the longer west wall and the short south wall are insulated with g lazing a long the upper half . T he greenhouse is built on the west side of the house as a windbreak to provide protection again s t prevailing winds from that direction . Foam in s ulation was applied o n portions of wall s covered with T1-11. Luci te sheets were used for the roof, a lthough the roof was ti nned where it joined the main h ouse. Trim was added and the exterior was painted and weatherized. Several 52-gallon oil dru ms pain ted b lack and filled w ith water were installed as heat-coll ecting thermal mass inside the greenhouse. Wall vents a ll ow warm a ir to circulate from the greenhouse into Aaber g's livi n g quarter s. The p lanned solar panels were not install ed because they were n o t needed, Aaberg said. Performance The g reenhouse has exceeded expectations and is proving functiona l in all respects, according to its builder. A nd it's saving Aaber g mon ey by reduci n g his heating b ill s. His 2,200-square-foot home is well insu- lated, b ut it d oes not have any o ther energy-saving devices . Since building the greenhouse, t h ough, he's only T h is Ped ro Ba y greenho use (/e ft ) is als o us ed as a sh op. ( J ) had to burn 4 1Jz cords of wood and 380 gall ons of heating fuel. In short , the greenhouse conserves heat in w inter. And it has supplied a ll the heat needed for the li ving quarters during late spring, summer and early fall. The greenhouse also was a good place to dry out fire- wood and it provided Aaberg w ith additional work space in winter. Tips Actual use of th e greenhouse prompted Aaberg to make a few suggestions for improvements. • The roof should be strong and steep e nough to shed snow. Instead of Lucite, consider using plywood and other material for the roof. A lso, use rubber "w iggle- board" instead of wood for e nd-sealing corrugated Lucite. Greenhouse first step to energy self-sufficiency Mark Garrett wants his home in Anchorage, Alaska, to be as energy efficient as possible so he added a solar greenhouse. And he's enjoying it. 'Tm currently growin g lettuce, peas, beans, spinach, carrots, radish es, bell peppers and onion s;' says Garrett, adding that he's harvested several crops a lready. The greenh ouse helps keep his h ome warm year- round, and its garden beauty is a pleasant contrast to Anchorage's long w inters. "My goal is to create a small home comple te ly depend- ent on its own design for en er gy," says Garrett. 'This initial (greenh ouse) step is t he beginning of that project:' Design The south-facing solar greenhouse is 10 feet wide by 36 feet long, featu ring 280 square feet of double-paned Filon brand glazing. It uses insula ted sh utters and 1 ,500 gallons of water as a thermal mass. The foundation, an extension of Garret t's home, is ma d e of concrete blocks stacked five coarse high . The centers of the concrete blocks were filled with tightly packed polyurethane beads. The floor was insulated w ith two inches of Insulfoam brand polystyrene. The north wall o f the green house a bu ts the house so that excess heat from the greenhouse can be ventilated into Garrett's home, helping to reduce his home heating bills. Both the east and west wall s are opaque and built on two-inch by eight-inch framing. The wall s are padded w ith six inches of fiberglass a nd covered with thermoply for an insulation value of R-25. Sheets of T1-11 siding were p laced on the exterior. The roof, insulated to R-30 , is made of wood. The ceiling and a ll the opaque wall s were covered with eith er white or foi l surfaces to balance the light inside the greenhouse. At night, the insulating shu t ter s are folded down to cover the glazed south wall. T he two-foot-wide by four-foot-long shutters, which provide a n R-10 insu- 11 • Do not connect t he clothes dryer ve n t to the green- house. During the winter, moisture created by the dryer froze to the Lucite ce iling. • Install proper ventilation to ensure that the green- house doesn't overheat in the winter. Funding State of Alaska U.S. Departmen t of Energy Grant Recipient Norman Aaberg P.O. Box 8 Pedro Bay, Alaska 99647 $2,000 2,000 lation value, are hinged at the base of the wall. Temperatures are electronically monitored. When t he temperature rises to 75 degrees, a thermostaticall y co n trolled blower com es on, pulling h ot air from the top of the greenhouse ceiling into the sealed therma l storage area. The water a b sorbs some of the heat, a n d the cooler air is ci rculated back into the greenhouse through an opening at fl oor level. Heat stored in th e water is g raduall y released into the greenhouse at night. When the temperature drops to 65 degrees, a blower is ac ti vated and fans warm air from the thermal storage into the greenhou se. Inside the g reenhouse, Garrett built an 18-foot-long by three-foot-wide plant bed to a depth of two feet. Holes were built into the bed's con c r ete retaining wall s to a llow excess water to drain into a sump. Tips Garret t found t hat several procedures worked well for his needs and recommends that others might: • Ins tall flourescent li ghts in the greenhouse between November and February to overcome poor w inter sunlight. • Use five-gallon plastic jugs filled with water for thermal mass. The 1 116-inch thickness is sufficient to a llow for heat exc hange. • Use Filon 502 brand greenhouse glazin g; it transmits li ght well even though it is not transparent. The greenhouse plants turn only sli ghtly toward the south glazing because of the defusing effect of the fiberglass a nd reflecti ons of the north wall. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Mark J. Garrett 3636 Knik St. Anchorage, Alaska 99503 $1 ,613 1 ,613 12 i nside Mark Garrett's greenhouse, both vegetables and people thriv e (above left and right). The race gets underway (a bove) to complete con- struction before w inter; (at left), the g reenhouse in progress. ·' J J .. J J ) Greenhouse overcomes severe climate Location This project was designed to demonstrate the feas ibil- ity of cons t ructing and operating a relatively low-cost attached sola r greenhouse in a rural Alaskan commu- nity. Dillingham, the site of this project, is a community of about 1,700 people on Bristol Bay, a region of ver y hi gh transportation and energy cos ts, with a relatively severe climate and short growing season . Rising fuel, transportation, a nd food costs hit residents of rural A laska harder than they do people in urban areas. Among the most cost effec tive measures for reducing costs appear to be energy conservation; use of local building materials; use of sun, wind , and wa ter e n ergy; and increased production of local foods. An attached solar greenhouse appears to co n tribute to energy eff i- ciency and self-sufficiency in three major ways. First, it serves as an extra "s kin" to reduce heat loss from a portion of the house . Second, it produces ex tra h eat to supplemen t the home's heating system; and third, it a ll ows pr oduction of food that would o therwise not be possi ble to g row in the climate of Southwestern Alaska . An additional benefit , in view of th e small size of many homes in this region, is the ex tra sp ace which an attached greenhouse provides. Design and Construction Steven Behnke's greenhouse was attached to the south wall of the basement of his new small, well -in sulated (R 32 wall s, R 50 ceiling), two story house . A "pit" design, in which the g reenhouse was partially sunk into the ground, was used so that th e surro unding earth could provide extra mass and insulation, and so that the struc- ture would fi t beneath the south-facing windows of the first floor of the house . Although the original proposal ca ll ed for glazing to be installed a t an angle of about 30 deg rees from the vertical , the fi na l desi gn used a 45 degree angle . This ena bled a simpler roof design, and provided more ex- posure to the sky. The diffuse li g ht characterist ic of the cloudy Dillingham summer climate made this greater exposure de sirable for plant production. The greenhou se was desig ned to cover the entire front wa ll of the basement, which is 26 fee t long, and to ex tend out eight feet from the basement wall. The first floor of t he house is cantilevered two feet over the base- ment, and so for ms part of the greenhouse roof. The original proposal ca lled for the use of concrete for the wall s of the greenhouse . A framed wall of t reate d wood was substituted due to the high cost of concrete in this area. The wall s were built of treated two-by-fours on 24-in ch ce nters a nd half-inch all-weather plywood. Spacers (two -by-twos) were insta!Jed horizontally on the interior of the two end-walls to accommodate extra insulation a nd provide a nailing surface for an interior fi n ish of h alf-inch plywood. The wa ll s were in s ulated with five inches of p o lystyrene, and the foundation perimeter was insulated with two inches of polystyrene to a depth of two feet below floor level. 13 A double laye r of reinforced fiberglass glazing .040 millimeter in thickness was install ed instead of the orig- inall y planned inner layer of Teflon film. The 49 Vz -inch- wide roll s of glazing were installed on two-by-four rafters on 24-i n ch centers. Treated o ne-by-two-inch wood battens were used as spacers between the layers. They also hold down t he top layer. S ilicone sealant was appli ed along all joints. This system was simple to install a n d has worked well. The greenhouse is normally entered through a door from the basement of the house. This door p ermits ci r- culation of wa rm air from the greenhouse into the base- ment. A small , homebuilt door in sula ted with p o lyst y- rene a ll ows access to the outside so that material s can be brought into the greenhouse more conveniently, but in the colder months this d oor can be sealed off to reduce heat loss. Originally, an airlock entry to the greenho use from outside was planned, but the d epth of the excava- tion made thi s impractical. The floor of the gr eenhouse consists of two feet of gravel; the center portion of the floor is covered with paving bricks. Performance T he greenhouse captures considerable heat from the sun . In spring, 1982 (February-April) as the days length- ened and the sun rose higher, the greenhouse made a major contrib u tion to he ating the basement, which is normally he a ted with a woodstove. During these months t h ere are norma ll y a high proportion of cloud- less days compared to late summer and fall , which are n ormall y cloudy and wet. From l ate April through June, woodstove fires were needed only after severa l days of rainy weather. The greenhouse tended to overheat on hot summer days and h ad to be vented manually to the outsid e . Automatic vents and fans to circulate heated air into the basement would im prove efficiency. The h ouse was h eated by the greenho use through the summer and into late October on a ll sunny days. By November 1 , the d oor between the greenhouse and the base ment was kept closed because little heat was being gained. The wa ter storage t anks added to the greenh ouse rela- tively late in the summer of 1981 appeared to decrease daily temperature changes. From November to February the greenhouse is used to store and dry firewood , a nd to dry laundry. These uses provide major benefits, si nce Dillingham has a wet climate, and it is often difficu lt to obtain dry wood. Clothes dryers in Dillingham cost from $8 to $40 per month to operate . Drier wood improves the efficiency of heating. In March a nd April the greenhouse is used as a warm play area for children, and planting is started at this time . Soils are prepared for planting tomatoes and cucumbers. Flower s, brocco li , cauliflower, lettuce, and other plants are started in the greenhouse to be trans- planted into the garden later. From May through Octo- ber the greenhouse produces tomatoes and cucumbers. Because the house is heated with wood (supplemented by oil) it is difficult to assess the exact contribution of the greenhouse in heating. Fuel oil bills averaged $50 per month in winter and about $5-$10 in spring, summer, and fall based on a noticeable contribution to heating the house (records from September, 1982 to May, 1983). Public Information The project contributed to local and regio nal knowl- edge about energy alternatives in several ways. During construction and after completion the project was visited by more than 30 local residents. This provided opportunities to discuss concepts and construction methods with a wide range of people . The project was described on a program about local energy issues on the Dillingham radio station, KDLG , in January, 1982. This program briefly touched on the benefits and methods of construction. The greenhouse was a lso discussed and s hown on Alaska public television throughout the state. A program produced by Alaska Review, of Independent 14 Public Television, Inc., entitled En ergy Alternatives for Alaskans, featured both the greenhouse and the h ouse to which it is a ttached. It showed construction techniques and described the benefits of such structures in rural Alaska, where fuel and construction costs are high. A tape of the program is avail able from the State Film Library. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of A laska Grant Recipient Steven Behnke 2130 Second Street Douglas, Alaska 99824 $1,176 1 ,176 Th is greenhouse (left) is attached to Stev en Behnke's salt box house , loca t ed in D illingham. Plate 1 Morning light (above) hits grantee Wind-N- Sun's greenhouse near Cantwell. A view of the west side of the greenhouse (middle left). Advanced Inc. of Fairbanks developed a unique dome design that fits well with the winter scenery (bottom left): Plate 2 Western exposure of Norman Aabeqfs homesite at Pedro Bay is perfect for an at- tached greenhouse (below). (At right) Paul Robinson of Fairbanks chose a detached greenhouse to supplement his outside vege- table garden. A strawberry patch hangs on the wall of the greenhouse in McGrath built by MTNT, Ltd. (bottom). Plate] A scenic view of Unalaska (top) from Charles Vowell's methane digester. A workman inspects a bread box solar collector sponsored by the Municipality of Anchorage {left). Grantee Dois Dallas added a solar collector to heat water for this Fairbanks home (above). Plate 4 A view of the Portage Creek fish counting camp operated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game near Bristol Bay (top right). john Greene's cabin in Eagle (middle right) makes good use of a wood fired boiler. Steve Smiley's wind energy system is raised near Homer (below). Plate 5 An overshot wheel built by Robert Nelson generates power at Thayer Lake (left). A collapsible pipeline transports water to wheel (top). Chester Johnson of Valdez performs the weekly greasing of his hydro turbine (above). Plate 6 A view of the hydraulic ram assembled by Don Chaney in Petersburg. Louis Butera (at right) of Eagle River stands beside his micro- hydro project. A larger scale hydroelectric project was undertaken by Richard Matthews of Port Armstrong (bottom). Plate 7 The Mitkof Lumber sawmill in Petersburg studied the feasibility of wood gasification (above). Perry Hilleary of Trapper Creek demonstrates one of the unique features of his Bush refrigerator (middle left). A gray water heat recovery system was designed and installed by Richard Runser of Wasilla (bottom left). Plate 8 David Newcombe mounted a Stirling engine on his home boiler tank in Wasilla (top right). A rankine cycle engine was used by Arthur Manning in his hydrothermal freon electric plant (middle right). The Kenny Lake Community League mounted a solar collector on their library to help reduce energy costs (bottom). Solarium an asset during Alaska winter Larry Cline is taking t he experience he learned from building a solari u m and apply ing it to o t her homes he's constr ucting in Anchorage, A laska. 'Tm starting to b ui ld fo ur pl exes a nd I'm incl u ding ha ll ways on t he south sid e w ith lo ts of windows;' says Cline, w h o owns A laska C a r pen ter and Construction Company. "And I'm getting my me thod of' doing this from what I've learned here (on his solarium):' Cline says a solarium enhances the beauty of a home, helps reduce fuel bills, and p r ovides a warm retreat during Anchorage's cold winters. "A solarium aesthet- ically enhances the design of a house:· he says. "It's a warm place to be even when the sun's behind the clouds. You have so much darkness up here in the winter, but the solarium seems to change all that :• He's even grown several crops of tomatoes, lots of flowers and he's thinking about adding catfish to his solar water containers. Design The solar ium was built on t he 10-foot-w ide by 26-foot-long second floor deck of C line's h ome. Pa r t of the solarium, a 1 0-foot-wide-by-14-foot-long room, a lso was b u ilt on t he ground fl oor. T he so la riu m, wh ich is o n the south-faci ng side o f the h ome, increased t he in terio r s pace of h is home to 2,637 15 square feet. It will gather the sun's wa rm th, store it and circulate it through the rest of the home. T he wall s, covered o n the outside with Tl-11 plywood , are made o f two by six inch frami ng wi t h fiberglass insulat ion, p o lyureth ane a nd drywall for a n insulation val u e of R-27 . A d ouble two by 10 inch b eam ac ts as a b race w ith t he house. T he roof , w h ich has an R-50 insulat ion, is made of two by eigh t inch rafters with six inches of styrofoam and a layer of polyurethane. lt was sealed with tar. Cline also installed triple-pane windows. The outside and inside panes of the one-and-three-eighth inch thick windows are standard three-sixteenths-inch thick glass. Between these two outer layers and separated from them by two air spaces is a third center "pane:' This center pane is not glass but a special "Heat-Mirror" made of a visqueen-like material which is coated on one side with a t hin copper-tin oxide film. This film allows sunl ig h t to enter a building, b u t effectively blocks over 50 per cent of a ny heat rays fr om leaving. Most sola r e nergy heating systems req uire t ha t the w ind ows be insulated w ith sh utters o r therma l c urtai n s dur ing periods o f d a rk ness o r n o so lar ga in . These w ind ows don't require that ex t ra ins ul a ti o n , says Cline. M uch of t he capture d heat wi ll be s tored in t he fl o or Larry C lin e buil t a solarium (/eft) on t he second fl oor deck of his south-facing home. thermal mass composed of a rockbed atop two-inch layers of Insulfoam brand insulation capped by a layer of concrete blocks placed sideways, so that the block cores form a series of channels for air ducts and a cement slab. Registers along the outside perimeter of the floor allow heat to rise into the solarium. Heat sensors located throughout the solarium monitor the internal temperature and control a fan. When the temperature of the solarium reaches a predetermined point, the fan is activated, drawing the warm air into the house. The fan speed increases a s the temperature of the solarium increases. Once inside the house, the home's furnace ducting will be used to transport the warm air throughout the struc- ture. One of the existing cold air return registers for the home heating system is located near the ceiling peak in the highest area of the house, ensuring that air is circulated evenly throughout the structure. 16 Tips Cline offers several suggestions in solarium-building: • Make sure all seams around the window and walls are caulked well . Also, it is important to caulk both sides of each window pane. • Do not install triple pane windows unless the center is coated with copper tin oxide. • Install flourescent lights to supplement poor w inter sunlight. • Before building a sola rium, take time to fig u re out how the air will circulate and incorporate the air movement in the design. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Larry Cline 2820 Kingfisher Dr. Anchorage, Alaska 99502 $3 ,155 8,363 Rustic comfort: Solar-heated log cabin Jack Segle drives a truck most of the time. But in his spa re time he's building himself a solar-heated log cabin near Palmer, in Southcentral Alaska. "I was intrigued by solar energy," says Segle, adding that this is the first time he's built a solar heated home. "I hope to provide a working example of the cos t effective- ness, the simpli c it y and the immediate availability of passive solar space heating." So far, he's grown several crops of vegetables in the attached greenhouse, and used it as a work space during winter. Segle says he still has to install a planned sod roof, a duct to help circulate heat from the ceiling to the floor of the house, and an earth berm around the wall s. '1t isn't complete yet," Segle says. "But it appears to be working just fine :' Design Segle's two-story log cabin is 16 feet wide by 24 feet long. A bedroom and storage sp ace are on the top floor, above the first-floor li v ing room and bath. Most of the heat is provided by a solar greenhouse, which was added onto the south wa ll. The greenhouse, funded by the s tate grant, has 120 square feet of double- paned glazing; the panes are spaced four inches apart. The home also has 56 s quare feet of d o uble-paned windows, all on the south side. 17 In addition, Segle installed a fireplace equipped w ith a fan to supplement his heat durin g winter, when Pioneer Peak prevents direct sunlight from shining on his home for about 45 to 60 days. Heat is transferred f rom the greenhouse into the home by convection, using air as a heat transfer medium. Natural thermosiphoning, combined with the building's design , creates a continuous air loop within the home . Air moves from the greenhouse up to the second story bedroom and storage space. Eventually, Segle plans to install a galvanized air duct to channel hot air from the second story to a crawl space area beneath the first floor. Segle's planned heat storage consists of 94 .8 cubic feet of concrete in the north wall of the greenhouse, 50 cubic feet of concrete in the greenhouse floor, a nd 226 cubic feet of rocks contained in wire pens beneath the first floor li ving area. Furthermore, he plans to build an earth berm against t he north, east and west walls of his h ome. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Jack Segle SR Box 7476 Palmer, Alaska 99645 $1 ,250 1 ,250 The fron t of ja ck Segle's cabin (ab ove left) fea tures a s olarium. This v iew of the back of the house reveals the v ario us methods of construction which were used (above right). Building an air tight environment Imagine an electrically heated home that will s tay cozy and warm for two days w ithout power when outside temperatures are 20 below. Sound impossible? Not to a group of Wasilla High School students who spent two school years (1981-83) designing and building an energy-efficient three-bedroom home in Wasilla, a growing rural community in the Matanuska Valley just north of Anchorage. The Mat-Su Va lley is among the fastest growing regions in Alaska . Population increased from 18,000 in 1980 to more tha n 30,000 in 1983; assessed valuation increased from $836 million to $1.3 billion in the same period. Demand for land, housing, basic services, and consumer products has been fueled by a measurable "m igrati on" from the Anchorage area to the rural, less populated valley and its environs, especia ll y in the Wasilla area. For the students, home construction ski ll s could prove invaluable as their communit y grows. "We got to do eve ry thing ~ said Ken Smith, one of the students who hel ped build the home. For his part, "I got involved in the plumbing and the electrical work the most:' he sa id . This was the sixth house built by the high school's con- s truction trades program. Each year about 65 studen ts enroll in one of three courses: architecture and drafting in terior design or carpentry. Each class contributes to building the home. Students who want to be in the carpentry class must prequal if y a yea r in advance in the woodshop class. Instructor Richard DeBusman and assistant Gary Rich- ardson work full time with the hands-on carpentry course, in volv ing studen ts with each facet of the home's actual construction. Students in the drafting class prepare an a rchitectural design using criter ia provided by the Vocationa l Advisory Board of local citizens. Other students design the home's interior. The advisory b oa rd selects the de sign a nd makes sug- ges tions. But it 's up to the s tudents to complete the home. Eventually, the students sold the energy-efficient, one- story house for about $119,000. Money from the pro- ceeds went back into the program to purchase materials for new homes and perpetuate the program . The all-electric heated home also is saving energy. In February of 1984 it only used 2,180 kilowatts, for $178 .83; and in July it averaged 576 kilowat ts, or a $58.23 electric bi ll . "I like the house real well~ said purchase r Arnold Warnke, who works on the North Slope in the Arctic as a plant operator for Sohio Alas ka Petro le um Company. "But I think it would have been better to put in either gas, propane o r hot-water baseboard heat. The electric heat is real nice, it 's just real expensive to operate. I think gas would be ideal for this type of home'.' , SUPER INSULATION 19 Design The 1 ,600-squa re-foot, super-insulated home has a master bedroom with a walk-in closet and bath, a li v in g room, kitchen , dining room, two other bedrooms, a garage, a four-foot crawl space, and electric heating. It doesn't have a wood stove because the home is so a ir tight that a stove would not be able to get enough draft, Warnke said. The home has two, two-by-four walls spaced n ine inches apart to provide 18 inches of fiber glass insulation for an R-60 rating. A 10-millimeter polyethylene vapor barrier was applied to the inside of the inne r two-by-four wall. Additional two-by-three furring strips were nailed over the vapor barrier. The extra furring allows for all the wiring to remain inside the vapor barrier without making any holes through it except those for exterior e lectrical outlets. The ceiling was insu lated with 21 inches of blown-in fiberg lass. Arkansas-type trusses were used to extend the outside wall t wo feet above the inside ceiling to provide the space over the outside walls for insulati on . Extra care was taken in the crawlspace to insulate the rim joist spaces. Seven inches of fiberglass were placed between the joists above the p late and then a cut piece of .5-inch urethane board insulation was caulked into place. An aluminum surface vapor barrier was placed over the urethane board. Special wood shutters, in sulated to more than R-10 , have been built to slide in-and-out of wall pockets. The shutters s li de out to cover the interior face of the double- paned windows to help keep heat from escaping. When the shutters are clo sed t hey block light from entering the room. An air-to-air heat exchanger, known as Metsovent, is another house feature. It is capable of recapturing up to 60 percent of the home's heat as inside air is replaced with fresh air from the outside; it is part of the kitchen range hood. Vents for carrying warm air from the two bathrooms a re ducted through the heat exchanger. The incoming air is warmed by natural heat convection on its way to the li vi ng area. "As the warm a ir leaves the house, it's warming the incoming air;' Warnke sa id . 'The superin sulated house is so tight that you need some type of ve ntilation or even radon gas will build up'.' There also is a unique arctic entryway. It is an enclosed insulated s pace with two doors, good for storage of boots, rain gear and winter garb. Performance Overa ll , Warnke ha s been satisfied with hi s superin- s ulated home . He sa id it was built well , a nd it doesn't lose much heat . Warnke, however, has had some problems with the shutters warping. Apparently, the shutters expand and contract, making it d ifficu lt to open and shu t th em . T hey are being replaced by t he manufacturer. Warnke, a lso, said he wou ld have p r eferred heating t he home w it h more inexpensive natural gas heat th an with costly electric heat. Nat ura l gas, however, was not avail- able when the home was being built. When it becomes available, Warnke says he may conver t to gas heating. 20 Funding U.S. Dep artmen t of Ene rgy State of A laska Grant Re cipient $ 4 ,886 11,402 Matanuska Bo rough School District Construction Trades Class P.O . BoxAB Palmer, Alaska 99645 ·~. Ric ha rd De Busman m akes a point (/eft) about const ruction; (above) the sou th s ide of th e house. Home's 'shell' holds heat Making sure that a home loses as little heat as possible is an important concern for Alaskans living in the Interior, where winter temperatures can plummet below minus 40 degrees. Terry L. Duszynski, a construction consultant from Fairbanks, has superinsulated his home and added a sunspace. Moreover, the appropriate technology grants he received also provided funds to make two half-hour video tapes about the project. The two-part series, enti- tled "The Great Alaska Warm-up;' has aired on public television in Alaska. "We have the ideal test in g climate for energy conserva- tion techniques," said Duszynski. "We are much more aware of the performance of our houses due to the extreme cold winter conditions:' Essentially, Duszynski superinsulated an older, two- story home by adding a new roof and outer wall s. He filled the space between the new outer wall and the old inner wall with insulation. "When the project was completed, a totally new super- structure was in place around the old house and th e whole house was wrapped with a thick layer of fiber- glass;' Duszynski said. "It's doing what it's supposed to do:' The new insulation has helped Duszynski slash his electric heating bills in half to about $100 a month. "The house definitely is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer," he said . "It's more comfortable to live in. There are fewer drafts and no major temperature swings:' "It re a ll y is easy to retrofit an ex isting house;' said Duszynski. Design and Construction Duszynski superinsulated a two-story cedar home to R-60. The home, built in 1965, sits in a hillside so that its basement walls are surrounded by earth on three sides. The house only had 2.5 inches of fiberglass insulation in the walls, rated at R-7. The ceiling was rated at R-19. Duszynski built additional outer walls and a new roof around the existing house. He filled the 16-inch gap between the inner and outer walls with fiberglass insula- tion. ''What you end up with is a s uperinsulated cavity around the house," he said . The new 16-foot-high walls, made of two-by-four framing, were built on top of a new concrete footing. The lower half of the wall was covered w ith all-weather wood panels w ith an outer face of polyethylene for waterproofing. The upper half of the walls were covered with four-by- eight sheets of half-inch-thick plywood. Wood shingles were nailed over the plywood. Two layers of n ine-inch-thick fiberglas s were in stalled between the 16-inch cavity between the outer and inner wall. One layer was p laced horizontally, like stacked bricks and the seco nd layer was installed vertically between the new wall studs. The double-paned glass windows were left in their 21 original position and a box was made to meet the new wall. The box sides were painted a creamy white to reflect light through the w indow into the house. A sheet of six-millimeter polyethelene was laid across the original cathedral roof, and 12-inch truss-joists were placed across the polyethylene and nailed to the roof . The space between the trusses was filled w ith 12-inch batts of fiberglass. Two-by-four purlins were n a il ed across the truss-joists, and 18-gauge sheet metal roofing was fastened on top of the purlins. Suns pace The sunspace, built on t he south side of the house, is 14 by 28 feet and two stories high . A six-millimeter layer of polyethylene was laid over the ground, and four inches of blue Styrofoam insula- t ion was placed on top of the polyethylene. A four-inch- thick slab of concrete was laid over the insulation. The perimeter of the concrete slab, however, was raised to eight inches with post supports for the sunspace s tructure. The sunspace was made by bolting together six-by-six post and beam framing. The roof was framed with two- by-12 boards, and planked with two-by-four purlins. Duszynski used three-by-18-foot-long hi rib steel roofing with some 12 inches of fiberglass insulation. Finally, h e used tongue and groove pine siding of one by six feet to complete the structure. The window panes, which were 46 by 76 inches, were made from sliding glass door replacement glass. All win- dows were caulked on the interior to prevent heat loss. Heat from the sunspace is vented into the house by opening the doors and windows on both the first and second floor of Duszynski's home. There a lso are vents on the east and west sides a long the top of the window panes to exhaust heat during the summer. Eventually, Duszynski plans to install auto- matic vents w h ich would open when the temperature reaches 80 degrees during the summer when th e heat is not needed in the house . Performance Duszynski says both the home and the sunspace are performing as expected. The home is not drafty and he has not had any noticeable temperature differentials between the living room floor and t he loft area. Better yet, his winter electric heating bills have only averaged $100 above his typical summer bills. Much of the project was desig ned as it went along. Although he had a basic idea of what was to happen, the problems encountered were not totally known, Duszyn- ski said. The first problem that occurred was the visqueen on the exterior of the all-weather wood foundation. This material began to s li de down the wall as the ground around the house began to settle . He had to dig two feet down all along one side of the house and add more vis- queen to protect the wall from ground moisture. Duszyn- ski has since found several alternatives. One is to cover the foundation with asphalt coating prior to the visqueen for additional protection, A second is to put another layer of visqueen over the first, but not fasten it at the top. This allows it to slide down along t he first one as the ground settles. Third is to use a new superstrong, nylon reinforced material which will not break loose from the top and slip. The sunspace also functioned well. But he discovered that there was never any extra heat available for the home between November and mid-February, months where sunlight is limited to four hours daily. "I am not sure yet just how much heat is able to be produced by this sunspace, but during the next year I hope to monitor with instruments the temperatures throughout the sunspace;' he said. "It's doing what it was intended to do." Video Tape The appropriate technology grant also provided funds to make two half-hour video tapes, which were pro- duced by KUAC television at the University of Alaska- Fairbanks. One film is a documentary of some of the steps Duszynski took in super-insulating his home, and the other describes how Duszynski built his sunspace. The video tapes have been shown on public television in Fair- banks, Juneau and Anchorage. Among problems the film crew had were unpredicta- ble weather, coordinating everyone's schedules for film- ing scenes, and getting good footage. 22 'There was one day when we worked all day on just five minutes of footage and felt that none of it was usable;' Duszynski said. "But most of the time it was fun as well as work:' 'The super insulation program has been aired about five times in Fairbanks and the sunspace film once," Duszynski said. "So I'm happy with the result. It said what I wanted it to say:' Tips Duszynski has several suggestions for similar projects. They include: • Put an asphalt coating over the foundation before adding the polyethylene for additional protection against moisture. Buy polyethylene with nylon threads in it. • Do not use any type of thermal storage for sun- spaces in far north climates because it usually decreases the available heat from the sun for the house in early spring. A wooden, insulated floor would allow all additional solar heat to be directed into the house as soon as it was available. • Be prepared to s pend more time making a video tape than expected. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Terence L. Duszynski Star Route Box 10356 Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 $ 5,759 31,277 Chickens provide greenhouse heat supply Chickens can keep a solar greenhouse warm when the thermometer plummets to sub-zero temperatures in the Interior of Alaska. But it's a risky proposition . Just ask Elizabeth Hart, author, photographer, mother of three , and owner of a roadhouse in Ruby, Alaska, about 2SO miles west of Fairbanks and SO miles east of Galena . She tried to heat her solar greenhouse with a flock of 13S chickens. And it worked-until ammonia from the chicken wastes started killing the plants and sub-arctic temperatures began freezing the hens. The setback, however, has only temporarily post- poned Hart's dream of someday supplying this Yukon River community of 2SO residents with fresh eggs and vegetables. "I definitely plan to try it again," says Hart. "I still think it can be done . If I had a family flock of a dozen chickens and a small greenhouse-I think it would work:' Design The two-story greenhouse was built on pilings and insulated to about R-40. The chickens were housed on the first floor, and the plants were placed upstairs . Heat and carbon dioxi de from the chickens was to supply the needs of the plants above. The 20-foot by 24-foot building was placed on a level , northern-oriented site because Hart was not able to purchase or lease a south-sloping site. Hart and two others with carpentry experience began construction in the summer of 1982. They hit ice at about one foot and had to use steam drilling to dig holes for the wooden foundation posts, which were anchored to the building with heavy bolts . The walls were insulated to R-40 by installing sheets of plywood , plastic, building paper and two sheets of Thermax-brand insulation. The roof and floor were padded with fiberglass, yielding an R-60 value, to prevent the chickens from getting chilled while on the floor or in elevated roosts. And the double-paned, acrylic plastic windows were padded with a layer of plastic for an added air envelope. In addition, there were 18 inches of dry sawdust placed on the floor in the 12-foot-by-24-foot chicken coop area. The coop was furnished with nests, floor feeders, waterers and roosts built on the wall from the ceiling to the floor. Sawdust was added as waste accu- mulated on the floor, creating a compost that helped heat the building . Thin aluminum reflective material was placed on the white walls of the second-floor to enhance light reflec- tion for photosynthesis. Flourescent lights were placed over the growing beds, which were a foot deep and 2.S feet wide. Similar lights were placed in the coop. Start- ing in September, the lights were automatically turned on at 6 a.m . and switched off at 8 p .m . Thermometers also were placed in and outside of the building to monitor the temperature . 23 GREENHOUSES Performance and Problems At first everything went well, despite the gradual drop in temperature from 70 degrees to freezing. The hens laid about a dozen eggs daily, the chickens gained weight, and the three roosters woke everyone in Ruby earlier than they wished. But then it got really cold. Unfortunately, the coop could not be maintained more than 40 to SO degrees above the outside temperature. So when temperatures outside the greenhouse plummeted to minus 40 degrees-it meant the chickens froze in zero- degree weather. The cold killed plants and hens. "I was hoping that the chickens would be able to keep the temperature up above freezing," Hart said. "But I think the ceiling was too high . If I had lowered it, there would have been less area to heat:' Lack of sunlight compounded Hart's heating woes. The sun is quite low in the winter because of the latitude (64 degrees north) and hills to the south which block the available light. In fact, no direct sunlight hit the green- house between November 1S and January 1S . As a last resort, Hart installed a heater and lowered the ceiling a few feet, which raised the temperature about 10 degrees . But it wasn't enough . More chickens died and the rest stopped laying eggs. "I feel that a coop has to be at least 40 to SO degrees for egg-laying, and I could not provide this temperature and also be cost effective ;' she said. 'The electric bill was several hundred dollars a month and that was too much . So I gave away the chickens for meat:' Ammonia gases released from the chicken wastes proved to be another handicap. Even with a foot-thick layer of fresh sawdust, the ammonia vapors accumulated so heavily at times that it poisoned Hart's tomatoes, beans, lettuce and flower plants within hours. "It was terrible," Hart said. 'They'd just turn black and die . It was like a stab in the heart . I had gorgeous flowers in there. Absolutely gorgeous . Some lasted a week. And some lasted a day. But the chicken ammonia killed them:' Hart learned from the Cooperative Extension Service in Fairbanks that a similar ammonia problem had devel- oped when another person tried to heat a greenhouse with pigs . The extension service told her that a limestone filtering system could remove the poisonous gases. But Hart couldn't afford the system . Instead, she installed a fan, which helped disperse the gases, but directed excessive airflow onto the plants. Another person suggested that she turn the compost heap more frequently. She tried this too, but found that turning a compost heap 12 feet wide by 24 feet long by 18 inches thick was a lot more work than she had bargained for. Tips Hart says several things could be done to improve on her experiment including: • Lowering the chicken coop ceiling to three to four feet except in the immediate areas of feeding /water- ing and roosts. • Placing dropping pans under the roosts (instead of sawdust) so these can be emptied. • Installing a t ight wood stove with a protective mesh guard around it. Buy at least two cords of wood to last seven months. • Installing an automatic fan system in the greenhouse and a fan in the coop. A lso, experiment with a filter- ing system so that the heat-but not the ammonia gas-would circulate around the plants. / 24 She also recommends Rhode Island Red chickens as a breed that can withstand Alaskan winters. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $14,260 Grant Recipient Eli zabeth A. Hart 861-C Yak Estates Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 A side v iew (/eft) of the two-story greenhouse. A flock of 135 chickens (bottom left) produces a fowl odor. At bottom right, grantee Elizabeth Hart at home. Bel ow, the Yukon River flows near the Hart homesite. Waste heat increases • groWing season Two hundred miles northwest of Anchorage, near the limits of navigation on the Kuskokwim River, lies McGrath, a small community of about 500 year-round residents. But more than just a Bush community, McGrath is also the commercial and transportation hub for the entire Middle Kuskokwim region. Like many remote co mmunities, McGrath is plagued with high energy costs and a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables during the winter months. Early in 1981, Larry Wiggins (Executive Director of MTNT, Ltd , at the time), started a program that he hoped would reduce both of these problems. MTNT, Ltd. is the local for- profit Native organi za tion for the area and owner of the local elec tric utility. Realizing that 70% of each gallon of diesel the utility bought was wasted up the exhaust pipe or heat s the air from the radiator, Larry Wiggins looked at ways to cap- t ure wasted energy. Such a waste recovery system would benefit the community by improving the utility's performance. Soon a heat recovery system and heat transporting pipeline was in stalled. This system is used to heat the buildings (residences and office s) of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the ce ntra l business district. The savings in heating fuel, alone, has amou nted to almost 40,000 gallons a year. With the heat recovery system in place, Wiggins began the second phase of his p lan, the construction of a com- mercial greenhouse that could grow vegetables year- ro und. This greenhouse would be heated with recovered waste heat and would supply both McGrath a nd the other villages in the reg ion, bringing in additiona l income to MTNT. The project in volved designing and constructing the greenho use structure , developing a way to supply and control the recovered was te heat to the g reenhouse, deve loping a horticultural program that ensured maxi- mum usage of the greenhouse, and determining the over - all economics of the project. Design and Construction The greenhouse is a 42-by-84 foot clear span building situated near the McGrath power plant along an east- west axis. This axis is due to the low sun angles experi- enced at these latitudes, even during the summer months. Inside, the g reenhouse is divided into five separate growing areas, as well as a potting room, a sales/office area, and an emergency boiler/heat exchanger room. One of the major problems confronting the designers was permafrost. The greenhouse design called for heating pipes to be implanted under the soil of the growing benches . Heat radiating downward could quickly destroy the entire project by melting the perma- frost , caus ing the foundation to shift. To protect the permafrost, a thick gravel a nd sand b ase was laid, fol- lowed by two inches of s tyrofoam insulation. The styro- foam is covered by another two-inch protective layer of 25 sand , and high capacity drain pipes were installed around the perimeter. Primary heat is throug h four, five-tube grids laid out in the bedding soil to provide (four) separate , but controllable, heat zones. An aquastat switch controlling a small circulating pump keeps each zone at the set temperature . The aquastat allows small variations in ground temperatures for optimum growing conditions. To avoid the risk of heat recovery system failure and to reduce the chances of freeze burn if doors were left open during the winter, a secondary back-up heating system was installed. These overhead mounted units use heat supplied by an emergency boiler and are rated high enough to keep the greenhouse warm even with total failure of the underground heating system . The two-by-six framed, double-glazed structure has two four-by-five foot ground level openings at each end of the greenhouse which are used for summer ventila- tion. These openings are manually operated as the need exists. Two louvered openings and large exhaust fans are also mounted high in the ga bles at each end of the building to remove heat without causing drafts at the plant growing level. A special "cool room" was built to provide optimum growing conditions for new sprouts and budding plants. This r oom was in sulated so that ambient temperatures could b e closely controlled. A propane carbon dioxide generator is also included in the cool room design. The small potting room has a deep sink and ample storage shelves and work spaces for potting new plants or repotting seedlin gs. The emergency boiler room (i n addition to the boil er), has a heat exchanger and stora ge tank for warming the 40-degree well water prior to use. The water is heated to a b out 70 degrees, fertilizer is added , and the mixture is then applied to the plants using an efficient, automatic drip watering system. Storage space also is available in this room. A 10-by-20-foot office is attached to the exterior of the north wall. This office also is used for over-the-counter plant sales and as a convenience to local residents. Although th e original design did not include a rtifi cial li ght, it was quickly determined that to make the project economically feasible some form of additional li ghting was necessary. The three-tiered growing beds were out- fitted with flourescent grow-lights and metal h ali de and sodium vapor lamps were mounted overhead, increasing the growing area by 1,000 square feet. The additional light also a llowed the addition of four hydroponic growing tubes on the n orth wall. These tu bes, alone, added almost a quarter of an acre of gr owing area, for a total of about 4 ,200 square feet of surface area plus room for 300 hangi ng baskets. Performance The greenhouse has been a resounding technical success; unfortunately, the project was cancelled because it had not made a profit during the first year of opera- tion. Many reasons have been presented concerning the .\L.-l ~~A n !·~''(l\JrW~ l''I::'~A.R J' W.&. DE~T. OF 1NT!l.h10E 26 A view (above) of the interior of the greenhouse from the mezzanine. (Bottom left), the exterior of the greenhouse. Heat exchange piping (middle left) is located in the powerhouse. r I economic woes of the greenhouse, including unforeseen increased operating costs, poor marketing, size, and poor initial planning. But it seems that community priorities and perception may have doomed the project. From a technical point of view, the greenhouse suc- cessfully proved that fresh fruits and vegetables could be grown year-round in the far north using recovered waste- heat and artificial lighting. According to Harold Pills- bury, greenhouse manager and horticulturist, the green- house even exceeded commercial production elsewhere. For instance, tomatoes yielded an average 33 pounds of fruit per plant. Normal average in similar adventures is 22 pounds per plant, he said. Other difficult-to-grow crops, such as cucumbers and peppers, sh.owed similar productivity. However, since the operation was never allowed to go beyond the experimentation stage, it is hard to determine how profitable the greenhouse could have been. This is not to say that there were no problems with the greenhouse. During initial shakedown it was found that the aquastats were not controlling the soil temperature as accurately as required. The aquastats were temporarily bypassed and newer ones, with a maximum setting of 120 degres versus the 90 degree type on the originals, were ordered to solve this minor problem. Soon after applying heat to the four heat zones, it was discovered that there was a heat overlap at the zone edges. A narrow trench was dug between the zones and the trench filled with strips of styrofoam. This effec- tively cured the heat flow problem. One last problem was discovered during the winter. The cold weather caused a measurable drop in carbon dioxide production from the propane generator. Heat tapes and a temporary covering of the propane tank easily corrected the carbon dioxide production problem. 27 The heat retaining ability of the greenhouse worked better than expected. In fact, the six-inch dead air space kept so much heat in that snow refused to melt off the roof during the winter months. Since artificial lighting is used and the structure was designed to handle the additional load, the snow created no problems. Conclusions and Results There seems to be a common consensus that the McGrath Greenhouse was a successful application of appropriate technology. The problems associated with this project seem more political than technical. Due to the fact that the greenhouse was only allowed to operate during the trial season and shut down before a commer- cial market could be developed, the economic success of the concept was never proven. Because the project did prove that recovered waste- heat from diesel powered generating plants could be used to increase the growing season, it may be possible to adapt the concept to other small villages and towns with similar power plants. For all of its technical successes, the McGrath Green- house did prove that unless the community actively supports a project, it will usually fail. Public support would have forced management to continue with subsi- dizing operating costs and actively pursue a market for the product. The present management of MTNT, Ltd., is doing just this. Although the greenhouse is temporarily placed on the back burner, the organization is searching for alternatives. Some suggestions have been to produce a high value cash crop such as fresh herbs, or to limit the growing season and thus limit operating costs. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient $ 25,000 175,000 MTNT, Ltd. (McGrath, Takotna, Nikolai, Telida, Ltd.) P.O. Box 104 McGrath, Alaska 99627 Greenhouse crop supplements traditional lifestyle Two solar greenhouses built in Aniak are helping the Kuskokwim Native Association extend the growing season to eight months. Now the association is able to start seedlings in the greenhouses in March for growing fresh vegetables, cole and root crops on a farm the association also operates. The area is marked by temperature extremes, perma- frost and a short growing season from mid-May to mid- August. 'We've been growing tomatoes and cucumbers and starting our seeds for cold crops and flowers~ said Walter Overton, agriculture director for the Kuskokwim N alive Association. "About the second week of June we transfer it to our farm': One of the greenhouses, a 150-square-foot-structure, was built with funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The second, larger greenhouse, which is about 1,000 square feet, was funded partially with federal appropriate technology grant funds. The greenhouse grant, issued in late 1979, was one of the program's early successes, despite a delay from weather at the start of the first building season. The greenhouse, farm and education programs spon- sored by the Native organization will help take pressure off the traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle, which has been jeopardized by a growing population. Almost all food, including fresh vegetables, must be shipped or barged to Aniak, which is located at the junc- tion of the Aniak and Kuskokwim Rivers. Freight alone can inflate the price of food dramatically. The association, however, is hopeful that this project will help make the village a little more self-sufficient. System Design The greenhouse that was funded with AT grant funds is 20 feet wide by 53 feet long. It has a concrete foundation, a dirt floor, and a 10-by-14-foot arctic entryway. ' The walls, Overton said, are eight feet high with two- by-four-studs on the west and east walls. The north wall has two-by-six-studs. The walls and ceiling have six inches of fiberglass for an insulation value of R-19. The exterior is covered with sheet metal, and the interior with three-eighths-inch plywood sheets. The 12-foot-high, south-facing wall is made of double-paned fiberglass glazing spaced about 10 inches apart, Overton said. It also has a three-foot-high south sidewall constructed the same as the other walls. The roof is covered with roofing paper. To increase light reflection, the interior walls were painted white. Fifteen, 55-gallon drums in the green- house are filled with water for thermal mass. All interior surfaces are covered with a polyethylene barrier to prevent moisture from rotting the wood. 28 Overton said the association plans to install an oil- fired stove shortly. By comparison, the smaller greenhouse funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs has standard two-by-four wood framing with plywood covering the interior and exterior walls on the north, east and west sides. Six inches of fiberglass provide an insulation value of R-19 to the ceiling and to the north, east and west walls. The south walls are made of double paned glazing with translucent fiberglass. It has an arctic entryway about seven feet by five feet. Performance Overton says both greenhouses are working very well and are helping the Native association extend its growing season to eight months. The AT-funded greenhouse has even stayed above freezing even when outside temperatures plummeted to minus 40, according to the association. In fact, the heat collection/retention of the structure is so good, that an exhaust fan and shutter should be installed to provide adequate ventilation. Although the original plan called for a completely passive solar structure, electricity for the exhaust fans and grow lights was brought to the site. A road also was added recently, to enhance travel to the greenhouse and garden. The group also had planned to install a 480-square- foot reflective shield made of two-by-four framing, covered with a lightweight reflective material (Alsinite) on the south side. The shield was to be attached to the roof with a hinge. But due to high costs and questionable effectiveness, the heat reflector shield was abandoned. Problems and Conclusions An extremely wet summer in 1980 delayed construc- tion so much that only the gravel pad and cement foun- dations could be completed that year. Workers hired for the building season under an employment training program spent most of their time in the classroom. The original plan to complete the structure in four weeks stretched out to two seasons; the greenhouse was com- pleted in 1981. · Another minor problem was a low estimate for the amount of gravel needed for the building pad. The additional gravel for the greenhouse (added to the gravel needed for the road) significantly increased the project's cost. However, the increase was offset by having most of the construction materials barged to Aniak rather than delivered by costly air freight. The Kuskokwim Native Association has had success farming in remote locations. The Aniak Farm leases about 160 acres from KNA at $1 per acre per year. This property is used to grow vegetables and farm crops for chickens, goats, and other livestock and for forest man- agement projects. All p rofits a re returned to the farm. With about 30 acres cleared a nd planted, this organiza- tion looks to a future of self-sufficiency without loss of cultural independence. Funding U.S . Department of Energy $16,534 29 Grantee Kuskokwim Native Association Box 106 Aniak, Alaska 99557 A view of the greenhouse built by the Kuskokwim Native Association (left). Construction plans put on hold The community of Kotzebue, hoping to grow fresh vegetables, has been trying to build a solar greenhouse for the past several years . But they haven't had much success so far. In 1980, the Kotzebue IRA Council (a village govern- ment entity) received an AT grant to build the green- house for a future supplemented food source . The greenhouse is still incomplete however the frame, plywood walls and roof were built and a few windows were installed, but further construction has ceased, and the building sits unused on community property. The delay stems from site relocations and the loss of the project manager. In fact, Kotzebue IRA manager Jeff Hadley says the entire project may be turned over to another nonprofit Native group for completion . System Design The proposed, rectangular greenhouse would be 24 feet wide by 30 feet long, standing 14 feet high at the apex of its sloping clerestory roof . Some 18 glass panes are planned for the south side of the building to capture the most amount of light avail- 30 able in the late winter and early spring. Solar heat will be stored in large water tanks inside the greenhouse. Supplementary heating will be provided by an oil-fired heater. The council is planning to install movable insulating shades to cover the glazing and reduce heat loss at night. Fiberglass insulation will be placed on the walls . Grow-lights will be added to provide additional light- ing when needed . Originally, the council had proposed to install a wind generator that would provide some 60 percent of the greenhouse's electrical supply, but this idea has been dropped with the stagnation of the greenhouse con- struction. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $21,200 Grant Recipient Kotzebue I.R.A. Council P.O. Box 296 Kotzebue, Alaska 99752 This greenhouse in Kotzebue (left) awaits completion. Recycled tire rubber provides thermal mass Location This passive solar greenhouse is located in Fairbanks, Alaska on a flat plateau in the North Star Borough bowl. Paul Robinson's central goal in this project was to design a structure that could make use of recycled tire rubber-material that otherwise would have gone to waste from a nearby tire retreading plant. The project was designed to enable such a greenhouse to be built on flat terrain , rather than into slopes of hills as is common in the Alaska Interior. The original proposal under the Appropriate Technology grant program assumed that black tire rubber would prove to be superior in absorbing and holding heat , and would thus serve as an efficient heat sink. Construction The detached greenhouse was built with a south- facing wall of glass . The north wall (at the back of the structure ) was layered with shredded rubber. The floor of the greenhouse was above ground level , with layers of shredded rubber placed beneath. Flower boxes also were lined with rubber, with dirt on top for planting . A hot water tank was suspended from the ceiling, and vents were installed for cooling as necessary. Performance 'The greenhouse has exceeded all of my expectations in its performance;' said Robinson . "It seems perfect for our Alaska climate; when the sun is high in the warm summer months, the greenhouse can be kept cool by simply opening the vents. In the spring and fall , the greenhouse is much warmer inside than outside. In fact , keeping the structure cool is more of a problem on a 31 sunny spring day than in the middle of summer. This is due, of course, to the design and the use it makes of direct light in the spring and fall and of diffused light in the summer. The project was in working condition in May of 1982, and we made good use of it. We started all of our bedding plants, and quite a few for several neigh- bors and friends , in the greenhouse from seed. We grew an excellent crop of tomatoes. The greenhouse is not only a good growing environment, but also is a very pleasant place to be;' he said . "I have had one technical problem with the rubber. Basically, it worked very well ; however, on some clear and unusually warm days it did get too hot. I removed the rubber temporarily and designed a system that will enable me to move the rubber forwards or backwards, depending on need. "We used the greenhouse the first year until October 12. With a small heater we could extend our growing season another month in each direction, although I do not think we need to. The greenhouse produces so much that we still have a freezer half-full of last year's vegetables," said Robinson in 1983. Funding State of Alaska U.S. Department of Energy Grant Recipient Paul Robinson P.O. Box 60904 Fairbanks, Alaska 99706 $ 1 ,783.00 1,783 .00 Paul Robinson 's detached solar greenhouse (left) is shown here under construction . "The ground acts as a very big radiator'' John Collette has the biggest tomato farm in the Alaska Interior heartlands-thanks to a specially designed solar greenhouse that heats the ground. His secret? Maintain soil temperatures around 75 degrees by circulating warm antifreeze through pipes buried in the quarter-acre lot covered by his greenhouses, a commercial enterprise. 'The ground acts as a very big radiator;' says Collette, who owns Happy Creek Greenhouses in Fairbanks. "It throws heat off at night'.' The design is so efficient that he is able to keep the soil warm enough to produce cucumbers, bedding plants and 30 to 40 tons of tomatoes annually between early March until November. The normal growing season is about 90 days in Fairbanks. The design has proven successful. In fact, since the first small, prototype greenhouse was completed from the 1979 grant funds, Collette has added two more com- mercial greenhouses using a similar design. "It's working very well indeed;' Collette says. "It's reduced my operating costs by a substantial amount. My next venture will be to pump warm air through the ground'.' System Design The entire system is dependent on pumping a 50/50 mix of hot antifreeze and water through plastic pipe buried inside the greenhouse. The antifreeze is warmed by a solar collector, which is supplemented with a coal- fired boiler. An oil-fired unit heater also is available for emergency or supplemental use. The prototype greenhouse is 20 feet by 40 feet with a rib structure formed of one-by-twos sandwiched together. Two layers of six-millimeter, Monsanto 602-brand poly- ethylene are attached loosely on the outside of the rib- bing, separated by an air space that is maintained by a very low pressure fan . This provides insulation similar to thermopane glass. The polyethylene can withstand temperatures of minus 40 degrees without cracking; and the air pressure keeps the polyethylene taut. The heart of the system is a 35-foot-long by four-foot- high solar collector on the ground along the south wall. The four-inch-deep solar collector is made of aluminum roofing, painted black, with three-quarter inch base- board fin tubing and polyethylene glazing . A ceiling "squirrel-cage" fan also blows warm air that gathers under the roof into the solar collector, which 32 helps heat the antifreeze solution circulating through the copper baseboard tubing in the solar collector. The antifreeze is pumped through the solar collector to a set of plastic pipes buried in trenches in the floor. There are 15 trenches, each 14 inches apart, across the east-west length of the greenhouse. In each trench, Collette put four layers of pipe, which are buried at depths of 14, 18, 22 and 26 inches. After circulating through the buried pipes, the anti- freeze flows back to the solar collector via a hot water boiler. The heater is used as a supplementary heat source in fall and spring, when there is adequate sunlight but snow remains on the frozen ground outside. The heater runs whenever the ground or air tempera- tures drops below a minimum growing temperature. Plant growth also is enhanced with a carbon dioxide generator. The unit burns propane, which emits carbon dioxide and water vapor. By maintaining carbon dioxide levels at around five times normal air levels, optimum plant growth is achieved in the greenhouse. A similar design was used to build two commercial greenhouses, nearly 10 times the area of the AT grant prototype. Each of these greenhouses are some 50 by 150 feet in dimension. Performance Collette says he's been pleased with the performance of his greenhouse design. The system maintains ground temperatures at about 75 degrees during his "extended" growing system, which is warm enough to keep his tomato crops thriving year after year. Moreover, his two commercial greenhouses, are also doing well. The produce sold in Fairbanks grocery stores and the open air market are highlights of his success . Funding U.S . Department of Energy $9,484 Grant Recipient John Collette SR 20087-A Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Community greenhouse provides example Gardeners will soon have an opportunity to plant their seedlings in a community-owned solar greenhouse in downtown Fairbanks, Alaska. The greenhouse, designed by the Alaska Federation For Community Self Reliance Inc., should be ready for the community by spring of 1985, says federation spokesman Dick Farris. It would have been ready by the summer of 1984, exce pt that the organization had to relocate the project after the borough decided to put a building on the old garden site. The group plans to operate the greenhouse from mid-April until mid-September. "We envisioned the solar greenhouse as a place for starting plants for gardening enthusiasts in the commu- nity;' Farris said. "We also built the greenhouse as a demonstration project to teach people in the community how to build one for themselves," he said. Design The greenhouse is 14 feet wide by 40 feet long . The south, west and east walls are made of double-paned Filon, a brand of hard, translucent glazing material. The eight-foot-high north wall is made of steel roofing, backed by 3Vz inches of fiberglass insulation, polyethylene plastic sheets and plywood. The sloped roof, also made of Filon , rises to a 12-foot apex. The north side of the roof was designed so that blocks of polystyrene eight feet long by 1 Vz feet wide could be installed on top of its two-by-four rafters. The roof's south side slopes at a steep angle , and has a 2 1/z -foot-high nave wall. A solar collector also will be suspended from the ceiling. It is to be fabricated as a 30-foot-long by three- foot-high metal tube cut in half lengthwise (into a half- 33 circle) and painted black for heat absorption. Polyethy- lene will be stretched across the half-circle to trap solar heat inside the metal apparatus. The east and west walls of the greenhouse are hollow with a one-foot-wide space between the inner and outer walls to allow for air circulation. There are also a series of four-inch-wide , perforated drain pipes buried a foot deep in the ground floor. The pipes, spaced one foot apart from each other, will be connected to the east and west walls of the greenhouse. A one-third horsepower fan will blow hot air down the solar tube into the hollow east wall; the air then will be channeled into the buried pipes. Excess , cool air will, be forced up the hollow west wall . Thermostats also will be installed to reg ulate the temperature. Design Modifications Originally, the group planned to circulate warm water through pipes buried in the greenhouse floor and sur- rounding garden plots. The water was to be warmed in the ceiling solar collector. But this plan was abandoned because it was compli- cated and would have been more expensive to install. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient $5,533 5 ,533 Alaska Federation For Community Self Reliance , Inc. P.O. Box 73488, Federal Station Fairbanks, Alaska 99707 Th e Fairbanks community greenhouse is located on its original site (/eft) along the Chena River. A lesson in greenhouse improvement SAVE I High School is a vocational and technical school located in Anchorage . The project to improve an existing greenhouse structure was undertaken by students, who earned credit for the project as part of their high school curriculum. Design and Construction The original project proposal was designed to make the school's existing greenhouse more energy efficient. The students were to design the project, estimate costs, purchase materials and implement the work. 'The situation that we were faced with was a green- house covered with a single layer of corrugated fiberglass sheets. There was a gas-fired furnace inside for heat . We wanted to make the structure more energy efficient and increase our growing season," said SAVE 's Jim Cunningham. "We first looked at where we were losing energy; walls, ceilings, and door. Then we opened up discussion for ideas on how we could cut down on the energy loss. We decided that we would put a layer of visqueen on the inside to act as secondary, 'inexpensive' glazing. This was put on all four sides, ceiling and floor. "Second, we looked at all the little places where we were getting cold air seeping in (and hot air out). We then insulated in those places as well as caulked with a silicone sealant," Cunningham said. They also took a look at where they might have addi- tional energy losses. The students took a good look at the north wall and ceiling. They decided that since there 35 was no sunlight coming in there, the areas should be insulated. The students measured between each of the two-by-four wall and ceiling studs and cut the expanded polystyrene insulation board to fit. Expanded polystyrene can be hard to cut evenly; there- fore one of the students came up with the idea to seal the material. They decided that a soldering gun would melt through the polystyrene and seal the edge. (Care must be taken in having the area well ventilated, since the fumes a re toxic.) Once the insulation was in place, plastic sheeting was stapled in place for the second glazing. Along the top, a series of wood one-by-two strips were used to keep the visqueen from falling or ripping from the staples . The students also decided that there was an energy loss through the ceiling and roof during the winter. They installed a series of bent nails in the ceiling rafters, from which styrofoam sheets could be set into place as a drop- in ceiling. This retained more heat inside. The next phase was to redesign the plant beds. Stu- dents set the plant beds on 55-gallon steel barrels painted black and filled with water. These acted as a storage medium to help extend the growing season by releasing the stored heat. "We were also hoping that the release of this heat under the plant beds might stimulate more growth by heating the soil and the roots;' said Cunningham. Instructor' Jim Cunningham (below) taught his students how to make their greenhouse more energy efficient. "Looking at the project overall, the students and I have learned about insulating, vapor barriers, heat storage, construction, solar aspect and solar charting (summer to winter angle);' he said. Performance The major points of energy conservation education have been in the following areas, Cunningham said: • Insulating the north wall and part of the north ceiling. These areas are energy-losers and should be treated or built as such. The students made the comment that as you drive around the Anchorage area, most of the greenhouses have clear or unin- sulated north sides. This project's lesson could apply to these structures. • A second layer of glazing is much better than a single layer. This is obvious, but the point we are making is that a second layer of glazing can be made of visqueen plastic which is inexpensive. Since it is behind another layer of glazing, it is protected somewhat from the elements such as the wind and ultraviolet rays. Our second layer of glazing (plastic sheeting) has been in place for three years and is still in use. 36 • The third point of interest is the 55-gallon barrels of water. We cannot calculate exactly how much this has saved us in energy, but in any greenhouse you need something to set plant beds on. What better way than through the system we used? We do feel that there was an energy gain and storage through this method. We feel that our retrofit of a standard greenhouse should be used in most greenhouses that are in this area. Most people are interested in putting together a green- house that will not cost them a fortune, and be passive in energy use. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $650 Grant Recipient SAVE I High School 5300 A Street Anchorage, Alaska 99502 Search for an energy- saving window shutter Developing insulated window shutters is a dream that inventor Ed McGrath has been pursuing for severa l yea rs. "The project still goes on;' said McGrath in mid-1984. He is a carpenter and former alternative e n ergy teacher at Tanana Valley Community College in Fairbanks. "I can report that it looks hopeful, but I canno t repor t a ny successes'.' T he b igges t obstacles facing McGrath a re deve lo p ing a cos t effective design and preventing the shutters from warping after inst allation. "In every case that I've built a s hu tter, it's cost far more t han the (cost of) heat lost through the w ind ow (w ithout a shutter);' McGrath said. "But I'm s till worki ng on it , and I intend to keep working either until I ge t someth ing, or u ntil it is clear that it just can't be don e -at least by me :' Design Originally, McGrath hoped to build a cost-effective, slidi n g shut ter which would slide up and down over the exteri or face of a wi ndow. His plans called for installing an ex terior seco nd "window;' making a sa ndwich-ty p e asse mbly. The sh u t ter was made of a two-inch-thick panel of rigid insulation called Thermax. The panel was covered wi th Dacron aircraft fabric cloth and heated so the fabric would shri n k to fit the panel. The fabric a lso was painted to preve nt its d eterioration by ultra violet li gh t. The edges of t he panel were lined with al umin um. 'The shutters were tailored to the wi n dows a nd they varied in insulation from one-and-a-half inches to three inches;' McGrath said. T he sh utter co ul d b e pulled with plastic coated a ircraft 37 WINDOW INSULATION cable either manuall y o r wi th a motor. But McGrath sa id he ha d difficu lty sealin g the hole t h at he drilled through the wall to install the sh utter cable . McGrath tried using electric motors to raise and lower his shutters, but was u nable to come up with a design to keep the shutter up when the motor was turned o ff. The weather-stripping caused excessive resistance w hen t he sheeting was d rawn or raised between the glass panes. "It turns out that gettin g a two -way, reversi ng motor wit h a break on it is a ve ry expensive proposit ion, cos ting a couple hundred dollars for a little bitty m otor;' he sa id. '~lso , sliding and sealing are ant ago nist ic to each other. It was a b asic problem. Make a tight seal and the s h utter doesn't want to slide any more:' Experimen ts with an inexpensive hydraulic air ram system didn't work, ei ther, because he co uld n't prevent leakage. McGrath, however, had some success install ing a fou r-foot-square demonstration shu tter for an Energy Efficie n t D emonstration exhibit at the Tanana Valley Fair. But the demonstration project was not as energy- eff icient as h op ed. 'Then after eig h t months, it didn't work at a ll any more;' he says. 'The sh utter in sulation panel had warped and there was nothing to do about that:' Summary Despi te failures and dead-ends, McGrath has learned a lot about building, installing and using in sulated window sh u tters. "I looked at houses constantly, trying to see if my shut- ter would fit o n their windows;' says McGrath. "In far too many cases, t he answer was no. I became disillu- sioned with the slid ing shutter. I found that they were The energy demonstration building (ab ove left) at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds. Ed McGrath d em onstrates his window s hutter (ab ove right). also much more expensive than I had imagined. It wasn't the cost of the shutter, but of the box /glass frame that protected it from the weather:' But he isn't giving up. In fact, he's been working on a new concept, for which he built a "model" out of cigarette packs, cardboard and tape. McGrath has had to set his invention aside, but has predicted that, "I will build a cheap successful shutter. And as soon as I have something to say, I'm going to Polystyrene beads to prevent heat loss A special insulation system to reduce heat loss at night is planned for a greenhouse in McCarthy, in the Interior of Alaska. "We are proposing to construct a passive solar, energy- efficient, attached greenhouse with a usable growing season of March through October," said Jerry Miller, w ho lives with his wife Judy at May Creek, a rural village near the Kennicott Glacier. "We w ill incorporate a bead wall type system which involves blowing polystyrene insulating beads between the glazing at dusk and sucking them back out at dawn using a hand operated pump," he said. "We want to dem- onstrate how such a system can be energy efficient, practical and inexpensive to build and maintain:' Unfortunately, the Millers had not completed their greenhouse by mid-1984 due to several unforeseen set- backs. The couple, for example, had to move to May Creek after the original project site at McCarthy was threatened by flooding three times within six months. Health problems further delayed construction of the greenhouse. And, by spring 1984, only the rough ground work and initial foundation had been completed. "Site preparation has begun and foundation work is currently underway," said Judy Miller. System Design The proposed greenhouse is 14 by 36 feet and will be attached to the Millers' cabin. The south-facing wall w ill have nine four-foot-wide, double-paned bay windows. The windows will be installed at a 77 degree angle to take advantage of the low s un in the spring and fall. During nights when there is heat loss danger, the small polystyrene beads will be placed in between the double paned windows. The Millers plan to draw the beads out of the windows with a hand operated pump each morning. 38 write a little book telling how to build these shutters, and then my work will be done': Funding U.S. Department of'Energy $2,375 Grant Recipient Ed McGrath P.O. Box 73876 Fairbanks, Alaska 99707 Rocks stacked as plant bedding support will store heat collected by the passive solar greenhouse. Exces s heat gathered by the greenhouse also will be vented into the M iller home. Two automatic vents, on the east and west walls, would be used to remove excess heat. They will begin operating when the temperature reaches 65 degrees. A wood stove will provide backup heating for the greenhouse in the early spring and late fall. To supplement the carbon dioxide le vel in the green- house, rabbits will be kept in s ide; and chickens a lso could be quartered in the greenhouse during the coldest, darkest winter periods. This would eliminate the need for additional heating for the chickens, and light from the house could stim ulate year-round egg production. "Instead of wintering our chickens, 10 to 15 birds, in a separ ate hen house, we plan on sectioning off a part of the attached greenhouse," Judy Miller says. "Right now, we compost leaves and fireweed with nitrogen-rich chicken manure to build our soil humus and nutrient lev~. This process always stops in winter. But we will continue this in our greenhouse." The couple also may plant some dwarf fruit trees and such crops as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, beans, lettuce, carrots and spinach. "We hope to develop a year-round system of opera- tion;' says Judy Miller. "We hope to start our garden crops and plant starts for the cool weather vegetables requiring a long season-Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and ca uliflower:' Funding U.S. Department o f Energy $2,882 Grant Recipients Jerry and Judy Miller May Creek, Alaska 99588 Home's wall used as giant duct In 1981, Mark Merrill of Willow was in the process of planning and building a new home designed around maximum efficiency of energy use. He chose to use quality insulation materials, take advantage of passive solar energy, and use abundant wood in a centrally located heating system. . He applied for an AT grant to add one more energy- efficient feature to his home, and in the doing has applied the feature to other homes, as well. 'My project is to fit this house with a device that will recycle heat which would otherwise dissipate ... and to warm well water in a preheating tank;' he said at the time. Very simply, Merrill turned one wall cavity in his house into an air duct that circulates warm air at the ceiling to a crawl space beneath the house, where it warms a rock energy mass. The air warms the rocks, w hich in turn pre-heat a water tank. In summer, the rock mass he lp s cool the house by storing heat. But at ni ght, heat emitted from the rocks help s keep the home warm. The design is called a residential waste heat recovery system. "I t's working extremely welt' said Merrill, a carpenter and builder who lives in Willow, about 70 miles north of Anchorage. In fact, he's so impressed with it that he's installed it in other homes he's built in Willow. 'Tve probably built 13 homes with this system in it;' Merrill said, including his own home. "''m real happy with it:' 39 ENERGY STORAGE , MASS System Design Merrill built a two-story, 1,208-square-foot home with a cathedral ceiling over the living and dining room, and a clerestory window wall above the stairwell to the second floor. There is a wood stove in the living-dining room. Sun shining through the clerestory windows heats the opposite wall in the stairwell which is painted a dark color. Electric baseboard heating provides back-up heating. System components include a fan with a variable speed control, two thermostats, and six tons of three-to- six-inch rock in a wood box surrounding the 42-gallon tank for the well pump. The unique link of the syste m is a wall cavity, which is 32 inches wide by 3 .5 inches deep. The cavity ex tends from the top of the wall opposite the clerestory to the rock pen in the 4 1/z-foot-high crawl space. The rocks surrounding the water tank are in a wood box measuring four by four by eight feet insulated w ith urethane. The fan, built into the bottom of the r ock pile, is rated at 650 cubic feet p er minute. It is a 12-inch round duct fan, which can draw 75 watts at full speed . The fan is controlled by a reverse acting thermostat on the wall opposite the clerestory. When the temperature rises above a specific level in the clerestory, the pre-set thermostat automatically turns on the fan in the crawl space. The fan pulls air through The south fac e o f Mark Merrill's house (below) makes use of clerestory windows. an opening at the top of the wall into the wall cavity and through the rock pile. An opening at the bottom of the rock bin allows the air to continue into the crawl space and back to the living room through a floor register located under the woodstove. The thermostat turns on the fan to draw the hot air which warms the rocks and the water in the tank when- ever the sun is shining or the woodstove is used. A second thermostat in the living room is set to turn on the fan when the temperature drops to a pre-set level. The fan blows air through the rocks bringing the heat stored in the rocks back into the house through the register under the woodstove in the living room. 40 Performance The residential waste heat recovery system has con- sistently worked very well, Merrill said. In fact, it's helped him slash his electric heating bills in half. The system has been virtually maintenance-free. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $1,100 Grant Recipient MarkS. Merrill P.O. Box 103 Willow, Alaska 99688 Heat loss reduced with rubber gaskets Jerolyn Wroble, of Anchorage, was persuaded to undertake the distribution of gadgets that would save on the homeowner's heating bills. She proposed to give away foam gaskets that seal off drafts from wall plugs. According to the Texas Power & Light C9mpany, the second greatest source of air infiltration into the home is through outside-wall electric outlets and switches. Eliminating drafts from this source would significantly reduce total air infiltration. The Texas findings were adapted to Alaska in Wroble's pilot project aimed at reducing both energy consumption for heating purposes and energy expenditures by the Alaskan homeowner/ renter. The use of foam rubber gaskets as insulation between conventional outlet covers and the wall can eliminate 93% of this air infiltration. Although the gaskets were already commercially available at a cost of approxi- mately $2 a package, they were not being rapidly imple- mented by the Alaskan public. The intent of this project then, was both to increase consumer awareness of the problem and also to provide a safe, inexpensive, simple solution. Procedure Accomplishing this goal required three phases of effort: purchasing, assembly, a nd distribution. Wroble got bids from five different companies. A total of 31,200 gaskets were ordered from the Fuel Control Corporation, Minneapolis, Minn ., the most competitive bidder, at a price of 4 cents each. To ensure that the gaskets were safe, they were taken to the local fire marshal whose review indicated they would not help to support a fire stemming from an electrical outlet. Two- thousand plastic bags, which explained about the gaskets and their installation, were also ordered as dis- tribution packaging. Each packet contained 12 outlet gaskets, four switchplate gasket covers, and one pre- addressed postcard. The postcard was used as a means of obtaining con- sumer response on the effectiveness of the gaskets. Consumers were asked to return the card by an estab- 41 AIR INFILTRATION lished date with any comments they might wish to make. Western Airlines agreed to trade the cost of shipping the gaskets to Alaska in return for being mentioned on these postcards. Therefore, shipping the gaskets and printing of the postcards was accomplished for $226, which was less than half the budgeted figure of $500 for shipping alone. Distribution of packets was made through the follow- ing outlets in Alaska: Division of Energy and Power Development Alaska Gas and Service Matanuska Electric Association Golden Valley Electric Association The Energy Committee City of Aniak Miscellaneous (mailed or delivered in person) Anchorage Anchorage Palmer Fairbanks Juneau Aniak 125 500 200 250 300 50 500 Total Distributed Performance 1,925 Judging from postcards and letters, the gaskets were accepted very well both by individuals and agencies receiving them. There were several requests from consumers about the best method of obtaining more of the gaskets. Many commented on how effective the gaskets had been in eliminating drafts . One consumer reported that he noticed an immediate temperature difference around outlets after installation . A company that showed the sealers to all the con- sumers it contacted for on-site verifications of residen- tial energy audits reported their surprise at the number of homeowners who had not been told about the electric outlet energy sealers . Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Jerolyn Wroble P.O. Box 3404 Anchorage, Alaska 99510 $ 975 975 Solar collector has unexpected results Cliff Cantor tried to convert the southwest wall of his arctic home into a solar heater by covering it with glass panes. Unfortunately, the solar collector wasn't sealed prop- erly. Mildew and insect problems prompted Cantor to remove it from his home in Bethel, Alaska .. Bethel is a hub community for about 50 neighboring Bush villages and lies on the shores of the Kuskokwim River, one of the major transportation links in Western Alaska. Like much of the state, the growing season here is quite short. But in those summer months the rolling, green, treeless tundra blossoms with hundreds of thou- sands of wildflowers-in the planet's high latitudes, plant life grows with an intensity not found in the middle latitudes of the Lower 48. And although sunlight hours are short in the winter, the sun does shine brightly during the day. Cantor, who is an owner of a barge company, hoped to capitalize on this light as a partial answer to his home heating needs . "We made a kind of jungle in there;' said Cantor of his solar project. "I think that portion of the house might have rotted under those conditions. That's why we took it down~' Moreover, Cantor also said he dismantled his experi- ment because he feared it might have ignited his log walls. At times, he said, the glazing caused temperatures to soar almost to 140 degrees. "We wanted to see if we could heat up one wall and the answer is yes;' said Cantor. "You can do it. But some of the other details didn't work out': System Design The solar collector was nine feet high by 10 feet wide, covering the outside of the home's southwest-facing log wall. The glass panel was comprised of several small panes held in place by two-by-four-inch frames, set two inches from the exterior log wall. 43 PASSIVE SOLAR HEATING The logs behind the glass pane were stained brown to help absorb sunlight and to protect the wood, and foam insulation was appli ed to seal the edges of the glass frame where the frame abutted the l og wall. Sunlight striking the glass panes warmed the logs, which in turn radiated heat into Cantor's living room. Cantor anticipated that it would take most of the day to heat the logs up, and the heat would be radiated into the house during the night . And it worked that way for awhile, says Cantor. But flies multiplied and infested the house through spaces between the logs. An algae-like mildew sprung up in the space between the log wall and glass pane. Soon Cantor's solar collector resembled a miniature jungle swarming with flies. "A lgae grew all over because we had a lot of moisture in it;' Cantor said. "And we literally got thousands of flies that flourished. It'd be covered with them sometimes'.' In short, it didn't work out the way it was supposed to. Tips Although the collector achieved the objective of cap- turing heat, the concept has room for improvement. • Design a solar collector that allows air to circulate between the log wall and the glass panes, to prevent decay and mildew. • Chink or caulk log walls for better indoor heat retention and pest-proofing. • Place a moisture barrier of heat-absorbing material on the exterior wall surface. • Carefully seal off all exterior cracks and fissures. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Clifford Cantor P.O. Box 728 Bethel, Alaska 99559 $435 435 A ladder (top) rests on the south face of the home where a solar collector was installed; (above) the entrance to the house. Th e slide joint (right) between the entryway and the main house allows the two portions of the building t o move separately while maintaining a weather seal. The pivot is a t-<.Vo-by-four under the floor joists. 44 ' ACTIVE SOLAR SPACE HEAT Solar water heating system falls short in Fairbanks H . Jack Coutts was faced with two problems when he built his home atop a 1 , 700-foot hill15 miles west of Fairbanks: energy costs and water. Like most of his neighbors, Coutts could not afford the expense of drill- ing hundreds of feet for a well ; instead, water was trans- ported daily from work in large container s . Energy costs in the Far North are traditionally high, and since (as Coutts figured) most of the domestic water used in a typical household is heated prior to use, the cost of heating water is a significant part of the house- hold energy budget. What Coutts proposed in this grant was a solar collec- tion and storage system that would use snow melted in the winter and rainwater in the summer to supply domes- tic water needs. Winter snow would be melted using a heat scavenging system constructed in an earlier project. During warmer months, rainwater would be collected and used . A large cistern built under his house would collect the heated water. Coutts figured he could collect enough water this way to supply his yearly needs . The stored, heated water below his house would also help heat his home, further reducing overall energy costs . Coutts was awarded an AT grant in 1980 to build the solar collection and storage system , monitor its perform- ance , and determine the economics of the project. The project involved fabricating and installing solar collectors, constructing a 1,500-gallon cistern under his house, and installing the necessary plumbing and moni- toring features to control the system's operation and automatically record performance data. Design and Construction Three eight-by-20-foot solar panels were designed for the project. Two man-made water storage tanks supply domestic water. An outside tank is used in the winter to melt snow and during the summer as a rainwater catch basin; it also supplies make-up water to a large inside cistern . The 1,500-gallon inside cistern provides a large supply of clean, treated water for everything but drinking. Coutts still carries drinking water home daily and stores it in the refrigerator. The original plan of building the solar collectors on the ground and lifting them in position was scrapped after the first panel. The panel's weight and bulkiness proved too much for Coutts, absenting a crane or Bunyonesque assistance. Thus, the remaining two collectors were assembled on the roof, using the roof itself as a struc- tural support . This reduced materials and labor con- siderably, but also lowered the system's overall efficiency since the second two panels were fixed to the roof's angle and did not directly face the sun. In order to provide structural support for snow han- dling and foot traffic, the four two-by-eight corrugated aluminum roofing panels used to back each collector were nailed to eight-foot lengths of wiggle molding. The 45 wiggle molding was in turn attached to 1 %-by-two-inch runners set about 50 inches apart . Four-by-eight-foot by 1 1Jz-inch plastic foam insulation boards were placed between the runners under the aluminum . Since the first panel was constructed on the ground and lifted onto the roof, it had an additional one-by-four and two-by-four supporting frame. A water inlet manifold for each collector was made from one-half-inch PVC tubing wired to the top of each panel. One-sixteenth-inch holes were drilled along this pipe matching each trough in the corrugated aluminum. After painting the upper surfaces flat black to increase heat absorption and adding an outlet collection pipe to two of the collectors, 20 millimeter fiberglass glazing was applied. A caulking compound able to withstand 150 degrees in temperature was then applied to the glazing edges. The first solar collection panel, because it was assem- bled differently, was covered with polyethylene sheeting (Visqueen). Unfortunately, this panel will have to be repainted and recovered as the polyethylene became brittle after one year's use and there is considerable weathering of the paint. The outlet pipe is a 10-foot piece of 1 1Jz-inch PVC plastic pipe with a %-inch-by-nine-foot slot cut in it that the lower end of the collector panel rests in. This pipe goes to the outside melting tank; panel number one is connected directly to the inside cistern. The inside cistern is a V-shaped depression in the bedrock below the house. Coutts covered the rock face with smooth cement and 10-mil Visqueen as a water- proof liner. Bacteria control of this domestic water supply was by batch treating with chlorine. Since there was no way to accurately control the amount of chlorine in this water, Coutts also installed a residential water filter with a charcoal element to filter out the excess chlorine before the water was used. The charcoal element needs replacing about once a year. Water in the outside snow melting tank does not get chlorinated because it is used only to supply make-up water to the inside cistern. The solar collector panels are connected so that panel number three is connected directly to the inside cistern ; and panel number two can be connected either in parallel with panel number three, or between panel number one and number three. This is done with a removable piece of PVC tubing . When make-up water is needed, the temporary tubing connects the output of panel number two to the outlet of panel number three. Water from the outside snow melting tank is pumped through an activated carbon filter to the top of panel number two, heated as it flows down the panel, combined with the output of panel number three and delivered to the inside cistern. When the cistern is full , the temporary connection is removed and water drains into the rain gutter, returning to the meltwater tank. Because he'd carri ed water to his home so often, Coutts had a lready in s talled many water-saving devices in hi s house. These incl uded a fron t-loading wash ing m achine, a quart-flush toilet, and low-fl ow sh owerheads. Thermal co ntrol is through two thermostats (Snap Discs) mounted about one third of the way down the back of collector panels one and t hree. As the skin tem- perature of the corrugated aluminum reaches 110 degrees, the thermostats close (turn on); they open (turn off) when the skin te mperature drops below 90 degree s . When the thermostat o n panel one closes, a sump pump in the bottom of the snow melting tank is turned on. Water flow s up to the inlet manifolds of co llector panels o ne and t wo. Panel number one free drains back into the snow melting tank through the rain gutterin g sys tem. Panel two either free drains b ack in to t he snow melting tank, or into the ou tl et pipe for collector panel num ber three, depending on w hether or not the removable PVC coupling is installed . When the thermostat on panel three opens, domestic water flows throu gh a control solenoid valve to the col- lector's inlet manifold and then t hrough the collec tor. Domestic water is su pplied by a pressurized shallow-well electri c pump and a 12-gallon pressure tank. Because t he water s upply in g collector panel number three is straight from the pressurized domestic water system, the t hermostat mounted on t hi s panel co ntrols 46 Th e firs t solar co ll ec to r (abov e) was co ns tructed o n the g ro u nd. both the inlet water supply and a s pecial drain solen oid val ve. Whe n the temperature of the aluminum exceeds 110 degrees, the drain solenoid is closed and the supply so lenoid is opened. Water flow s through the collector until either the skin temperature of the aluminum drops below 90 degrees, or unti l a 24-hour control t imer shuts the panel off. The 24 -hour timer opens t he drain s o lenoid at the end of each solar heatin g day-at approx- imatel y 6 p.m . n ig htly. The timer and therm o s tatica lly controlled so lenoids are required for f reeze protection of the tapped pressure sy stem supplying co ll ector panel number t hree. Since collector panels one and two are essentia ll y fr ee draining, freez e protecti on is provided when the temperature of the corrugated a luminum drops below 90 degrees, openi ng the thermostat a nd shuttin g off the sump pump. The co llectors free-drain into the rain g utters a nd back in to the snow melting tank. Performance With t he sun shi n in g, the controlling thermostats generall y cl ose when the ambient temperature of the air between the fiberglass gla zing and the corrugated alumi- num exceeds 45 degrees. This is us ually suffi cient to cause the temperature of the aluminum to get above 110 degrees. H owever , during rainy, cloudy, and cooler days when the o utside temperature is below 60 degrees, the ambien t temperature rise is usua lly not enough to actu- ate the thermostat and allow hea t collection. Because of the problems associated with the polyethylene cove red panel, the actua l performance of panel number one is less efficient. A dual probe thermograph, a type of self-recording thermometer, was used to measure water temperature at both the s u rface and the bottom of t he inside cistern . A minute to ta li zer was also installed to record the total tim e water ac t u all y flowed from the inside cis tern thro ugh s o lar pa nel three. Data was collected from both units between july 2, 1981 and Aug us t 18, 1981. Although this ti me peri od experienced poor solar heating co nd iti o ns, it was found that heat was s till collected for qn average of 14.6 h o urs per day. Since heat recovered is the product of t he flow rate , flow time, te mperature difference between input a nd output water of the collector, and specific heat , the heat captured during the te s t period was calculated to be 430,000 BTU's. Although it sounds like a lot , w hen com- pared to system cos ts and energy cost savings, it was determined that the solar collection system would not pay for itself during its rated 20-year lifespan . Even amortizing the cost of the system, assuming a 10 percent interest rate , over 1 0 yea rs would not make the project cost effective . If the economi cs were figured during a warmer s um- mer, the so lar panels would obviously perfo rm m uch bet ter, due in part to the heat transferred to t he co o ler 47 water from a mbient ai r . A similar in stallation a t a lower a lt itude might also tip the sca le s in favor of solar heaters, especially if they are ti lted to fa ce directly into the face of the sun; however, the increased cos ts of such a system may offset any sola r gain. Conclusion s and Problems Based o n the data collected during the s ummer of 1981, these solar collectors in sem i-a rctic environments are not an economically sound inves tment. H owever, for those who can o bta in inex p ensive materials for use in an improved design, a similar project may be worth the effort. Cout ts recommends t h at these people design a house with solar heating as a n integra l part of t he struc- ture, such as optimized roof s lope a nd direction (w ith a black painted roof) and below-foundat ion water s torage or radiant floo r heating. One last word of advice from the g rantee is that ground heat s torage should not be cons idered if the house is built on or near permafrost. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient H . Jack Co utts Mile 348 Nenana Highway Ne nana, Alaska 99760 $975 687 Solar heat works well in Copper Center Copper Center residents no longer have to worry about buying oil to keep their Kenny Lake Community Library warm now that they have a solar water heater and a wood-fired boiler. The solar collector helps keep the library at a comfort- able 60 degrees almost year-round in this community of 500 people, 80 miles north of Valdez in Southcentral Alaska. During the first winter of the solar system's operation, the librarians supplemented the solar heat with a water boiler. The boiler, which formerly burned oil, was con- verted to burn wood and coal. It used three cords of wood and a ton of coal, most of which was donated. "We now use only wood, coal and solar;' said resident Brad Hennspeter. 'That's saving us money, plus it's a renewable resource:' Specifically, the community no longer has to spend some $1,200 annually on heating oil for the library. The solar heater also has prevented the library from freezing up in winter despite sub-zero temperatures of minus-60 degrees. "It's working excellently;' said resident Sam Light- wood, who supervised the solar construction. "Solar is much more efficient. It's the way to go'.' System Design A solar collector and a wood/coal boiler are used to warm water in a 1,000-gallon tank housed in a room of the library. Heat radiating from the water is blown by a fan into the main library reading room, which is 23 feet by 31 feet. The steel water tank is six feet high and five feet in diameter. It was coated with epoxy inside and painted with a dull red primer on the outside. The lOS-square-foot solar collector, which has four glass panes, was mounted upright on the south-facing side of the library roof. The collector-six feet wide by six inches deep by 16 feet long-has a series of half-inch copper pipes sandwiched between sheet metal and ther- mopane glass. The interior of the solar collector was painted black to absorb sunlight. The water, circulated by a Grundfos pump, flows from the bottom of the water tank up to the copper tubes in the solar collector. Electronic sensors activate the pump whenever water in the solar collector is warmer than the tank water. Hot water from the solar collector, averaging 80-110 degrees, returns by gravity flow to the water tank through a three-quarter-inch copper pipe . On very cold days, however, the librarians have to supplement the solar system with a wood/coal boiler. The water flows by gravity from the water tank to the boiler and back to the water tank via a separate, 1.25-inch copper pipe . A snap switch located in the water tank room auto- matically cuts off the fan when the tank room air tem- perature drops to 75 degrees. 48 ~~~ The steel water tank radiates heat as it warms up. The heat is blown into the main library room by a 36-watt fan which was placed inside of an 8-inch galvanized floor duct. The fan is controlled by a thermostat, which also has a manually-operated variable speed control. The room housing the water tank has double-wall construction and superinsulation . The exterior wall was framed with two-by-fours, and was insulated with eight inches of fiberglass. The interior has four-inch stud walls with two inches of insulation. A six millimeter polyethy- lene sheeting also was installed on the interior as a vapor barrier. Sheetrock covers the vapor barrier. The roof is made of corrugated aluminum. Performance Overall, the solar-heated water tank has worked very well, keeping temperatures at around 60 degrees . More- over, the library's fuel bill has been substantially reduced because the facility no longer has to rely on expensive oil. They also save money by receiving volunteer contri- butions of wood and coal. By comparison, the library spent more than $1,200 on oil for fuel annually before installing the solar collector. Inadequate air circulation between the water tank room and the main library is the most serious problem which has surfaced. Lightwood said that one of the cool air ducts should not have been placed near the same vent as the hot air flue because the hot air tended to be diverted back into the tank room. Lightwood said he plans to plug the old vent and install a new one elsewhere in the library. Another drawback of the system is the amount of time it takes to initially heat up 1 ,000 gallons of water. Lightwood said it often took about six hours to heat the library to the 60 degree range. However, once the water heater is hot it stays warm for a long time. In fact, since its installation in June 1983 the library has not frozen up at all. "Once we have the 1,000-gallon tank warm we can leave the building for a weekend and when you come back on Monday morning the temperature (in the build- ing) may be in the low 30s, but it hasn't gone down to freezing;' said Hennspeter. "I think it's very cost effective;' Lightwood said. "I highly recommend it for any kind of a building. We have had plants in the library all winter. It works well:' Solar collectors (top right) were mounted on the roof of the Kenny Lake Community Library. (Bottom right), collector pip- ing inside the library. 49 Tips Several tips were offered by project participants in thei r evaluation of the solar system: • Install the solar collector upright. This reduces stress on the glazing, minimizes the chance of rain leaks and reduces snow acc umulation. • Be su re to allow plenty of air in the boi ler when burning coal, which requires more air than d oes wood. Otherwise, coal, particularly soft coal , tend s to emit a lot of smoke. • The water tank will sweat when it is first fired up. 50 • Don't fill the water tank completely. There should be some space for water to expand as it heats up. Also, a heat shield is needed beneath boilers if the floor is made of flammable materials. Funding U.S. Department of Energ y $2 ,242 Grant Recipie nt Kenny Lake Community League Kenny Lake Star Route, Box 231 Copper Center, Alaska 99573 A comparison: Three solar water heating systems The Municipalit y of Anch orage and th e Western Building and Construction Trades Council are evaluating the feasib ili ty of three different concepts in active solar water heaters . The solar water heaters are in the ce nter of the Anchorage bowl. Two are attached to a municipal office bui lding at 3500 Tudor Road. One is attached to the Plumbers and Steamfitters Apprenticeship Sc hool at 610 Potter Drive. System Design Three separa te collector systems were designed. Design criteria included: a) the three systems must range from the ver y si mple to the complex a nd sophisticated; b ) the systems m ust be appropriate to residential use in both new a nd exis ti ng s tructures; and c) each system must provide supplemental domestic hot water heating for 100 gall on s per day, for domes tic hot water demand at 120 degrees . Ea ch system has a differen t type of solar co llecting heater o n the building's south sid e. The heat from the co ll ector is captured in a n antifreeze so luti on and piped to a heat exc hanger in side the building. This heat is stored in a tank filled with water. As there is a hot water demand, heat is extracted from th is tank through a heat exchanger a nd piped in to the d omestic water system. All th ree systems must have a conventional water heater to back-up the solar co lle ctor. System 1. The "breadbox" system is within the sco pe of some "do-it-yourselfers" u tiliz ing simple principles and eq uipment, and easily un derstood and adapted by the lay m an of average ability. So lar capture effective - ness is less than the other two systems. The "breadbox" has three basic parts: water tanks, a n insulated box and the cover glass. The three water tanks we re new e lectric hot water heaters modified by remov- ing the metal cover and insulation. The ta n ks and inside of the insulated b ox are painted flat black. The cover glass in the "breadbox" (and Solaroll-brand system descri bed b elow) is double glazed acryli te panels. System 2. The "flat plate" system is somewhat more co mplex than System 1 , but not highly tech n ical. The "flat plate" has three basic parts: an absorber p late, the cover glass, and insulation under the absorber plate . The absorber plate is a Solaroll-brand materi a l, a p lasti c mat, s imila r in thickness to an inner-tube, with quarter- inch diameter tubes in the mat. The design allows the absorber plate to be glued against the side of the build- ing, thus eliminating the need for insulation under the plate. System 3 . The "concentrating tracker " is a high tech- nology sys tem. Completing the picture of available approaches to solar water he ating is the only ju st ification for this design in Anchorage. Design drawbacks to a hig h technology system include t he level of effort 51 DOMESTIC SOLAR HOf WATER required by competent design professio na ls, and the mechanical devices n eeded to accomplish the tracking are expensive and failure-p r one. The "concentrating tracker " has three b asic parts: an absorber p ip e, a parabolic r efl ector, and a tracking system. The absorber pipe is a fl at black metal pipe enclosed by a glass tube. Within t he pipe is a coil which allows cold antifreeze to circulate down to the foot of the parabolic reflector and then back up to the collection pipe at the top. The paraboli c reflector is a curved trough lined w i th slices of mirror which reflect sunli ght toward the absorber pipe. Construction and Installation All construction was done t hrough the Western Build- ing a nd Construction Trades Council w ith volunteer union labor. The majority of work occ urre d in coordina- tion w ith their apprenti cesh ip classes, w hich occ ur seve ral months ea c h year. Footings for the "tracker" and "breadbox" were built in October, 1981. Footings were fo u r cement posts for the "tracker" and four cedar posts for the "b rea dbox'.' All the posts were at a depth of four fee t and anchored in ce ment. The "breadbox" collector was star ted in December, 1981 , and finished by April. T he floor is two-inch by six- inch jois ts ins ulated with five in ches of expanded polystyrene. The wal ls a n d roof are t wo-i nch by four- inch studs w ith 3 V z inches of polystyrene. A three- quarter-inch Thermax brand (poly isocyanurate) sheet was attached to the inside of the roof with the reflective s urface exposed inside. Urethane from a can was used to fill jo ints between Insulfoam and wood joists. During the winter of 1981-82, off-site p lumbing was started at the apprenticeship training school. The h eat exchanger coils were made from one-inch copper pipe. Each heat storage tank has two coils, one for h ot col- lector fluids and o ne for co ld domestic water. The fluid in the tank stays in t he tank, at gravity pressure, acting as heat storage mass. An over flow /expansion t a nk was built out of six-inc h PVC pipe. This device a ll ows for tank fluid expansion and contraction. In the eve nt either the hot co ll ec tor coil or co ld domestic coil leaks, then p ressure increases in the tank would tr igger a float-valve- activated alarm . The heat storage tanks for the ''breadbox" a nd the Solaroll system were fabr icated from one-eighth -inch steel. A 40-gallon storage tank was sufficient for the "breadbox'.' The Sola roll re quired a 150-gallon stor- age tank, partially because it has less fluid mass in the collector exposed to the sun. O n-site plumbing began th e summer of 1982. The 350-pound 'Tol-Tec Tracker" co llector u nit was erected on the groun d. This co ll ector was partia ll y assembled by t he manufacturer and was easily erec ted in s ix hours 52 by two men. Minor problems with missing bolts and poorly machined pieces were easily overcome using an electric drill , files , and locally available bolts. Six men placed the unit on the cement footing. Additional brac- ing was bolted to the tracker frame for wind protection. Plumbing between the collector and mechanical ro om is one-inch copper pipe hung in the floor crawl space. After soldering the pipe together, the plumbers insulated the pipe with half-inch thick Armstrong armaflex. Installation of the heat exchanger tank, collector fluid recharge tank, expansion tanks and other equipment used 11 square feet of floor space. Three water tanks, connected in series, were in stalled in the "breadbox': The tanks rested on a steel platform and were braced and bolted in place with angle iron to withstand earthquake vi brations. In January, 1983, electricians began installation of conduit, breaker boxes and meter bases for the tracker. Wiring was not completed because of insufficient elec- trical detail on the "tracker" control system. The mechanical area of the Solaroll system was installed in January and February, 1983. After instal- lation, the Municipal Fire Marshall found the permit was incorrectly approved by their office for this system. In June, 1983, the plumbers removed this system for eventual reinstallation. The "breadbox " was also moved during this time period. The plumbers found insufficient space available for the "breadbox" mechanical area. Using a forklift and trailer, the "breadbox" was moved to the Plumbers and Pipefitters Sc hool and installed. Current construction by the Electrical Workers Apprenticeship School on the "tracker" was expected to be completed by spring, 1984. Work to complete control wiring on the "breadbox" and to reinstall the Solaro ll mechanical was scheduled to begin in April , 1984. (Previous p age) Pe ter Po ray (t o p ) explains d etails of the bread box co llecto r (right). Til e assembled co llector (b o tto n-1 left ) in p lace. S un ligh t s t rikes the S o la roll (midd le left). 53 Problems Problems peculiar to this project in Alaska were: • Design data on the "tracker" was incomplete. The "tracker" was made by a new company that folded in 1982 after three years of business. These new technologies have problems: parts were missing and some electrical parts were unavailable locally; some mirrors in the parabolic reflector were cracked; three shipments of glass tubes, which go around the absorber pipes, were broken in ship- ping; electrical diagrams were incomplete; the manufacturer disappeared, but the designing elec- trical engineer was found after a two-state tele- phone search. • Getting the design approved took four months. This was the first solar co llector building/me- chanical permit given by the Municipality. Modifications Several modifications were made: • Design specifications asked for galvanized heat storage tanks. No firm galvanizes tanks in Anchorage, so paint was used to rustproof the tanks. • The "breadbox" system was relocated to another building, due to inadequate space in the closet housing the existing water heater. • Viewing access to the heat exchanger, storage tanks, pumps, and controls was changed twice. Less viewing access now exists because of the need to maintain an adequate fire barrier between the mechanical area and public areas. Funding U.S. Dept. of Energy State of A laska $16,472 15,872 Grant Recipient Municipality of Anchorage Municipal Energy Coordinator Pou ch 6-650 Anchorage, Alaska 99502 ,,, ol •:I Solar powered pump increases efficiency Do is Dallas, of Dallas Engineering, completed a project in Fairbanks, 1.2 miles from the University of Alaska, using solar energy to heat domestic hot water. System Design In Phase I (1981-82), solar collectors were installed and integrated into a heat exchanger-domestic hot water system which was capable of being alternated (for source energy) from solar/propane to electricity. The a lternating cycle selected was weekly for o n e year (52 weeks). The prior energy source was all electricity for both domestic hot water and space heat for this residence (a log house). In addition to purchasing and installing the solar collectors and heat exchanger, it was necessary to purchase and install a propane hot water heater a nd a propane furnace. Phase I was 100 % passive, incorporat- ing a thermosiphon system and no moving parts. The solar collector is a serpentine design with half- inch copper tubing soldered to a metal collector plate. The collector is mounted at a semi-fixed angle on the ground in front of Dallas' garage. The heat exchanger is mounted above the height of the collector on the inside garage wall. Phase II (1982-83) implemented a change from 100 % passive to semi-active by adding a pump powered by electricity from photovoltaic cells. No external elec- tricity and no differential controllers were required. The photovoltaic panel, DC motor, and pump work in tandem. Only the intensity of the sun's rays controls the flow by producing more or le ss electricity. Operation, Performance, and Problems The system operated throughout Phase I and II with- out major problems. Temperature recording charts show that for the week of April20 to 27, 1982 significant Btu's were transferred to the domestic hot water system. (Note that this was during the 100% passive phase.) Other measurements (May 11 to 18, 1983) illustrate that by employing the circulating pump, powered by the photo- voltaic panel, more of the potential Btu's were trans- ferred to useable storage than was the case with the 100% passive system. 54 Some 87 college-level students have been involved in collecting and analyzing data during operation of the system. For most of these students, it was their first introduction to the basic procedure for capturing Btu's a nd e le ctricity from the sun. C lasses for future students will be offered by Tanana Valley Community Coll ege if there is sufficien t student interest. The project was featured in KIMO-TV's "Alaska's People" and a tape of the program is available in the Alaska State Film Library. Modifications Changes that are indicated from the data collected are: • Preheat storage volume should be enlarged and insulated better. • Life-style changes are mandatory if full advantage is to be taken of solar Btu's when they are avail- able. For example, 3 p.m. is probably the opti- mum time to take showers, wash clothes, use the dishwasher, etc. Tips • Propane as a source of fuel for space heating (at local prices) is approximately 20% cheaper than electricity. • Solar gain from a passive system is not attractive in Fairbanks with a payback of 24.5 years based upon the 1984 cost of propane. • If there is another disruption in the supply of crude oil w hich results in a quantum leap in price to $60 per barrel or more, then solar energy (aug- mented or pumped with photovoltaic energy) would be economical for domestic h ot water in Fairbanks. Funding U.S. Dept. of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient $4,040 6,935 Dois Dallas, Dallas Engineering, Inc. SR Box 30140 Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 55 Dais Dallas (/eft) explains Fairbanks solar applications. (Above), a temperature recorder for the solar collector. IIIII I ..... Automobile radiator reduces home fuel bills Mark Miller has reduced his fuel bills by preheating his home's hot water in a solar collector made of car radiators . Initially, he had hoped that if the novel project proved successful it could become a springboard for building similar systems throughout rural Alaska . · 'The syste m also was to illustrate that it could be an unobtrusive addition to a suburban home;' said Miller, who works for the State Department of Commerce in Juneau. Unfortunately, the project did not turn out to be com- mercially viable. But it is helping Miller save on his home heating bills. 'The project was not a spectacular success;' Miller said . "Nonetheless, my collector continues to function for my home, and given the few component parts, will probably continue to do so for years to come'.' Design and Construction Six radiators were set inside a wood frame box in two rows of three each . The frame is insulated to a thickness of six inches in the back and sides, and four inches along the interior wood ribs. It is covered with one-quarter- inch plexiglass and sealed with a silicone seal. The radiators, backed by sheetmetal, are filled with antifreeze . Hoses, held in place by stainless steel clamps, circulate the antifreeze as it warms up through the linked radiators. 57 Heat collected by the radiators is stored in phase change salt in 20 polyethylene plastic tubes in a shed below the radiators . The tubes, which are filled with eutectic salts, are six feet long by 3.5 inches in diameter. The salts turn to liquid as heat is absorbed . Compared with water, the pound-for-pound storage capacity of each tube is four-to-one , and by volume, five-to-one. Water that needs to be preheated flows through a separate piping system sandwiched among the thermal salt-filled tubes. The water circulates through two sets of "W" shaped tubing made from three-quarter-inch copper pipe . Afterwords, the preheated water flows back to the home's domestic hot water heater. A small water pump, expansion tank, zone valve and pressure relief valve also were installed in the solar loop. Many of the final connections were made with flexible copper fittings. A sheet metal "V" roof was placed on top of the solar collector to prevent snow buildup. Modifications Miller says he could have cut the 200 hours he spent on the project in half and slashed the project's costs through a few modifications. For example, he recommends using plastic pipes and rubber hosing instead of copper pipes, and connecting the hose to the pipe with "0" clamps. The radiators also could be stacked on top of each other instead of being placed in separate compartments. Mark Miller co n s tructed a so lar collector (l eft ) us ing o ld car rad iato rs (above). Anot her alternat ive would be to build two separ ate wood frames that could each hold three radiators, in stead of housi ng them together in o ne box. The two boxes could be connected with plastic pipes. Also, it would be easier to install two wood frames on the house than putting up one 700-pound unit. Tips When Mill er applied his design to the realities of materials and constr uc t ion, he deve loped other usefu l tips for future reference. In h is words: • Do not attempt this p roject if you are afraid to solder copper pipe, do not like metal cuts, hate fiber- glass insulation, or have little free time. • Build a sheet metal "V" roof over the to p of the s yste m to prevent excessive weathering and snow buildup. • The system can be built with a propane torch, pipe cutter, solderi ng brush, hammer, ti n s n ips, drill g un and a 10-ton crane. 58 • Copper must be clean and dry. Once you cut your pipe with a pipe cutter (don 't use a h acksaw or your grandchildren will be finishing you r project), clean the pipe and connections with fine steel wool. Clean the in side joint-connector, and join the pipe and connector toge ther. • Do not try to solder copper feeders to radi a tors . Car radiator connection points already have been soldered. Thus, when you heat up the radiator intake to solder on the feede r, t he h igh temperature weakens all the other joints and the radiator should be junked . Chasing weakened joints is a thankless task. • Seal small radiator leaks w ith "silver " seal or another auto radiator sealer. Funding U.S. Depart ment of Energy State of A laska Grant Re cipient Mark A. Miller 4324 Mendenhall Bl vd. Juneau , A laska 99803 $1 ,375 1,375 Palmer's energy farm proves up Tom Williams is creating an energy-efficient farm. Already, he's producing electricity with a wind gen- e:-a tor, and drying bales of hay with a solar heater. "''ve been doing these things all my life~ says W illiams, an attorney and farmer. "My father was into this when I was a boy. He was always innovating and creating new things for the farm '.' Williams is continuing that tradition on his family farm in Palmer, just north of Anchorage. He's also plan- ning alternative energy projects for a second, 640-acre farm he's developing on nearby Point MacKenzie . Finding the time to spend on his projects while run- ning a law office in Eagle River and meeting the demands of his family is an on-going challenge he faces daily. He's also had to contend with a fire that destroyed his law office last year, and a malfunction in his wind generator. "But things are working out. This particular farm was designed around a huge solar collector. Since we have the heat I'm trying to use it in several different ways': He conceived the project and applied for the AT grant funds in 1980. System Design and Performance The 10 kwh Jacobs wind generator sits atop an 80-foot- high tower. Its three, 11-foot-long blades are made of laminated Sitka spruce and can withstand gusts of more than 125 mph . The generator is designed for the blades to feather and turn sideways to the wind when the wind speed reaches 45 mph . 59 The generator can supply Williams' farm and house with all the electricity it needs. Any unused power is sold to the local electric utility, the Matanuska Electric Association. From installation in February, 1982 to July, 1984, Williams' system has produced about 10,000 kwh of power, of which 2,200 kwh were sold to the electric utility. Unfortunately, Williams has to replace the Jacobs Mastermind control unit which keeps the power pro- duced by the wind generator suitable to combine with the utility power. Nonetheless, Williams said the wind generator has worked well . "I am personally pleased with its production effi- ciency;' Williams said. "It's almost paid for the mortgage on it:' Another project Williams completed was constructing a new barn that is a solar grain and hay dryer. Corru- gated plastic roof glazing is used in place of metal roofing to turn the whole rafter area into a large hot air solar collector. A Habco crop dryer powered by a four-cylinder Wis- consin engine was suspended from the ceiling. This com- mercial fan blows the air warmed by the solar collector into a wood crib (four by four by 10 feet) buried under several hundred bales of hay. The hay dries as the warm air flows from the wood crib through the haystack. About 400 bales were dried Installers (left) prepare the w ind generator; (above) snow covers the fiberglass roof o f the so lar bam. from September t hrough October in 1982 with this solar heater. 'When baling hay, we normally find about 10 % of the bales to be too wet to s tore;' Williams sa id. "Those b a les are carefully stacked in such a manner as to be mechan- ically dried by forced air. This method, while somewhat expensive, is extremely effective and creates a very high quality hay:' But, Williams said, there is a more efficient way to dry the hay. The hay, for example, should be stored inside the barn on top of a perforated wood floor. That way warm air could be channeled from the ceiling to under- neath the floorboard. The air would flow up through openings in the barn floor and dry the bales of hay. Williams also has a solar grain drier, which utilizes t he warm a ir from the solar coll ector. The drier, which is 12 by 16 feet, has a perforated floor . A three-horsepower "s quirrel-c age" fa n blows warm air from th e solar co lle ctor th rough a pile of grain . 'This device h as n ot functioned properly because our two-horsepower motor has not been capable of driving the fan, except for a three-minute period before it over- heats and cuts out;' Willi ams sa id. "We have another fan on order and hope to demonstrate its ability~ Another unique system Williams installed was an alcohol still. "It is a manufactured 80-gallon reflux co lu mn still;' he wrote . "It is capable of producing eight gallons per hour of 130 to 160 proof a lcohol ... We are Tom Will iams ' farm (above) n ear Palm er. A gasoline fan powers the hay dryer (right). 60 p r esently using a series of fermentation vats, using both potatoes and grain as the basic source of vegetable matter;' he said in 1983. Effluent (wastes) from the still are used as cattle feed. Performance and Tips Wh en Williams first conceived of a farm that could be a demonstration for various energy-saving procedures and devices, he had no idea of the notoriety it would receive. By 1983, he said, more than 20 reporters had interviewed him about his experiences and plans, and more than 200 v isitors had come to the farm to learn more a bout the project. By 1983, the farm supported 25 head of cattle and seven horses. Williams says h is experience. suggests several improve- ments: • Dry the hay inside the barn . • Install a slotted, perforated barn floor so that warm air can be circulated fr om the ceiling, under the fl oor and up through the hay stack. • Before building a wind generator, m ake sure it's cost- effective. Chart local wind currents and determine energy needs before making the investment. Funding U.S. Department of Energy St ate of Alaska Grant Recipient Thomas E. W illi ams SRB-Box 7470 Palmer, Alaska 99645 $16 ,476 33,440 Crab waste produces methane gas supply Charles Vowell first moved to Unalaska in 1967, em- ployed as a plant engineer for one of the local canneries. In those days, cannery wastes were simply dumped into the bay. Unfortunately, the cannery wastes did not float out to sea as expected; they immediately sank to the bottom and formed huge deposits of decaying matter. During this period, Vowell also noted that soon after a dumping occurred, bubbles began rising to the surface. He didn't think much about it until a couple of years later when, after attending an alternative energy confer- ence, he realized that those bubbles were methane gas. Vowell thought that if he could somehow harness this gas, he could help solve one of Unalaska's major prob- lems-high energy costs. Unalaska, an island about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage, is the home of America's third largest fish- ing community. This island, like many in the Aleutian chain, is a windy, treeless bump in the ocean. Since Unalaska and its neighbor city of Dutch Harbor are fishing and cannery centers, work is seasonal and the cost of living high. Everything that doesn't come from the sea has to be shipped in. The cannery wastes have caused problems in Unalaska before. The Environmental Protection Agency has deter- mined that the waste disposal method was causing harm to the fragile ecology of Unalaska Bay and the agency ordered the dumping in the bay stopped. The canneries complied with this order by simply pumping the effluent to the mouth of the bay and also barging it out to sea. Although the immediate problem of pollution within the bay was solved, the overall problem was not. Vowell figured that a bio-digester could not only solve both the waste disposal and ecological problems, but help offset some of the high energy costs of the area, as well. In 1979, he received a grant to design and fabricate a methane bio-digester at Unalaska. The project involved the design and construction of the bio-digester, and developing a method to clean and store the methane gas. Design and Construction Vowell decided to build a continuous feed bio-digester using as much local material as possible to keep costs down. Using primarily crab gurry (offal), the system would consist of a 10,000-gallon digester tank, a water pump to keep the material suspended, a hot water heater and heating coil for thermal control, an old boiler for low pressure gas storage, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide scrubbers, insulation, and the necessary piping and controls to operate and monitor the system . Vowell calculated that his system would have a rated output of between 900 and 5,100 cubic feet of methane gas per day, with a heat value of about 900 BTUs per cubic foot net output after scrubbing (cleaning emis- sions). These figures are based on an average of 1.4 to 7.8 cubic feet of solid matter per loading. The actual output would be monitored by a standard gas meter placed between the methane generator and the low pressure boiler storage container. 61 METHANE DIGESTER In keeping with the philosophy of using as much local material as possible, the support stands for the digester tank were made from old dock pilings. The digester tank, hot water heater, piping, and boiler were acquired from the local canneries. The heavy equipment required to move the tank and other articles was rented from the city of Unalaska. Most of the labor was provided by Vowell himself. One modification to the original design was the low pressure storage system. The boiler that was to be used became unavailable, forcing Vowell to find an alter- native. He located 41 empty propane tanks which he mounted upside down on a rack. A small, low-pressure compressor was connected to them . Although this solved the storage problem, it lowered the system's efficiency because it added the energy consumption of the com- pressor to operating overhead. A mixing tank with a vacuum flush mechanism was installed at the input to the digester. This flushing device, which works much like the home lavatory, ensured that sediment would not build up at the input end of the tank and reduce system effectiveness. At the end of a digestion cycle, the remaining sludge was drained off into a holding tank. This sludge was subsequently disposed of by dumping into a landfill. The system was designed to be relatively simple to operate. A window mounted in the digester allowed visual observation of system operation. The window was important to anticipate scum build-up. The scum indicates that the anaerobic action has ceased. Recharg- ing and monitoring would only take about an hour's work each day. Performance Although the methane digester was operated for only a short period in 1980, Vowell feels that it was a resound- ing success. Thirty days after he first began loading the digester, "i t was quite satisfying to sit and watch the gurry bubble~ through the tank window. The crab wastes supplied by the East Point Seafoods cannery produced usable quantities of methane gas that required almost no scrubbing. Although the system was only filled to 10 percent capacity, it produced about 100 cubic feet of gas daily-more than a single house could use. Another aspect of the gas produced by this system was the lack of odor associated with fish-charged methane digesters. The gas had almost no odor before or after burning. However, the crab wastes only lasted until the end of crabbing season. After that, ground salmon waste was tried. Although salmon is easier to handle than crab and digests faster, the gas output of about 600 cubic feet of gas per barrel of salmon waste was of marginal quality. It had a foul odor and required both carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide scrubbing. Even then, so little methane was produced that it was determined that salmon, or other fish-only wastes, are not worth the effort. Another problem with the experimental system was its location in relation to supply. Moving the digester closer to the canner ie s a nd piping the crab wastes d irec tly to the digester would improve it s effic iency co n s iderably. In addition, Vowell tried a couple of modifications to hasten the digestion of t he crab wastes. Since most of the crab wastes contain she ll pieces about a half inch in diameter, a grinder was in stalled to chop them in- to s maller pieces. It wasn't lo n g before that idea was scrapped. The grinder tended to clog co nstantly, adding labor a nd m aintenance woes to the project. Gas storage also was a con stant p ro b lem with this pr oject. This was partially due to the unavailability of the large used boiler and partially due to the u nexpe cted high quality of the gas produce d. Conclusions and Problems Although Vowell rated his project a technical success, he readily admits that it was an eco n omic bust. "It's a shame, because the digester could offset about 25 to 30 per cent of the ir fuel costs'.' Vowe ll thinks that if he had access to a lab with hard data o n quality and qua nti ty of gas per pound of was te, he co uld have developed the necessary projection s. "These people (the cannerie s ) operate on a yea rl y basis, and unless yo u can prove a quick payoff, it 's very hard to convince them to use your ideas;' said Vowell. Another problem facing Una la ska is its location. T he traveling d ignitaries that could have supplied the ty pe of support this project needed, never came to see it. "A similar project in H omer, would have made t he fron t p ages;' he said. Yet, Vowell feels th at it 's the remote loca ti ons t ha t ne ed the he lp . During the operating period, the la rge pump used to fill the digester fr om the East Point Cannery failed. This made Vowell b eli eve that a less exo ti c, easier to feed batch type digester may be more economical for these operati ons. Since the crab and other shell fi s h a re sea- son a l, running t he digester through out the yea r didn't make sense. Crabs and shrimp, a lthough they were not actuall y tested , "have a shell, and that shell is the real source of the carbon" needed to make good methane. Salmon and bottomfish do not have the extra carbon and therefore produce low quality gas, requiring lots of extra scrubbing to remove excess carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulf ide gasses. A seco ndary market was hinted at with the sludge by- product. An acc idental spill one yea r res ul ted in a bright green splotch of grass the next. T he b io-digester output co uld be package d as a high-quality fert il izer, helping offse t operatin g costs, Vowell b elieves. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $11 ,800 Grant Recipient R. Charles Vowell 801 Airport Heights #226 Anchorage, Alaska 995 04 A plastic bucket (a bove) covers the electric motor of the digester pump. 62 Design allows for continuous gas production Doug McKee is recycling pig waste for new uses. He's converting it into methane gas to heat his barn, and spreading the leftover, nitrogen-rich sludge on his fields for fertilizer. "I had read in some farm journals that people (Out- side) were using manure to make methane gas and it seemed like it was a good concept," says McKee. "We wanted to use the methane to heat the barn :' Keeping the pigs warm on McKee's 300-acre farm isn't as easy as it sounds. The McKees live at Mile 20 on the Chena Hot Spring s Road, which is near Fairbanks, where winter temperatures can plummet 40 degrees below zero . During winter, Doug and his brothers used to have to get up in the freezing cold to make sure a wood stove was still keeping their two-story, 40-foot diameter barn warm. But McKee now hopes he'll be able to make enough methane gas that his family members won't have to worry about the old wood furnace anymore. "It 'll be a lot more convenient ," said McKee . "So far we haven't had any trouble. Everything's been going like it 's supposed to:' Results from first use of the digester in mid-1984 were not yet available at press time . Design and Construction Pig manure is converted to methane and nitrogen-rich sludge inside of a specially-made methane digester tank . It's housed in a 20-foot-by-40 foot metal building that sits on top of a concrete slab. He bought the building from an Alyeska Pipeline Service Company subcon- tractor for about $6,000 and invested another $6,500 on construction, electrical wiring and urethane insulation. 63 The methane digester is composed of several parts including a 1 ,000 -gallon predigester, a 7,000-gallon main digester, a methane storage tank, and a water boiler. The system McKee built is a continuous flow digester. This means he adds a load of about 150 gallons of pig manure to the 6,000-g allon tank several times a week to maintain continuous methane gas production. 'The main advantage of our design is that there is no interruption in the production of methane gas;' said McKee . Pig manure flows by gravity from the barn to a pit beneath the floor of the building that houses the digester. The manure is then pumped from the pit into the predi- gester tank where it is heated to 95 degrees by hot water circulating through 125 feet of three-quarter inch poly- butylene pipe. Gradually the oxygen is removed by bacteria thus yielding an anaerobic material. This is important because methane gas will not be given off until all of the oxygen is eliminated. After a couple of days in the predigester tank, the manure is pumped into the main digester, which is a converted railroad tank car insulated with three inches of urethane . The 95 degree temperature is regulated by a thermostat in both digester tanks by circulating boiling water through 150 feet of three-quarter-inch polybuty- lene pipe. It takes about a month for the manure to pass through the main digester. The methane, an odorless, colorless gas, rises to be stored in a tank on top of the methane digester. The gas is piped from the storage tank to a boiler (housed in a separate fireproof room) and used as fuel to he at water for circulation through pipes that heat the methane digester and the barn. "I plan to put a big radiator in the center of the barn with a fan behind it ," McKee said . 'The hot wa ter w ill circulate through the radiator a nd the fan will blow the heat through the barn:' The liquid s ludge that remains in the di gester is grav- ity-fed out of the main digester tank into a honeybucket. McKee spreads this nitrogen-rich sludge on his fields as an organic fertilizer. Recycling human and animal organic wastes in this way has become common practice across the U.S. "One of the places I think a digester would be real useful is on small farm s where a person only has a few acres of land and doesn't really have a place to put the manure;' said McKee. 'The digester would come in real handy on a small farm :' Problems The only serious problem McKee has encountered occurred shortly after he fired up his methane digester for the first time in the fa ll of 1983. Large barley hulls that had not been ground up enough to be completely digested by the pigs clogged the system and prevented the manure from flowing properly. The hulls are made of tough cellulose which can not be digested very well by bacteria, as well . And the hulls stuck to the heating coils, preventing t he heating coi ls from warming up the tank. 64 McKee, however, fixed the problem by installing a finer sc re en for his feed grinder. Now, he doesn't have to worry about barley hulls clogging the digester. Tips McKee has the following suggesti ons for those w ho may try a system similar to his: • Methane is a highl y flammable gas. Make sure the system does not have any leaks before filling it with manure. Check for leaks by pumping compressed air into the digester and pour diluted dish soap around each one of the welds and pipe joints. Bubbles in the soap indicate a gas leak. • To prevent manure from forming layers of scum, install a bar with paddles across the center of the predigester tank. Connect the bar to a handle out- side the tank so it can be rotated periodically. The apparatus works like a mixer, breaking up scum at the tank bottom . • Clean or wash out the s ludge pipe periodically, to prevent s ludge from freezing solid in the pipe du rin g wi n ter. Funding State of Alaska U.S. Department of Energy Grant Recipient McKee Inc. $15,000 15,000 20 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road SR Box 50985 Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Methane originators (previous page). A gas co llection dom e (/eft) sits atop the digester. (above) McKee stands n ext to the insulated digester tank. Solar power helps count fish As Alaska's Bristol Bay region prepares for the onslaught of fishermen, processors, boat tenders, and others who follow the great salmon runs into this world- renowned fishery each summer, a team of biologists sets the stage for the large commercial fishing season to begin . The rivers that are tributary to the great Bristol Bay region along the Alaska Peninsula, together with lakes upstream, are the spawning grounds of these millions of salmon sought the world over. Because the fishery is managed on a sustained-yield basis, the season does not open until enough salmon have escaped upstream to sustain the species. The fish- eries biologists who count these fish struggling upstream herald the opening of the season. Days before the first fishing nets ply the waters of Bristol Bay, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has set up camp waiting for the fish to arrive . But until the Department of Fish and Game's success- ful experiment with solar panels, fish tracking opera- tions in the field were both cumbersome and costly. None of the remote field sites in the Bristol Bay region (the test area for the application of solar power to the salmon counting process) is connected by roads or served by commercial electrical power. 65 The electricity that is needed to run sonar salmon counters, refrigeration units, radios, spotlights, and range marker lighting systems has traditionally been generated by portable gasoline engines . The gasoline, along with the generation units and replacement batteries for lighting systems, had to be shipped to the field sites by float planes or boats. Not only was this time-consuming, it also added to the already high cost of fuel. The agency's experiment with solar panels, however, has shown the practical benefits of this alternative energy technology for salmon tracking operations. Operational expenses for fossil fuel consumption and transportation were reduced, and the need for hauling around most of the bulky power supply equipment was eliminated . Before Fish and Game began its solar energy project, biologists collected and analyzed power requirements over a several year period for sonar salmon counters, marker lighting systems, refrigeration and radios, to match power supply with demand. Mean solar radiation for June and July, the time of year when migrating salmon are counted, was collected from 1961 through 1969 at the Lake Aleknagik camp near Dillingham, and from 1966 through 1977 at Lake The solar panel (above left) being rotated into the sun; (above right) the sonar fish counter is powered by the solar panel. Iliamna. The mean Ju ne-July air temperature recorded at camps at Cape Newenham, Iliamna, Dillingham, King Salmon and Intricate Bay from 1961 through 1979 was 51.6 degrees. Ave rage daily available solar panel p ower output was calculated at 22.4 ampere h ours or 270 watt h o urs . Power requirements for the salmon solar co unters, according to Bendix Corp., manufacturer of the counters, are .038 ampere hours a day for adult salmon counters and .25 ampere hours a day for smolt counters. Twenty ampere hours of power a day are needed for refrigeration , based on the operation of a cooler at a set- ting of 35 deg rees for 10 hours a day, with an ambient air temperature of 51.6 degrees. Radio communication needs are 10 hours standby daily, plus two to four transmissions a day, each averag- ing three minutes. The tota l radio power requirement is 2.3 ampere hours a day, based on 1.3 ampere hours for broadcasting and 1.0 ampere hours for s tandby. The use of sol ar panels to power marker lights came as a n afterthought to department officials, so elec trica l requirements weren't known. However, they have worked well when connected to a 12-volt storage battery which is connected to one solar panel. Solar electrical panels have been utili zed successfull y at a number of remote field sites throughout the Bristol Bay region: Portage Creek Radio, adult salmon Nuyakuk Salmon Tower Togiak Salmon Tower lgushik River Test Fishery Wood River Smolt Gechiak River Wier Kvichak River Smolt Naknek River Smolt Egegik River Smolt Ugashik River Smolt sonar, cooler Radio, two spotlights Radio Radio, cooler Smolt sonar counter Radio Smolt sonar counter, radio Smolt sonar counter, radio Smolt sonar counter, radio, cooler Smolt sonar counter, radio, cooler Ugash ik Salm on Tower Radio, cooler N ushagak District Range Light S trobe range light A normal counting si te will have three people tem- porarily livi n g at the location. Three solar panels, each connected to its own battery, supply the power for two sonar counters a nd the ra d io . The two sonar counters are located on either s ide of the river ; thus, it is ver y efficient to have the separate solar pane l/battery units located at the point of use. 66 The radio is located in a third tent usually separated from where the counters are located . At N uyakuk, sonar counters are not used. In stead, counting towers b uilt o n the edge of either side of the river are used for visual counting with a hand counter. At night, the spotlight using power from t he solar panel/ battery units enables the biol ogists to see the fish swim- ming up river and count them. At those sites which utiliz e electric coolers, two solar panels have been used to charge batteries. H owever, these coolers tend to us e more electricity than the 10 hours a day originally planned. This causes severe battery drain , si nce two solar panels alone can not provide an adequate direct power supply. One or two solar panels provide adequate power to operate equipment and recharge batteries at camps with salmon sonar counters and /or radios o nly. The use of solar panels to recharge range marker lights fo r fishing district boundaries was tested after thei r suc- cessful use w ith other equipment. One test light was maintained throughout the fishing season with solar power alone. Solar panels to power field camp equipment for track- ing salmon populations are now standard equipment at most Bristol Bay field sites. Technical notes The equipment u t ilized in this project is o utlined below : Solar Panel: Arco Solar, Model AS116-2300, power rating 2.3 amperes per hour. Cooler: Koolatron, Model P34A t hermo electric cooler with 24-litre capacity, 16 by 12 by 11 Vz inches, with an adjustable temperature setting range of 25 degrees to 125 degrees with a maximum o utside tem- perature drop of SO degrees , power re quirement of four amperes per hour during drawdown a nd less than two amperes per hour when cycling at holding temperatures. Range Marker Light: Pennwalt Automatic Power, Model PA240 Strobe li gh t at eight ampere hours per night. Funding U.S . Department of Energy $9,736 Grant Recipient Alaska Department of Fish & Game 333 Raspberry Road Anchorage, AK 99502 Capturing energy above the Arctic Circle James Schwarber is converting sunlight and wind into electrical power at his log cabin above the Arctic Circle. In fact, he likes his photovoltaic panels so well that he's selling similar solar products through his business, Remote Energy Systems, when he isn't out hunting and trapping. "It all started when I wanted to keep batteries charged in the woods;' says Schwarber, who lives near Kobuk, about 350 miles northeast of Fairbanks. "I got a wind generator and when I found it was not satisfactory, I moved up to photovoltaics;' cells that convert sunlight directly to electrical energy. The combination of power sources keeps his bank of 12-volt marine deep-cycle batteries charged year-round . The photovoltaic, for example, even produces a trickle of power between November and February when the sun doesn't rise above the horizon. Schwarber says he has more than enough power at his remote cabin for his lights, two-way radio, short-wave radio, vacuum cleaner, water pumps and 12-volt electric chain saw. Design Schwarber chose a four-foot-square , Arco Solar ASI-16-2000 photovoltaic module panel, mounting it on a five-inch diameter spruce pole that rises 11 feet above his log cabin roof. The four-module solar panel, which weighs about SO pounds, was attached to the pole with an SPM-4-65 pole mount. The solar panel was installed above his roof to mini- mize shading and to keep it out of the reach of pawing grizzly bears. 67 Schwarber used No. 10 AWG UF cable to link the solar panels with three 105 amp-hour, 12-volt, Gould deep-cycle marine batteries, which are connected in parallel series . And he ran a No.4 copper wire from the top of the mounting pole to a ground rod driven seven feet into the earth below the pole. He also grounded the four solar modules to the No. 4 ground wire, and added six guy wires to the pole for stability. A Winco 1222H 200-watt wind generator acts as a backup power production system . Schwarber could have chosen other equipment for his dual-energy-source configuration, but the project gave him what later became the opportunity to "field test" a new commercial product and service. Performance Overall, Schwarber says his photovoltaic system and wind generator are working very well. In fact, he has plenty of power to supply his simple electrical needs at the trapping cabin . Two minor problems, however, surfaced about a month after Schwarber set up his photovoltaic panels. Three silicon cells on one panel cracked and several solar cells had discoloration, but there was no moisture in the cells. It appeared that the discoloration may have been caused by a chemical reaction of the components in the module, and a defect in the Tedlar backing may have contributed to the cracking. "So far, I have found that the photovoltaic array and wind generator complement each other well;' Schwarber says. "Periods of peak solar energy and peak wind James Schwarber's trapping cabin near Kobuk (abov e); a solar collector and a wind generator (/eft) are placed out of the reach of bears. energy rarely coincide, which results in a more continu- ous production of electricity than either system provides alone:' Good data has been collected on the system, thanks to a 10-amp ammeter he connected to the cable linking the solar panels with the battery bank . On occasion the out- put from the solar panels was about 10 amps, or about 10 percent greater than the manufacturer's rated output. The solar panels can produce approximately 60 amp- h ours of electricity on a clear summer day. When the batteries reach 15 .1 volts, the Arco battery protector relay is tripped and the charging current is lowered to .5 amps or less and the voltage is dropped to 13.8 volts. During heavy overcast days, the system's output was minimal ranging from 0 .3 to one amp all day. Partly cloudy, hazy or lightly foggy days resulted in moderate to high outputs. But the important thing, Schwarber says, is that even in mid-winter when there is no sunlight the photovoltaic system continued to produce power from stray night light. This means he doesn't have to worry about his bat- tery bank going dead and freezing up when he is away on hunting trips. Electric lights a wilderness luxury Susan Rainey got tired of relying on gas lanterns to light her log house . So she invested in a photovoltaic energy system. "A nd I love it;' says Rainey, who lives at mile 326 of the Parks Highway, 42 miles from Fairbanks in the shadow of Mount Denali (McKinley). "I just walk in the house and turn on the lights. I'm ecstatic with it." Rainey, a former alternative energy newsletter editor, became interested in solar energy through volunteer work she did at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. But it wasn't until she discovered that the nearest power connection for the house they were building in 1981 and 1982 was 16 miles away that she decided to install the solar panels at her home. With her 1981 AT grant Rainey purchased the system. Since her home was not finished, a neighbor used the photovoltaic panels until Rainey's house was finished. Now she doesn't have to rely on gas lights or electrical hook-ups anymore. 'They've held up real well," she says. "We had no prob- lems with it:' Design Ten ARCO ASI 16-2300 solar panels were mounted on 68 "I have found that I can leave the photovoltaic array hooked up to an Arco battery protector to protect the batteries from both overcharging and freezing," he says. 'This I find to be one of the most valuable aspects of photovoltaics-safe, reliable , unattended charging of batteries is possible. "Another valuable aspect of having a photovoltaic array is its ability during cl ear weather and low lo ad periods to fully charge up the battery bank in a smooth and controlled fashion," says Schwarber. 'This will result in maximum lifespan of the batteries, which are difficult to ship and expensive to buy:' Funding U.S. Department of Energy $1,850 Grantee James A. Schwarber P.O. Box 81997 Fairbanks, Alaska 99708 top of Rainey's roof to get the maxi mum amount of sun exposure and to minimize shading from nearby trees . Each panel is rated with a peak of 37 watts so that when she uses all10 panels she has a 370-watt peak out- put from her array, which is about four feet wide by 10 feet long. The power is stored in eight, 82 .5 amp Gould batteries. An inverter converts the photovoltaic alternating current into direct current for the home's appliances. Performance. So far, Rainey says she's pleased with her photovoltaic se tup. She says it produces electricity even on cloudy and rainy days. Better yet, she says the system has not broken down or malfunctioned. 'They work fine," she said of the panels. "''m ecstatic about it :' Funding U.S . Department of Energy $5,800 Grant Recipient Susan E. Rainey P.O. Box 81182 Fairbanks, Alaska 99708 Photovoltaics perform well in Alaska Bush The high cost of shipping oil and gas to his remote cabin prompted Thomas Vaden to install solar panels. He also wanted to show that solar power is practical for isolated cabins in the Interior, such as his wilderness survival Solo Creek School at White River southwest of Tok. "We've been very satisfied with the solar panels;' says Vaden, an Anchorage elementary school teacher. 'They're efficient and there's no maintenance. "If you were looking at summer recreation cabins where you were gone a lot, you could put in one panel and a couple of batteries and you'd have all the power you'd want for weekends'.' But he's had his share of obstacles to overcome . Bush pilots were reluctant to transport his batteries for fear that the battery acid might spill and ruin their plane . A fire also destroyed one of the two solar panels he installed. Vaden also learned that it's better to purchase more solar panels and fewer batteries . He said he didn't need 17 batteries for his two solar panels. Buying more than five batteries creates a storage problem because the batteries must be stored outside of the cabin because of hydrogen gas emissions. "One can't store a lot of batteries in the house because they produce an explosive gas and they will freeze (outside) after minus 60 degrees;' he says . "I would recommend having four solar panels and four batteries . That's more than enough for a two-room dwelling with 50 and 75 watt lights:' 69 Susan Rain ey 's solar collectors are temporarily mounted on a n eighbo r's house (left ). System Design Vaden installed two commercially built Solarex brand solar panels on top of two cabins. The two 12-volt panels, 17 inches by 42 inches, can each produce 3 .5 amps when the sun is shining. The panels are connected to a bank of 225-amp, deep- cycle batteries. Power from the batteries provides elec- tricity for operating the lights and radios . Initially, Vaden planned to store his bank of 17 bat- teries in a separate building heated by a wood stove. But he abandoned this plan because of the possibility that flames from the wood stove would ignite the gas emitted by the batteries. Vaden says he's considering putting his batteries in an underground pit with foam insulation. The ground, while cool, will not get so cold that the batteries will freeze and crack . A gasoline generator and charger for the battery bank provide emergency backup. Performance The solar panels have operated well for the past several years, producing more than enough electricity for lights and radios. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed one of the cabins with the solar panels early in the summer of 1984. Vaden does not know what caused the blaze. The second solar panel, however, is still producing electricity at another cabin. He said the solar panels also have not required much maintenance . Tips Vaden says he's learned several things from his expe- rience including: • To avoid storage problems, consider using less than five batteries so that they can be stored inside the home. • If more than five batteries are used, store them in an insulated pit outside the cabin as a safety precaution against explosive gas produced by the batteries. • Consider purchasing battery seals which will contain any gas produced by the batteries. 70 Funding U.S. Department of Energy $5,705 Grant Recipient. Thomas H. Vaden Solo Creek Wilderness School 5827 S. Tahiti Loop Anchorage, Alaska 99507 tl Electric current from wood stove heat W. Findlay Abbott is experimenting with making electricity from heat by using thermoelectric generators on his woodstove . "It's right in the same class as solar cells ;' says Abbott, an Anchorage resident who makes architectural models for engineering firms, "the same technology as semi- conductor materials '.' "I knew ·about it because my father was a scientist who had a research lab and studied thermoelectric. I've known about it for most of my life:' So far, he's still experimenting with different thermo- electric generators and has used them to recharge flash- light batteries. The units, which use waste heat , can be installed in many places including heating stacks, stove pipes and exhaust pipes . 'The thermoelectric generator is silent, maintenance- free and produces electric current as heat is radiated from the stove to the room;' he says. "A remote house- hold could be virtually energy independent; fire hazards of candle and kerosene lighting also could be eliminated;' he said. A thermoelectric generator is essentially an extension of the thermocouple , a device found in gas heating systems . It was discovered long ago that when two dissimilar-metals are fused at one end, a small electric current can be measured at the other. This is because each element on earth has a different electrical property, much like humans have different blood types. When making thermocouples, materials are chosen to produce a stable and predictable current value over a specific temperature range. By monitoring the current with a precision meter, it is possible to accurately control processes that use both extremely high and extremely low temperatures. Thermoelectric devices use the same principle as a thermocouple except that they exploit the ability to produce electricity and not the stability of the electricity produced. In thermoelectric generators, the two dissim- ilar materials are chosen to produce a maximum amount of electricity over a certain temperature range . The chosen materials can be either metal or semiconductor alloys, depending on the temperature range at which the thermoelectric generator will operate. The generators are formed by layering flat plates of 71 THERMOELECTRIC these materials with some form of insulation between each layer, usually ceramic. Wire leads fused to the outer surfaces of each layer are tied together so that output of the device is the combined output of all the wafer layers. System Design Abbott's thermoelectric generator is comprised of a set of solid-state, semi-conductors sandwiched between ceramic and steel plates . Steel plates are used in this design because it is virtually impossible to attach out- put leads directly to semiconductor materials. Other materials that can be used include platinum and radium, copper and constantan (an alloy of copper and nickel), and iron and constantan . The six-inch-by-10-inch thermoelectric unit needs to be placed against a hot surface, such as a wood stove . These units, however, can withstand temperatures only up to 400 degrees . As heat flows through the unit, the temperature dif- ference between the stove side and the room side of the device causes current flow. This power is then stored in nickel-cadmium batteries. 'Thermoelectric generators are solid-state devices which convert heat to electricity without moving parts, when the heat flows through certain dissimilar conductor materials in junction;' says Abbott. The thermogener- ative properties of the materials cause current flow (electricity) to be produced. "A small percentage of heat produced by a normal wood stove could generate enough electricity for several light bulbs and a radio;' he says. Performance Abbott says the thermoelectric units appear to work quite well for recharging small batteries. "It works. I produced a trickle charge for a battery;' he said, but added that he's still experimenting with larger applications . Funding U.S. Department of Energy $805 Grant Recipient W. Findlay Abbott 538 M Street Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Gold miner tries new boiler system Keeping a home warm in the Alaska Interior where one has to live without such modern amenities as heating and plumbing is a tough proposition. But innovator John W. Greene, Jr. has developed a baseboard heating system that keeps his home a snug 74 degrees-even when outside temperatures. plummet to minus 42 degrees. "In fact, I believe we have the most comfortable house in the Interior and it is all done without electricity-no pumps-just a wood-fired boiler," says Greene, an engineer and gold miner who lives in Eagle. "It's working pretty well;' he said. "But I'm still trying different things. I'm an engineer and I have to tinker with things:' Design Greene keeps his house warm by circulating a hot water and antifreeze solution in a continuous loop between his furnace and baseboard heating units that are placed along the floor of each room . The heart of the system is an eighth-inch, steel-plated boiler he put on the concrete floor in his basement. The boiler, which uses three-foot-long logs, has a two-inch layer of sand in place of a grate. The sand holds the heat and directs it back into the fire, making it easier to burn "green" wood. There also is a one inch thick water jacket on top of the stove . The water and antifreeze flow into the bottom of the boiler through a three-inch-diameter steel intake pipe, which has a series of welded nipples. Each nipple pro- vides for connecting three-quarter-inch copper pipe, which links the colder-water return pipe with a similar heated-water supply pipe at the top of the firebox. There are twelve separate copper pipes inside the firebox. 73 The antifreeze heats up as it flows through the copper pipes leading from the bottom to the top of the firebox, traversing the flames. At the top of the firebox, the heated water and antifreeze rises up a three-inch-diameter steel pipe, which passes through the water jacket. The steel pipe ends in a T-section with welded steel nipples connected to three-quarter-inch copper pipe. Each branching copper pipe makes a loop through a different section of Greene's home, channeling hot water through fin type baseboard heaters . Greene also installed a valve at each nipple-copper pipe junction to control the amount of hot water cir- culating through each loop, enabling him to regulate room temperatures . The hot water/antifreeze solution bubbles upward from the boiler to the first-floor and moves horizontally through the heating baseboards before flowing back into the furnace . "It is really important that the hot water line coming out of the furnace rises to the first floor baseboards, and when the antifreeze gets to the end of the heating loop it must go down to the furnace," Greene said . 'To avoid water or air traps (that don't allow the water to circulate), you don't want to have ups and downs in the pipes:' The building codes that apply to boilers do not nor- mally allow an individual to construct a boiler with- out going to the major expense of having the unit rated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (A.S.M.E .). But Greene doesn't have to worry about the issue because he built an atmospheric heating system . The furnace creates no pressure when the antifreeze is heated An early version of the boiler (left) before a refractory liner was replaced with sand. (Above), winter sets in at Greene's cabin in Eagle . because it is open to the air via an expansion tank located above all the piping in a bedroom closet. The tank is a small garbage pail with a loose-fitting, removable lid that was welded atop a three-quarter-inch copper pipe connected to the heating system. The tank maintains pressure on the system, while making it easy to repleni sh the water and antifreeze . Performance Overall, Greene says his heating system has performed very well. It keeps the house evenly heated and has not required much maintenance. 'The coldest outside temperature that I have been able to test the system in has been minus 42 degrees;' Greene says. "The temperature inside the house was held at 74 degrees over a 24-hour period . No e lectricity was used in the system either in the control or in the pumping of the hot water (antifreeze). "I had to f ill the furnace with wood once every eight hours;' he says. 'The house was even more comfortable than a normal c ity home with baseboard heat because with this system the hot water flows through the base- board units continuously at a lower temperature than with a gas or oil fired system, thereby giving you a very stable temperature in the house ." Greene also tried building a heat storage, but it didn't work out very well. He dug an e ight-foot square hole in his cellar floor, placed three-quarter-inch copper tubes in 74 it , and filled it with sand. He had hoped to pump hot antifreeze through the h eat storage so that whe n he was not at home, the heat storage would keep the cabin warm after the boiler fire stopped. U nfortunately, the pipes leaked and he had to abandon the project. But he sa id he doesn't need the heat storage b ecause his log walls reta in heat well. Tips Greene has several suggestions to make from his experience: • Don't u se fire bric k in the furnace . The fire burns longer-and better-without it. • Don't use a grate in the fireplace . A couple of inches of sand inside the furnace works a lot better. The san d holds the heat and reflects it back into the flames, in creasing combustion efficiency, especially for g reen wood. • Make sure the copper tubing does not have any unnecessary bends or traps which can prevent the antifreeze from flowing. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Jo hn W. Greene, Jr. Box62 Eagle , Alaska 99738 $2,300 2,300 Design goal: Energy efficiency David Newcombe doesn't believe the oil supply is going to last forever. That's why he 's busy experimenting with alternative energy. Recently, he built a wood-fired boiler to provide heat for his home in Wasilla , about 45 milies north of Anchorage. "''ve also built wind generators and I'm playing with solar voltaics;' says Newcombe, a heavy equipment operator and maintenance welder. ''I'm interested in alternate energy in general:' So far, his wood-fired boiler is successful. Another boiler he built for a neighbor has been operating smoothly for the past four years . "I see so many inefficient wood burning systems around that I thought that there must be a better way to go ;' says Newcombe. "It seems to be working real well. It heats a whole house'.' System Design A 1,000-gallon-water tank that's six feet high and five feet in diameter is fitted with a firebox . The tank is made of 118-inch steel plate. The boiler unit, which was placed on top of two inches of styrofoam, is in his basement. The firebox, also made of 1 /8-inch steel plate , is two feet by three feet in size. An eight-inch-diameter steel pipe with 1/4-inch wall extends through the water tank, to a chimney above. The firebox , which is lined with 1.5-inch thick fire- brick, is divided into two combustion chambers by a steel plate that slides in and out o f a sidewall. The divider helps create a downdraft to make the fire burn hotter. The water tank is insulated with nine inches of fiber- glass so that the water temperature drop during warm periods is less than two degrees a day. Domestic water is heated through a 60-foot-long coil of half-inch tubing suspended near the top of the water tank . The drinking water circulates through the copper tubing and is warmed as the water is flowing to a faucet through the pipe . Eventually, Newco mbe also plans to circulate hot water from the tank through a baseboard heating unit to help heat his home. Performance "Smoke and creosote are almost nonexistent;' says Newcombe . "Heat storage lasts two to seven days depending on demand, and the wood consumption is lower than that of the Earth Stove used previously'.' Funding U.S. Department of Energy $2,547 Grant Recipient David R . Newcombe Box 871663 Wasilla, Alaska 99687 The hand-made Stirlin g engine David Newcomb e added to his boiler. 75 WOOD-FIRED STEAM BOILER AND ENGINE Steamboat to ply the Holitna River Long before Grant Fairbanks m·oved to his 40-acre homestead near Sleetmute on the Holitna River, steam- boats were the major form of summer transportation. By Fairbanks' time, steam had given way to faster gasoline and diesel engines and the airplane. Cheap petroleum had put the old, slow, wood-burning paddlewheelers out of business. Then came the oil crisis with its dramatic rise in petroleum-based fuel prices. Every penny added to a gallon of gasoline brought a corresponding jump in transportation costs. By the late 70s, transportation charges were about to put supplies and fuel out of the reach of the homesteaders along the river. Fairbanks felt that the time was ripe for a return to steam power. Sleetmute and the Holitna River area are surrounded by thousands of acres of natural renewable resources- fast growing birch and spruce forests. Furthermore, Fairbanks knew where he could get a boiler. He figured that by bartering, many homesteaders who were priced out of the petroleum-based transportation system could use a small steamboat service, paying transportation charges with goods or cash. In an area where wood is more plentiful than cash, this type of system could bring a return on investment. Fairbanks began to build his wood /waste-oil fired steamboat for use on the Holitna River in late 1980 . The project involved constructing and outfitting a flat- bottomed, steam-p owered riverboat and maintaining records to help illustrate the usefulness and economics of the project. 77 Design and Construction The pro ject was divided into four parts: building the boat; obtaining a boiler and steam engines and moving them to Sleetmute; designing and building a transmis- sion to transmit the power from the steam engines to a rear-mounted paddlewheel; and installing all the mechanical hardware on the boat. The 38-foot boat (includin g paddlewheel) is made of three-quarter-inch marine plywood and local spruce donated by an area sawmill. The boat's skeleton is made of 1 1/z-inch bottom planks with two-by-six ribs. Over this skeleton is a skin of plywood. With a beam of seven feet and three-foot sides, the boat could safely tote an eight-ton load while drawing only 10 inches of water. The boat design itself borrowed heavily from the river- boats that plied the Upper Mississippi River near the turn of the century. The Holitna is the same type of shallow, winding river with shifting gravel and sand bars. One modern innovation was added however; the bottom would be covered with fiberglass and resin. All other surfaces are covered with wood sealer and painted. Although the hull design and steam engines could push the boat at speeds up to 10 miles per hour, river cur- rent would reduce this to about four or five miles per hour traveling upstream. Power for the boat is from a wood /waste-oil fired low pressure steam boiler, two 10-horsepower Sturtevant steam engines, and a large stern-mounted paddlewheel. A small but strong transmission transfers power from the s team engines to the paddlewheel. The steam engines A recycled steam engine (left ) is to be used to power the steam- boat. (Above), work on the steamboat proceeds on the banks of the Holitna River. have a "square" bore and stroke of five inches and pro- duce their rated horsepower at 325 rpm. Fairbanks got the engines from a Minnesota firm that had been using them for almost 40 years. They still have an estimated 20 years of life left in them. Simplicity, rug- gedness, and the 20-year life make them an excellent choice for use in Bush Alaska. The boiler was to serve a double life; Fairbanks is also a master woodworker and during the long cold winters, he spends much of his time in his shop. During the times when ice on the Holitna makes riverboat travel impossi- ble, Fairbanks figured to muscle the boiler to his shop to power his tools. When the river cleared each spring, he'd move the boiler back to the boat. Unfortunately, the boiler Fairbanks intended to use for this project was not ASME stamped to meet state regulations and he was left with the problem of getting a new boiler; although the original boiler was already in Sleetmute. A company in California was chosen to make the new boiler. It would have the same basic characteristics as the original (52 boiler tubes of two inches by four feet) and an operating range from 100 to 150 pounds per square inch pressure (psi). The original firebox for the first boiler would be used with the new one. As of mid-1984 the boat was nearing completion. The nearly complete steamboat w ith paddlewheel, boiler and steam engine mounted (top left). The paddlewheel assembly waits to hit the water and Debbie Fairbanks ' washing machine shows that a home-style water tower can serve both household and steam engine uses. 78 Problems and Conclusions Fairbanks encountered many small p roblems d uring this project; most of all with government certification requirements for his boiler. The need for a new boiler delayed the project a full year and increased costs about $2,000. Other problems included normal communication problems encountered in the Bush and an abnormally wet summer. The wet summer kept the spruce for the boat's skeleto n from drying to a maximum -of 15% water content. Communication problems stranded the new boiler in Bethel for a couple of months, causing another season delay. But even with the delays, there still seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for this project to ensure its ultimate success. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee Grant Fairbanks General Delivery Sleetmute, Alaska 99688 $9,145 9,145 Wood-fired boiler requires fuel supply and attention A wood-fired b o iler a nd steam e n g ine produces most of the heat , hot water and electricity that Guy A. Matthews needs for his home. It 's also a cost effective way to ge nerate power since most of the fuel supply-wood-is readily available near h is home at Tok, the principal road entry to Alaska and Canada's Yukon Territory. "It works good," says Matthews, a road construction worker, referring to his system. "Running a small steam plant for power is ridiculously expensive . But if it 's your power and your heat then it 's pretty reasonable:' Steam from the boiler runs a small , five-horsepower engine to produce electricity, which is stored in a bank of 12-volt, deep-cy cle batteries . The power is used for li ghting, operating power tools, a television and radio. But the system has its drawbacks. Until Matthews installs automatic controls, he has to be around when the boiler is fired so he can monitor its operation constantly. "It's not a continuous running system," Matthews said. "It's not something you can throw a lot of wood into and walk away." System Design A three-foot-high, 20-inch-diameter boiler sits atop a one-quarter-inch , s teel-plated firebox that is 32 by 32 by 24 inches . 79 The firebox also heats an adjacent, 30-gallon domestic water tank, the garage, greenhouse and entryway. In addition, Matthews supplements his heat with a wood- stove. Water in the boiler is heate d by hot gases rising from the firebox into the boiler through 70 vertical cast iron pipes. Matthews also installed a quarter-inch-thick steel plate in the firebox so he can slide it under the boiler when he wants to keep the boiler from heating and, in- stead, direct the heat through the domestic hot water tank. Steam from the boiler drives a 85-pound five horse- power, steam engine. The engine , manufactured by Semple Engine Co., is 18 inches high by 18 inches long. Operational pressures range from 90 psi to 150 psi. "Once steam is up to pressure, I can maintain the pressure of 100 to 150 psi by throwing in an armload of dry mill wood, giving me about one hour running time," he says. The alternator, turning at 2,200 RPM , will produce enough electricity to charge a bank of four, 12-volt, 700 amp deep cycle batteries. The batteries charge according to various settings on the alternator. The charge rate has been varied from 15 amps to a full 65 amps, depending on the battery state of Guy Matthews pre tes ted his steam engine (top left) in a loca l parade. (Bottom left), an attach ed workshop nears completion. A boiler and hot wa ter heater (above) are shown inside the workshop. charge . Matthews al so connected a static converter onto the battery bank to convert direct current into alternating current providing up to 1,800 watts. He uses the power to operate lights, fans, pump, radios, refrigerator and other household appliances. Performance Matthews is s o pleased with his steam boiler set-up that he plans to install a similar system in a remote log cabin he 's building near Tok . Eventually, he plans to expand the sys tem by using part of the heat from the boiler for a baseboard heating system . And despite delays in acquiring the boiler and gover- nors for regulating steam pressure, Matthews says the project is worthwhile . "For any given alternative energy set-up there are delays and shortcomings;' Matthews says. "For certain remote situations, such as mine, steam power for energy From wood to steam to electric lights Located on the northern t ip of Prince of Wales Island , third largest island in America behind Kodiak and Hawaii, Point Baker is about 150 mil es from Juneau and a go od 45 miles from Ketchi k an . The only way in or o ut is by boat or pla ne . This m eans that fuel to power diesel gen erators is n ot only in sh ort supply, but al so ex pensive to t ransport . Warren Powers fi gured that there must b e a b e tter and cheaper way to generate ele ct r ical p ower a n d heat. P rince of Wales Isl a n d, like most of So utheast Alaska, is b lessed with a n abundan ce of wood. Powers knew that this wood could be used to make steam a nd , after all , steam b oilers ge n erated ele c tricity long before diesel gen- erators . H e also k ne w t hat if a sys tem co ul d economically produce elect ri city fr om forest wastes and reduce dependen ce on n o nren ewa b le, ex p ens ive petroleum product s, t hen su ch a system co u ld benefit not only Point Baker, but sm all v ill ages in t he region, also. Powers' project involved design ing a wood-fired steam-powered electrical ge nerati n g sys tem . In addition to the power plant, Warren would build a 900-square- foot house, a 600-squ a re-foot greenhouse, and a heat recovery system that woul d supply heat to both of them . The heat recovery system would ensure that maximum availa ble en ergy co ul d b e ex tracted from the system. 80 gives my family lights to read b y and running water f or drinking and bathing. "But the steam boiler and engine are practical only where wood is easier to get than diesel or g as ;' he said, because of the ex tra work and attendance required with the wood-fired system. Tip Matthews says it's important to insulate the b o iler, firebox and the domestic hot water tank to increase their efficiency. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Guy A. Matthews P.O. Box 963 Seward, Alaska 99664 Design and Construction 3 ,302 6,833 Powers planned to adapt a five -horsepower, w o o d - fired boiler to fit the requirements of rural Alask a li v ing . This included enlarging the fi re b ox to handle la rger len g ths of wood (to ex tend burning time), adding a f ive- h orsepow er steam engine, d evel o ping a governor to co n - tro l the en gine's sp eed a t 1,800 r p m , and constructing a m ethod of extrac ting res idual heat fr o m the spent ste am to w arm a small , well-in s u l ated h o u se and greenhouse . A six kilowat t 110 /220 vo lt a lternating curren t ge nerator would b e co nnec ted to t he o utp ut sh aft of t he five- horsepower s team engine. The result would be a re liable source of both elec trical p ower a n d h eat. The power ho u se enclosing t h e b oilers a n d steam engines was planned as a 12-by-18-foot structure with a gable roof, built on pilings 10 fee t a b ove a tidal flat . This building also will house the hot water tank and heat exchanger that provide heated water to the house a nd green house. A smaller enclosed five -by-eight buildin g housin g the s u pply water tank is also part of the project. This structure is elevated above the level of the boilers and water tan ks. Two boilers and steam en gi nes will ensure constant heat and power during maintenance periods a nd in case of em erge n cies . An additio nal diesel powered ge nera tor is planned in case of total failure of the steam power plant. A 12-by-24-foot tempo rary greenhouse was originally covered with Visqueen, but future plans are to cover it with more durable fiberglass. Power from the generator p lant will be used to both heat the greenhouse and operate grow lights. These lights will effectively extend the growi ng season to produce food year round . Heat for the greenhouse will also be used to keep a s mall , well-insulated house warm during the colder months. Both the greenhouse and this small , 900-sq uare- foo t house will have a 12 volt battery-powered back-up pump system. This assures heat when the alternating current generator (AC ) is not operati ng. A ll piping used to transfer heated water and steam wi ll be insulated to minimize heat loss. Prob lems and Conclusions The remoteness of Point Baker, Powers' unexpec ted lo ng illness and difficu lties in lo cating commercially pro- duced boilers that satisfied state safety requirements all added long delays to thi s p roject. 81 Powers still feels that using renewable, locally avail- able resource s to ge nerate elec tri cal power and heat makes more sense than shipping in expensive petroleum products. "With diesel fuel costing over a buck and a quarter per gallon, I'd like to find an alternative," Powers said in 1981, and he may still. Another problem that faced this project was the lack of roads and he avy equipment. Everything had to be moved by small wood rafts or boats to the site location. A block and tackle was then used to move the h eavy equipment into final position. By mid-1984 , the powerhouse, water storage house, a temporary greenhouse, and most of the small house were nearing completion. Funding U.S. Department of Ene rgy State o f Alaska Grantee Warren F. Powers Box 464 Po int Baker, Alaska 99927 $7,579 7,579 Driftwood and boiler to heat home Few ci tie s in Alaska are tied as cl osely to the timber products industry as Ketchikan . Fo r thi s so uthernmos t ci t y in Alaska, timber has long been a m a instay of the economy. When the North American and Pacific Rim eco n o mie s do well, Ketc hik a n h as a relatively s t a bl e eco n o my, s upportedby both timber and fish. When fuel and transportation costs climb, depressing dema nd for pulp products, Ketchikan feels the pinch . Ken Duckett's wood-fired b o il er sys te m , when com- pl e ted, may fit well into the Ketchikan co ndition , saving the costs of fuel when prices are hi gh , and making use of ab und an t timber resource s, whatever the oil prices may be. And as an engineer and in the construction trade, Duckett a nd Ke tchikan residents like him must be prepared for w hat the nex t season may bring in the work force. But Duckett's primary m otive for turning to a lternative e nergy was to invest hi s expertise a nd time in de sign in g a domestic source o f electricity that would save him money. At the time he applied for the gra n t in 1980, Ducke tt was ge tting r eady to build a new h ouse o n Pe nnock Island, a b o ut one-half mil e from the ci ty of Ketchikan . The nearest commercial e lec tri c it y was some 1,000 feet away; co nnec tion to the syste m would b e cos tl y. System Design and Construction Duckett's project plan was si mple, u si n g proven (but in many places, outmoded) tec hnology. He planned to build a vertical, low-pressure boiler to produce 100 to 150 psi of s te am. The boiler would be f ired by driftwo od found on tidal beaches in the area. Duckett planned to u se the steam to drive a 10-horsepower turbine engine, which would run a four kilowatt elec trical generator. Power produced would be stored in a battery bank until used in the new house or any outbuildings. Duckett planned to r ep lace the gaso line ge nerator th at he suppli ed with 60 to 80 ga ll o n s of fuel each month. Duckett knew the reasons w hy this "o ld " technology has decreased in popularity for home power ge nerat ion: the difficulty of producing steam power at a steady pres- sure; lack of inexpensive fu el to feed the boiler; and the easy availa bility of inexpensive com m erc ia l power in populated areas. The b a ttery storage components of hi s design , coupled w ith the a bundance of driftwood in his area, m a d e the steam boiler sys tem practical for Duckett's particular situation, where eco n omical commercial p ower was not really an option . D es igning for direct current p ower, Duckett planne d hi s system so that it would provide for a 500 kwh m o nthly co nsumption for the h ouse. The boiler, it se lf , would b e use d to warm a b oath o u se, g iv in g Duckett a heated work area . Duckett's desig n for construction was, he said, simple e n o ug h for any handy man to build , w ith readily avail- a bl e materials. His plans called for a concr e te slab foun- dation fo r the firebox , which was to b e built of standard fireplace or barbeque brick (Duckett o rdered 532 of them). The 20-to 40-gallon hot water tank would be 82 supported in the firebox . Driftwood would b e loaded into the chamber thro u gh a n adequate-sized door made of steel, heavy tin , or a n o ld wood furnace door. The flu e could be made of a common e ig ht-in c h stove pipe, a five - gallon bucket , or a n y large s tee l pipe th a t can accommo- date a damper plate. The taller the flue , the better it w ill draw to increase burning eff ic ien cy. Duckett 's plans were not dimension-critical and ca n be used for a hot water tank of a n y size of choice. All the controls for the system are to be mounted o ut- side of the water tank; Duckett plans to install a safe ty relief va lve, a pressure ga u ge, and a ga u ge to monitor the system. H e also plans a safety relief and blow-off va lves to the piping connected to the eng in e; a manual water load valve , a water shutoff val ve, and a check va lve to the pump. The steam w ill ru n the 10-horsepower, E-7 turb in e Duckett bou ght from Steam Power Products, alo n g with co ntro ls, pump a n d re g ulator equipment. H e a lso will u se Surrette 308 amp-ho ur batteries and / or RCA bat- teries and a four kilowatt generator. Problems Duckett was awarded his AT grant in 1980, and by 1983 he was still trying to complete both hi s house and the boiler project. Hi s troubles began w it h the w in ter after he received the gran t . Duckett sti ll was waiting for required de sig n appr oval by the state Boiler and Pressure Vesse l Inspec- tor 's Office in Anchorage. With out state a pprova l, Duckett could not order the materials he required. By March , he had begun pl acing his equipment orders; shortly after, a sh ipping strike delayed delivery of the m ateri a ls he n eeded to proceed. During the process of building his home and boiler sys tem, Ducke tt also h ad to move b ack to Ke tc hikan for a period , a nd accepted employment w hi ch fr equen tl y took him away from home . By early 1982, Duckett h ad set the pilings and scaf- fold in g in place for t he water tank, and the house h ad been framed. The area in side the boathouse was cleaned a nd excavated in preparation fo r construct ion of the foundation for the firebox and boiler. Duckett at thi s time a lso followed advice to redesign the project for a 12-volt sys te m i n stead of the 115-volt system he envisio ned. As of mid-1984 Ducket t planned to in ves t a n es tim a ted 120 h o urs to complete hi s h ome a nd boiler system ; a ll materials a nd equipment wer e on site and he was a n xious to move into hi s new home . Funding U.S. D e pt. of Energy State o f Alaska Grant Recipient Kenneth Duckett P.O. Box 3178 Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 $4,169 4,169 • A view of the shop building where t he steam engine will be located . 83 Fishing boat to be powered by steam engine Michael Broili hopes to install a steam engine on a commercial fishing boat. So far, preliminary studies indicate that a 10-horse- power steam engine can power a 30-foot boat and gener- ate enough electricity for operating radios and hydraulic systems aboard the vessel. "I wanted to find out if the steam engines would be more efficient and effective than internal combustion engines;' said Broili, marketing and art director for the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation in Anchorage . 'The steam engines are pretty reliable and pretty easy to repair'.' Major drawbacks are that the steam engine requires a lot of observation while in operation, and it takes awhile to fire up the engine. The advantages of steam engines for commercial fish- ing operators, who have been hit hard by rising petro- leum costs, is a potential measurable reduction in energy costs. Usable steam boiler fuels include wood (wood, chips or sawdust); coal (chunks, stoker-quality or liquified ); waste and crude oil; gas; peat; paper and cardboard . Broili , who has worked in almost every aspect of the fishing industry, plans to build a boat for the steam engine . System Design Broili planned to use a boiler and an engine specifically designed for marine use . The particular system he selected, which cost about $7,000 , has been in use for more than 100 years. To test his idea, Broili bought a 10 horsepower, twin- cy linder Semple engine which can operate at 400-600 rpms. 84 He also acquired a steel-plated boiler, which weighs about 650 pounds, is six feet tall and measures 3.5 feet in circumference. The boiler sits atop a two-foot-square firebox. Steam produced in the boiler is piped into the engine, where it pushes the pistons up and down . One piston is larger than the other because the exhaust steam from the smaller piston is fed to the larger piston to extract as much energy out of the steam as possible. The pistons are connected to a crankshaft (like an automobile engine ) which turns the vessel's propeller. Belts connected to the drive shaft also spin a separate, 12-volt alternator. Electricity generated by the alternator is stored in a 12-volt, deep-cycle , marine battery. Performance Broili says he's confident that the steam engine can produce enough power to propel a fishing vessel and generate electricity for on-board radios and hydraulic equipment. And Broili said he did not ex perience any malfunc- tions or equipment failures during test runs of the engine. "We think that it could power the boat, and auxiliary equipment and radios;' Broili said. "Hopefully, down the line, it's our intention to install it in a boat'.' Funding U.S . Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Michael Broili 3011 Lois Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99503 $5 ,070 5,070 Mike Broili's steam engine (left) awaits hookup to a bo il er. Outdoor furnace heats home Wilbur LaPage has slashed his oil consumption in half by building an o utdoor furnac e to heat hi s Southcentral Alaskan home . The novel project is called a Heating and Heat Storage Apparatus (HAHSA) by the manufacturer. It's a concrete block outdoor furnace tha t burns wood, trash and coal in a large combustion chamber. Water heated in the furnace is piped b a ck to the house fo r hot water and baseboard heating. "The completed furnace works very well;' says LaPage, a retired parks and recreation employee for Anchorage w ho li ves on a 14-acre wooded lot in Ea gle River. "Last winter I don't believe I burned more than a cord and a half of wood all winter. But I also burned paper, boxes and other burnable material. And I can hold the furnace heat at approximately 180 degrees for 48 hours:' LaPage, who spent three years building the furnace, says he's been pleased with its performance . He said he purchased the HAHSA system from a Pennsylvania manufacturer after he saw an advertisement about it in a magazine . The biggest problem he still faces , however, is getting rid of creosote build-up in the furnace's chimney. He has to clean it about every three months. "If we lick that I think we'll have it made;' he said. "When the chimney's clean , it works beautifully. It's an economical system . We 've cut our oil consumption by more than 40 percent :' 85 System Design The outdoor furnace is about 10 feet wide, 12 feet long and 8 feet high. It is h o used in a mini-building that resembles a large wellhouse . The chimney stack is about 10 feet high to maintain a good draft in the firebox . The concrete block furnace has three inner walls, so that it resembles three boxes placed inside of each other. A firebox with fire brick is the heart of the furnace. It is encased by 21 tons of sand and crushed rock . About 200 feet of plas tic pipe are buried in the sand. The sand absorbs the heat , which in turn, heats water circulating through the buried plastic tubes. The sand is encased by a concrete wall, a layer of styrofoam and an outer shell of concrete block . Water circulates constantly between LaPage's home a nd the outdoor furnace throu gh two separate plastic PVC pipes. One is a lfz -inch-diameter domestic hot water pipe, and the other is a 3/4 -inch-diameter pipe for baseboard heating. Both lines are encased in a wood box insulated with styrofoam and covered with Visqueen. Performance LaPage says he's been pleased with the HAHSA heating system . Two drawbacks, however, entail creosote buildup in the chimney, and heating water in the plastic pipes. "Extreme accumulation of creosote occurs in the chim- ney and the firebox ;' LaPage said. 'This is one good reason for having the unit separate from the house. The T he HA H SA (above left) is lo cated n ea r to t he h ous e it heats. (A bove right), Wi lb ur La Page exp lai ns th e tie-in w ith t he boiler. system is designed to allow for the heavy creosote build- up, but it does have to be burned out or w ire-brushed out of the chimney a few times through the w inter:' LaPage also says his plastic pipes are not as good as copper pipes. He said the water could heat faster if it were circulated through copper pipes. "Plastic pipe doesn't pick up heat as quickly as copper pipe;' he said. "If I did it over, I would recommend that they pick up the copper and forget the plastic. I think it would be worth the additional cost :' Tips LaPage suggested several ways to improve his outdoor heating system: LaPage shows off his roo t cellar 86 • Use copper pipe in the HAHSA rather than PVC plastic pipe to heat the water faster. [Ed. note: This may not be economically advantageous.) • Reduce construction costs by doing as much of the labor by yourself. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Wilbur LaPage P.O. Box 1111 Mile 3.5 Old Eagle River Road Eagle River, Alaska 99577 $2,290 2,290 . ' . ' Novel system provides heat and hot water A so-called heating and storage apparatus is both a furnace and a heat storage system, located outside and away from the home . In Alaska, where many homes are far from fire protec- tion services, this type of heating system not only reduces chances of burning down your hor;ne, it also provides a more efficient heating system than the vener- able wood stove. And, because the apparatus is so large, it can supply domestic hot water at the same time it heats your home. Pat Yourkowski was preparing to build a large, 2,500-square-foot home in Homer and was looking for ways to minimize his reliance on fossil fuels and electri- city. His new house would be located on a hillside about 18 miles from town , overlooking Kachemak Bay and the Lower Cook Inlet. This area is known for butter and razor clams, good fishing and exposed coal seams on the bluffs lining the inlet and bay. In fact, at one time in the 1800s, Homer was a coaling station for the Russian and American Naval and merchant fleets serving the north- ern Pacific. Beach coal has been traditionally used to heat the homes in the area and even today is free for the picking . Yourkowski figured he could use this local coal and some of the tons of driftwood washed up on the same beaches to fire his furnace and heat his home; a couple of hard-working weekends at the beach could supply enough fuel for the entire year. Pat's new home would be superinsulated with double exterior walls and insulated interior walls and floors . Yourkowski planned to isolate each room and use a system of controls and valves to regulate heat on an indi- vidual room basis. For instance, if an upstairs room was not being used, the heat to that room would be turned down to a minimum. Through interior insulation, heat creep to that room will be minimized , leaving more heat available to the rest of the house without increasing the heat transfer from the system. Pat figured that this design could extend the heat reserve of the system enough to allow weekend winter jaunts without the fear of frozen pipes or house plants. Design An apparatus such as this is characterized by its large firebox and massive thermal heat si nk-20 tons of sand in Yourkowski's case . Using a controlled burning envi- ronment, it should be possible to stoke this device only o nce or twice a day on the coldest days. Another charac- teristic of a heating /storage system is its ability to burn multiple fuels simultaneously. Coal, wood, paper, almost anything combustible can be tossed into the fire- box. Explosives (pe troleum-based products are consid- ered explosive ) and items that give off toxic fumes should not be burned for obvious reasons. The heat stored in the massive heat sink of the structure will maintain its tem- perature for up to three days without additional heat input. Yourkowski planned to design a firebox that would burn multiple fuels without the common draw- 87 backs associated with airtight wood stoves and coal fur- naces. These include over consumption or waste, the need for constant attention, and a constant danger of overheating . In Yourkowski's design the heat output would be con- ducted to the house through buried, heavily insulated pipes and transferred to individual rooms via standard baseboard heat exchangers (radiators). Using a combina- tion of sound engineering and good insulation, Your- kowski figured he could heat his 2,500-square-foot house (for three to five days) with only one stoking of fuel (wood or coal, or both). This remains to be demonstrated . In order to take advantage of the earth's natural insula- tion, about 75% of the system is to be placed below ground level. A 12-foot-deep area was to be dug from the hillside below the house . A concrete slab, eight by ten feet by four inches, was poured for the foundation . On top of this foundation will be a concrete block firebox of three by eight feet. The firebox will be set flush on the front of the foundation and centered laterally. Firebrick will be attached to the inner walls and a piece of one- quarter-inch three-by-eight steel plate will cover the top. The steel will protect both the heat sink and the heat transfer pipes from the hottest part of the firebox and help conduct the heat to all areas of the heat sink. A large metal stove door will be attached to the front and a chimney in the rear of the unit will complete the firebox. The thermal heat sink and heat transfer tubing go between the inner and outer walls of the structure. Two types of pipes will be used to transfer the heat; copper where the heat is the greatest and PVC where tempera- tures are much lower. The use of the two types of tubing was based on economics . In the sides of the heat sink, temperatures would never be greater than 180 degrees, well below the performance characteristics used above the steel plate , where temperatures are hottest. A cross-grid of PVC pipe will be placed vertically approximately eight inches from the firebox on each side and along the rear of the heat sink. Fine sand will be tamped around the piping for support and heat transfer. The PVC grid will be connected so that water can flow into the pipe , through the entire grid, and then out. The PVC grids will be in turn connected to the copper pipe placed above the firebox . The copper pipe will be installed horizontally on top of a one-inch layer of sand on the steel plate. Once the plumbing connecting this grid to the PVC grid is in place and pressure-tested, the rest of the 20 tons of sand will be added . The entire structure will then be covered with an insulated roof . A small pump will be used to circulate the water through the thermal mass to the house system and back. Air flow to the firebox will be controlled by an old g as tank modified to regulate and preheat outside air before it enters the fire area . Two hoses will be attached to the gas tank. One draws in outside air to be preheated. The other regulates the a mount of preheated air allowed to enter the fi rebox. This regulator I pre heater is designed to extract every last ca lorie of available heat from the fuel. Problems and Conclusions A lthough Yourkowski has star ted both the house and heating /heat storage apparatus, personal problems have caused a considerable delay in completion. During the course of const ruction, Yourkowski decided for econ omy's sake not to bury the insulated water delivery /return pipes. These pipes will now be supported above ground between the furnace and the house. Because the project is not finis h ed, other modifi- 88 cations may be made in the future . Since this type of heating and heat storage device has prove n it self in other northern applications, it seems probable that once Yourkowski finishes his syste m he will have an effective, econ omical heat source fo r hi s new house . Funding U.S. Department of Energy $3,081 Grant Recipient Patrick Yourkowski Box 2136 H o mer, Alaska 99603 Winter in Alas ka (/eft) often slows construction. Th e unique s ton e arch is constructed of riv er rock (above). Windpower supplements local utility Kivalina is located some 80 miles northwest of Kotze- bue on a sandspit that at its highest point is only 10 feet a bove sea level. The town is bordered on its southeastern side by the mouth of the Wulik River; it is bordered on its western side by the Chukchi Sea, and to the north- northeast, K ivalina is bordered by a shallow lagoon. Transportation to and from Kivalina is limited to air travel, small, locally-made boats, and snowmachines. During the summer, transportation to and from hunting camps is via many of the r ivers located around Ki v alina . Because Kivalina sits north of the Arctic Circle and on the coast just south of the protective shield of the Brooks Range, the temperature seldom falls below minus 40 degrees for very long . Kivalina's temperatures range in the winter from minus 30 degrees to minus 50 degrees, generally staying around minus 10 to minus 30 degrees. During the summer, the temperature stays around 50 to 65 degrees with a few weeks when the temperatures range from 75 to 90 degrees . Wind is a daily routine for Kivalina. Usually, wind speeds are aro und 15 to 30 mph, but once or twice a y ear, there is a big blow with winds up to 65 and 75 mph. Under its AT grant, the Northwest Arctic School District used wind p o wer to augment local utility power. Kivalina's windpower plant is a simple direct intertie system with the utility . T he district is utiliz ing a n Ener- tech four-kilowatt synchronous system that is hooked up directly into a circuit breaker panel. 89 Construction The construction and installation phase of this project turned out to be the toughest and the most time-consum- ing aspect of the whole operation. This was due to a lack of ex perience with tower construction, a lack of consis- tent workers, and weather. The project was initiated in 1979, when the school's science teacher reflected about the local wind conditions and applied for an energy grant in hopes of constructing a sy stem to harness the winds-to convert the wind's energy into electricity that would power a greenhouse where fruit and vegetables would be raised for local consumption . When the new principal and science teacher arrived in 1980, the tower sections, guy wire, tower parts, dead- man beams, plates and accessories for raising the tower and g uy wire warning tubes were on-site . In order to complete the project, the tower base needed to be dug in place, one last dead-man trench needed to be dug; and the tower raised . Further, a generator needed to be ordered to replace the proposed wind system that was made by the Dakota Wind company, which had gone out of business . Student help accomplished a good part of early stages of t he project. David Aldrich, who guided the project along, de- scribed the work in detail: "First , w e s tarted digging an ei ght-foot-deep hole to accommodate the tower base beam. This beam, an eight- Th e h eig ht of wind power s u ccess in Kivalina. jl foot by 12-inch by 12-inch timber, was to be buried except for about one foot, which would stick out above ground level. "I t was necessary to dig prior to the cold months of the year; the ground starts to freeze towards the middle of October," said Aldrich. "We went out every day and spent 45 minutes digging the sandy ground. It was slow work. The ground was hard. As we dug, the sides of the hole caved in; thus, we ended up with a wide hole that needed shoring up to prevent the hole from being filled up. "When we got down to the six-foot mark, we struck water. We dug out another two feet of ground while standing in cold muddy water. We finally set the tower base beam into the hole and poured concrete , sand, and gravel around the beam to steady and strengthen our base. But before we could raise the tower, we had to dig one more dead-man hole. Winter had started, as had the cold winds and snows that accompany it. It wasn't until the late winter and early spring that we could get out and dig the last dead-man hole . "It was late September of 1982 before the complete base and dead-man systems were in place. All that was left to do was raise the tower," Aldrich said . "We attempted to raise the tower in pieces. I bolted to gether five of the six tower sections, secured a line to the tower, passed the line to a nearby telephone pole, and secured the line on the other end to the town's bulldozer. To make a long story short, the tower was on its way up when the bottom kicked out causing the tower to fall and bending four of the five sections. "We repaired three of the sections . One section was Wind generator impresses villagers Building a wind generator in a small Eskimo village on the Bering Sea coast can be a turbulent undertaking. Just ask the students in Karl Lund's advanced science class in Hooper Bay. Every step of the way-from acquiring the wind gen- erator to installing it-they encountered one problem after another. But despite the setbacks, they successfully completed the project. And for a year, the generator produced electricity for the local health center. A videotape of the project also was produced by KYUK and is available in the state film library. "On September 29 , 1982, the school celebrated the 10,000th kilowatt hour of production by consuming a commemorative cake made by the home economics class;' said Lund . 'The city of Hooper Bay was so impressed with the performance that they purchased a Jacob's (wind generator) for use on their city building:' But then another setback occurred . The regional school board, headquartered more than 100 miles from Hooper Bay, voted to shut down the wind 90 beyond repair. It looked as if the tower wasn't goi ng to be raised . But the manufacturer, Enertech, had changed the tower design , requiring a stronger section to be in- stalled. Following the arrival of the last elements of the wind system was much-needed technical help in the form of tools and technical ability; that winter we raised the tower and secured the generator on top using a gin pole:; said Aldrich of the final step. Because the generator is synchronous, it relies on proper voltage from the utility power. Alaska Village Electric Co-op (AVEC) provides the school electric power, and the voltage from their system was only 180 to 206 volts at the school, which was not adequate to operate the wind system, which requires 220 volts. After a step-up transformer was installed, the sys tem was fully operational by February 19, 1983. Performance The wind generator has been in operation now for a year. It has produced up to 60 and 70 kwh worth of electricity in a day, when the wind has blown 20 mph for a full 24 hours. The system has worked as claimed . The only modification required on the machine was the addition of a foam -rubber pad along the bottom edge of the generator access door. During operation, the door would vibrate striking the bottom cowling piece and creating a very noisy growl; the foam made the machine a very quiet running machine . Funding U.S. Department of Energy $18 ,377 Grant Recipient Northwest Arctic ,School District McQueen School Kivalina , Alaska 99750 generator for fear that children could be harmed if the blades broke . The board, acting after the wind gener- ator's blades had broken twice already, also ruled that the generator be moved off school grounds . "''m very sad about it;' Lund said. 'The regional board is afraid of the liability factor in case a blade came off . I didn't anticipate this . Otherwise, the students wouldn't have gone to the trouble to do the project'.' For the past year, the wind generator has not been functioning because the project has not been moved to a new location . The city is seeking funding to build a road to a site where the wind generator can be safely operated . But despite the setbacks, Lund is optimistic about the project . (Nex t page). Cement and parts (top left) are moved to the tower site. (Middle left), a village tower raising. A student (right) prepares the generator for hoisting. Studen ts (bottom) calculate how to raise th eir tower. II II 91 'We showed that this particular brand of wind gener- ator can work in Hooper Bay:' Lund said. "And I think eventuall y it will fly. Things in the Bush never grow at a speed you wish they would. But I think eventually it will accomplish its goal :' D esign The heart of the system is a 10-kilowatt Jacobs wi nd generator, which has three, 11-foot-long blades. The generator sits atop a 60-foot-high Rohn self-supporting steel tower. The three legs of the tower are each bolted to angle iron set in two tons of cement. The cement surrounding the angle iron was poured into drum barrels buried six feet deep in the tundra. The bottom barrel of each anchor was expanded into a bottom bell shape for addi- tional strength. 'We didn't penetrate the permafrost:' said Lund . "It's on top of a sand dune'.' A 26-foot-high gin pole with two block and tackle pulleys was used to hoist the tower upright. A second 14-foot-long gin p ole attached to the tower was used to lift the 1 ,000-pound wind generator up to the top of the tower. 'We had to do it by hand:' said Lund , adding that they erected the tower between September and November of 1981 . 'We didn't do anything by machine . Probably a third of the 200 students at the school helped pull the tower up. And because it was a learning experience, almost everything had to be done twice before it was correct'.' The wind ge nerator was intertied with the local electric company, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, so that none of the electricity was stored in batteries. The power was used for a local public health commu- nity clinic; su rplus power was fed to the utility free . P roble m s Delay in obtaining necessa ry equipment was the biggest obstacle the students had to overcome . In fact , there were problems almost every step of the way. The tower was lost in delivery, cement and gravel 92 weren't available locally, and other nece ss ities were shipped to the wrong village. "Finally, everything looked good:' Lund said of the progress at the time . "But wait ! United Transportation's barge broke down unable to ship material to Hooper Bay. Part of our tower and cement arrived in Hooper Bay via Nome instead of Bethel. The other part o f our tower was mistakenly shipped to the neighboring village of Chevak and arrived in Hooper Bay via barge three days later:' Pe rformance The generator has performed well since its installation, providing power for the community's health clinic. The average windspeed has been 15 mph, but it has ranged as high as 70 mph. But six months after installation-and after producing 12,750 kwh -the governor in the wind generator broke, causing the three blades to splinter. Apparently, the tail hydraulic governing mechanism froze in the cold weather. The blades were prevented from turning out of the high winds to reduce the pressure on the blade . The distributor, Four Winds, replaced t he governor and installed shorter, 11-foot-long Sitka spruce blades free of charge since the equipment was still under warranty. Unfortunately, the ge nerator froze again . 'There was another freeze-up:' Lund said. "We decided to let the wind break it loose . We had a SO to 60 mph wind and it broke it loose, but one of the blades hit the tower. 'We're on our third se t of blades now;· sa id Lund , adding that the system "worked fine" and will do so again when it's moved . Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Re cipient Hooper Bay Hig h School Karl Lund , science teacher H ooper Bay, Alaska 99604 $12 ,385 12,785 Salmon hatchery aided by windpower Since May 18, 1982, the aquaculture class at Sand Point High School doesn't have to worry about buying electricity for their salmon hatchery-thanks to a new wind generator they installed. Power from the wind generator is used to heat and light the school aquaculture facility and to operate a refrig- erator, freezer and water heating unit in this small community in Southwest Alaska . The community's 700 residents live on Shumagin Island, near the Aleutian Chain . "We feel that the windmill has saved the school district a substantial amount of money in fuel savings ;' said school superintendent Liz Boario, adding that they used to rely on an oil furnace. "In addition, the windmill has allowed us to heat water for aquacultural purposes on a scale that would have been prohibitively expensive under other circumstances;' she say s . "After the windmill was fully operational, our utility bills showed a tremendous dro p '.' Design The students installed a 10-kilowatt Ja cobs wind ge nerator on a small rise above the hatchery. The gen- erator is p o wered by three wooden blades, 23-fee t in di- a meter, and sits atop a 60 -foot self-supp orting tower. An anemometer and FAA warning lights are mounted on the tower and the tower's three supporting le g s are attached to concrete anchors . Power from the wind generator is tied to both the hatchery and the public utility system through a control box. This box monitors the hatchery's usage and 93 compares it with the output from the generator. Excess power from the generator is fed to the public utility power grid; however, during periods when power output from the wind generator is too low, the control box supplies additional power from the public utility system . Performance The wind generator has performed well, providing more than enough energy to meet the hatchery's needs . The average windspeed during its operation has been 11 mph, with electrical consumption around 200 kwh each month. It was interesting to note that make-up power usually was required if wind speeds dropped below 11 miles per hour, while speeds above 11 miles per hour resulted in excess power. There has only been one minor problem with the system. About six months after it became operational , a defect caused one o f the propeller blades to crack . Jacob s r esponded with an entirely new blade assembly designed specifically f or the Alaskan environment and there were no further problems . They al so installed an improved sp ring-loa d ed tail unit which turns the b lade a ssembly out of the w in d , w h ic h protect s it from wind damage . Funding U.S. Depar tmen t of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Sand Point School Liz Boario P.O. Box 132 Sand Point, Alaska 99661 $ 4 ,734 15 ,261 School district harnesses wind A wind generator is helping the Annette Island School District in Southeast Alaska reduce its monthly electric bills . Each month, the generator produces about 1,250 kilowatt hours of energy, which is a $50 savings at 4 cents per kwh, says school superintendent Walt Bromenschenkel . "It's operating well;' says Bromenschenkel. "I t runs whenever there's wind . The electricity is being fed into the city system. "Then, on a monthly basis, the number of kilowatt hours generated is calculated and the district is compen- sated for that by the city': The generator was installed for the school district and the Metlakatla Indian Community on Annette Island, about 16 miles south of Ketchikan. The community, founded as an Indian reservation in 1887, has a popula- tion of 1 ,1 50 residents . It remains the only reservation form of government in Alaska, after its residents opted out of the landmark Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. Originally, the community had planned to use the wind generator for lighting and heating one of two green- houses funded under this grant, and as an emergency energy supply. Some of the power was to be tapped to operate a satellite dish. Those plans were abandoned during the three years it took to get a wind system chosen a nd installed. As for the greenhouses, a 100 mph wind storm destroyed one of the greenhouses, and crippled the se cond one . 94 System Design A 10-kwh, Jacobs-brand wind generator :with 12-foot- long, laminated spruce blades was mounted at the top of an 80-foot self-supporting Rohn tower. The system was installed by Bill Breese, who represents Four Winds of Alaska in Ketchikan. The power system is intertied with the community's electric utility. One greenhouse was installed on a cement pad by the high school and a second greenhouse was installed on a concrete pad near the school superintendent's residence. The identical greenhouses, both 14 feet by 40 feet , were purchased as kits. They used a metal frame with double-paned plastic glazing on all sides down to the ground. Performance The wind generator went into operation in July 1983 and has performed well. As of 1984, the greenhouses remained inoperative. 'The only trouble we've had with the wind generator is with releasing the brakes;' says Breese. "They get a little corroded at times from our moisture and salt wind. I use mercury anti-corrosion grease, and it works well;' he said . Funding U.S . Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Metlakatla Indian Community P.O. Box 458 Metlakatla, Alaska 99926 $16,783 16,783 Guard takes conservation to the Bush .M ~ ~ ~ In 1981, the Alaska National Guard launched a major program to build wind generators and install wood stoves at its bases in rural communities of Alaska . The program was part of a statewide commitment to finding economical solutions to the unique problems of operating a remote and dispersed military r~adiness program. Today, the program has been largely abandoned by the agency. Two state-funded wind generators have been dis- mantled, and the wood stoves are being replaced with the original oil-burning stoves. The reason was the difficulty in ensuring ongoing maintenance and operation of the systems in the Bush. The problem is not an uncommon one in Alaska's rural areas, where a majority of more than 200 villages live a subsistence lifestyle. With unemployment in the Bush averaging as high as 70%, residents in these remote areas place a high priority on subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering that has been passed down over many genera- tions. To ensure an adequate food supply, residents must be prepared when the resources become available . And although many energy-conservation techniques are straightforward and simple in their technology, it is only in recent years that Bush residents have benefitted from the increased economies of bringing technology to a remote area that supports relatively few people. "There is nothing wrong with the concept and there is nothing wrong with the equipment;' said Maj. Roger R. Patch, director of facilities management division for the State Department of Military Affairs. But when some- thing stopped working, residents would seldom call Anchorage to let the Guard know. In the Guard's expe- rience, "there is a lack of utility conservation in the outlying areas . And there's nothing we can do here in Anchorage that has been able to overcome that'.' System Design A significant part of the conservation program were two wind generators funded by a grant. The Guard hoped the generators would reduce the reliance on expensive, diesel-generated electricity and show that wind power was feasible. The Guard first planned to construct a five-kilowatt wind generator at Savoonga armory on St. Lawrence Island, but the site was changed to Togiak , a more acces- sible site. A smaller 1 .5 kilowatt Aeropower generator was mounted on a 60-foot tower which was connected to a control panel and battery bank. Patch said he couldn't find anyone to tend the wind ge nerator regularly at Togiak . The machine broke down when it got out of balance, and the batteries were destroyed when they froze . The Guard also discovered that the batteries could only supply power for a day or two, not a week or more during periods of no wind as promised by Aeropower, which has since gone bankrupt. 'The failures could have been corrected before we had 95 structural damage, but no one thought to call us;' Patch said. The failure prompted the guard to dismantle the wind generator. A 1.5 kilowatt Enertech wind generator in Bethel was also funded by a grant. The agency hoped that a readily accessible site with full-time personnel would allow the successful operation of such wind power installations. Batteries also would not be needed because the system was tied directly into the Bethel Electric Utility. Bethel, with a modern, regional airport and full-time maintenance personnel at the armory, appeared to meet those needs. The Guard also hoped that Bethel would provide more visibility for the experiment, since the community is the administrative, commercial and trans- portation center for Western Alaska. Again, n o one tended the wind generator. So the Guard dismantled it. Performance Despite the lack of local support, Patch says initial findings indicated that wind power is very feasible for many of the state's rural co mmunities. 'The wind generator will work in the Bush and it's economical;' Patch said . "''d go out there every six months or so, and find nothing in operation . I'd fix it , and go back six months later and find the exact same thing': Problems encountered included governors which mal- functioned, failure of personnel to rotate the generator out of stormy high-speed winds, and batteries which froze because storage buildings weren't heated. "The problems they had were nothing that could not have been overcome by routine observations of the user;' Patch said . Miscellaneous Local maintenance support problems also compelled the Guard to abandon several other experiments around the state, although these were not part of the alternative energy program . The Guard, for ex ample , replaced oil space heaters with wood stoves at Federal Scout armories operated by the Guard at Arctic Village, Delta Junction , Hoonah, Nulato, Shaktoolik, Saint Michael, Kaltag, Huslia, Elim, Ambler, Kiana, Noatak, Noorvik, Selawik and Shungnak. To help stimulate the local economy, the Guard offered to buy wood from local residents, paying up to $200 a cord. The Guard said it was less expensive to burn wood, rather than the average 3 ,000 gallons of oil consumed annually at each facility. And the Guard found that at some treeless coastal locations, driftwood accumulations are adequate to meet heating needs. But local residents generally did not want to spend the time collecting wood to sell the Guard. Consequently, oil stove heat is replacing the wood- stoves. Clivus type composting toilet systems also have been installed at Selawik and Camp Carroll on Fort Richard- son. And t he Guard has been adding insulation to all of its older fac ili ties, and retrofitting its armories with double-paned windows. Furthermore, the Guard has made a complete change from incandescent li ghting to flu orescen t lighting, and high sodium fixtures have replaced fluorescen t lighting at major armory drill halls. The new light in g is more energy-efficient. 96 Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient $15,070 15,070 A laska Department of M il itary Affairs Facilitie s Management Division P.O. Box 5-549 Fort Richardson, A laska 99505 Danes' experience adds to local know-how "We're proving that a lternative energy is not inacces- sible to small towns:· said Steve Smiley at the christening of Homer's first commercia l wind generator. Smiley, a group of Danish visitors, and numerous Homer residents had just finished building a n d in stalli ng a 10-kilowatt wind generator on the H omer Spit. The project began when Smiley, the grantee , met Preben Maegaard, Chairman of the Danish Organiza- tion for Renewable Energy, at Alaska's first A lternative Energy Conference. After seein g Homer at Smiley's request , Preben convinced Steve that it was possible to build a small scale commercial wind generator in Homer using local talent and materials. Smi ley applied for and was awarded grant funds to apply Danish know-how in Alaska. Denmark is one of the most experienced nations in the use of moderate-size (10 to 20 Kw) wind generators that are tied into local commercial power grids. Six Danish craftsmen were brought to Homer as part of this project to help design, build and install a 10-kilowatt wind generator. The craftsmen a lso taught and demonstrated t he Danish method for utilizing this renewable ener gy source. Although the visible result of the project would be the operating wind generator, the overall purpose of the project was to exchange information between the local Homer residents and the Danes, to help demystify the building process, and to prove that a wind generator could be built with locally available materials and skills. 97 Design and Construction An 11-kilowatt, 230-volt three-phase alternating current induction motor driven by a three-bl aded pro- peller, both built at the Cook Inlet Metal Works in Homer, were used as the main components of the wind generator . This unit was placed on a 40-foot-tall steel tower (recycled from a crane boom) o n a concrete foun- dation. Homer Spit was chosen as the project location because it is highly visible. The project was open for public review and education programs, and also video-taped for future reference. A number of local craftsmen, under the direction of Smiley, also participated in the project. Although the project initially proposed travel for four Danes, six actually participated: Preben Maegaard, team organi zer; Bendy Poulsen, blacksmith-engineer; Hans Pedersen, e lectronics engineer; Birger Kuhn, wood- worker; John Carlsson, mechanic; and Jacob Bugge , design engineer. Homer residents provided lodging during their three week stay, and the group fit well in this small fishing and tourist town. A few special items had to be ordered in advance from elsewhere: a Swedish gear box, a German bearing ring, a generator-motor, and wood for the propeller blades. However, the mahogany plywood that was shipped by air from Seattle was of inferior quality, and laminated so lid mahogany was substituted for the blades. The three tapered blades, which the Danish team Th e preparat ions (l eft) for raising the wind generator near com- pletio n (above). A v iew of Steve Smiley's former h ouse and wind generator. made in 10 days, feature stainless stee l yawl-li ke feath- ering mechanisms that automatically slow rotation in excessively high winds. Most of the metal components used in the project were either purchased locally or in Anchorage, or fabricated in Homer machine shops. For example, the propeller shaft braking mechanism was fabricated from a 1965 Chev- ro let brake cylinder found in a Homer junk yard and from a Datsun disk brake caliper donated by a local resident. Modifications and Performance For a short time in 1980, the windmill produced power, purchased by the Homer Electric Association (HEA) at 1 V2 cents per kwh. The power at that time entered the HEA grid through existing e lectri cal lines connected to an a lternating current, three-phase induc- tion e lectrical ge nerator . Because the lease on the property on the Spit expired, the sys tem was dismantled a n d put in storage until 1981 . In 1982, the State of Alaska provided additional money to have the generator system moved to p roperty Smiley 98 owned at Mile 12 East End Road near Homer. Smiley sold his house on the adjacent lot in 1984, and by late summer that year the idled sys tem lay partially dis- mantled o n the site. A single-phase Reliance IS-horsepower motor from Debenham Electric had replaced the original 230-volt three-phase unit. And although it was uncertain how this would effect actual electrical output, the new con- figurat ion did not see m to present a hook-up problem with HEA. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Steven Smiley SRA Box 41-C Homer, Alaska 99603 $ 5,000 25 ,750 Generator hits rough weather at sea Jon Seager, hoping to reduce his dependence on diesel fuel, designed a wind generator for his commercial fishing boat. And it worked we ll when the wind in the Bering Sea did not exceed 30 mil es per hour. Unfortunate ly, gusts of 40 an d 80 mph are fairly common off the coasts near Platinum, a Native com- munity located at the mouth of Goodnews Ba y and named for a platinum m ine located nea rby. Some 53 people live in this windswept community in the south- west corner of Alaska, about 130 mil es south of Bethel. The average wind speed is about 16 mph . "It's a heck of a good idea:' sa id Seager, a commercial fi s her man and maintenance worker for the Pl a tinum Sc hool. "Bu t when we'd get 40 to 80 kno ts of wind o n the water I couldn't sto p the rpms from building up. And it'd burn out a bearing'.' Moreover, the w ind generator produced noisy vibra- tions throughout the boat, which may have sca red some fish off , Seager sa id . 'There was just n o way of shutting the system down;' sa id Seager, who also has installed a Bergey 1 kw wind ge nerator for his h ome. "It worked , b u t it didn't work well enough. S o I to ok it down and put it away in the shed '.' Design and Construction The design for Seager's wind generator was based o n the common anemometer. Four, 18-inch diameter fiber- g lass cups, each three-sixteenths of an inch thick, were used to catch the wind. WIND GENERATOR WITH BATTERIES 99 Seager bolted the unit atop a wood, two-by-two pole behind the cabin on his 32-foot-long commercial fishing b o at. The generator was seve n feet above the water line. The vertical shaft wa s driven by the cups. The shaft turned a 12-volt DC a lternator (sa lvaged from a Cadillac) with a pulley and V-bel t. Elec t ricity from the alternator was stored in a deep-cycle, 12-vo lt marine battery. The power was used for lights, radios and other equipment. Performance The system worked well at low wind speeds. But it tended to spin o ut of control in high g usts. Also, the generator produce d to o much vibra tion, which was not good for gill net fi shing. Seager tried usi ng a tens ion bar as a brake du r in g hi gh winds, but thi s did not work. Seager recommends using the normal hori zo ntal wind generator with wooden blades. Unfortunately, he says a wind generato r with cups does n ot function properl y in areas prone to periods of force- ful wind. "I would say it worked qu ite well around 30 mph ~ Seager said. "But ther e was just no way of shu tting it down at higher speeds. The idea is super, but not on a small fishing boat'.' Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Re cipient Jo n W. Seager General Delive ry Platinum, Al aska 99651 5200 200 l Wind power practical in remote locati on "Whew, it's up a nd working:' Richard Logghe is attempting to harness some o f the power in those strong gusty Southeastern Alaskan winds to ge nera te all the electricity he needs at his remote h o mestea d. 'The wind ge nerator is an in tegral part of our tota l pl a n, which incl udes buildings bu ilt fr om sa lvaged beach logs, an ice house for refrigerati on, wood heat , a n attached solar g reenho use and a co mposting toilet:' says Lo gg he . Logghe, a ca rpenter and an electrician, lives with hi s family in isolated Kasaan Bay, o n P rince of Wales Island . He says it's a lot cheaper to produce power with wi nd than rely on expensive diesel and kerosene . "A wind energy co nversio n system is the best way to meet ou r lighting and power needs without consuming foss il fue ls and having a destructive impact on the envi ro nm ent;' he sai d . "A wind system also is ea s ier to main tai n and w ill la st longer than a gas or diesel system. Wind power is practical, ecologically sound and relatively inexpensive'.' Syste m Design Lo gghe p la n ned to put a 24-vo lt direct current, Aeropower-brand wind ge n erator atop an 80-foo t-hig h galvanized steel tower. The output of t he wind ge nerator w ill b e fed to four, six-vo lt 500 amp/hour storage b atteri es. The wind ge nerator is actually a self exciti ng a lternator, much like those used in auto- mobil es, but with all the internal components water- p roofed to ensure trouble-free operation for long peri ods of time. The three-phase output from the a lternator is rectified for smooth input to the batteries. The average monthly w ind speeds, which range between 9 .3 and 4 .7 miles per hour, are sufficient to generate electricity. Logghe says he expects to generate between 250 and 400 kilowatt hours of electrical power monthly. The power will be stored in the storage batteries a nd used fo r both the house and workshop. A H o nda- brand E0-1000 charging unit and a Sentry 2.5 ki lowat t, 120 volt alternating current generator will supplem ent and back-up the wind ge nerator. Construction and Problems ''We easil y put the first 20 feet of the tower up;· Logghe sa id . "B ut we decided t h at it would be unsafe and very difficult to bui ld the remaining 60 feet in place. We 'll have a helicopter pick it up and lift it into place:· he noted in one of his progress reports. As of mid-1984, Logghe had experienced several delays. These range from a fire that destroyed his cabin-which he spent a year rebuilding-..:to back problems and unexpected difficulties in obtaining the right batteries and bolts. As if Logghe didn't have enough p roblem s, when he s tarted asking questions about hi s new wind generator, he was to ld that Aeropower was no longer in business. Other owners of the same system also informed him that t he engineering seemed poor, especially with t he gover- 101 nor-blade system; the epoxy coating on the blades was a lso said to be less than adequate . The blades, t hey said , will need recoating and therefore rebalancing. However, his biggest p r oblem was trying to ge t a helicopter to lift the rema ining 60 feet of tower. W he n Logghe called Temsco for a helicopter, he found that t he one he p lanned to use was out o n contract and wouldn't be back for fou r months; the only other one avail able would cost twice as much to rent . "We gulped and choked a little;· said Joni Zimmerman, w ho also was close to the project. 'Then Rich (Logghe ) talked to Ken Eichner, owner of Tem sco, and he said they'd try to work something o ut when they already had a helicopter in our area :· she said . This would cut the cost considerably. Knowing that a helicopter would be coming at some time in the future, but not knowing when can be discon- certing for some people. For Lo gghe, it meant that the tower would have to be built on a level spot on the beach a bove the tide line. In Southeast Alaska, this is quite a chore in itself . Fr iends from Ketchikan a nd Holli s, a litt le community across the b ay, were supposed to help put the tower toge ther, b u t ne ither could make it , so Logghe, Zimmer- man, a nd th e rest of the fa m ily we n t to work o n their own . "I t was kind of interest in g to see the tower on the beach ;' says Zimmerman, and "o ur little kids tightening the bolts:' The tower went together with only a fe w small pro blems. Some of the leg braces required a little jogging before they fit in to place, but within a short time the tower was ready for the helicopter. Ei chner to ld Logghe when he left that he would contact him just before the heli copter arrived. Unfortunately, the nois y, gas-powered washing machine was running when the radio call was attempted. "I was out hangi ng up laundry a nd I had even hung some over the tower legs;' said Z immerman, "when I saw a helicopter go ove rhead. A littl e while la te r we were launc hing our skiff to go to Kasaan Vil la ge to pick up our mail, when we saw another sma ll er helicopter com- ing . lt swooped and landed'.' It was Eichner and hi s son Dan , te llin g them that the big one was on its way. T he Eichners prepared the tower, while Logghe a nd Zimmerman panicked . They could see their friends from Hollis, sailing over to help, but still about four miles away. "All of a sudden the big helicopter was here:' Zimmer- man ran to move the kids away from the house windows for safet y and to g rab the camera. By the time she found it and snapped a few pictures, it was over. The tower was up and the helicopter on its way home . As it left , their friends from Hollis arrived. A surveyor friend helped plum b the tower over the July 4th holiday and also he lped mount the generator. It took two long days, using a g in pole with a rope to keep the generator from banging the tower a nd a winch. Luckily, everything went smoothly, and by the end of the week, the generator was in stalled and wired to the control panel. The following day a 20 mph w ind gave them more power than they'd ever hoped for. Performance "We are really p leased wi th the performance of the system so far;' says Logghe, "a lthough it has on ly been running for a week and a half:' The 20 mph winds pro- duced a consistent 20-to-40-amp charging current. A lthough they can't run heavy shop tools and appli- ances at the same time, the system is able to operate a small automatic washer and dryer (both run on 110 volts alternating current), and Logghe has already made several pieces of furniture . "We are thinking of ge tting a small electric hot water heater and a fan for the wood shop;' says Logghe. "There was some doubt on the part of a lot of people when we were planning this project , but the performance of this wind generator system has exceeded our hopes a nd expectations. Our only problem so far is radio inter- ference. We assu me that we can figure out something to correct this': 102 Tips Logghe offers this suggestion to both potential w ind generator owners a nd wind engineers: "It would be nice to h ave some frame of reference in determining what ;excessive v ibration' is. Ours doesn't seem to be vibrating much, but who knows': Conclusion 'The delays were very frustrat in g, but seem to partly be a result of trying to do a project of th is scope in a remote location;' says Logghe. "Anytime w.e want one more tool or piece of hardware~we can't just run to the store. We must wait for our monthly trip to town, wh ich usually takes a minimum of three days. "Liv ing in such a remote location am idst modern society is a true lesson in patience and perseverance;' he said. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of A laska Grant Recipient Richard J. Logghe General Delivery Kasaan, Alaska 99950 $8,930 995 Floating wind generator a partial success Like most commercia l fishing vessels, The Lady Simpson produces her own electrical power. About the o nly time her generators are shut down is when she's tied up in port, when power is supplied from the dock. Ken Simpson, the owner/captain of The Lady Simpson, figured that there might be a better and cheaper way to supply some of that electrical power. Frank Simpson, Ken's brother and a wind power specialist, offered to help design a system that would use wind power to offset some of the vessel's electrical needs. Frank Simpson's project involved selecting a suitable wind charger, constructing and installing a control box and power transfer switch, and building the deep-cycle battery bank. Design and Construction The design called for pl acin g a small , 24-watt, 14 volt di rect current wi nd generator on top of the wheelhouse . The output of the wind generator would be connected to a co ntrol box and transfer switch in the wheelhouse and the outp ut of the transfer switch would either go to the deep-cycle emergency battery bank or t he vessel's ma in battery ba nk. A co ntrol box would monitor the condi- tion of the emergency batteries. Electrical power would either be applied to the emergency batteries, or, if the emergency batteries are fully charged, to the main battery bank. Unfortunately, The Lady Simpson sank in the Bering Sea in November 1981. Ken Simpson soon had a second Lady Simpson on the way a nd Frank's w ind generator system was an integral part of its design. The wind generator, a Model 24-14 Sencenbaugh, is mounted over the wheelhouse atop a short piece of gal- va nized pipe. The rigidly mounted system is p laced near the left edge of the bridge (roof) to ensure th at it d id not interfere with the radar and other communication systems. Frank used galvanized pipe to reduce salt water corro- sio n effects. The wind generator was not given any addi- tional protection because of its aluminum housing. The sh ort, stro ng propeller b lades are a lso of aluminum. The power output cables from the w ind ge nerato r are run through the back of the wheelhouse to a control box mounted on the rear wall . The power transfer switch and battery charge monitoring devices are mounted inside the control box. The battery pack, because of its weight (more than 150 pounds) is mounted on the wheelhouse cabinet. These batteries are able to supply 350 amp hours of power at 12 volts direc t current and consist of two, six-volt, deep- cycle marine batteries connected in series. Performance The "floating wind generator" has proven partiall y suc- cessful. It does provide more than enough power to keep the emergency batteries fully charged and has on occa- sio n been able to charge the main battery system. T he emergency batteries are also away fr om any danger of fire or explosion in the engine room. However, because 103 this is a new boat, some of the original design specifica- tions have had to be modified. The new Lady Simpson is a tender /crab boat and as such requires much more power than t he little wind generator is able to produce. Even when the vessel is in port, a small diesel generator or shore-based power is needed. Ken found that the power available from the deep- cycle batteries was much greater than his main battery bank . This prompted him to improve his main battery bank and also connect the ship's radar and other impor- tant systems to the emergency batteries. Since no provisions were made to monitor fue l flow, it is virtually impossible to accurately determine fuel savings, if any. However, because the wind generato r is used occasionally to supply power to both the emer- gency and main battery banks, it can be assum ed that some fuel savings does occur, h owever marginal. Frank stressed that the main purpose o f the system was to provide a safe, reliable power source for emergency communications at sea and that fuel savings is not a n importa nt part of this project. Conclusions and Problems Overall, the construction and in stallati o n of the system does provide a safe, reliable power source for emergen cy communications; h owever, it did not produce the intere st the developers hoped for. Frank offered a few ideas on thi s subject. He felt that if a method of moni- toring fuel savi n gs was incorporated into the original project, more interest would have been gen erated. Fish- ing in Alaska is a high cost adventure and devices that show no return on investment, even if they mean im- proved emergency communication s, are la rgely ignored. The size of the wind generator may a lso have some- thing to do with the lack of interest. If the wind gen- erator's output were increased to supply more power, reducing the need for shore-based or ship generated (die sel) power, the system's impact on th e fis hing industry mi ght agai n be different . Unfortunately, since this model wind genera tor is no longer manufactured, it is hard to say if a larger uni t would improve interest. Another problem that surfaced after The Lady Simpson put to sea is that the w ind generator tend s to get n oisy during high wind condition s. Ken Simpson is plan- ning on either modifying the original mount with rubber noise insulators, or moving t he wind genera tor to the front of the boat. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee Frank Simpson 2005 East Third Ave. No. A Anchorage, Alaska 99501 $498 498 Wind powered telephone system On the shores of a bay by the same name, Cold Bay is 226 miles southwest of Anchorage. It is the gateway to Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the world's largest eel grass beds, where up to 50,000 lack brant geese (the entire North American population) feed during their annual migrations. Bracketed by volcanoes and on the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, there's not much out here except grass, brown bears, the brants, the sea and the wind. "There's alot of wind out here . It's usually blowing at 20 to 25 miles per hour about 80 percent of the time;' says Frank Simpson, chief engineer for the Interior Telephone Company. And Frank would know, because Cold Bay is also the location of an Interior Telephone Company communication facility. This facility, in addition to serving the community locally, is one of the few links Cold Bay has with the rest of the world. The others are periodic plane flights from Anchorage and periodic visits by the MV Tustumena, an Alaska Marine Highway ferry. A remote location, staging area for tourists visiting the national refuge and the larger 3.5 million-acre Alaska Peninsula Wildlife Refuge, Cold Bay is an ideal location for a totally self-sufficient, wind-powered telephone project, thought Frank Simpson, longtime proponent of this renewable resource. 105 Design Simpson originally chose a five-kilowatt, Australian- made Dunlite windcharger; however, unexpected price increases brought about by the strengthening dollar, forced him to accept a two-kilowatt model, instead. This caused a couple month's delay in the project right from the start. The smaller generator is mounted atop a 60-foot, three-legged , galvanized steel tower. Diagonally criss- crossed steel braces reinforce the tower's legs to with- stand sudden wind gusts of up to 120 knots . A three bladed, 11-foot diameter self-governoring propeller assembly drives the generator. Stainless-steel blades are used to prevent marine and environmental corrosion, and because they are extremely strong. The blades are mounted to an aluminum hub assem- bly that has a special "s hock-absorber" unit to smooth oscillations and a sliding governor. As wind increases, the governor slides on a shaft and "feathers " the blades, slowing down the generator. This action reduces strain on both the generator and the tower. The wind generator is a brushless, three-phase alter- nator with a built-in rectifier assembly. The rectifiers change the alternating current produced by the alter- nator to a direct current usable by the control panel and battery-bank. Battery storage (above) is located in the Cold Bay te lephone facility (/eft). The Dun lite wind generator is sit uated next to the telephone building. The output from the windcharger is fed down the tower and into the telephone central office where it is connected to a control panel. The control panel sends the power to either the 120-volt direct current load, the 350 amp/hour battery bank, or to a six-kilowatt, 120-volt alternating current inverter. The inverter changes the direct current output from the battery bank or wind- charger to 120 volt alternating current used b y the tele- phone equipment. The battery bank has priority over the power from the generator, however, and consumes the entire output from the w indcharger if battery power falls below 96 volt s. Performance Although this project was beset by problems in the very beginning, Simpson believes that the wind generator has worked beyond expectations. All the equipment worked with the exception of the six-kilowatt inverter. A design error caused the device to fail and required a new one to be shipped from the Australian manufacturer which took almost five months. Frank Simpson added a low-voltage monitoring switch to the original design to en sure that the inverter is shut off w hen the battery-bank voltage is low. This protects both the inverter and the telephone e quipment and is a sound engineering practice . 106 The first four days of system operation were highly successful; the windcharger generated at least 23 kilowatts of power over a four-day period and charged the battery bank up to 110 volts. The voltage monitoring switch is adjusted to shut down the inverter if the battery bank voltage drops below 96 volts and to turn the system back on when the battery charge reaches 120 volts. Tips Simpson says it's important to calculate-in advance- the wind speeds and power requirements. Also, s horter (11-foot ) blades are preferable in areas of high winds, while longer, 12-foot blades do well in areas which do not consistently have strong winds. The shorter blades are less prone to stress damage in high-wind situations. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of A laska Grant Recipient Interior Telephone Company Main Office 508 W. Sixth Avenue Anchorage, Alaska 99501 $11,750 11,750 Teacher, students build a wind generator Two hundred miles southwest of Anchorage, on the south shore of Lake Clark is Nondalton, a small village of about 400 residents. Lake Clark is in the center of an area noted for trophy fish and game, as well as incred- ible scenery. Only the drone of the diesel generators and the Native fishing boats break the serenity. It was those noisy diesel generators and the rising cost of the fuel that feeds t hem that first got John Norton, local school teacher, to begin searching for alternative ways to generate power. Although a large powerful wind ge nerator could provide electricity for the entire area, Norton was looking for a system that could be used by si ngle households. Soon after he began talking about his ideas, he found that little knowledge existed in the village concerning wind-powered elec trical generators. Rather than giving up, Norton decided that it would be beneficial to con- struct a small wind generator system with the help of local high school students. It would introduce them to alternative energy systems and, more important to Norton, it would help teach the youths alternative ways to so lve problems . Su ch a project would benefit the com- munity by reducing electrical costs and contributing to the educational program in the village . In 1981 , Norton was granted AT funds for the selec- tion, purchase and installation of a small wind ge nerator system at the Nondalton School. Design and Construction Norton decided that the wind generator system should be similar to one that could run a typical v illage home . This way it would edu cate and demonstrate to the village that wind generated electricity is a viable alternative to petroleum-based power sources. Norton began by researching weather records for the previous 30 years a nd found that the wind averaged between 8.3 and 14 .8 miles per hour. The windiest month was January and the calmest, July. Next, he searched for a wind generator that would operate within these wind averages. A Bergey 1000 48-volt direct current upwind generator was chosen to generate electrical power at a low mini- mum wind speed in the eight-mile-per-hour range; 12- foot diameter blades are also automatically braked when the wind exceeds about 30 miles per hour. This auto- matic braking action is important in an area where regular monitoring is impractical. 107 The wind generator was mounted on top of a 40-foot, self-supporting tower next to the school building. The generator output cables feed down through the tower to a voltage regulator and a battery bank composed of 20 six- volt, deep cycle batteries connected in series and parallel. The series and parallel arrangement of the batteries was planned to ensure a constant voltage under varying loads. The batteries also are connected to an inverter, which can change the 12-volt direct current battery voltage to 120 volts of alternating current. This allows standard household appliances to be used without modification. The relative condition of the system is monitored by a metering system consisting of a microamp meter, a direct current voltage meter, and an alternating current voltage meter. These effectively tell the condition of the batteries, the output of the wind generator, and the output of the power inverter. Performance Unfortunately, before Norton could finish with the project he left Nondalton. Although the wind generator and tower were erected, not much else was done imme- diately. The batteries for the battery-bank were never charged and were stored over the winter in an unheated building. By spring the cases were ruptured and the batteries useless. A strong wind shortly after Norton left also caused problems. The automatic brake mechanism failed, caus- ing ex pensive damage to the internal components of the generator. The blade has since been removed and placed in s torage. As of mid-1984 , the project has been mothballed, although the sch ool district is considering restarting the project. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee $3,660 8 ,540 Lake and Peninsula School District Nondalton High School Nondalton, Alaska 99640 Students learn from wind project About 450 miles due west of Anchorage, where the Eek River meets the Kuskokwim and both meet the Ber- ing Sea, is the small Yupik Eskimo village of Eek, popu- lation 200. The wind blows constantly here, a scant six miles of open tundra from the sea. Even on calm days, the wind averages almost 10 miles per hour and the flat delta offers little terrain to stop it. In remote villages such as Eek, subsistence hunting and fishin g remain as a cultural lifestyle a nd economic necessity. And in many cases, low-cost fuel is a thing of the past. Harnessing wind power is not a new idea for Eek. Between 1930 and 1960, there were three or four wind generators operating. This was before the village power plant operated by the Alaska Village Electric Coopera- tive was installed. The wind generators faded from the Eek skyline soon after the diesels arrived. Eek is in an area of Alaska that offers little oppor- tunities for the younger citizens. Tom Mcintyre and the Lower Kuskokwim School District were determined to change part of that. The Lower Kuskokwim School District is one of 21 Rural Education Attendance Areas (R EAAs) in Alaska. (The Northwest Arctic and Lake and Peninsula School Districts' experiences with their projects also are described in this book.) The REAAs were formed in 1974, to allow local control of education and to even- tually take over rural education responsi bilities from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Increasingly in recent years, these REAA s have recognized the value of voca- /I 108 tiona! education in assisting students in mak:ing a smooth transition to rapid changes in Alaska; Native culture and language programs also are common, as we ll. The district figured that having the vocational students construct and operate a small wind ge nerator would teach practical, new skills with a locally available energ y source. The project also was co n ceived as part of a visible symbol of what can be done when a village cooperates together. The 1980 gra n t project involved selecting the wind generator and support tower, voltage re gulator and battery-bank, back-up generator system, and developing a record keeping system to monitor the results of the project. Throughout the course of development, the education of the students would be kept in the forefront. Design and Construction Shortly after the project began, the village was informed that the old school was being replaced with a new building . It wa s decided to mount the wind gener- ator on the roof of the Traditional Council building instead of the school and to move it when the new school was completed. The w ind generator chosen had to have the following qualities; it had to be able to withstand extreme cold, hi g h winds, a salty environment, and it had to be affordable. A WIN CO 1222 wind generator a nd su pport tower was chosen because it was thought to match the se parameters and was readily available. The output tower cables from the roof-mounted wind system are connected through a voltage re g ulator to two T-16 , six-volt batteries connected in series. The wind gen- The Council building (above left) w here the wind generator is mounted. A v iew of the village of Eek (above right). erator is manufactured so that its propeller blades must be manually braked when the wind velocity is too high (around 30 miles per hour). With the tower a lso designed to keep the generator from turning a full 360 degrees, the system se emed suitable for the type of wind conditions found in Eek. The battery output is connected to a 120-volt a lter- na ting current inverter which changes the 12-volt direct current to the standard 120-volt alternating current used by most modern appliances and televisions. A small , gasoline powered, 120-volt AC 440 watt gen- erator is used to keep the batteries charged during long periods of no wind, or in high wind when the wind gen- erator is shut down. Performance The WIN CO operated without any major problems until the late fall of 1982 , w hen a storm slammed into the coast with 70 mph winds. The wind generator's brake malfunctioned a nd within seconds the propeller blades were splintered. Luckily, the local television s tati on, KYUK-TV in Bethel, had already featured a story about the windmill at Eek and how the proud students had per- formed the major work on the project. The generator s tands idle today because the village lacks the funds to replace the d a maged parts. 109 While it ran, the wind generator lived up to its original design parameters. It operated during the first winter, spring, and summer without a flaw. The second part of the project w as also successfu l. The students were instructed on construction and operating techniques, wind system monitoring, and project management. Conclusions and Problems The only major problem encountered with this project was the failure of the wind generator during the s torm. The other problems were relatively minor and typical of rural areas. Coordinating skilled craftsmen with class room hours was difficult, especially when the craftsmen were due at another project. Over time, however, the system was completed. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee $4 ,500 $4,500 Lower Kuskokwim School District Eek High School Eek , Alaska 99578 0 Windmill pumps hatchery water "The aquaculture industry should set an example of utilizing pollution-free techniques and work toward energy se lf-sufficiency since its we lfare and production depends largely upon clean water. Simple economics makes energy self-sufficiency a necessary reality," says Jack M. VanHyning, aquaculturist and president of Nerka, Inc. a nonprofit private fish hatchery located on remote Perry Island in Prince William Sound. VanHynin g believes that the periodic peaks and dips in sa lmon production can be moderated by farming salmon much like cattle ranchers farm beef in the wes tern states. The same problems are common to both industries' e nergy cos ts and water. One major problem facing salmon hatcheries in gen - eral is the a b ility to supply a constant flow of clean , clear wa ter over eggs and youn g fry. Periodic flushes with seawater also a re necessary. In a remote s ubarctic location w ithout access to a year-round clear stream , supplying this water is ex tremely difficult and expensive. Van Hyning has initiated a method that may reduce both dependence o n petroleum-based fuels and possibly eliminate the need for a year-round fast flowing stream. Hi s a nswer is wind pumps. Phil osophi cally, VanHyning chose wind e n ergy because it 's a renewable resource that can be used to inc rease a ren ewa ble biological resource (salmon ). It a lso helps conserve a non-renewable resource (oil ). In add i- ti o n , wind pumps are easy to install a nd require minimal maintenance and training to operate. Van H yning's 1980 gran t was to research and develop a wind powered water s upply system for the Perry Island sa lmo n hatchery. The p roject invo lved researching avail- able li terature and consulting wind energy experts , studying wind patterns at Perry Island, purchasing a suitable wind pump as a result of the research, field testing the system, a nd publishing the results of the project. Design and Construction The operational requirements for the Perry Island h a tchery would be similar to those of o ther remo te l oca- tions in Prin ce Will ia m Sound. Bo th seawater a nd fres h water would have to be transported from a low water site up to the hatchery. The seawater would be ne eded o n a daily basis for about two hours per day. Fresh water woul d need to be pumped in an "on demand" si tua tion, usually w hen the flow from the fresh water stream dried up or lowered during w inter. The fresh water would have to be delivered at a rate fast enough to compensate for the reduced stream flow. In each case , the need to replace standard petroleum-based energy sources would be necessary to make the h atcher y economical. After consultation and research, Nerka, Inc. decided t hat a sm all Savonious rotor windmill connected to a diaphragm pump would be sufficient for pumping the seawater to the h atchery. A Dempster w indmilL like the ones dotting the American West, would be used to supply fresh water. Each of these pumps were chosen 111 WINDMILL , WATER PUMPING because they promised simplicity, low maintenance, and ease of operation. Seawater is added once per day to the hatchery trays to reduce fungus infestations and, being several degrees warmer than fresh water, to enhance growth and produc- tion. Because the seawater is not needed in large quantities, the simple Savonious windpump was chosen for this purpose. The Savonious windpump was con- structed in Fairbanks from two halves of a 55-gallon drum. Initial tests indicated that it functioned well; how- ever, when it was moved to Perry Island and attached to a diaphragm pump, the results were marginal at best . A piston pump substituted for the diaphragm pump helped a little, b u t only d uring a high tide and high wind combination. The water transfer lines for this pump were flexible one inch pipes, one extending down to the mid-water line on the beach and another to the hatchery trays 10 feet above the pump. Calculations showed that this combination with a submersible diaphragm bilge pump would produce an output of about four gall o ns per minute with a 10 mph wind. A traditional farm-type, multibladed D empster wind- mill would supply the fresh water. This windpump was chosen because of availability of parts, minimal main- tenance, reputation for durability, automatic "furl-out" for high winds, manual braking, docume nted pumping rates and ease of interface with a mechanical pump for windless period s. After attending a seminar at New Mexico State University on installation and operation of this type of system, Van H y ning purchased o ne and m oved it to the hatcher y site. In a ddition to the 10-foot- diameter wind p u mp, a 35-foot tower and six-inch brass we ll pump were ordered. The final location of the Dempster was a compromise. The poor performance of the Savonious and low wind measurements co nvi nced the builders that another location sho uld be us ed. It was decided to move the tower and windmill to pilin gs in the fresh water reservoir near the hatchery. Construction was as easy as "putting up an erec tor se t ;' according to VanHyning . Anemom- eter measurements taken earlier indicated that adequate wind existed in t his new location to pump sufficient water for the hatchery needs. A two-inch pipe carried the water from the windpump to the hatchery. Unfortunately, during shipp ing, the wind vane was los t. Creative cutting of some old scrap me tal rectified this situatio n and by the spring of 1981 the wi ndmill was ready for te sting. Performance The performance of this project was n ot as initially projected . The Savoni ous windpu mp never produced an adequate supply of seawater and was soon abandoned. Even the larger capacity pi ston pump did not help. Sea- water is still supplied by a petroleum-fueled water pump. The larger Dempster w ind pump was also a disap- pointment. It was determined after installation that although the anemometer showed adequate wind speed, it did not show the wind turbulence in the area . The north ridges surroundi ng the hatchery site produced a "wi nd sh adow" that caused t he Dempster to gyrate instead of face the wind as desi red . T he small diameter water transfer pipe was also too restrictive, indicating that a three or four-inch pipe was needed. With all the co n sulta nts and literature used to re search this project in the beginning, a ll rules were b roken when t he actual system was ac tually installed. The wind direc- tion was ne ver monitored. When the Dempster was in- stalled, it was installed according to convenience and necessity in stea d of measured results . The farm windmill ended up in a protected location, a "wind shadow." As VanHyning put it , "the systems worked in the sense that they pumped water, but with the locations chosen, the amount of water would be margi na l for even a mom and pop operation :· For a commercial venture, the project was not over ly success ful. Future p lans are to relocate both the hatchery and wind systems. Wind speed and direction measurements will be used to determine the optimum lo cation for the Dempster . The Savonious is still questionable. Other ideas include purchasing a small windgenerator to power 112 an electric pump. This could be used to deliver seawater to the hatchery location and may prove more econom- ical; however, the need to maintain battery banks makes this a questionable approach. The last aspect of this project, gathering a nd assimilat- ing information for o thers was accomplished success - fully. A detailed project report was made by Nerka, Inc., which in cludes a tremendous amount of background on wind power a nd windpumps. Tips "Place th e windmill in an open area, away from trees and out of she ltered va lle ys," sai d VanHyning. "I cannot stress t his point enough. Although such a reas may n ot be the best location for the hatchery itself, a suitable compromise must be found if you are to use this energy source :' Funding U.S. Department of Energy Grant Recipient Nerka, Inc. Jack M. Van H yning P.O. Box 80165 Fairbanks, A laska 99708 $21 ,805 Windmill parts (top right) are unloaded from a makeshift land- ing craft. (Bo ttom right), the installatio n of a firm tower base. The completed installation (left). I Waterwheel made more efficient Water whee l technology has undergone a n other revolution in th e hands of entrepreneur Robert Nelson. He's designed a water wheel capable o f ge nerating 600 watts of electricity-perhaps twice as much as s im ilar- sized , conventional w he els. That's more than en ough power for his remote lodge on Thayer Lake , about 60 miles sou th wes t of Juneau on Admiralty Island in S o uth- east A laska. "Mos t of the electricity goes for the radio, p ower tools o r for cooking," says Nelson. 'The freezer is operated directly off the wheel." This isn't the first time Ne lso n has bui lt a water wheel. H e built a co nventional water wheel at Thayer Lake in 1947 because it wa s too expensive and too difficult to tran sport gasoline to the lodge. So far, Ne lson's new water wheel has been working we ll since he installed it in 1981. Now he and his wife, Edith , do not h ave to worry about fly ing in expensive gas to their remote lodge. "''ve got most of the bugs out of it ," says Nelson, a retired electrician from Ketchikan who runs the lodge from spring until fa ll. "It works beautifully. A ll I h ave to do is g rease it once in a while :' System Design Conventional water wheels are not very efficient be- cause they ca rry t he water through only about one quar- te r of the turning radius before rele as ing it. By compari son, Ne lson improved the efficiency of the conventional water wheel by adding covers to the trough- like buckets that do not dump th eir load of water until it completes a 180 degree revolution . This means hi s water HYDROELECTRIC OVERSHOf WHEEL 113 wheel is able to add more thrust to the drive sh aft. "In conventional, overs h ot wa ter wheels the water falls onto the top of the wheel and stays there un ti l it gets about a quarter of the way down ;' says Nelson . 'The one I designed h olds the water in until it gets to the bottom of the w heel , doubling the power." Nelson's seven-foot-di ameter water wheel is made of three-sixteenth-inc h thick s heet steel. The wheel has 42 cedar buckets he ld in place by metal slots. Each bucket is 36 inches lon g a nd is fitted along its length with a five-inch-wide wooden cover attached by a s lightly off-center nail. With the force of gravity a nd the weig ht of the water, each bucket cover w ill open and close at the appropriate time. At the b ottom of the wheel, the weight of the water w ill sh ift to the opposite, outer edge of the cover, forcing the cover open a n d d umping the water o u t. At the top of the wheel, cascading water fills the bucket and the w heel begins its downward rotation. The water wi ll force the cover s hu t . The cover doesn't reopen until it swings to the bottom of the w heel's arc. "With our modern te chnology, the steel water w heel is just as easy to construct as a wooden one," said Nelson. "I believe this project could have been built SO or 75 years ago without too many difficulties provided rolled shee t s teel had been available :· Ne lson a lso built a 500-foot-long, polye thylene "pipe- line" to channel water fr om a nearby creek to the water w heel. The fle x ible material wa s laid on wooden braces three feet above the grou nd . The t ube would lay flat w it h out any water passing through it , because it is such a A cedar trestl e (/eft) supports th e w aterwa y. A gea ring and heat ing element (above) give overspeed protection. (Next page), buckets cl ose as th e w heel ro tates. light material. Water cascades onto the water wheel at about 100 cubic feet per minute, turning the wheel at three revolu- tions per minute . This makes a two-phase, 110-volt, 60-cycle generator turn at 450 rpm, producing about 600 watts of electricity. "By using a two-phase AC generator I was able to run a refrigerator of 3 .5 amp capacit y directly off the water- wheel generator," Nelson said. Additional power is stored in a bank of Edi son batteries. Other features Nelson has a dded at his home include a hydraulic ram system that pumps water to a tank located high in a tree . H e also u ses dried muskeg mixed in plaster as insulation on the freezer and hot water storage tank. Water is heated throug h pipes placed across the back of the fireplace. Performance Overall, Nelson has been ve ry pleased with his water wheel, which took only eight months to build and test at his Ketchikan home . Afterwards, he di smantled the hydro project , loaded it into a plane, flew to Thayer Lake and reassembled it. So far, his system has worked well. One problem -flooding of the creek-threatened the project. But Nelson resolved this difficulty by building a small gate that will automatically close off the entrance to his water tube any time the creek floods. This ingen- ious device uses a block of s tyrofoam that floats o n the water. An old broo m stick extends up from the block with a thin r o pe fastened at the top. When the water level rises , the rope is pulled up, causing a wedge to fall out from under a weighted five-gallon bucket that forces the gate closed . He also strung an electric wire along portions of the pipeline to prevent bears from clawing into it. 114 Tips Nelson discovered a number of small details that improve the wheel's performance. Among them is his advice to : • Soak all wood for at least one week before installing it in t he water wheel. • File the heads of any of the nails used for the bucke t covers to get rid of roughness that may h inder their free-swinging motion. • String a thin monofilament line over the· ce nter of the wheel so that the bucket covers gently bounce against the line and ensure the bucket covers close promptly. • In order to convert an AC motor it must be at least seven horsepower so that its rotor is seven inches in diameter. The rotor must be milled to provide fl at spaces to hold permanent magnets. The stator must be rewound with a lightweight enameled wire. • Direct the power produced by the 450 rpm ge nerator through a 110 volt A.C. battery charger to prevent power surges. • Consider designing a mechanism that will automat- ically close when the creek flood s. Such a device w ill reduce the amount of water traversin g the pipe, and prevent flooding of the water w heel. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Ro bert Nelson P.O. Box 5416 Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 $454 929 I Hydro system powers hatchery Eugene Richards b ui lt a hydroelectric system so he wouldn't have to rely on expen sive diesel fuel for his sa lmon hatc her y in Southeast A laska. A favo r ite s top of the cruise sh ip lin es because of its Gold Rush her itage, Skagway is also the gateway to Canada's Yuko n Territor y along the Kl ondike Highway. Across Tai ya Inl et lie s Burro Creek a nd Richards' non- profit hatchery. Access to the s it e is by boat only. No power, water, electricit y or other servi ces are supplied to the remote si te by the city. Richards was committed not only to the hatchery proj- ect to re p lenish local sa lm on s tocks, but to build an e nergy system a nd home o n the site , as well. In a ll , these projects to o k five years to accomplish; the firs t year, the hatchery took top priority. After being awarded the 1980 AT grant he built the p owerho use for the hydro system . The Richards used the structure as a temporary home until their log res idence was completed in 1982. 'The hydr oelectric plant was necessary a t Burro Creek Fa rms to provide inex pensive electrical e nergy fo r the operation of a nonprofit sal mon hatchery," said Richards . Diesel oil, he sa id , was p riced at about $1.09 per ga llon fo r No. 1 fue l and 98 cents per gall on for No. 2 fue l during the spring of 1984. Residential power cost from 17 to 20 cents per kwh depending on consumption. Richards hopes his hydroelectric plant will serve as a model for buildi ng s imi lar p lants t hroughout Alaska. "The project will deve lop a renewable energy sou rce and the hatchery will p rovide more sa lmon fo r co mmer- cial and sport fi shermen," he said. Design and Construction A 1,400-foot-long, 10-inch PVC pipe channels water fr o m a dam on Burro Creek to two pelton w heels mounted side by side. There are two water je ts on each of the two tu rbines. The two turbines drive a 25 kw generator. The turbine units are commercially made by Pe l te ch . The 25-ki lowatt, three-phase 220-volt Lima-brand brushl ess alternator produces electri city for refrigerator co mpressors used to process fish. The pipeline, which has a 125 psi rating, was laid in sections. Richards uses quarter-inch aircraft cable and cable clips to secure the pipe to expansion bolts, w hich are anchored in bedrock or large boulders. At the anchor po in ts, the pipeline is wrapped in build- ing pa per, a lumin u m flashing, and used firehose to se cure and protect the pipe from chafing. Downhill ties a re used o n s lopes at 200-to-300-foo t intervals to prevent the pipeline fr om "c rawling" down the hill. Where the pipe changed grade, supporting posts were fabricated from six-by-eig ht-inch treated wood at 10-foot intervals s o that the pipe re sts on saddles formed by two- by-1 0-inch braces. Special co n cre te a n chor s were in s tall ed for the last 80 feet of the pipel ine to p revent t he pipe fro m excessive 11 5 HYDROELECTRIC, PELTON movemen t and strain where it approaches the power- h o use. A t the inlet above the dam , a woo d filter box and sc reen also were install ed to prevent debris larger t h an a half-i nc h in w idth en tering the pip el ine a nd possibly plugging the nozzles at the pel ton w heels. P roblems Overall the system h as worked well si nce it s install a - tion, providing t he Richards with round-the-clock electricity. Low winter temperatures, however, caused free zi ng and icing on th e fi l ter box, along sections of the pipe and in the metal discharge pipes. And despite good perform- a nce , the governor disen gaged from the pel ton wheel, causing a bearing b urn-out a nd scored shaft. Freezing temperatures made it difficult to maintain adequate wa ter fl ow. Ric hards says he p la n s to inc rease the height of hi s dam o n Burro Creek to boost the depth of its water. An atmospheric vent a ls o was install ed at the top of the pipeline to d ecrease the possibility of dead water freezi ng. And he pl ans to put a man ifo ld in the lower end of the pipe for clean-ou t and to keep the jets and the main throttle valve free. Tips • Make cer tain t he system can shut down easi ly and will drain automati cally. The atmospheric vent at the top of the pipeline is critica l to p revent blow- outs and p ipe coll apse when drain in g t he p ip eli ne. • Install requ ired valves near heated areas wherever possib le to keep them from freezing. • Avoid bending PVC p ip e, especially in the lower sec tion s wh ere pressure is greatest. • Make s ure the pipeline is anchored well . • Use an open ditch or a wood flume to c h annel water from the pelton wh eel si nce metal pipes tend to freeze during winter. • PVC pipe s h ould not be exposed to direct sunlight after in stallation. It s hould be pa in ted wi th a water-base synthetic la tex paint or wrapped with ta pe when install ed in s unlig ht. Funding U.S. Depart ment of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Eugene Rjchards Burro Creek Farms, Inc. Box 455 S ka gway, Alaska 99840 $5,675 5,675 .. ' 1 -I Micro-hydro project generates interest Noted for eagles and rugged mountain peaks, at the head of the Lynn Canal sits Haines, one of the historic embarkation points for trails leading to the interior gold- fie lds and last stop for most tour ists traveling the Alaska Marine Highway. From here, it's up the C hil kat River Va ll ey, over the backbone of the Saint Elias Mountains to Haines Junction and the Alaska Highway, 'passing many small picturesque streams along the way. To the tourists, these streams make beautiful snap- shots for the folks back home. To Roy Lawrence, these same streams make excellent locations for micro-hydro- electric projects. In an area of high electrical bills, limited solar and wind power potential, hydro power and steam generators are about the only a lternatives. Lawrence chose hydro power because in addition to long life and low maintenance costs, "there are no emissions from hydro units and even the sound is at a minimum:' Lawrence had visions of a small hydroelectric system when he first bought hi s 43-acre farm in the early 1970s. Electricity was expensive then and after the oil crisis, it became a lmost out of reach for many of the 1, 700 resi- dents in the Haines area. Lawrence figured that if he could successfu ll y demo n strate the benefits of hydroelec- tric power, he could generate en ough interest to develop and market his own energy systems. "Thi s will not be something just on paper or in a book, but a real live entity actually producing power and not theorizing about it:' he said. With this project, Lawrence would have a running demonstration unit, plus practical experi- ence. If hi s vision were proven true, he would also have a successfu l business somet ime in the future. In April1981, Lawrence received a grant to build a micro-hydroelectric power generation system on his property at mile 37 of the Haines Highway. The project involved building an impoundment dam, water transfer system, power generation system, and transmission line. Design and Construction Lawrence decided that his dem onstration unit should be large enough to supply the power need s of a small h ouse, yet within the economics of area citizens. He chose a small1.5 kilowatt, 120 volt, 60 Hertz, alternating current generator from Hydro-Watt of Oregon. This generator uses a Pelton-type turbine to turn it. The solid s tate controls keep voltage level and frequency within three per cent of its rated value. Automatic load control and other safety features were also incorporated into the design. For instance, a special safety solenoid is pro- vided for complete system shut-down in case something were to go wrong. The sole noid must a lso be manually reset, ensuring that the problem must be corrected before the system can be restarted . The impoundment dam is located about 310 feet above the power unit. Four-inch PVC pipe transports water from an impound box located behind the small dam. The earth /rock fille d dam has a two-inch-thick wooden reta inin g wall backed by a 28-gauge galvanized metal "I.:' shaped seal. Additional bracing is provided by galvanized pipe pounded in to the ground in front of the dam. Galvanized cab le from these pipes to deadman 117 beams imbedded in the pond's floor behind the dam provide additional safety. A movable 18-by-six-inch spillway keeps leaves and other float ing debris from clogging the screened open ing in th e water impound b ox. T he four-inch, schedule 40 PVC water transfer pipe is fi t ted to the bot tom of t he impound box, below the theoretica l seasonal low water limit. T he spillway is designed to allow periodic removal for cleaning and maintenance . The water transfer pipe carries the water to the power unit located about 130 feet below the dam. Located in a six foot-by-six foot uninsulated building, the pipe can deliver water at about 56 to 60 pounds per square inch pressure at a l most 100 gallons per minute, more than enough to produce 1,300 watts under fu ll load. Freeze pr otection for the generator is provided by an insulated 30-by-16-inch enclosure made of two-inch- thick polystyrene bead board. Only the turbine and generator are insulated during the winter. As long as water is flowing in the s tream, freeze protection is not needed for the water transfer pipe. When the system is shu t down, the impound pond is simply drained along w ith the water p ipe. Power from the generator is transported to the house through approximately 650 feet of 110 size cable. Lawrence originally planned to use tripods made from 12-foot-long four-by-fours to support the cable, but during brushing the transmission line path, it was found that enough tall, straight trees existed to forgo the tripods. Performance The small 1.5-kilowatt generator has successfully pro- vided enough electricity to run both house lights, a small refrigerator and a chest-type freezer. Heavy usage items such as shop tools or electric heaters obviously require a larger system . Even during the late summer, when the water level is at its lowest, the generator has been able to produce power. If it had not b een for a small leak in the face of the dam and one extremely dry summer, Lawrence's hydro proj- ect could h ave supplied a full1 ,300 watts at all times of its operation. As it was, the leak combined with the low streambed water level dropped head pressure to about 35 to 40 pounds per square inch. The generator's output also dropped to about 100 watts at 110 volts. During this time, a small diesel generator supplied household power. The small size of the generator required continual energy conservation. A volt meter was plugged into a wall socket to monitor line voltage. Any sudden unex- plained drop usually meant that the screen on the water impound box was clogged. This did not happen often and periodic monthly cleaning usually prevented this problem. Although the system was fairly easy to install, Lawrence recommends using a more flexible water transfer pipe. The ri gid PVC required special bends to be made at an added cost. The original design also has the pipe p laced a couple of feet off the ground. Burying a flexib le pipe would reduce both freeze damage a n d the chance of a fa lling tree destroying the water transfer system. Problems and Conclusions Lawrence has experienced very few p roblems with this project. This can b e attributed directly to the exce ll en t planning he did in the beginning stages. The solid state controls and si mplici ty of the system eliminated many problems experienced by other micro -hydroelectric developers. Although some time was lost due to personal illness at the start of the project and the fact that the ge n erator ran backwards at first, Lawrence was able to overco me these delays and finish the project. The small leak in the dam was repaired during a routine scheduled maintenance period . 118 Lawrence has been in terviewed by KH NS, a local radio station, an d there seems to be a lot of local interest in his system. Since this was one of the project's original intentions, it can be considered a complete success. Whether Lawrence can develop a market for his idea depends o n his continued enthusiasm for this renewable, non-polluting power generating system . Since his total energy costs for 1983 were only $68, there is no reason to believe his enthusiasm will wane. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Roy La wrence Mile 37 Haines Highway Box 644 Haines, Alaska 99827 $3 ,370 7,862 \ I \ , Willie Nelson regulates power output Energy independence is a dream m a n y Alaskans h ave, including Chester Johnson. When h e first homesteaded at Mi le 49 of the Richardson hi ghway in 1968, he would of ten look at the water fall behind his house a nd wonder how he could tap it s energy. In 1969 , he fou nd his answer. While on a trip to Chitina, he found an old Francis turbine in t he ci t y dump. Although it had lain there for some yea rs , the hydro turbine w heel was still in workable shape. Later that same year, Johnson recovered an o ld 2.2 k il owatt generator from a burned-out build- ing. Now all he needed was something for t he penstock. The Valdez city d ump su p plied that. He sa lvaged the a lu minum pipe that served as Valdez's emergency water main after the 1964 earthquake. Using a lot of creativi ty, sweat, and a few new words, Chester Johnso n soon made himsel f a makeshift micro- hydroelectric p ower pl ant , usi ng the e nergy of his back- ya rd waterfall a nd all t hat "junk" he found. After initial adj ustmen ts, the c r ude system put out one kilowatt of energy, en ough fo r his small house. Un fo rtu nate ly, he had to "re gulate" hi s sys tem manually. A volt meter was plu gged into o n e of the house sockets. When the meter indicated that to o much power was available, Johnson simply switched o n another li ght. He kept sw itchi ng on li ghts until either the meter indicated the proper voltage and power values, or until "Willie (Ne lson ) so und ed right on the phonogra ph :' If his phonograph played a little slow, Jo hnson s imply turned off lights un til power in creased . This s impl e "load control" worked for almost 10 years and would h ave worked much longer, except Johnson had bigger plans for his waterfall. 119 In 1979, he received a grant to upgrade his small one- kilowatt ge nerator to a five-kilowatt system. His new system was to include automatic load co ntrol a nd would be able to supply his house and two others with power fro m May through October. The project invo lved modi- fy ing the turbine/generator, instailing a new water gate and new p enstock, a nd la ying transm issio n lines to his neighbors' homes. Design and Construction The upgraded system would essentially follow the same design a s his older system with a few enhance- ments, unfortunately, load control wouldn't be one of them. No one could remember h ow the old turbine was governed. Johnson decided to continue his meter mo nitoring until a load co ntrol cou ld be d es igned. By midsummer, work began on the penstock. Johnson and several friend s ha nd carried 30 foo t sections of the new fo ur-inch aluminum pipe up the steep cliff and strung them along the side of t he waterfal l. Although each section only weighed 20 pounds, t he stee p, heavily timbered moun tai nside and thick underbrus h made it see m doubly h ard. The most difficult part of the whole pro ject wa s w in ching a h uge cast iron, 10-inch gate va lve up th e mountain . T h is valve wo uld be used to shut off the water during the win ter months. The half-ton va lve, mounted on a skid, had to be slowly lifted up the cliff with a 12-volt (direct current) winch. A portable gasoline p owered generator was also moved up the m o untain. The generator was used to recharge the large "CAT' batteries p o wering the w in ch. Moving the gate was a long slow proces s, taking two co mplete summers to fini sh . The Chester Johnson (above left) brings new life to abandoned equipment. Johnson's open air hydroelectric system (above right). final resting place for the gate valve was about 1 ,000 feet from the turbine u p a 45 d eg ree grade. The w ater delivery pipe is reduced to a one-inch nozzle at the turbine. Problems and Con clusions Ver y few problems were encountered d u ring system constructi on. A few sections of p enstock had to be replaced w hen an early freez e broke two sectio ns . There was also a continuing problem of birch leave s clogg in g the inlet screen of the penstock. Load control was a continuing problem with both t he o lder system and the new five-kilowatt model. Johnson is still awaiting assistance here. An experimental m ag- netized a luminum disk "Eddy Current Brake" will b e attempted at a later date, but it is unsure if this device will really work. Water beats wind for reliability There's a history of pioneers relying on water wheels to generate power in Southeastern A laska . And Ken Cassell is adding to that heritage in a modern way. Cassell is buildi ng a hydroelec tric sys te m on two creeks that tumble by his home in Juneau. Students from the Juneau-Douglas High School are assisting him. 'Water is more reliable than wind power and you can get more power out of it;' says Cassell , a h igh school teacher who studied the p roject's Pelton wheel tech- nology during graduate school. ''I'm interested in mechanics and how you can corner the water's power'.' T he project has been an invaluable educat ional tool. High school students in such classes as surveying, physics, drafting, photography and metal s h op have worked on various stages of the project. The physics students also will continue to monitor the system's efficiency after it begins producing electricity in the fall of 1984 . Power from the sys tem will be sold for up to 9Q: per kwh to the Juneau electric utility. He expects his system will ge nerate 10 kwh. Casse ll, who's enterin g his fourth and fin a l year on the project, is optimi stic about finishing it shortly. "''m in t he final stages;' says Cassell, who also owns his own business and is in the U.S . Navy Reserves . "I worked with students a nd I built everything from scratch . Even the switch panel. It's been a good learning experience'.' And he sees no reason why the system will not perform well. 120 A ll -in-all , Johnson s ucceeded in d eveloping a micro- hydroele ctric system from m ostly sa lvaged parts that cou ld s upply enough power to run three household s. An automatic load co ntrol in the future woul d enhance this system a little more, but "as long as Willie sounds right;' power is under control. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $6,280 Grantee Chester Jo hnson Mile 49 Richardson Hi ghway Valdez, Alaska 99686 System Design Water from the two streams is piped in two pipelines down a steep hillside to a powerhouse with two six-inch Pel tech turbines and t wo GE induction generators . The r ushing water turns the Pe ltech turbines, producin g e lectricity. Ke n measured his two streams every other day for a year, except during the winter when h e measured them just once a week. To measure the smaller stream, he used a five-gallon bucket with a stop watch to measure the flow. Because of the size of the larger stream, he had to use the weir method. Eve n with the wei r, he was not satisfied with the results, so he went to the U.S. Weather Bureau and obtained monthly rainfa ll data for the prev ious seve n years. Then, he calculated a theoretical average month and watched the Weather Bureau data for t he month that was closest to the theore tica l average. He measured the larger s tream dur ing th at month to deter- mine the turbine size he would need for his system. The water is initially held in concrete catch basins which were placed in each s tream. The basins are designed to release water into pipes leading downhill to the powerhouse when there is enough water to operate the turbines. By the summer of 1982 all the materials needed for the powerhouse, penstock, and access stairs were on site and ready for construction. It took the rest of the summer, three athletic high sc h ool helpers, and an excavator brought in on a Navy-type landing craft to complete this 121 Ken Cassell (t op) stands beside his powerhouse at the tidel ine. Installing (middle right) the hydroelectric unit. A concrete form (bottom right) works as a catch basin. (Left), Cassell inspects his control panel. stage of the project. The project could have been done in less time had Cassell not had to drag everything either down the steep bluff, or up the beach. Building the catch basins was a major problem. The steep angle of the hillside made climbing difficult and climbing with equipment and materials virtually impos- sible. It was decided to use the services of a helicopter and cement pumper for these structures. The catch basin for the smaller stream, which was closer to Thane Road, used a six-sack mix of cement delivered by a cement truck and pumped 120 feet uphill to the basin's location. Fourteen inch deep holes had previously been drilled a foot apart into the bedrock, to pin the structure to the rock face. The catch basin for the larger stream is located in a high and remote site. A generator was packed up the mountain for power during the form-making and drill- ing process. Four yards of concrete were finally poured into the forms in October using a helicopter. The penstocks are two plastic PVC pipelines, each rated at 200 pounds per square inch pressure. The pipe, manufactured by Johns-Manville Company, comes in 20-foot lengths with bell and socket joints that do not require cementing. The socket has a rubber gasket which must be clean during installation to prevent leaking. One pipe is four inches in diameter and is 1,300 feet long. It drops 437 feet in elevation to provide 200 pounds per square-inch pressure at the turbine. The stream flow is 13 cubic feet per second (cfs). Similarly, a second, parallel pipe extends 800 feet, dropping 200 feet in elevation. This pipe has a four-inch diameter which narrows to 2.5-inches. Stream flow is 3.5 cfs. Both lines are buried to protect them from bears and falling trees. However, the pipes are above ground where they extend down a bluff to the powerhouse. The pipe is supported every 10 feet and held off the bluff face by cables anchored by rockbolts. The cable is fastened to clamps at the pipe fitting joints. Each pipe channels the tumbling water to nozzles which spray onto each of the six-inch-diameter Peltech turbines. The turbines turn fast enough to achieve 1,800 rpm. In the winter, when water flow is low, there is a mani- fold between the two turbines so that the small generator can be switched to the highest head stream for greatest efficiency. The brass Pelton wheels for the turbines were made by Bill Ketchings in Kent, Washington. Rough castings were shipped to Juneau where the high school machine shop students ground off the burrs and polished the buckets. Using electrical controls designed in the U.S. and manufactured in Denmark, the power plant monitors over/under voltage and frequency conditions, over current, reverse or out-of-phase power, and low water level in the catch basins. The controls are plugged into tube sockets on a control strip and activate water deflec- tors in the turbines when a problem is detected. These 122 water deflectors rotate 90 degrees into the spray from the water jets, shutting down the turbines. When this happens, the control valve in the catch basin is closed and the penstock pipe is allowed to drain. To restart the seven-kilowatt generator, this problem has to be rectified and the generator restarted manually; with the smaller generator, restarting is automatic. This system uses two induction generators, one rated at 7.5 kilowatts and the other at 5 kilowatts. An induction generator is used for safety reason~. These power plants require an outside signal before they pro- duce any power. Since the object of this power plant is to supply power to the local utility grid, a method of shut- ting down the generators automatically when the power company experiences problems is essential for safety reasons. Whenever the utility company loses power, for whatever reason, the reference signal is also lost and Cassell's hydroelectric power plant also shuts down. Problems Receiving equipment on time was one of the biggest obstacles Cassell had to overcome. "By the time one researches the equipment to find what is best suited, finds the vendors, orders and waits for shipped merchandise~one year is gone:' Cassell says. "The items needed to build a hydro generation system are industrial equipment and are not found in mail-order catalogs': The project also has taken more time than he antici- pated. He suggests ordering pre-assembled units when- ever possible. 'This was partly due to the fact that the whole project was put together in bits and pieces, each little item was ordered separately~ Cassell says. Tips After spending four years on the project, Cassell has several suggestions to make: • Plan ahead. Obtain as much information as possible about stream flows, elevations, and where to place the power house, catch basins and pipeline. • Set aside at least a year's time to find, order and obtain necessary equipment. • Make sure gaskets in the pipelines are clean to prevent leaks from developing. • Use bell and socket joints that do not require cementing for the pipeline. In rainy climates, like Juneau, it is hard to keep the fittings clean, or obtain a good seal with glue. Also, if glue forms a ridge inside the pipe, the resultant turbulence could cause cracking. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Ken Cassell 5680 Thane Road Juneau, Alaska 99801 $ 4,850 25,080 " ... care involved when you become your own power crew'' When Louis Butera first saw the sparkling creek tumbling through the woods, he knew that's where he wanted to build his hydroelectric dam . · So he bought a creek-side lot and built a home and a hydroelectric system in Eagle River, about 16 miles north of Anchorage. "I got interested in hydro first," says Butera. "And, then I went out and looked for a creek property. And I found this particular place:' The project is a success, generating between 1,000 and 3,000 watts year-round, despite sub-zero temperatures . Butera uses the power to operate his refrigerator and heat his 1 ,600-square-foot home. He says it's saving him $15 a month on his electric bill. "It's working great," says Butera , a civil engineer and consultant who owns Alaska Hydro Systems. "I haven't had any serious problems. "''ve als o installed other similar hydroelectric systems for homeowners in the Ea gle River area;' he says . "They like them . But there is a lot of care involved when you become yourcown power crew:' System Design Butera built a two-foot-high dam using two-by-six lumber across the five-foot-wide creek . The boards of the dam can be easily removed to lower the water level for cleaning the screened intake . Water diverted by the dam flows through the screen into a six-inch-diameter, 408-foot-long, polyethylene tube . The 40-foot sections of the polyethylene pipe were joined together with bolted clamps that secure rubber gaskets on the ends of the pipe . The pipe lays ex posed directly on the ground . The pipe, anchored with pilings, channels the water to a Pelton wheel turbine . A gate valve at the dam allows the water flowing to the turbine to be shut off . The Pelton turbine is housed in an eight-foot- by-12-foot wood shed. The shed has wood siding to match Butera's house. Butera redesigned the Pelton wheel and built a new housing for it that's six inches wider and two feet longer than the original. He also made it r o und instead of square. 'The advantage is less resistance to water flow, and less splashback inside the Pelton wheelhousing;' he says. The creek water is funnelled through two nozzles so that it hits the Pelton wheel at 35 pounds per square inch . The Pelton wheel spins, turning a belt system which is connected to a five-kilowatt alternator. The system generates a 120 volt , 60 cycle current . An electronic governor regulates the electrical current by keeping the turbine spinning at 1,800 rpms. Water flows out of the turbine into a 55-gallon drum, and then back to the creek via a six-inch PVC pipe. 123 Performance Butera says he's pleased with the hydroelectric system. It works well , performing better than his expectations. Its simple design makes it easy to build and cost- effective . But like any new system he 's had to spend some time fine-tuning it. A defective governor had to be replaced , and a back-up governor was added to shut the turbine down if the voltage exceeded 140 volts. A few other tie-ups occurred. The creek's water flow has occasionally dropped too low to run the turbine. Trees also have toppled on top of his pipeline, but he says the polyethylene pipe was not damaged. He's also had to contend with a bearing failure in his turbine two years after he installed the system. Each year a critical time is just before freeze-up . The stream temperature will drop below 32 degrees. When the stream forms an ice layer on top, the water tem- perature rises a couple degrees. So far this critical period has not caused a freeze-up problem in the intake, pipe- line or turbine, but the possibility exists . "But the turbine has per formed as expected;' Butera says. Tips Butera has several suggestions to make regarding his system , including : • Order equipment early as it can take three to six months to receive items such as the turbine and governor. • U se polyethy lene pipe . It 's ex pensive , but durable and fle xible. • The powerhouse should be well built and have a south-facing window for solar heat. The floor should be made of marine plywood . • Place the screen so that the creek's flow will help keep debris from building up on it. • Make sure all wire connections are secure. A loose wire could damage the governor, alternator, or gen- erator. Split bolts should be used for all connections. • Allow some slack when routing any wires between trees to allow for tree swaying. • Use flange fitting for all hydro installations to prevent leaks at the joints. Silicone seal makes a good gasket. Funding U.S . Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Louis A. Butera SR Box 1667-ER Eagle River, Alaska 99577 $4,251 2,811 124 Louis Butera (top left) rests beside the darn in let of his micro- hydroelectric project. The water pipeline (top righ t ) snakes its way through the woods. The Pelton system (left) shown inside the powerhouse. (Above). Butera cleans debris from the screen intake. Hydro success requires careful planning "After living for three years without electrical power, we are very excited and happy to have electricity any- time we need it. The inside of our house is now bright with both flourescent and incandescent li ghts; modern appliances grace the kitchen counter tops; and a stereo plays softly in the background. Best of all, t[-10se long trips to Ketchikan for fuel and propane are now few and far between-meaning boat fuel also lasts a lot longer'.' All-in-all, the Cohrs, James and Maureen, are happy with their new micro hydroelectric power plant. When the Cohrs first moved to Saltery Cove , a small sheltered harbor on the eastern side of Prince of Wales Island, everything was run by propane or gasoline engines. This included the clothes washer and dryer, refrigerator, and even house lights. However, during the 1930's, the Straits Packing Company operated a small cannery in the cove and made electricity from a small stream near the Cohrs residence. The remains of the dam and parts of the wooden penstock can still be seen along the creek. James Cohr figured that if electricity could be produced then , it could be produced now, especially using modern, high output generators . In 1980, James and Maureen Cohr applied for a water use permit from the U.S. Forest Service. Soon after, they were awarded grants from the AT program to build a microhydroelectric (less than 10 kilowatts) plant on a stream known as Saltery Cove Right. Their project involved building a new dam on the stream, installing a penstock from the dam to a new powerhouse where the turbine and ge nerator would be, and laying underground transmission line from the powerhouse to the family dwelling and shop areas. 125 Design and Construction The Cohrs planned to dam the small stream and transport water through an eight-inch penstock about 500 feet, with a 50 foot head, to a Pelton wheel impulse turbine . The turbine's output belt drives a 10-kilowatt, brushless generator. The pulley ratio for the belt drive would be adjusted after installation so that the generator shaft turns at a constant 1800 rpm (revolutions per minute). The generator's output would be 120 Volts AC (alternating current) at 60 cycles per second. Although the generator could produce up to 10 kilowatts, stream flow calculations indicated an actual output potential in the neighborhood of two to three kilowatts. The dam was made from a large beach-logged cedar that was cut to size and dragged up to the dam site. The wood and rock filled dam, built upstream from the Straits Packing Company site, was calculated to hold back almost 500,000 cubic feet of water. A gate valve and the inlet for the penstock were placed an additional40 feet upstream. The gate valve is surrounded by a wood and galvanized screen "trash bin': Cohr also installed a short catwalk to the trash bin and valve for periodic inspection and cleaning. The rigid trestle-mounte~ penstock hugs the right stream bank. A small slide area had to be blasted clear and a protective covering made duri ng this installation. The penstock enters the powerhouse through a metal reduction tube narrowing its diameter from eight inches to about four inches. The four-inch pipe then splits into two flexible 1% -inch pipes feeding the Pelton wheel jets. Two jets are used presently, a 1-3 /8 and a 9116-inch (inner diameter) jet. The turbine housing has facilities for The old dam (a bove left) which produced electricity in the 1930's . (Above right), Jim and Maureen Gohr arriving home at Saltery Cove. II additional jets if needed later. The output of the turbine is connected through a belt drive to a Lima-brand 10-kilowatt generator. The Lima was chosen because the Gohrs believed that it is virtually maintenance-free and extremely durable. Both the tur- bine and the generator are mounted on a hand-poured concrete slab within the powerhouse structure. The output of the generator is transported about 400 feet through 2/0 size underground cable to the house and shop. System control is through water deflectors and a full load governor. The full load governor is used to evenly distribute the load between a heat sink (electric base- board heater) and other demands, such as the electric stove or refrigerator. As the electric devices demand power, the load is removed from the heat sink. This works well because the Gohrs ensure that no appliance uses over 1,000 watts and the available power is con- stantly monitored. A volt meter is mounted with the full load governor in the house for this purpose. Over/under voltage conditions are also regulated within a range of 110 to 140 volts. Whenever an over/under voltage condition is encountered, a water deflector solenoid is activated, dropping deflectors in front of the water jets, shutting down the system. The loss of power then causes a shunt trip circuit breaker to disconnect power from the transmission line. Performance 'The system appears to be fail safe;' said Gohr. Although they are somewhat disappointed that the generator produces less than half the calculated out- put (1,300 watts), it produces enough for their needs. A third jet may be added later to bring power output to 1.5 kilowatts. During initial shakedown, a few small water leaks were encountered, but they were minor and easily cor- rected. Gohr was very methodical in his shakedown. First, he checked the penstock for leaks and, then ran the turbine for one week to seat the bearings and ensure everything was in order. Finally, the alternator was 126 installed on an adjustable frame, the pulleys and belt installed and the alternator run for a week, with all power going into the heat sink. The result is a very stable microhydroelectric power plant that is getting a lot of interest from others in the area. Problems and Conclusions Other than the small water leaks encountered during system shakedown, the Gohrs have had no problems with their power plant. This can be attributed to thor- ough planning in the beginning phases, selection of a good hydro-engineer, and not taking shortcuts after con- struction began. Although the lower output was dissap- pointing at first, it did provide enough power for their needs, in addition to a little extra so that their neighbors could charge batteries or run small power tools. Other land owners have also begun to show interest in hydropower. One has already obtained a 12-inch Pelton turbine and is planning to build a water-powered battery charger. The Gohrs have also been asked to consult for other similar hydro projects in the area. Tips "Check and recheck your available water system and install a system compatible to the available water~ says Gohr. Also, great care must be taken at the dam so that small face leaks do not enlarge and cause water losses. But, above all, remember what Francis Soltis, their hydro engineer told them, Gohr said: "When you turn it on, you find out how much power you will have-each system performs differently'.' Don't get frustrated if things don't turn out exactly as planned. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee James and Maureen Gohr Box6077 Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 $5,300 5,300 What a difference a hot bath makes Sixty miles south of Sitka, near the tip of Baranof Island, is Port Armstrong. Once a shore station for the U.S. Whaling Company and later a herring reduction plant, a few residences and a hatchery now nestle among the few remaining signs of the former facilities. The once profitable salmon fisheries are reduced to a . third of the ir former levels and the herring catch is limited to seasons measured in hours . However, today's residents of Port Armstrong are looking beyond the ruins . A commercial10 million- egg chum salmon hatchery is now in operation . This hatchery will bolster the reduced salmon fishery. Other plans include a 20-ton cold storage plant to support a new bottom fishing industry; and a small commercial greenhouse that will supply fresh produce. The only drawback when the initial plans were being made was the lack of electrical power. Commercial diesel units were available, but the residents weren't sure if they wanted a noisy, foul-smelling, fuel-gulping diesel in the midst of their town . During the time that Port Armstrong hosted a herring reduction plant, power was supplied b y ge nerators driven by no less than 11 Pelton wheel generators . Richard Mathews, a veteran commercial fisherman a nd Harvard graduate, figured that what worked once could work again . Next to the small community is a year-round stream draining a small mountain lake . This stream was used to power those generators before, and its 285 foot drop fr om the lake to the sea was more than enough to drive a modern, high-efficiency micro hydro- electric power plant. In order to be sure that hydropower would be a good choice, Mathews compared the price of a 50 kilowatt diesel generator plus one year's supply of fuel with the cost of a complete microhydroelectric power plant. To his surprise, there was not much difference. H ydropower had to be the answer to Port Armstrong's power prob- lem . In addition to being cost effective , it would save over 35 ,000 gallons of fuel oil yearly. In 1980, Mathews obtained an AT grant to build a hydroelectric project in Port Armstrong. The project involved installing a penstock from the headwaters of the small stream outflowing from Jetty Lake, building a power h o use a nd installing the turbine /generator, and installing an underground power grid to the various end users. Dreams of long baths, fresh vegetables, and other comforts soon filled the three-house village. Design and Construction The hydroelectric plant had to be able to supply the needs of the planned commercial hatchery, greenhouse, cold storage unit, and the three local residences, plus a small wood shop/boathouse. The penstock would have to b e more than 1,300 feet long with a 285 foot drop, all over rough terrain . In places the penstock could be secured directly to the bedrock; in other areas, heavy cement weights would have to be used . Because Port Armstrong is a fishing-orie nted community, the gener- 127 ator system would also have to be easy to operate and virtually maintenance free . The unit also would have to operate on a net head after friction loss in the pipe of 230 feet and a net flow of 3.5 cfs (cubic feet per second of water) and generate at least 48 kilowatts. Mathews originally chose a Peltech Model 975 impulse turbine (Pelton wheel-type) connected directly to a Kato #6 P2- 0850 ge nerator. This was changed to a Lima belt driven generator rated at 440 volts, alternating current, and 60 Hertz at 50 kilowatts when driven at 1,200 rpm. A Basler voltage regulator and a control panel completed the system. The control panel includes full metering for voltage, frequency, and amperage, plus an electronic switching panel with 24 contactors for heaters. These form a prioritized constant load system that diverts unused electricity to water heaters located in large tanks . Excess energy heats the water in these tanks instead of being deflected into the tailrace and wasted. The heated water in turn is used to warm the greenhouse, hatchery, and residences. The entire unit is self-contained and skid- mounted making installation relatively easy. The penstock was another s tory. Because of the rough terrain and lack of room for a trestle , a flexible but strong polyethylene pipe was used . The pipe material, trade name "Driscopipe 8600;' is heat fu sed to form one continuous piece with a single flanged joint fused to the penstock where it attached to the turbine . This pipe was chosen because it is tough and flexible, has low friction, and can freeze solid without rupturing. More important, Mathews obtained more than 900 feet of it at discount from the dormant Starrigavan hatchery in Sitka . Installation of the pipe was accomplished by helicop- tering sections to the edge of Jetty Lake along with a special machine to heat fuse them into the one continu- ous piece. The heavy, black pipe was shoved out into the lake as sections were added; then , the 1,300 feet length was towed down the hill as a single piece. There were a few side bets on the success or failure of this scheme . Someone in town even predicted that the whole mess would end up at the bottom of the grade looking like huge coils of li corice. Luckily, there were n o problems when the pipe was pulled down the hill . The penstock is supported in the lake with 210 pound pre-cast concrete blocks. A weighted crib of treated timbers with a stainless steel screen was use d to weight down the open end of the pipe and keep debris from entering it. Between the lake outflow waterfall and the powerhouse, rock anchors, galvanized steel cable, and restraining collars were used to keep the pipe from slipping. The 10-by-12-foot frame powerhouse shields the tur- bine and generator from the Southeast's perennial rains . The penstock, after a 285 foot drop, enters the p ower- house and is attached to the two-nozzle Peltech turbine . A Woodward hydraulic governor keeps the o utput fre- quency at 60 Hertz. 128 A meta/saddle (above) clamps the pipeli11e. Richard Math ew s a11d a11 assista11t (left) p repare to i11stall the 300 lb. gate valve. From the powerhouse, underground wires lead to the newly constructed salmon hatchery, the cabins, shop building, and cold storage facility. Underground cables were chosen to keep the aesthetic beauty of Port Arm- strong intact. Performance At 4:30p.m. Christmas Eve in 1981, Richard Mathews threw the switch and the Port Armstrong hydro system went on line. For the first time in more than 20 years, electric lights glowed in the winter night. In celebration, a large roast was cooked in an electric range for a special Christmas dinner. Two other residents eagerly waited their Christmas present, long baths in water heated by "electric" water heaters. Baths in the "old days" required heating big awkward pots of rainwater and lugging them out to a bathhouse. While they soak in the laps of luxury, their clothes will be drying in an electric dryer. From all indications, the power plant is a resounding technical and social success. There is enough power available for the hatchery, shop, cold storage, cabins, and grow lights in a greenhouse. The unit produced consis- tent power throughout the year, never experiencing freeze up, or lower output during the winter months when stream flow was minimum. Conclusions and Problems There were very few problems with this project other than the design changes in the power house. The original Kato generator and control panel were replaced by a less 129 expensive, but equivalent Lima generator. The Lima's belt drive mechanism posed no problems to Mathews as the turbine/generator was purchased as a complete unit. All modifications were done by the manufacturer. Mathews' method of developing this project success- fully shows that with proper planning it is easy to install hydroelectric systems in remote locations. The almost forgotten technology has tremendous potential in this area of Alaska and the modern self-contained units which are assembled, aligned, and tested in manufactur- ing centers makes the power plants relatively simple to install, operate, and maintain. Another point Mathews likes to make is that the system is environmentally sound, does not pollute; operates quietly; and has an extremely long life in relation to other electrical power generators. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Richard Mathews Box 538 Douglas, Alaska 99824 $22,084 26,325 II Hydraulic ram ensures reliable water supply An innovative pump powered by water from a nearby creek works "fine" as it provides a continuous supply of fresh water from the same stream for most of the year to the home of Don and Kathryn Chaney. In fact, adds Don, it was Kathryn who designed the hydraulic ram system that is driven by a sm.all amount of the water tapped from the creek . The water drops three feet as it flows through a two- inch pipe from the creek to the hydraulic ram. This vertical drop provides adequate force to drive the pump, which lifts the rest of the tapped water through a one-inch pipe to a 500 gallon storage tank 23 feet above ground . Don, a retired telephone construction and mainte- nance worker, says the pump also provides water for a nearby greenhouse . He describes the enclosed storage facility as a "mini-city water tank'.' As long as the water behind a small diversion dam in the creek maintains its three-foot level , and the tem- perature remains above 21 degrees, Chaney says their domestic water supply source is "reliable'.' A gasoline-powered pump is used to lift water to the insulated tank for one to two months each winter. Otherwise, the only interruption in the operation of the hydraulic ram-driven pump is "an occasional clean- ing that takes about 10 minutes . It's really simple;' he says. The system has been operating since 1980 . 131 HYDRAULIC RAM The hydraulic ram, a type that has been manufactured since 1894, operates silently, and pumps water continu- ously with only the energy of a portion of the tapped creek water. It has eliminated the year-round operation of a 7,000-watt gasoline powered generator that used about six gallons of fuel a day to run a one-half horsepower electric water pump and electric water heater. A wood-burning water heater now supplies the Chaney's domestic hot water needs. Part of the system's success is its location. The Chaneys live near Petersburg in Southeast Alaska, where the climate is comparatively mild and water is abundant. The town lies along the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry system ) Inside Passage and is resplendent with spruce and tumbling waterfalls . Don says there is "certainly" enough water in the creek (excess water pumped into the tank is returned to the stream ) to support similar systems in the area-if more people lived near the water. The system also is practical for widespread use where climate and water conditions are favorable , he adds. Funding U.S . Department of Energy $1,535 Grant Recipient Don Chaney P.O. Box 1276 Petersburg, Alaska 99833 Freon steam propels turbine Sometimes an idea comes along that's so simple but so unique that nobody believes in it. Arthur Manning had that problem when he first proposed his novel power generation idea. He even asked a professor from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute for a professional opinion~'It won't work because you can't build a perpetual motion machine;' he was told. It's to our benefit that people like Manning aren't deterred by "ex perts:' He knew his idea for generating electrical power would work and could benefit groups needing power in remote locations. Conventional methods of generating electrical power have either a fossil fueled motor turning a generator or water or steam turning a turbine, which in turn turns the generator. What Manning proposed was not really much different from a conventional steam-powered electrical generator. However, instead of boiling water, he wanted to boil Freon and use the Freon steam to propel a turbine . Because Freon typically boils at -20 degrees, the colder it got outside, the more efficient his system would get . In 1980, Manning was granted funds to build his Freon powered electrical generator. He proposed to develop a device that could tap hydrothermal sources, a previously untapped energy source. The project involved building, operating, and monitoring a hydrothermal Freon electric power plant. Design and Construction Manning wanted to prove that you could use the tem- perature difference between warm, running water and outside ambient air temperatures (especially in the winter) to develop electrical energy. His prototype system would produce 2.25 kilowatts of power at 115 volts, alternating current. The energy used to boil the Freon comes from the relative warmth of a lake or moving water. The Alaskan winter will be used to enhance that warmth, producing more electricity during the winter when the demand is the greatest. The system could also be used in geothermal areas that do not have enough steam pressure to drive a turbine or ice island research stations where energy sources are limited at best. Manning's design closely paralleled the construction and operation of a low pressure, closed loop steam plant. His Freon plant would have a heat exchanger; low pressure, high expansion turbine; governor; condensor/ expansion chamber; feed pump; electrical generator; and the necessary system controls and monitoring devices . The four-by-five-by-six inch heat exchanger is made from V2-inch 0.0. (outside diameter) hydraulic tubing arranged in three rows on two-inch centers with a total surface area of 53.7 square feet. Steam-type pressure flanges rated at 600 psi (pounds per square inch) connect the pipes carrying hot Freon from the heat exchanger to the jet harness on the turbine unit. These connections provide great strength while allowing a slight amount of movement. Valves placed in both the supply and return lines enable manual shutdown and complete isolation of 133 the heat exchanger from the rest of the system. One-inch 1.0. (inner diameter) stainless hydraulic tubing runs from the heat exchanger to the jet harness. The jet harness feeds 16 jets up to %-inch diameter. The size used depends on the outside temperature conditions, load factor, and type of Freon used. A butterfly valve in the pressure feed line controls pressure input to the turbine. A governor built as an integral part of the turbine assembly controls speed fluctuations. The low pressure, high expansion turbine consists of a sliding rotor, governor mechanism, and evacuated housing. The self-throttling feature Manning used is important because the Freon gas pressure will change wi th the ambient temperature change . The governor mechanism is a flyball arrangement that physically moves the rotor as speed increases. Turbine fins are cut so that as the rotor slides with the increase in speed, they restrict the amount of Freon gas allowed to enter the rotor area. When resistance causes the rotor to slow, the governor action causes more gas to enter the rotor chamber producing more thrust, overcoming the resist- ance. This action keeps rotor speed relatively constant under varying load conditions. The 10-by-24-inch expansion chamber has a two-by- seven-inch deep liquid collector at the far end. A pres- sure /vacuum seal between the chamber and the turbine housing ensures that this joint will be both pressure and vacuum tight. The housing is designed to operate at pressures up to 26 psi and temperatures exceeding -40 degrees. Although this may seem like a bit of overdesign- ing, the prototype system experienced even colder tem- peratures during actual operation. "I have no idea what the max was," says Manning, "the temperature went clean off the scale, maybe -80 or more:' A magnetic, impulse-activated sole noid drives a spring powered feed pump to return liquid Freon to the heat exchanger. As the level of liquid Freon in the bottom of the expansion chamber rises to a predetermined level, a magnetic float/reed switch operates, activating the pump. Freon is drawn through a one-way valve into the heat exchanger feed line. Liquid Freon will flow until liquid level in the collector area of the expansion chamber falls enough for the reed switch to open. The generator is a Homelite, singlephase, 2 .25 kilowatt, 110-volt, 60 Hertz unit operating at 3 ,600 rpm. This generator was chosen because Manning knew it to be well made, dependable, and requiring very little maintenance . Also, it has a taper-drawbolt type of connection that allowed true concentric coupling of the turbine to the generator. Manning modified it so that monitoring instruments could be attached to the outer housing. The instrument monitoring panel has a frequency, voltage, and amp meter. Additional monitoring devices include temperature probes placed in the heat exchanger, warm water supply, turbine housing, expansion cham- ber, plus a temperature probe placed in the atmosphere near the expansion chamber and outside the test build- ing . This configuration allowed monitoring of the heat exchanger, the effect of high and low load conditions on the expansion chamb er, and the effect of ambient air temperature on the efficiency of the system. A pressure gauge is also located on the pressure line between the heat exchanger and throttle valve, between the throttle valve and the jet harness, and on the turbine housing directly over the turbine fins. Performance The prototy pe unit was housed in an eight-foot square building on skids placed over a hole in the ice of the Chena River. The building shields the equipment from the e lem ents and allowed for artificial heat fo r greater experimental control of the a mbient air temperature. Start-up of this system requires the operator to gen- erate an artificial vacuum in the expansion chamber and to prechill the condenser walls. As the system is turned on, the expanding Freon gas chills the expansion chamber below the condensing point of the Freon , causing a partial vacuum. Because the feed pump creates a pressure of 18 psi on one side of the turbine, and the . expanding Freon itself creates a vacuum o n the other s1de (about eig ht psi) a pressure difference of approximately 26 psi is actually created within the system during normal operation . After initial start-up, the prototy pe was allowed to operate continuously for a week with 12-hour checks. Then the unit was shut down and dismantled for inspec- tion. A second five hundred hour test was then run. After the lo ng test , the system was again shut down for inspection. Prior to breakup, the test building, prototype unit, and heat exc hanger were removed and test results tabulated . Manning found that although his device did produce electricity, system control was more difficult than orig- inally expected. The non-linearity of the expansion of the Freon made speed contro l difficult using only the 134 Arthur Manning (above left) explains the unique design of his sys tem . (Right), shown here are electrical gauges and the un- m achined turbine used in the design s imple spring/flyball arrangement and sl iding rotor. "The system either tries to run away with itself, or shuts down ;' said Manning, who feels that a more sensitive contro l system may help solve this problem. It was also found that the heat exchanger configura- tion did not allow optimum heating of the Freon; but, because the Chena River supplied more than enough "warm" water, the ori gi nal design was adequate . In other situations, the design may need to be modified. Problems and Conclu sions "You 've got to b e kidding :' This just about sums up the technical assistance Manning got throughout this project. Relying on per- sonal creativity, many hours of research, and belief in his own ideas was what Manning used to prove his theory. Al though his Freon powered generator is not cheap and cannot compete with today's fuel prices, it did work. In making it work , Manning had to overcome funding problems, extreme temperature effects on metal and gaskets, speed contr ol at those varying temperatures: and a lack of supporting information. He was essentially on his own. Early in the project, funding delays by the federa l and s tate agencies caused costly project delays. The U.S. Department of Energy reduced the requested funding for the project by 30 percent. The funding reduction and delay caused Manning to change the expansion chamber design as the or igina l model was no longer available by the ti me funds were received . With little support from the university, turbine design was based on the hope that the extreme cold temperature would not critically affect the metal. As it was, the metal held up fairly well ; only one of the fly balls used in t he governor cracked from the cold. Although the tempera- ture extremes were greater than originally calculated, increasing system efficiency, it pressed the seals and gaskets in the prototype to thei r limits. The temperatures of the lubricants decreased their effectiveness, which increased friction. Further developments in these areas will probably have to be done before a suitable material or lubricant is found. "In small scale operations, it's almost impossible to control speed accurately without costly electronics or computer controls;' Manning adds, "large scale units would be more efficient because they wouldn't be as touchy:' However, when Manning approached devel- opers for additional support in this project (a proven 135 concept), the common response was: "You've got to be kidding:' It now sits in boxes in Manning's machine shop, waiting for another chance. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee Arthur Manning P.O. Box 10013 Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 $4,547 4,547 A water-powered refrigerator Don Baile y is keeping his f o od chilled by circulating cold well water through an innovative refrigerator that doesn't use electricity. It 's also saving him about $3 to $5 monthly on his fuel bill. But there are a few drawbacks. Bailey ca nnot keep ice cream frozen, make ice cubes or keep his milk very cold because the refrigerator never gets colder than about 43 degrees . "Our refrigerator keeps liquids at about 43 to 45 degrees -a little warm;' said Bailey, who lives in Anchor Point on the Kenai Peninsula in Southcentral Alaska. "As long as the water flows, the refrigerator works great. When no one is at home, the system doesn't work," he said. Design Bailey modified a used upright free zer and installed more than 40 feet of coiled, three-quarter-inch fin tubing on its interior walls. Almost all of the interior surface of the freezer was covered to increase the amount of water flowing through the system . Bailey also said he selected a freezer because it is better insulated than a refrigerator and doesn't have a separate freezer compartment, making the fin tubing installation easier. All fin tubing was soldered securely to the refrig- 137 erator's interior walls so that vibrations didn't break the fittings loose. The fin tubing is linked with Bailey's water supply from his well . The pipe from the well's holding tank was insulated to keep the water temperature as low as possi- ble . The water temperature ranges between 34 to 40 degrees. The water, however, only circulates through the refrig- erator when someone in the house turns a faucet on because the water flows through the refrigerator on its way to the faucet. "Everytime someone flushed the toilet , took a bath, did the wash or did dishes-cold water would circulate through our refrigerator, cooling the interior and its con- tents," Bailey said. Before installing the system, Bailey flushed water through the used fin tubing for over a day and used Clorox to disinfect the inside of the tubing. Fin tubing that has been used in a heating system should not be used later for a domestic water system because you can never be sure what may have contami- nated the pipe . For example, had toxic antifreeze once been used in the fin tubing, water circulated through the system could not be used for drinking or cooking. Where national plumbing codes are in force , this practice is not allowed. The interior (left) of Don Bailey's water-powered refrigerator. Bailey shows the oil furnace he converted to wood (above). Two valves were installed in the water line so that Bailey has the option of having water bypass the refriger- ator. The second valve, placed in the lower part of the pipes, enables him to drain water from the coils for repairs or cold weather shutdown. Performance Bailey is generally pleased with his refrigerator. It was simple to build and has been almost maintenance-free. Also, it's helping him reduce his electric bill. "All items, except milk, keep well in our refrigerator;' Bailey said. The major drawback is that there is no way to keep the 138 refrigerator cool when there is no one at home for a day or two to run water. One solution is to leave a faucet dripping, but then the well pump has to run unnecessarily when no one is at home. Bailey also had to increase the well pump's pressure to provide the desired pressure at the faucets. The extra piping through the refrigerator causes a greater pressure drop between the pump tank and the faucets. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Don Bailey Box79 Anchor Point, Alaska 99556 $200 $200 Bush refrigerator an I ti?JI I ~~ I ~ I £ I unqualified success ·:' alii ~ Out near Trapper Creek, going to the store can be a bit more involved than walking to the end of the block or driving to market. First, you stoke the trusty wood stove, tossing in a couple of extra logs for good measure; then, move all the water containers closer to the stove so they won't freeze when the fire burns low; finally, high-tail it three miles through deep snow to the nearest store . Don't stay long, because you have to be back at the cabin before the houseplants freeze. Trapper Creek is a small community near the Parks Highway some 100 miles north from Anchorage. This small homesteading and gold mining community has about 200 year-round residents sprinkled among dense stands of spruce and birch. For these people, the area offers natural beauty and seclusion, yet easy access to one of Alaska's major highways, and on clear days a spectacular view of North America's largest mountain, Mt. McKinley (Denali). Perry Hilleary was building a house on his property near Trapper Creek early in 1980 and thought that it would be nice to be able to leave home for a couple of days without fear of freeze damage. While he was at it, he figured to tackle "Bush refrigeration" too. In the fall of 1980, Hilleary received an AT grant to build both the heat storage and refrigeration systems, plus record data illustrating the success of the project. Design and Construction Each section of this two-part project had the same development criteria: materials had to be easy to install, maintain, and operate ; they had to be inexpensive; and they had to be energy efficient. In return, the two systems would provide some of the comforts that urban folk take for granted and rural dwellers dream about. The heat storage system begins with a seven-foot- eight-inch by twelve-foot-eight-inch by fifty-four-inch deep concrete block structure built in the basement of the cabin. Four-inch Thermax brand Polyisocyanurate insulation was used to line the inner surface of the box and the leveled box floor. After a layer of sand is applied to the bottom, a horizontal three-pipe grid of four-inch ventilated tubing was placed across the short axis of the heat sink. Each horizontal tube has three , four-inch ventilated pipes rising vertically from them. Above this is another grid of one-inch copper tubing. The copper tubing is looped along both sides of the vertical risers, crossing the horizontal tubes at right angles and the entire struct1,1re is backfilled with a compacted clay/ sand /pea gravel mix ture . Hilleary believes that this desi gn distributed heat better within the heat sink. Another four inches o f Thermax tops off the heat sink. The copper tubing feeds through the concrete block wall of the thermal mass into a furnace /control area. Here, they connect to an ex pansion tank, pressure relief valve, and heat coils from the 55-gallon drum /barrel stove. Originally, a small battery-driven pump was used to push the antifreeze solution through the heat sink. The battery was kept charged by a small portable gen- 139 erator. However, this pump was quickly discarded when Hilleary found that the liquid was flowing too fast through the heat sink to give up heat. Thermoconvection now propels the antifreeze through the system . The second part of this project involved building a semi-passive "Bush refrigerator:' By using a drawer-type of refrigerator instead of the standard door refrigerator, Hilleary hoped to decrease the cooling energy enough to make a simple, but effective system. The refrigeration chamber is located under aU-shaped kitchen countertop. A wood cook stove is at one end of the "U" and a propane stove at the other. The cooling box is insulated by a two-inch thick rigid Thermax. Attached to the back wall of this box is a serpentine loop of 1/z -inch copper pipe. One end of this tubing exits the cooling cabinet and runs along the underside of the countertop to the wood cook stove. It rises along the backside of the cookstove fluepipe , held on with metal straps, and exits the cabin near the ceiling. The pipe then drops into the ground in a long 60-foot loop beside the house and returns through the log wall to the lower end of the serpentine loop in the cooling cabinet . An anti- freeze solution fills the copper pipe. When the woodstove is being used the antifreeze is heated slightly, causing a convection flow up through the pipe. The liquid flows down through the ground, cools, and then returns to the refrigerator. When the woodstove is not in use, a small battery-powered, 12-volt pump pro- vides the needed circulation . Through experimentation, Hilleary discovered that a continuously running pump pushed too much liquid. A switch from a car windshield wiper is used for intermittent operation. The pump runs for one second, then rests for 13. The drawers are also customized for different food container sizes . One has an egg tray. The bottoms of the drawers are made of wood slats for better circulation . Performance The first part of the project (the heat sink) worked even better than expected. Hilleary originally calculated that the thermal mass could store up to one million BTUs of heat. Even with the small pump removed, however, it was determined that the mass could store enough heat to supply the house with about 465,000 BTUs of heat per day for up to three days without additional heat input. The ability to selectively uncover only the amount of thermal mass needed to keep the house above freezing greatly enhanced the effectiveness of the system . Storing heat in the heat sink also saved on fuel require- ments because it allowed a more efficient , hotter fire to be burned in the barrel stove. The "Bush refrigerator" was an unqualified success. The R-8 Thermax, combined with the simplicity of the system, resulted in an easy to install, relatively energy free system. Outside energy is required only during the summer when the wood stove is not used. Then only periodic charging of the battery is required. The addition of a small solar powered pump would reduce this power requirement to zero. Measurements indicate that the refrigerator effectively cools foods to about 40 degrees with a ground temperature variation from 39 to 44 degrees . Problems and Conclusions Hilleary encountered few problems building either system . He has successfully shown others that a heat storage and heating system and a "Bush refrigerator" can both be built with less than $1,000 in materials. Now, whenever Hilleary goes out to the store, he can stay a nd chat for a while. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee Perry E. Hilleary Box21 Trapper Creek, Alas ka 99688 $432 432 In Perry Hillea ry's home (ab ove) n ear Trapper Creek. the kitchen dra wers are refrigerat ed. 140 I Kenai City Hall saves energy Since 1981 an air-to-air heat exchanger has helped the City of Kenai save energy by pre-heating air circulated through City Hall. The prewarmed air for the ventilation sys tem has meant less demand on the building's oil-fired heating system. The exchanger recaptures heat from exhaust air and uses it to preheat fresh air as it's drawn into the 12,000-square-foot government building from outside. The south wall of the building also is made of triple- glazing for solar heat absorption. Howard Hackney, city building inspector for Kenai , said the system is working well and has not malfunc- tioned. He said it works at about 66 percent efficiency. And architect Carmen Gintoli estimates the exchanger has reduced the city's annual oil consumption by about 3 ,279 gallons. "It's always on," Hackney said. "It picks up the heat from the exhaust air and tempers the incoming air:' System Design The heat exchanger, manufactured by the Q-Dot Corporation, was installed in a duct o n top of the city hall roof. The duct, which is about eight feet square, is parti- tioned into two sec ti ons; one for incoming air and the other for ex haust air. Fans continuously expel exhaust air from the building and replace it with fresh air. The air-to -air heat exchanger, which is about five feet wide by 10 feet long, was installed inside of the big duct. The heat exchanger has a center assembly with rows of protruding aluminum fins that span across both the duct for incoming air and the duct for exhaust air. (The system is partitioned so that the exhaust air does not mix with incoming air.) 141 The heat exchanger is mounted on a til table axis to control the flow of the Freon that is used to conduct heat to the fin assemblies. When the heat exchanger is tilted toward the exhaust duct, liquid Freon flows into the fins bathed by the hot air. As the Freon absorbs the heat , it converts to a gas which rises upward into fins spanning the cooler incom- ing air duct. As the cold air absorbs the heat from the fins , the gas converts back into a liquid and flows back down to the exhaust side to be heated up again. In summer, the heat exchanger can either be shut down or used to cool incoming hot air by tilting it so that the liquid Freon flows into the fins spanning the incoming air duct. During mid-winter, a hot-water boiler also is used to provide supplemental heat for the building. Performance City officials say they are pleased with the heat exchanger. They say it has been working well and has required little maintenance . Architect Carmen V. Gintoli estimates that the system saves about 365,719 BTUs per hour, conserving about 3,279 gallons of fuel over the year. Funding U.S . Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient City of Kenai P .O. Box 3504 Kenai, Alaska 99611 $4 ,225 4,225 A wastewater heat exchange system Every time someone takes a shower, runs a dishwasher or washes clothes-precious heat is lost as the water swirls down the drain. But Mark Gudschinsky has designed a compact, vir- tually maintenance free system to help homeowners recover heat from wastewater. It's called a greywater heat recovery system. "It definitely works real well;' says Gudschinsky, a plumber and apartment owner in Fairbanks, Alaska . "And I'm going to put it in the other buildings I own'.' Before installing the system , however, Gudschinsky suggests that homeowners make sure that they produce enough wastewater-at least 3,000 gallons monthly-to make the system cost effective . Also, he advises against installing the system if it will require major plumbing changes. Gudschinsky's system preheats the domestic water by as much as 40 to 50 degrees before it enters the hot water heater. And it's helping him save some $300 annually on his hot water heating bills . Better yet, the system is compact and virtually main- tenance free. "I put mine in the laundry room corner;' Gudschinsky said. "My goal was to make this so it would be out of sight and out of mind. I didn't want pumps and stuff. I wanted absolute simplicity'.' 143 HEAT EXCHANGER, WATER System Design The greywater heat recovery system consists of a three- to-four gallon sealed, steel tank, with three-sixteenths- inch walls . It is 24 inches long, 16 inches high and 6 inches wide. Wastewater from the showers and dishwasher flows directly to and through the tank before being discharged into the city sewer lines. Cold, incoming domestic water is piped through the tank through two Crane finned copper coils , which are immersed in the warm wastewater tank. The system raises the temperature of the domestic water by as much as 40-to-50 degrees, before it flows into the oil-fired hot water heater for warming to household use temperature (110 to 120 degrees). Small thermometers measure the temperature of the greywater and of the domestic water as it enters and exits the sealed tank. Gudschinsky also experimented with two variations, but found that they were not cost-effective. One variation consisted of segregating dishwasher and washing machine water by moving it through the tank in a copper pipe enroute to the sewer system. This was to prevent contamination of the greywater (from sinks and showers) with food and dirt sediments . Gudschinsky, however, does not recommend install- Mark Gudschinsky (above left) explains the details of his in vention. (Above right), a manufactured coil collects h ea t from wastewater. ing a separate copper pipe for dishwater and washing machine wastewater because it increased the cost of the system by $300 and because tank contamination is not a problem. Gudschinsky also tested a waterjacket arrangement, which consisted of installing a small pipe inside of a wider tube. The greywater flows through the inner pipe, heating the domestic water which encases it. This design, however, did not work out because a homeowner would have to install a waterjacket about 60-to-70 feet long to obtain satisfactory temperature increases, he estimated. Performance Gudschinsky's greywater heat recovery system is per- forming better than he expected. It boosts the temperature of his domestic water from about 42 degrees to 80-90 degrees before it enters the hot water heater. This saves at least 168 to 336 BTUs per gallon of hot water used, he calculates. For a 15-minute shower using 30 gallons of hot water, 5,000 to 10,000 BTUs will be saved, which is about one-twentieth to one-tenth of a gallon of oil for a heater firing at 80 percent efficiency, Gudschinsky said. In Fairbanks, this means a 6 to 14 cents in savings per shower, no small cost reduction for apartment managers or tenants. Tips Gudschinsky says he's learned several things from his project: • Homeowners should make sure that they can recycle the heat from enough hot wastewater to make the project feasible. As noted previously, Gudschinsky considers 3,000 gallons of water monthly usage a minimum. • Do not install the system if it will require major- and expensive-changes in the plumbing. • Consider insulating the house first and other conser- vation measures, before installing the wastewater heat exchanger system . Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Mark Gudschinsky 1608 Laurene St. Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 $3,495 3 ,495 Heat exchanger cuts fuel bills Instead of tossing out hot water used for bathing, cleaning and washing, Richard Runser is recycling it to pre-heat his domestic water. The system, called a greywater heat exchanger, has helped slash his water heating bills about 40 percent. In fact, it's working so well that he's even designed a more compact version of his heat exchanger that could be installed in new homes. "I think it's wonderful-it's one of the few successes I've had;' says Runser, who has dabbled in solar energy, heat extractors and other alternative energy devices. "I really believe this would save a lot of energy for home- owners, commercial users, and industries:' Runser, a science teacher at East High School in Anchorage, says the high costs of energy make it desirable to conserve wasted heat. This philosophy of energy conservation also is practiced by his family on their five-acre farm in the heart of the Matanuska Valley north of Anchorage. They built their own house and raise goats, pigs and sheep, not unlike the colonists who came to the Valley in 1935 under the New Deal. The government program gave the colonists 160 acres to clear, farm and live upon . Today, the Valley remains as Alaska's rural agricultural center. Moreover, the greywater heat exchanger is simple to build and install in a home, apartment building or com- mercial enterprise, he says. 'This project is intended to develop and test a heat exchanger system which will remove much of the wasted heat and recycle it to the domestic hot water heater;' he says. "Some of the recovered heat may be diverted to the 144 toilets where it is needed to prevent condensation around the toilet and the resulting damage from the moisture:' System Design Runser's heat exchanger is based on piping cold water through a larger tube filled with hot waste water from the sinks and showers (known as greywater). Heat from the wastewater warms the domestic cold water as it flows to the hot water tank. The wastewater passes out of the heat exchanger to the sewer. The heat exchanger, installed in Runser's basement, is formed of four, six-inch PVC plastic pipes. The pipes are linked to form two upright U sections. He sealed the four tops of the vertical PVC sections with urethane foam. Hot wastewater flows down and up one U-section before flowing through the second U-section. These two U-sections segregate the greywater into four different temperature zones. Domestic cold water flows through three-quarter-inch copper pipe in the heat exchanger. It moves in the opposite direction as the wastewater. The domestic water flows through the two U-sections, gradually moving from colder to warmer wastewater. The temperature of the cold water can be increased by over 40 degrees . Runser also installed gas vents at the top of each U- section. The gas vents are connected to the home's sewer system . There also is a clean-out plug at the bottom of each U-section to allow for any cleaning of sediment or sludge build-up. Performance Overall, the heat exchanger has functioned with out any problems since it was installed in the winter of 1980. Incoming and outgoing greywater and cold water tem- peratures have been measured with thermometers to evaluate the system's effectiveness. Runser discovered th at the cold water temperature has been increased by as much as 46 degrees. He estimated that his heat exchanger is he lping him save between 30 to SO percent on his hot water fuel bills. Moreover, Run se r's heat exchanger is compact enough to be installed in a lm os t any new home with only a minimal increase in cos t . 145 "It could be adapted for any h ome:' Runser says. "It would be extremely simple to build. And I'm really con- vinced it is an energy-conserver . It ex tracts heat out of the wastewater before it goes down the drain:' Funding U.S . Department o f Energy State of Alaska $971 971 Grant Recipient Richard Runser SRA 6289 Yadon Drive Palmer, Alaska 99645 A ppropriate technology is seco nd na ture t o the Runser fami ly (a bove). Richard Runser (far left) discuss es the details of his system design . (Left), an indoor/outdoor thermom- eter is used to m easure incoming and out- going water temperatures. Computer prioritizes wind energy use A microcomputer was installed in Stanley Baltzo's home in Kodiak, Alaska to regulate electricity produced by a wind generator. 'The computer related demand to supply on a priority basis ;' says Baltzo, a product manager for Prudhoe Bay Supply who now lives in Wasilla, north of Anchorage. "It was a sensing device that would determine where the need was and reroute the electricity to meet that need'.' First, electricity was used to light the house. Once that demand was met it was used for the hot water tank and home heating . Any additional power was sold back to the Kodiak Electric Association for about 7 to 9 cents a kilowatt. Overall, Baltzo said the computer-monitored wind generation system worked well, reducing his monthly electric bills from $3 to $150 depending on how much the wind blew. The biggest setback he faced was making his wind generator work properly. He had to replace the governor, put shorter blades on the machine, and reset the angle of the gear head to increase the distance between the whirling blades and the tower. But once the wind generator was repaired for free b y Jacobs, the manufacturer, everything worked well. 147 MONITORING AND TESTING "It definitely worked after the bugs were removed from the Jacobs wind generator;' Baltzo said. "It required nor- mal watching . I was absolutely pleased with it. If I had to do it all over a gain , I wouldn't hesitate if I lived in an area with viable wind energy '.' System Design The commercially-built microcomputer panel, about eight inches by 12 inches, regulated electricity produced by a wind generator. The microcomputer was an Ohio Scientific C-2 OEM- NET. Its components consisted of a 6502 processor chip with 32 bytes of dynamic random access memory, a CA-15 universal telephone interface board, CA-20 time clock with battery back up, a CA-12 96-line parallel I/0 board and an OSI 538 Eprom board with 32 K of erasable, programmable memory. Every tenth of a second the computer monitored heat demand and the domestic hot water temperature, and stored all the data in its memory. Meanwhile, electricity was produced by a 10 kilowatt Jacobs wind generator, which is intertied with the Kodiak Electric power. The generator was placed atop a self-supporting, 80-foot-high tower. Each leg of the tri-pod tower was A wind system (left) on the Kodiak shorelin e catches sea breezes. anchored six feet in bedrock with cement. The blades, originally 12-feet long, were replaced with 11-foot-long laminated spruce blades to reduce the chances of the blade hitting the tower as winds shifted. Power from the generator was channeled through a commercially built "mastermind" Jacobs control panel. Since Baltzo was tied into the local electric company, he did not use batteries or other back-up energy systems. He purchased power from the local power utility only occasionally when his wind generator failed to produce enough power. Performance Baltzo was very pleased with his energy system after he was able to "get all the bugs" out of the wind gener- ator. He said it required little maintenance, and it helped him lower his electric bills substantially. He says the problems with the generator were likely caused because it was the first Jacobs 10 kw wind system to be installed in Alaska. The blades of the machine, for example, smashed against the tower within the first 30 minutes of its oper- ation. He doesn't know what caused the accident , but said the spruce blades have solved the problem . In- creasing the angle of the gear box from 9 degrees to 13 degrees also prevented the blades from hitting the tower. Overall, he says he was very pleased with the system. In fact, he says that if there were enough wind around his new home in Wasilla-he'd install a similar system there too. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Stanley A. Baltzo SR Box 5232 Wasilla, Alaska 99687 $3 ,076 5,175 Automatic stack dampers installed It was an article reviewing automatic stack dampers in the January 1980 Consumer Reports that motivated Thomas Busch, general manager of radio station KNOM , to see if these devices could help reduce high yearly fuel costs . The nonprofit Nome station nestles in a town known for its Gold Rush beginnings, brutal winter cold, vicious ocean storms and Front Street finish for the 1,049-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The article indicated that stack dampers (devices that keep heat from escaping up the chimney when the fur- nace is off) could give up to 23 % fuel savings . In Nome, on the southern shore of the Seward Peninsula and only three blocks from Norton Sound, the possibility of 23% savings bore investigation . Busch started checking with o thers in the area and found that very few people, if any, had ever heard of a stack damper, let alone had installed one. Even the Cooperative Extension Service could offer no hard facts. If these devices could save him money, and since non- profit KNOM was "more desperate than most to save money;' Busch decided that it was time for the small station to do its own research . Fuel savings could be calculated easily. KNOM had already been hauling its own fuel since late 1980 and had records for its non-damper consumption. Recording fuel consumption during the same period after damper instal- lation would allow an easy comparison . In 1981, KNOM and Busch received a grant to install stack dampers in five furnaces and monitor the results. The results would then be compared to a corresponding period without the dampers and fuel savings calculated. 148 Design and Construction Furnaces in five buildings used by KNOM were fitted with motorized Flair brand stack dampers. The stack dampers were installed above the customary barometric damper. Theoretically, the stack dampers would dramat- ically improve the efficiency of the furnace by closing the chimney whe n the burner was off, preventing heat loss from the fire chamber and from the area w here the fur- nace is located. The damper must open before the burner can start. A built in safety feature a lso opens the damper if there is a motor or power failure. The furnaces included both water boilers and hot air furnaces . The buildings ranged in size from 640 square feet to more than 4600 square feet. Although two of the furnaces also provide hot domestic water to the build- ings, the fuel savings would still be interesting, Busch reasoned . Performance 'The analysis was a surprise, indicating quite varied results-results that appeared to be in variance from subjective impressions;' said Busch. "I lived in one of the buildings and it was clear to me that after the stack dampers were installed, the furnace ran less often. Yet, the data indicated a 6.5 per cent increase in fuel con- sumption;' in his building, he said. Some of the other buildings showed no gain, others showed only a slight savings. "Cle arly, something was wrong;' said Busch . Different theories suggested fuel theft or leakage, but Busch feels that the poorly insulated buildings were affected by heat loss from wind. One reason that the data may be inaccurate is that the oil consumption analysis did not determine a gallon per degree day, but rather a gallon per year figure, for the b efore a nd after data . Buildings in Nome are n ot known fo r thick insulati on. Th is, combined with the fact that Nome is a very tran- sient town means that upkeep may not be up to profes- sio nal s tandards, either. Busch's h o use also had a settling problem. "I've used a b out a half d ozen tubes of caulk this year alone, just sealing th e cracks;· sai d Bu sch, "a nd I can feel drafts again'.' This indicates that the settling problem a nd air infiltration may be the most probable c ulprits. The dampers themselves, however, are vi rtually main- tenance free. Only o ne h a d to b e replaced, a nd that was b eca use of incorrect installation a nd not due to a faulty mechanism . Conclusions and Problems The only real proble m w ith this project was that n o o ne in Nome had ever installed a stack damper before . After learning on the firs t one, the remainder were a snap, Bu sc h said. 149 The project itself stimulated a little interest, but little su ccess in getting others to install the dev ices. Better result s mig ht have changed this, but Nome is affected by other problems. One of them was transience; a commo n remark to Bu sch was "s ure it will save a couple percent (fuel usage) but I'll only be here for two years .. .'' Busc h also found some resist a nce to the dampers from "the old t imers and contractors:· He feels that this attitude is changing, a nd that the future may find more of these devices in Nome. Funding U.S. Depa rtment of Energy $1 ,150 Grantee KNOMRadio Thomas Bu sch , General Manager P.O. Box 988 Nome, Alask a 99762 To m Bu sc h (l eft ) initiated th e use o f s tack dam pers as an energy -sa v in g device in the tow n of N o me. Building a fire-proof chimney Several years ago, an apparent creosote build-up caused a fire in David Norton's chimney. Fortunately, no one was hurt and his home was not damaged . But the incident prompted Norton to design a more fire-proof chimney for his home in Fairbanks, Alaska . "I thought there must be a better way to build a chim- ney than to endanger the structural part of the dwelling," said Norton, a biologist at the University of Alaska- Fairbanks. "A n engineering friend of mine had an idea: why not build it (the chimney stack ) exterior to the home? So we did it, and it's working quite well:' System Design The chimney system is comprised of three parts: a wood stove, a buried steel trap that collects creosote, and an 18-foot-high chimney stack. Hot gases flow through a pipe from the wood stove to the underground steel trap before swirling out of the chimney stack. A six-foot-long, by six-inch-diameter steel pipe connects the wood stove in the basement with a five- foot-deep by 18-inch-diameter steel trap, which was buried outside the basement wall. The chimney stack, which rises above the creosote trap, was built three feet away from the outer wall of Norton's house . "The original intent was to put enough distance be- tween the chimney and combustible structural materials of the dwelling, so that, if creosote accumulations in the chimney did ignite-there would be no threat to letting the stack fire burn itself out;' Norton said. The chimney also was designed to withstand high temperatures. Stack fires can burn at 2,000 degrees-hot enough for thin-walled smoke conductors to melt or oxidize. Therefore, Norton chose steel well casing with an internal diameter of six inches and a wall thickness of three-eighths-inch for the smoke conductor. It was insu- lated with sections of asbestos-lined, double-walled steel chimney made for use with Heatilator brand fireplaces. These sections have an inner diameter of nine inches and an outer diameter of 13 .5 inches . Moreover, the 1 .25-inch-wide space betwee n the outer and inner walls was filled with clean dry sand. The sand annulus was tamped to prevent settling . Norton also fitted the chimney system with two ther- mocouples that register temperature on a digital readout display. A stack fire warning instrument with analog readout and a variable setpoint readout also was pur- chased. It was installed in the pipe that connects the wood stove with the creosote trap, to sa mple flue gas temperatures under normal operations. Performance The chimney system worked well from mid-October through March for several years . Mixtures of birch, aspen, poplar, willow and spruce were normally combined in a 2:1 ratio by volume with coal for each loading of the stove . When Norton gets ready to fire up the stove for the first time each fall, he connects the b lower side of an 150 industrial vacuum cleaner to the air intake of the stove. This prevents a reverse draft problem that could fill the house with smoke. Creosote does build up in the chimney's smoke con- ductor, but not as fast as Norton originally feared. Reduced draft is an indicator tha t creoso te has built up; this occurs two or three times per heating season for Norton's system. The pipe co nnecting the wood stove with the steel trap can be cleared of this flammable residue with a conventional six-inch chimney brush on a rigid pole . It's a little harder to clean the ver tical smoke stack however. Norton lowers an old screw jack base (5 .75 inches in diameter) into the chimney and jigs it up and down . If the jig becomes stuck, he drops a second roped weight on top of the jack and jiggles it until both are free. Norton, however, has not determined how much heat transfer to the dwelling is sacrificed by externalizing the chimney or what the life expectancy of the present system may be . Deliberate Ignition of the Creosote Norton said he could not cause a creosote stack fire just by building a roaring blaze in the stove and operat- ing it with all dampers open. By the time sufficient creo- sote accumulates to sustain a stack fire, the draft in the chimney is so weak that it cannot transfer sufficient heat from the wood stove to start a stack fire. On March 7, 1984, the University of Alaska Fire De- partment assisted in a controlled burn-out experiment when most of the season's creosote accumulation was in the chimney system. A p ile of wadded newspapers was ignited in the under- ground creosote trap after it had been disconnected from the wood stove. It took 15 minutes after ignition to gen- erate a self-sustaining creosote fire in the vertical section of the smoke conductor. The combustion climbed slowly up the chimney, reaching the level of the top sensor 120 minutes after ignition. All creosote had burned, melted or fallen off the inner chimney walls. The entire system began cooling off steadily, except in the trap where glowing embers of fallen creosote produced he at for about 24 hours. Fears that he.at from burning creosote would build up in the smoke conductor and melt the steel were un- founded. Meltdown did not occur because heat was transferred from the smoke conductor to the sand annulus, and out of the double-walled Heatilator sections. No significant problems arose from the burn-out experiment, but it is a dangerous undertaking . There is a lways a risk of backflashing during oxygen regulation . A backflash did occur when oxygen was restored after starving the fire of air. Such backflashes can fill the house with smoke, cover an unwary observer with soot, si nge eyebrows, or damage property and injure nearby people if sparks are shot o utward. l Overall, the experiment was successful and showed that the chimney could be cleaned by starting a two- hour stack fire far easier than a six-hour vacuuming project. Norton said t hat experts advise against letting creo- sote fires burn in standard chimney installations . Besides backflashing, he said, the stack fire causes considerable noise and a ghastly pall of foul smoke. He said neighbors downwind of the experiment would have been justified in complaining. Tips Since most people may have little experience with a chimney configuration such as his, Norton has several tips: • The pipe linking the woodstove with the buried steel trap should be exactly level, rather than slightly descending as it was inadvertently in- stalled. This may prevent a creosote fire from working its way backward toward the furnace from the trap. • Do not be alarmed by a "rainshower" sound in the chimney trap when you start up the fire for the very first time. The sound is caused by the con- densation of water from combusted mater-ials on 151 David Norton and his dog (le f t) inspec t the c himney of their Fairbanks home. the walls of the vertical portion of the smoke conductor. Eventually, the water evaporates. • The chimney heats the soil surrounding the under- ground trap. The area could be an ideal location for a greenhouse, or the base of an attached solar- ium. The heat also could be used for year-round com posting next to the chimney. • Be sure to seal off the sand annulus from moisture and creosote. Sheet metal collars corrode in less than a season; two masonry collars also have cracked and disintegrated. Consider welding a three-eighth -inch steel collar to the smoke conductor. • Use a masonry jacket for the smoke conductor core, and retain a sand annulus to allow for expansion and contraction of the steel in the smoke conductor. Funding U.S. Department of Energy $1,460 Grant Recipient David Norton SR20787 Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Monitoring system collects useful data "I realized that the project was going to be slightly more complicated when I stood beside my pregnant wife and watched the snow drift down onto the cabin. The cabin itself was slightly tipped to one side, and its foun- dations were sinking into the hole I had just excavated for the greenhouse rockbed:' Jeremy and Linda Weld were building an attached passive solar greenhouse and rockbed thermal mass for heat storage on the east side of their small log cabin . The cabin is located on the crest of a hill , about 200 feet above the Gulkana River, and 14 miles north of Glenn- allen. Temperatures in the area range from a blistering 90 above to 60 below. Seasons change with a snap. The greenhouse was an integral part of the Welds plan to make their little homestead self-sufficient. In addition to providing fresh vegetables, the greenhouse would also supplement the cabin's heating system during the spring, summer, and fall. During the winter, the greenhouse would be closed down and the below ground thermal mass placed in "hibernation'.' Being a park ranger, Weld certainly knew about ani- mals a nd hibernation, but little a bout arctic construction techniques. When he began asking questions, he found that he was not alone. Weld found that most construc- tion in the area was at the builder's convenience rather than to maximize environmental benefits. For ins tance, "a new development near the Richardson (Highway) has every house facing the road;' says Weld, "if the builder would have turned the houses slightly to take advantage of the sun, those homeowners would have considerably lower heating bills'.' Weld also found that most written information was "wrapped up in the technical aspects of construction and offered little practical information for the inexperienced owner-builder'.' The greenhouse that the Weld's were building was made possible by a grant from the Alaska Council on Science and Technology. Jeremy and Linda felt that if they could monitor the greenhouse and include perform- ance data with construction information, a practical example of passive solar construction for the Copper River Basin would be available for others. In 1980, they received a grant from the Appropriate Technology pro- gram to install a monitoring system in the attached greenhouse and also in a free-standing control green- house. Design and Construction The original design called for a one-story, east facing structure with a small below-grade rockbed thermal mass . But as Weld was repairing his damaged cabin foundation, the project grew "like a snowball rolling downhill:' The small one-story affair grew to a two-story "heating center': His greenhouse monitoring idea also grew to a study of arctic building techniques and materials. In addition to his automatic temperature monitoring, Weld planned to include the results of visual observation in his final report. He felt that this would be more bene- ficial to others attempting the same type of project. 152 The new greenhouse /heating center would have a 15-by-20 foot first floor with a 9-by-20 foot upstairs bedroom. The newly repaired and reinforced hous.e foundation was extended to support the addition . A three foot deep, 12-by-16 foot depression below the main floor houses the rockbed. Two layers of four inch- urethane foam (salvaged from the Alaska Pipeline ) line the depression to prevent heat seepage from harming the permafrost eight feet below. Although the experts recommended two-inch river rock for the thermal mass, all that was available in the area was coarse sewer rock . Embedded in the sewer rock are two perforated pipes . These pipes are connected to a solid pipe that ends above the ceiling separating the first and second floors. On top of the sewer gravel, Weld layed a six-mil plastic vapor barrier and then a layer of pea gravel. Finally, the floor area is covered with a 31fz inch cement slab with narrow slots cut in it above the thermal mass area to allow heat to escape. Post-and-beam construction using logs and rough cut dimension lumber frames the a ddition. Discussio n s with others w h o have built greenhouse s before convinced Weld not to use the traditional angled windows because they're difficult to seal. At the last minute, Weld decided to put in two angled windows, to allow comparisons on building techniques. An insulated wall and door sealed the greenhouse from the ca bin and six inches of fiberglass and water- proof sheetrock isolated it from the second story bed- room . The ceiling, backwall, and door are painted white to ensure a bright interior, while all other walls are covered with cedar. The insulated wall and ceiling was to keep with "common wisdom that says the best thing to do with a solar project in the winter is to isolate it from the house'.' By the end of February, a new plan was b rewing, and Weld was determined to find a way to use the greenhouse throughout the winter. The purchase of a small multi-fuel hot air heater was the final step in the greenhouse's evolution. Using flou- rescent lights during the winter, removable thermal shut- ters and a removable 3 1fz inch insulated floor, Weld figured he could minimize heat loss and almost double the size of his house during the long cold winter. The insulated floor would still let his thermal mass "hiber- nate" during the winter. The thermal shutters are made from two-inch , alumi- num-clad urethane foam b o ards with a vapor barrier stapled to the outside and decorative burlap attached to the inside making an attractive and efficient barrier. Both the shutters and the floor insulation are removed in the spring and stored until late fall. A medium volume, squirrel-cage blower mounted atop a three legged two-by-four tower blows air into the thermal mass inlet pipe. Another large, reversible fan is mounted on the side of the greenhouse . Rated at 3 ,300 cfm (cubic feet per minute), this fan could quickly evacuate the greenhouse, but was found to be very expensive to run . Two smaller, low wattage fans help move warm air from the ceiling to the floor reducing stratification problems. To ensure a complete picture of the solar environment was recorded, Weld used two automatic thermometers, a strip-chart recorder, visual observations of cloud cover, and temperature sensors placed at various lo cations throughout the attached and free-standing greenhouses and thermal rockbed. The re sult s of these measurements would be graphed and made available to various state and local agencies. The rockbed in the attached greenhouse and the internal area of the smaller free-standing control g reen- house were monitored on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. At the end of the year's study, Weld collec ted his data and discovered that the rockbed was coolest from November through January, never getting beyond 40 degrees, then lo sing warmth quickly after the sun went down. From February on, the rockbed increased both in temperature and thermal capacity, reaching a peak in early Jul y. Since We ld 's ori ginal plan was to let the rockbed "hibernate" during the w inter, he wasn't disappointed when it wouldn't supply heat during the first winter's use. Future plans are to draw heat directly from the multi-fuel furnace in stead of the ceiling area between the first and second floor. This heat would be injected directly into the thermal mass. Although this would mean higher internal temperatures for the rock bed, Weld doesn't expect permafrost damage, but he 's "real worried about it'.' Another interesting thing that was discovered during this project was the debunking of the "closed-buil ding rule'.' This rule infers that all so lar structures should be closed off and sealed from the rest of the home during the winter months. Jeremy Weld discovered that by defying thi s rule, heating performance actually im- proved . "Closed, it not only looked terrible, it simply didn't work:' His real problem wasn't isolation, but rather infiltration. "If I were to build this structure again, I would use a version of double-studded wall ;' he said. It was vi rtually impossible to seal the corners of the post- and-beam wall s. The only place that remained sealed was the sloped w indows. This, by the way, was also the j eremy and Linda Weld's greenh ouse (right) was under con- struction during 198 1. 153 only part of the structure that worked well as a green- house, the original purpose of the addition, and was probably due more to the increased light from the sloped windows than anything else. Weld also found that although post-and-beam con- struction is very attractive, it is virtually impossible to seal. Normal wood expansion /contraction caused by the Copper River Basin climate would leave small cracks around the support beams. He tried many different com- mercially available caulks and concluded that a bout the only way to actually seal them from the outside was to cover them up. Tips After building a n u mber of experimental walls, testing insulation materials and techniques, and caulking com- pounds, Weld offers the following tips for the amateur owner-builder: • Don't get wrapped up in the technical aspects of con- struction, remember practical is better. • The ability to ventilate moisture out of a wall is as important as keeping moisture from entering it. • When conflict arises between keeping out the winter chill and letting in as much li ght as possible, better to err on the side of more glass. • Although proper insulation is important, air infil- tration will de stroy any benefits of the insulation. • Build to make maxi mum use of the environment, i.e., solar gain, wind protection, etc. • Finally, have a definite idea of what you want and like before you pick up a hammer. Keep in mind that the most important result of the building is not the structure itself, but the improvement you feel in your quality of life. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska State of Alaska (Greenhouse) Grant Recipient Jeremy and Linda Weld Box224 Gakona, Alaska 99586 $ 408 408 5,000 Demonstration project a success Once the site of the worl d's most profitable low-grade gold mine, Juneau now hosts politicians, tourists, fisher- men, and determined gardeners. Located a t the base of Mount Juneau a nd Mount Roberts, Juneau is a short drive sou th from the great Mendenhall Glacier Va ll ey. Its location places Juneau a lmost directly in the path of every storm crossi n g the Gulf of Alaska; consequently, the area does not exhibit the most h osp itable gardening climate. This means t h at those sun loving, high tempera- ture vege tables either have to be imported, g iven -up, or grow n in a climate-controlled greenhouse. Unfortun- ately, these greenhouses are usually so expensive to build and operate, that the owners cannot afford to grow those items that the greenhouse was built to handle . Stan Moberly felt o therwise. By usin g passive solar principles, he though t he could successfully extend the growing season and improve the climate fo r those special vegetables without mortgaging his soul to the energy companies. In 1979, Moberl y built his solar g reenhouse and is amazed at h ow well it was working. After a cursory canvassing, he found that "this solar greenhouse is the only known solar greenhouse in this area of Alaska that is utilizing stored solar energy to grow vegetables and flowers;' and that it could "ser ve as a 154 demonstration project if careful records are kept:' In 1980, Moberly was awarded a grant to develop a monitoring system to keep th ose records. The project would involve monitoring the climate both inside and outside the greenhouse, recording the sun's daily intensity, and keeping track of any supplemental electrical energy usage. T he monitoring p roject would last one year and the results would be tabulated for public in terpretation. Design and Construction The 12-foot-eight-inch-by-16-foot south-facing struc- ture sits in the rear of the owner's residence where the garden used to be. Supported by a treated wood founda- tion, the building is 11 feet high at grade and is sunk a n other 14 inches in the ground to reduce a ir infi ltration and to enclose a 235 cubic foot sand and gravel heat sink. The two s ides, rear, and short front wall are framed with treated two-by-four studs. The bottom two feet of the sides and rear wall are insulated with styrofoam, sheathed with treated plywood and have a vapor barrier both inside the s h eathin g and stapled outside around the bottom of each w a ll. Meta l flashing caps the treated ply- wood. The remaining wall area is insulated with fiber- 155 Stan Mo b erley (p re vious page) takes a break dur- ing the const ruction o f his g reenh ouse. (Above and middle left ), two phases in the construc tion of the g re en h ouse. A view (b ottom left) of the struc- ture's interior w ith pla nts and seedlings. glass, with a plastic vapor barrier attached to the inner surface, and is enclosed with painted plywood. The ply- wood is painted white on the inside of the building and brown, to match the owner's residence, on the exterior. The insulated roof is covered with white plywood on the inside, insulated with fiberglass, and then covered with corrugated green fiberglass sheets. The south facing solar glazing is angled so that the sun strikes it at exactly 90 degrees on March 21. The solar energy passing through the corrugated clear fiberglass and clear plastic inside is absorbed and stored by a 1,000-gallon water thermal mass. The water is stored in discarded 55-gallon drums, five-gallon fuel cans, and plastic storage bottles that are stacked across the north wall. A time-activated oscillating fan is turned on for one hour every three hours to prevent thermal stratification and to ensure equal temperatures throughout the green- house. A thermostatically controlled wall fan and lou- vered opening on the opposing wall purge the green- house when inside temperatures get extreme. Electrical outlets are located about half way up in the middle of each wall for convenience. Other nice features are the small sink and potting bench near the split dutch entry door. The split door allows more ventilation in the summer. Growing benches along the side walls and a lattice in front of the thermal mass for climbing plants complete the structure. Performance Although the location of the greenhouse resulted in solar interference from both Moberly's and his neighbor's house, the structure's design was so good that the inter- ference never has caused any problems. Even during the coldest months, the solar mass never went below 32 degrees. Because of this, and because electrical usage was 156 minimal, the power meter and solar intensity meter were never used. 'Usually, the coldest temperatures in Juneau are during periods of clear skies'; states Moberly, "this, of course, allows more solar energy to be collected than on cloudy days~ From all indications, Moberly built a successful solar greenhouse and provided a mass of information for others interested in passive solar construction. As for those sun loving, high temperature plants, "experimentation with various varieties of tomatoes was tried" and "the variety that performed the best was selected for growing thereafter:' Conclusions and Problems About the only real problem Moberly had building this structure was accidently mounting the front ·and back walls outside of the end walls instead of butted against the end wall as designed. This added eight more inches to the structure and added material costs. "The greenhouse provided the opportunity to garden over two months earlier than could have been accom- plished outside, and the risk of late freezing temperatures was eliminated:' writes Stan Moberly. For a serious hobby gardener, a greenhouse full of flowers and vege- tables is the true mark of success. · Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Stan A. Moberly 9414 Berners Avenue Juneau, Alaska 99803 $1,415 1,415 Satellite aids in cordwood inventory During the early part of the century, before the Alaska Railroad opened the Interior to the vast Matanuska and Healy coal fields, the main fuel source for the Fairbanks area was cord wood. Vast stands were slashed to fuel the boats plying the Yukon and Tanana Rivers, after gold- seekers created this 1903-incorporated city .. Today, most of the remaining timber is either in pri- vate ownership or in the hands of the state . Unfortun- ately, the rising use of woodstoves as an alternative energy source is putting stress on this remaining re- source. This pressure has made resources inventory important to determine what the sustainable yield is for a particular area. Arbitrary cutting beyond this limit may do irreparable damage to the resource and reduce its availability to support future generations. 'Timber inventories, and those of other natural re- sources, are usually managed by separate government agencies. This type of management may or may not reflect the actual availability of a resource to the local community;' says Dr. William Stringer, associate professor of geophysics at the University of Alaska- Fairbanks Geophysical Institute . The main impediment to inventorying cordwood potential is the cost of survey- ing large , remote areas. Even using airplanes is costly. Stringer's solution would have amazed those rugged Fairbanksans of 80 years ago-the use of satellite tech- nology that has been pioneered by Alaskans of another age. The need for a cordwood inventory was early recog- nized in a February, 1980 meeting of the Tanana Valley Development Council, which identified the need for a cordwood inventory as essential for "future cordwood use in the Fairbanks North Star Borough'.' Without this knowledge it is virtually impossible to monitor this resource for the benefit of future citizens and self- reliance, said the council. In 1980, Stringer and the Geophysical Institute obtained an AT grant to develop a low-cost method for inventorying cordwood. Stringer proposed to use high- resolution satellite images and remote sensing techniques for this purpose. Project Description Stringer and a research associate, Janis Zender- Romick, proposed to use Landsat satellite imagery to produce low-cost inventories of selected areas. Landsat uses a series of polar-orbiting satellites to produce an image of a particular area every 18 days. These images are produced qy a variety of devices; one, a Multi- Spectral Scanner (MSS) would be used for this project. When finished , both a low-cost method of cordwood inventory would be developed and a cordwood mapping manual prepared so the technique could be replicated elsewhere. MSS is obtained both separately and simultaneously in four wavelengths. It is also possible ·to obtain black and white images representing the amount of light reflected from the earth in each of these wavelengths. Since different types of vegetation reflect different wave- 157 lengths of light and higher densities reflect more of that wavelength, using both color and black-and-white images, it is possible to roughly estimate the types and densities of ground cover . It was decided that the cordwood inventory process would be developed in stages. First, satellite images of the selected area would be obtained for both the summer and winter. This would help determine both the types and densities of ground cover. Stringer and Zender-Romick chose Viereck and Little's description of interior Alaska forests as a base for their study. Viereck and Little's book, Alaska's Trees and Shrubs, Agricultural Handbook Number 410, divides Alaska's ground cover into six categories. These are: • Closed Forests, consisting of white spruce, aspen, birch, and poplar • Open Forests, consisting of black spruce, small birch, and tamarack • Recent Burns, consisting of willows, saplings, and scrub • Treeless Bogs, consisting of willow, berries, dwarf trees, and no cordwood • Shrub Thickets, consisting of flood plain thickets and elevated thickets • Alpine Tundra The next step was to determine which color in the satellite photographs corresponds to a particular ground cover type . This was done by using high-altitude aerial photos in color infrared. Field observations were used to classify the color blocks in the satellite photographs. Analysis The first stage in data analysis was to trace the color boundaries from the summer satellite photographs. Four main color scale classes were used: bright red; mostly red with some mottling of blue-grey; dark reddish-purple; and dark blue-grey to black . The winter photograph also was divided into four categories: very bright; light grey or brown; medium to dense brown; and dark black- brown. These classes were subsequently traced onto a topographical map and copies of that map were taken to the field to determine the composition of each category base on the information presented in Table 1. This was done by direct observation or, if direct observation was not possible, binoculars and aerial observation. The information gathered from the field caused some adjustments of the maps. It was found that it was almost impossible to separate pure birch and pure aspen stands in the satellite photographs and that extremely dense undergrowth may indicate a different type of vegetation than actually exists. During map interpretation it was also found that the blurry nature of these extreme enlargements made it difficult to determine actual boundary lines between vegetation types. It was deter- mined that the final maps for this project would have to be larger to be of any value. After this table was prepared, 10 sample units were selected at random for quantitative sampling. Each sample was superimposed on a high-altitude aerial I w ...J <( u "' >-<( a: "' w "' <( :;; a: w 1-z ~ photograph and species composition and density esti- mated. This final analysis resulted in a more accurate description of vegetation indicated by the two Landsat photographs and are illustrated in Table 2. By relating average cord wood per acre to the type of vegetation present, it is possible using this method to estimate the cordwood available in selected locations throughout the state at an extremely low cost. In all, Stringer and his staff mapped over 962,000 acres and actually inventoried 120,000 acres. The total cost for this inventory was 16 cents per acre. Conclusion The method developed by Stringer is indeed a low- cost cordwood inventory process; however, it cannot be deemed totally accurate. Because of the difficulty deter- mining borders between vegetation groups, a 30% varia- tion should be anticipated. This variation may mask the locations of highly significant stands of mature hard- woods, but "it should be stressed that the technique described here is largely a reconnaissance process aimed at exploring a wide region quickly in order to locate areas for closer investigation. Before consideration of a potential cord wood area progresses very far, a site should be visited~ said Stringer. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Dr. William Stringer $9,500 9,500 Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Table 1 FINAL DESIGNATION DF COLOR· GRAY SCALE UNITS IN TERMS OF VEGETATION DESCRIPTIONS SUMMER IMAGE-COLOR Bright Red Red with Some Some Mottled Blue-Gray, Very Blue-Black Blue Mottling Red-Blue, Maroon Few Red Patches Purple, Lavender A B c D E 0 Low-lying deciduous Low-lying deciduous Alpine tundra Largely bog. Not observed. White vegetation. Open vegetation with with some black crown cover, grassy some spruce. Some spruce. fields, recent urban areas. Sap- burns, urban areas. ling size trees. Sapling size trees. 1 Largely closed Largely closed Open crown cover Medium crown cover Not observed. Lt. Blue-Gray deciduous forest deciduous forest shrub thicket and shrub thicket, 65% Lt. Brown-Gray with-10% shrub, with 20% spruce treeless bog, 60% shrub, 35% spruce. little spruce. and 10% shrub. shrub, 30% black Sapling size trees. Sapling to pole Sapling to pole spruce, 10% decid- size trees. size trees. uous trees. 2 Completely closed Completely closed Largely closed Largely closed Largely closed Brown-Gray deciduous forest deciduous forest crown cover. 50% crown cover spruce crown cover, 80% to with little spruce with 20% spruce, no deciduous, 35% forest, 70% spruce, spruce, 10% decid- Deep Brown or shrub. Pole to shrub. Pole to com-spruce, 15% shrub. 20% shrub, 10% de-uous, 10% shrub. commercial size mercia! size trees. Pole to commercial ciduous. Pole to Pole to commercial trees. size trees. commercial size size trees. trees. 3 Not observed. Largely closed Largely closed Largely closed Moderate crown Black crown cover. 75% crown cover. 50% crown cover, spruce cover, 50% shrub, Deep Shadow deciduous (very deciduous, 25% forest, 80% spruce, 50% spruce (largely likely largely spruce, 25% shrub. 10% deciduous, 10% black spruce). Sap· birch). 17% spruce, Commercial size shrub. Commercial ling to pole size 18% shrub. Pole to trees. size trees. trees. commercial size trees. Source: The Northern Engineer, Vol. 15, No.4 158 L.U _J <( u (/) >- <( 0: (.!) L.U (.!) <( ~ 0: L.U 1-z ~ Table 2 SUMMER IMAGE-COLOR Bright Red Red with Some Some Mottled Blue-Gray, Very Blue-Black Scarlet. Magenta Blue Mott ling Red -Blue , Maroon Few Red Patches Purple , Lavender A B c D E 0 dec iduous young deciduous forest ; tundra with black White trees o r saplings , some spruce, spr u ce , grassy fields , urban areas urban areas tundra, recent burns, urban areas deciduous forest; dec iduous forest shrub, alder/w illow, black spruce , it . blue -gray small to medium with some spruce ; black spruce ; some shrubs ; it . b rown -gray tree s small to medium small trees small trees trees 2 deciduous forest ; deciduous forest mixed forest, spruce ; spruce forest; brown -gray med ium to large with some spruce ; climax stage; medium to large medium to large to trees medium to large medium to large trees trees deep brown trees trees 3 mixed forest spruce forest spruce forest black deep shadow N otes: For the mostly deciduous A and B categories, moving from a 1 to a 2 indicates older trees as well as a higher proportion of conifers. Cl areas, usually found in drainages and floodplains, are not us eful sources of cordwood; C2 areas on a slope are likely to be good cordwood sources . D l areas of black spruce appear as a light-bluish -gray in winter images; deciduous vegetation appears light-brownish-gray in t he winter color infrared image . An E2 category is often a forest of tall white spruce in a sunlit location . The E3 category is not well defined, but probably has a low cordwood poten t ial . Source : The Northern Engineer, Vol. 15 , N o.4 159 Ethanol production requires large amounts of energy Most alternative energy systems need some means of heat storage as part of their overall design. This is due to the often interruptive nature of specific power sources. Solar cells generate electricity only when the sun is out; likewise, wind generators need wind, and solar collectors store heat only during the daytime. Other than conventional batteries, there are few long- term energy storage devices available for these systems. One device that is gaining a following is the hydrogen fuel cell, but hydrogen is highly explosive and hard to control. Neldon Wagner, a former teacher in Kodiak, thought that ethanol, a form of alcohol, would be a perfect energy storage medium. Ethanol can be burned in car and truck engines, home space heaters, water heaters, cooking appliances, and so on . It has a long, stable "shelf life;' and it's not explosive like hydrogen. In 1980, Neldon Wagner obtained a grant to study the economic feasibility of ethanol production . His project would use electrical power to generate ethanol from water (H20) and carbon dioxide (C02 ). The experiments would take place at a local Kodiak High School. Project Design Wagner purposely designed a project that was too small for large scale energy production; however, his concepts and findings could be upgraded to a full pro- duction system easily. The main thrust of his experi- ments was to execute four independent but serially con- nected chemical reactions that would convert water and carbon dioxide through methane and acetylene to ethanal and finally to ethanol. The reactions were chosen because: • They were environmentally safe and produced no unmanageable or toxic by-products . • They were technically simple, and • They were low cost and used no exotic metals or apparatus. Each reaction in the synthesis series was independently conducted to achieve maximum efficiency, simple con- struction, and technical feasibility. The final results of these reactions would give Wagner an idea of the economics of ethanol production . Two glass reaction chambers were manufactured for these experiments. Reaction Chamber A, used for reac- tions one and two, is a 36 em long, 12 mm diameter quartz tube with a Nichrome heating element supported down the center of the tube with mica spacers. The mica spacers provide mechanical support and also help inter- rupt gas flow for better contact between the gas and the Nichrome wire . Reaction Chamber B is a necked-down (12 mm to three mm) quartz tube with a 200-watt tungsten filament inserted in the narrowed section . Although it was orig- inally planned to insulate the two reaction chambers, no insulation was used during the course of these experi- 160 ments . This is because temperature was visually con- trolled with a crude SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) light dimmer circuit. The four chemical reactions Wagner would use to convert the water and carbon dioxide were: 1) combining carbon dioxide with hydrogen to produce methane, 2) converting the methane at 1400 degrees to acetylene, 3) combining the acetylene with water to make acetalde- hyde (ethanal), and finally 4) combining the ethanal with hydrogen to make ethanol. Wagner decided to perform the experiments out of order since the reactants for reaction Number 3 were readily available. This reaction converted acetylene to ethanal. Ethanal is needed for the last reaction. As he was converting the acetylene to ethanal, Wagner found that simply bubbling the gas through an aqueous solu- tion was very inefficient. He improved the process by "squirting" the gas through a pinched off glass tube and baffling the container with small pieces of plastic. Actual efficiency was determined visually. Acetylene by itself burns in an open flame and produces a lot of particu- late matter (pure carbon), ethanal burns with a clean, slightly yellow flame . Wagner simply adjusted the amount of acetylene introduced to the reaction chamber until he could produce an ethanal flame. This same type of attitude was taken performing the three remaining reactions. Visual observation was used as the final test to determine the quality of the reactions. During each reaction, the flow rates of the raw ingredi- ents were monitored and compared to the gas produced . This, Wagner decided, would give an accurate efficiency value for ethanol production. Results Wagner found that although ethanol is a safe, long- lasting fuel source, it required much energy to produce. Starting with 100% energy, a full99.8 % would be con- sumed just to store 0.2 %. Very few situations would justify that type of energy loss. Minimizing the number of reactions, or creating larger, more efficient production units may reduce the energy loss somewhat, but the ability to make this process economically feasible seems highly unlikely. Another problem with this process is the relative sophistication of the components and processes as they would relate to remote locations . More urban locations would not have the type of storage problems this project envisions because of more uniform usage . Funding U.S . Department of Energy State of Alaska Grantee Neldon Wagner 1250 S .W. McGinnis Troutdale, Oregon 97060 $1,639 1,639 Energy-efficient salmon drying facility studied Two Native village corporations conducted a study to see if they could start up a commercial salmon process- ing plant powered with solar panels, wind generators, hydroelectric or some other local energy source . Unfortunately, the lguigig Native Corporation and the Levelock Natives Ltd . did not build the plant, and there is no data about whether solar and wind power is applicable . The two village corporations had intended to build the plant about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Kvichak River which flows into Bristol Bay near Naknek and King Salmon . The region is the world's largest commer- cial salmon spawning area . There are no roads into Levelock, so everything must be flown or shipped to this small village of 100 residents. Commercial fishing, trapping and subsistence hunting and fishing are the principal economic activities of Levelock . During summer, salmon are dried and smoked, many on open-air drying racks. Purpose The feasibility study was to develop ideas for an energy-efficient solar-heated, wind-powered commercial salmon drying facility. In addition, a videotape was planned to illustrate how innovative technology could be used for a commercial salmon operation in a small community. All Alaska Services, Inc., of Kodiak, Alaska, con- ducte d the study. The consultants compiled information on fisher y resources, mar keting , smoking procedures, plant facilities , staffing, transportation and financing . But the evaluation of alternative energy options was given only a cursory review in a one-third-page discus- sion of solar and wind energy. Instead, the report spot- lighted the potential use of diesel generation with waste heat recovery fo r providing the fish processing heat requirements . 161 STUDIES Study Findings The consultants proposed a $1 .64 million plant which would process about 4,000 pounds of smoked salmon daily during a 10-week period, for an annual production of 240,000 pounds of smoked fish with a price of $7.20 per pound in Seattle, Washington. The consultants also said an additional $1.5 million would be needed for operating expenditures. The village corporations, however, decided not to pursue a project of this size after reviewing the study. Project Evaluation The feasibility study was approached from the stand- point of high technology production equipment, requir- ing significant amounts of energy and minimal manpower. State AT evaluators have indicated that a more appro- priate approach would have been to analyze the available and potential alternative energy sources. These would have included active solar water heating , photovoltaics and wind generation among other options . The issue of using local labor and importing hired help also should have been analyzed, in the State's view. By assessing all these resources and their alternatives, the parameters for plant design could have been iden- tified under all potential scenarios, something the report did not do. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipients Iguigig Native s, Ltd . General Delivery lguigig, Alaska 99613 Available Materials $5 ,000 $5 ,000 Levelock Natives, Ltd . General Delivery Levelock, Alaska 99625 All Ala ska Services, Inc., A Study of the Feasibility of Establishing A Commercially Smoked Salmon Process- ing Facility, 1981 , 70pp. Salmon waste study shows good result M t f . h men do not think twice when they clean a os 1s er . .d 1 . f h and let the fast movmg stream or tl a actwn carry IS th f se· but when the total amount of that away e re u ' b . d . . 130 million tons, you egm to un er-v1scera 1s over . 1 k ' · d d h blem faong A as as cannery m ustry. stan t e pro . 1 f" h . d AI k ' 1 crative commerc1a 1s enes pro uce as as u d 11 f · ld" d f 500 million poun s annua y, o ten y1e mg upwar s o . . d Th I h h 1 to one b1lhon poun s. e sa mon catc , catc es c ose h If f II · I d d) · I ( entl·ng about a o a species an e IS a one repres h A d d d. 87 o/t f the total U.S. catc . n epen mg upon hsome h f~ ho re processed once they are landed, from 15 ow t e 1s a · F 33 ot f th catch becomes processmg waste. or every to ./0 o e f d . . .f. t t t d f lmon stuf e m a can, s1gm 1can was e ge s poun o sa . d" 1 d . 1 ndfill or in manne 1sposa areas. tosAseb mka a und in both the seafood processing industry ac gro · d D Le R ·d h h. d t d . posal convmce r. roy e1 t at t IS an was e IS . · · Th t bl ded further mvestlgatwn. e presen pro _em nfede. posing more than 50% of each fish is both practiCe 0 IS u· f h Jd f 1 d unnecessary; m many parts o t e wor , waste u an · 1 h 1 d · · t · stes are routme y c anne e mto a vane y Processmg wa . .f. . . ht d h t t h f b d ts What soentJ IC ms1g s an w a ec -0 y-pro uc · d 1 . h. I d A laska nee to proper y manage t IS waste no ogy oes ]]?" k d R .d d to use it we . as e e1 . resource an h · R ·d I ff t to find answers to t ese questwns, e1 , nan e or . 1 I . "d t f Alaska Env1ronmenta Contro Services, pres! en t 0d funds to study methods that would make was ?ran e e of each salmon caught in Alaska waters. max1mum us 1 · · · d · th H . · t would invo ve mvestJgatmg an testmg e IS pro1ec . f f" h . f ·b·]·t f digesting hsh wastes rom IS processmg easl I I y o 1 ·] l"d d I. "d Th I t Ver usab e 01 s, so 1 s, an 1qm s. e p ants o reco . h . . t !d be performed m two p ases. First, a Projec wou b. d . d" . 1. ch of anaero IC an enzymatic 1gest1ve 1terature sear d h b h 1 f !d be performe . T en, a enc -sea e test o shystemstwfofuctive method would be done and the results t e mos e e R .d d d . t d · a formal report. e1 acte as a visor to presen e m d d h 1 k . t t who woul o t e actua wor . two ass1s an s ~ Testing and Analysis . . The first part of the project, the librar;: search, was · d t b a graduate student, Roy T1mmreck. carne ou Y h f h U · T . k b gan with a computer searc o t e mver-Immrec e ·b d h 0 f . f AI k Resource LI rary an t e epartment o s1ty o as a L"b f 11 db · I · ' AI ska Resource 1 rary, o owe y a tnp to ntenor s a . ' F" h · R L"b h U · ·t of Washmgtons IS enes esource 1 rary t e mversi y . d d d S h 1 f Fisheries. The literature stu y was to eter-a~ ch 00 0 urce potential of cannery wastes and identi-mme t e reso h R ·d f · methods to extract t ose resources. e1 y processmg . ·1 bl · h d th t b identifymg the resources ava1 a e m hope at ythe fishing industry would begin to seek t ose was es, f d . t d lop it instead o ump It. ways o eve ld 1 k ·1 1· ·d; The literature study wou oo at 01 content, 1qm l .d f t.1. r potential, or other resources such as SO I er I IZe f h ]"b h b fbi gases and heat. A ter t e 1 rary searc was com lust 1 Gewen Turner would perform a bench-study of comp e e, . f · 1 1 t b . d" estion o vanous sa mon samp es o anaero IC Ig d 1· d h · 1 d · content an qua 1ty an eat potentia . etermme gas . h d h b h Th It f both the literature searc an t e enc -e resu s o d . .I bl t th d ld be drafte mto reports ava1 a e o e stu ywou 162 seafood industry and other interested parties. This study assumed that some useful by-products, such as the oils high in vitamins, had already been extracted . The only wastes digested would be those that had no other uses . Turner used ground salmon wastes "donated" by area canneries. These wastes were placed in 2,000-millimeter glass flasks and immersed in a water bath to control digesting temperature and allow the recording of heat production. Although the water bath was originally to be kept at 55 degrees centigrade, further literature research determined that 33 degrees would produce a faster and more stable digestion. The two researchers monitored each sample until gas production ceased, between 30 and 45 days, and then analyzed both the gas produced and the spent flask contents. Conclusions Roy Timmreck's final report on the literature study is a comprehensive dissertation on the resources available in fish wastes. Beginning with a description of the fish processing industry including types of fish processed, catch size, and typical fish wastes and waste treatments, Timmreck then undertakes a thorough discussion of the fish processing technology and practices including methods of extracting valuable nutritional and other beneficial products from the wastes. His report ends with a list of the available vitamins and minerals in the fish wastes and a list of all the certified Seafood Operators in Alaska from 1977 to 1980. Gwen Turner's report was based on the results of the anaerobic digestion study. Although digestion was not complete at the end of the experiment, the study did provide information on gas content and quality and the heat potential in fish wastes. The digested products were also analyzed for fertilizer potential and the results included in the report. Whereas Timmreck's report dealt with theoretical potential, Turner's report provided hard data on the potential resources available in the wastes. Based on the bench tests conducted on the processed salmon wastes, the researchers concluded that it is possible to digest these wastes anaerobically, but that further experimentation needs to be done to find the balance that will fully complete the digestion process. Researchers concluded that the following variables (ex- plained in detail in the report) must be adjusted or moni- tored to go beyond the partial digestion achieved in this project: chemical oxygen demand; nitrogen and phos- phorus ratios; pH levels; carbonate content of waste- water; sodium concentrations; and potassium content of wastes. Throughout the course of the project, the potential of the resource was stressed and not the development of a workable system for developing the resource. Dr. Reid feels that this is the responsibility of the fish processing industry; his organization was involved only in identify- ing the resource potentials. Because the fish processing industry traditionally works only with processes that have a fast payback schedule, it is uncertain if the in- dustry will take advantage of this study. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska $2,795 2,795 163 Grant Recipient Leroy C. Reid, )r., Ph.D. 1200 West 33rd Avenue Anchorage, Alaska 99503 Wood gasification studied by timber mill The 1980s have brought hard times for Alaska timber companies and Mitkof Lumber Co., a small sawmill located on the Wrangell Narrows three miles south of Petersburg, found its market deteriorating and operating costs rising. Like many lumber companies, Mitkof had to look for ways to remain profitable. Typically, small firms cut payroll or search for new markets to do this, but in the current business climate , the workforce was already cut to the bone and new markets just weren't there . Another method had to be found. For every two-by-four cut in the world, there is a pile of bark and sawdust left behind. This residue either ends up being dumped, or burned in a giant incinerator. Saw- mills in California, Oregon, and Washington are con- verting a portion of this waste into "manufactured" fire- place logs. Unfortunately in Alaska, there is an abund- ance of fuel wood and thus a limited market for this type of product. Wood gasification was becoming popular with other wood product companies . This process was a way to "c hange a liability to an asset by converting waste wood residue directly into a fuel" that could replace the 211,200 gallons of diesel used every year by the company. Other small and large scale projects had 164 already proven the technology. The Mother Earth News, an alternative magazine, outfitted a late model pick-up truck with a wood gasifier and has traveled cross coun- try using salvaged waste wood as fuel. They also modi- fied a small gasoline generator to use wood-gas to gen - erate electricity. After "a world-wide" search, Ed Lapeyri, President of Mitkof Lumber Company, and Gerald Engel, area forester, decided that a wood gasifier may be part of the answer to Mitkof's problems. In 1980, Mitkof Lumber Company applied for and was awarded grants to research and develop a workable wood-gasification plant. This project would be com- pleted in three steps, with each step dependent upon the results of the previous step. The steps would be to : (1) test the wood wastes to determine fuel content; (2) test the wood wastes' ability to produce a usable fuel in a wood gasifier; and (3) develop an operational gasifier. This was modified soon after receiving the award to install a full-size wood gasifie r at Mitkof for electrical power generation. Data Collection and Testing In April 1981, Engel and Ken Kilborn , a U.S . Forest Service employee, determined that the sawmill produces about 6,800 tons of wood waste each year, calculated by monitoring 100 typical sawlogs as they were processed. A wood residue sample was tested in this gasifier located in Portland, Oregon. Later that year, a sample of wood residue was shipped to Hamilton Energy Systems of Portland, Ore., where it was tested for five hours in a gasifier designed by Franz Rotter. Although the output of the gasifier was supposed to run a 175-horsepower Waukesha diesel/generator, the generator section was inoperative. The gas produced did, however, run the internal combustion engine with no load and provided needed momentum to the project. At the end of the five-hour test, the results showed that almost 42 percent of the heat value in the wood was con- verted to a low BTU gas. About 10,700 cubic feet of this (95 BTUs per cubic foot) gas was produced, or approxi- mately 26 cubic feet of gas per pound of wood. Further studies indicated that the quality and amount of gas could be increased by pelletizing the fuel, recycling the spent charcoal, and adding a small amount of oil to each burn. Pelletizing the wood before adding it to the gasifier would also keep the wood scraps from periodically clog- ging the feed hopper. Final analysis of the wood-gasifier by-products indi- cated that hazardous wastes were present and additional scrubbing would have to be performed in order to satisfy environmental requirements. For example, water pro- duced as a by-product, was highly acidic, black from soluble tars, and had an awful odor. However, the test run proved that an acceptable gas can be generated from the wood residues and that with some modification a gasifier could be built to overcome the offensive by-products. Shortly after this stage was completed, Mitkof was informed by the State of Alaska Division of Energy and Power Development that an Anchorage company, Marenco, Inc., also was working on wood-gasification. In fact, they had an experimental system in Anchorage. Mitkof agreed to a contract with the State to install a second generation gasifier manu- factured by Marenco. Mitkof sent three workers to train on the completed unit in Anchorage. After three days of trying to get Marenco's gasifier to work, Mitkof man- agement decided that a more reliable system would be needed before installation would be approved. Mitkof "lost interest at that point; according to Engle, and the project was dropped. 165 Conclusions Although the prospects of converting waste wood to a usable fuel still sound exciting, the "technology isn't up to snuff~ said Engel. 'Although one of the guys we con- tacted had recently won a cross country race in a wood- fired car and is planning a five-megawatt wood-gasifi- cation plant in Michigan, we aren't large enough to war- rant a large investment in technological research:' he said. The study itself, however, was considered a success. It exposed those grey areas of the technology that dramat- ically increase costs when going from experimental units to full production facilities. For example, the studies in Oregon indicated that the fuel had to be pelletized prior to use and that additional environmental protection devices were needed to process the by products. These additions raised the price of a working system to almost that of a large wood-fired steam generator system. With present market conditions and an uncertain future, Mitkof decided to maintain its present system of diesel powered generators and equipment, supplemented by utility power. The future for wood-gasifiers is uncertain, even though the State of Alaska has spent over $1.2 million in wood gasification development since 1978. Prob- lems with fuel consistency, dangerous by-products, etc., makes this energy source questionable. Funding U.S. Department of Energy State of Alaska Grant Recipient Mitkof Lumber Company P.O. Box89 Petersburg, Alaska 99833 $6,415 6,415 Media and curriculum projects expand energy knowledge While scores of grantees were inventing new applica- tions for energy technologies, grappling with technical problems, and getting their equipment on-stream, other grantees were participating in a statewide series of grants to spread the word about appropriate technology. These programs ranged from full-scale video and audio tape programming production to community workshops that taught the basics of energy conservation. Several grants enabled communities to develop their own energy libraries or resource centers (in addition to a series of grants awarded individual libraries statewide to improve their collections; these grants are listed in the Appendices). The following is a synopsis of each grantee's media and educational project under the AT grant program . Robert Woolf A textbook outlining the historical origins of appro- priate technology was developed by Robert Woolf, and Paul Helmar of Juneau. Woolf received $7,026 from the U.S. Department of Energy and $39,376 from the state of Alaska for the project, which he developed while teach- ing in the v illage of Atmautluak. The history textbook, a one-semester course, is avail- able through the Alaska Department of Education's vocational education office. The state is publishing so me 1,000 copies of the textbook. In addition, Woolf designed a model home for class- room use. The model, two-feet-by-one-foot-by-two-feet , helps students learn about the concepts of appropriate technology. It also is available through the vocational education office . Further information may be obtained from Woolf at 749 St. Ann's Ave ., Douglas, AK 99824 . Southeast Regional Resource Center The Southeast Regional Resource Center obtained $35,000 for producing videotapes, slide tapes and lesson materials on the appropriate technology grants. All that was completed was a 30-minute videotape on some of the AT projects. It is available through the State Film Library under the title "Appropriate Energy Modes:' 167 University of Alaska-Fairbanks, School of Agriculture Belle Michelson and Sue Yerian, with the U of As Fair- banks School of Agriculture, received $7,769 in funding to create an energy curriculum library at the North Pole Junior-Senior High School. Multi-media teaching mate- rials emphasizing northern energy applications were selected for the library collection. Goals of the program included demonstrating local appropriate technology through multi-media education, boosting the amount of locally available alternative energy literature, and teach- ing these energy topics in seventh through 12th grade classes. For more information, contact Yerian at Box 82114, College, AK 99708. Western Media Concepts, Inc. Western Media Concepts, Inc., a radio production firm in Anchorage, received a $16,896 grant to research, edit and produce radio broadcast tapes for various alter- native energy projects around the state. In all, the com- pany produced 15 five-minute programs, aired on 10 commercial radio station members of the Alaska Radio Network. Three documentaries also were produced, as well as 15 two-minute features . The tapes were offered to and used by radio stations statewide. Further information on the radio project may be obtained from Western Media at P.O. Box 215 , Anchor- age, AK 99510 . Northwest Community College Nome's Northwest Community College used AT grant funds to improve knowledge of appropriate technology's benefits in a number of villages in the Northwest Alaska region , including Unalakleet, Gambell, Savoonga, Shishmaref, Wales, Teller, Stebbins, Diomede, White Mountain, Golovin and Nome. The $26,797 project included workshops, demonstrations, consulting for residents and accumulation of a collection of books for the college library and five learning centers throughout the region. Further information on the program may be obtained from the Energy Information Center (Library) at the col- lege , Pouch 400, Nome, AK 99762 . Sitka Community College The Sitka Community College also conducted an energy outreach program in its region with a grant total- ing $9,582. Workshops were held in Kake, Angoon, Petersburg and Wrangell by two instructors. The work- shops covered lifestyle practices that can reduce energy consumption; conservation measures suitable for (indi- vidually audited) homes; applications for renewable resource energy sources; financing and other programs available through the state for energy conservation; federal energy conservation tax credit programs; and retrofitting methods to improve energy efficiency. Further information on the program may be obtained from the college, P.O. Box 1090, Sitka, AK 99835. Huslia High School Huslia High School was awarded a $5,579 grant to develop an Energy Resource (Information) Center in the school. The collection included books, pamphlets, reports, video and audio tapes, and films. The school sought the grant to improve its teaching and educational resources for the community. The library was available 168 to teachers during the day and to the community during after-school hours. Further information on this Yukon-Koyukuk region project may be obtained from the high school resource center, Huslia, AK 99746. Steve Smiley In addition to his wind generator project in Homer, appropriate technology advocate Steve Smi)ey con- ducted a workshop at the Seward Training Center under a $5,000 grant from the AT program. In the workshop, Smiley discussed techniques for building and retrofitting for energy efficiency. He covered costs and benefits of energy efficiency (such as tax credits, etc.), general design considerations, specific building techniques, building materials, and selected hardware. Further information on the workshops may be obtained from Smiley at SRA Box 41-C, Homer, AK 99603. ,. r I Glossary Absorber pipe-The tubing is a solar collector that transfers the heat collected by the absorber plate to the heat transfer fluid, either air or liquid, within it. Appropriate Energections-A quarterly magazine pub- lished by the State of Alaska, Department of Commerce and Economic Development, Division of Energy and Power Development until june, 1983. BTU-British Thermal Unit. A measurement of heat, or more specifically, the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit when the temperature of the water is initially at 39.2 degrees. Clerestory-A window, or windows, placed high on a wall near the eaves, used for light, heat gain, and ventilation. Cooperative Extension Service-A cooperative education program between the University of Alaska and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The purpose of this service is to provide information to Alaskans to help identify and solve problems in order to improve business, homes, and communities. Deadman beams-Long poles or beams buried in the ground like a dead man to provide strong anchors for winching or guy wires. Deadman beams are buried at right angles to the line of pull in order to provide maximum resistance. Domestic water supply-Standard household water system connected either to the municipal water system, a well, or another source like a cistern collecting rainwater. Double-glazed thermal window-A double-paned window that has an air gap between the panes, giving increased thermal insulating qualities almost double the insulating value of a single-pane window. Earth-sheltering-A construction technique which places all or part of a building under ground level. Although con- struction materials used in earth-sheltered buildings must be heavier than for standard above-ground structures, earth-sheltered homes have the advantage of less air infil- tration and sometimes decreased heat loss through the walls. Float-valve (controlled) alarm-A device used to auto- matically signal a homeowner when the fluid in a reservoir falls below a predetermined level. Gin pole-A tall pole used as a portable derrick fulcrum for lifting heavy objects. Heat exchanger-A device that transfers heat from one fluid to another without the two fluids touching each other. Both air and water are considered fluids. Heat exchanger coils-Coils of tubing, usually copper, within a heat exchanger assembly. As fluid flows through the heat exchanger coils, the heat is transferred from the fluid outside the coils to-the liquid inside the heat exchanger or vice versa. This system is often used to ensure that the liquid on the outside of the coil does not mix with the liquid inside the coil (i.e., one fluid may have antifreeze in it and the other fluid may be drinking water). 171 Heating degree days-A measure of the need for heat, based on the assumption that when outside temperatures drop below 65 degrees, the heating system will come on to keep the house at 70 degrees. Degree Days (DD) are calculated daily as follows: 65 degrees -average outdoor temp = heating DD Temperatures above 65 degrees are considered 0 Heating Degree Days. Over the course of a winter, the total annual Heating Degree Days are used to compare the severity of one winter with another. Parabolic reflector-A bowl-shaped device used to concen- trate solar or electromagnetic energy by reflecting the energy to a focal point much smaller than the collector area. This device produces much higher temperatures at the focal point than can be obtained with a flat-plate collector. Passive system-Passive systems involve energy collection, storage, and distribution by means of natural processes using a minimal amount of power fans or pumps. Passive cooling also includes methods to shade the solar collectors and control ventilation and humidity. Plastic bubble insulation-A form of insulating material which sandwiches bubble polyethylene (the same material used as packing in shipping boxes) between layers of other materials. This system creates several layers of dead air space for improved insulating abilities. Photovoltaic cells-Devices which convert sunlight directly into electrical energy (also called solar cells). A grouping of cells may be manufactured as a panel. R-value-The measure of the ability of a material to resist heat flow. This term is used to compare the heat-saving ability of building insulation and other construction materi- als and represents how many BTUs per hour will pass through the structure to the outside. The higher the "value" the better the insulating ability; R-20 is twice as good as R-10 and R-50 is five times better than R-10. A single-pane glass is less than R-1 and a common two-by-four wall insu- lated with fiberglass has an R-13. Radiant heat system-A heating system that takes advan- tage of the radiant component of heat transfer. Radiant heat is composed of electromagnetic waves that travel through space, demonstrating warmth only when they strike a solid object, like a wall, or your skin. The warmth felt directly from the sun or a woodstove is radiant heat. Reflective mylar-A generic term for polyester film with a microthin coating of metal applied to one side, usually aluminum. The metal coating greatly increases the heat reflectivity of the mylar with only a slight reduction in its light transmission qualities. Sola-Roll Systems-(Also known as Solaroll.) A flexible, black rubber EPDM solar absorption system with six molded tubes for carrying water or other heat transfer fluid. Sola-Roll can be used for solar absorption energy systems or imbedded in concrete for radiant heat appliCations. The fluid-carrying flat tubing(%" diameter) is an integral part of the Sola-Roll System. The term applies to the construc- tion which places six tubes in parallel, then seals them in flexible, black rubber EPDM material. The end result is a "flat-tubing" product. Shotrock-Coarse rubble left over from a blasting opera- tion and which can be used for thermal mass. Solar gain-A measure of the amount of BTUs received on a particular surface over a given period of time. Solar greenhouse-A greenhouse that is attached to a house and provides heat storage and heat to the interior of the home. Solar water heaters-Domestic water heaters that use the energy of the sun to heat the water. "Space Blanket" curtains-Quilted aluminized-mylar cur- tains that reflect a large portion of the radiant heat striking them and yet still offer the light transmission reduction of standard curtains. These curtains are also lightweight and extremely thin. TPs-A fabricated Wooden beam which uses a combination of solid wood and plywood to make a strong, lightweight building material. TJI is an acronym for truss joist /I, or !-shaped truss joists and are manufactured by the Truss Joist Company. Thermal mass-Building materials that absorb and store heat. Thermal masses can be brick, shotrock, large contain- ers of water, adobe, masses of cement, etc. 172 Thermax-An isocyanurate foil covered foam sheathing (plastic) used to insulate buildings and manufactured by the Celotex Corporation. Other similar products are called R-MAX, THERMOFAX, TECHNIFOAM, and HIGH-R. Thermax is known for its strength, high R-value, and light weight. Thermosiphon system-A heating system designed to exploit the natural tendency of hot fluids to rise and cold fluids to fall. It can provide heat distribution without the use of a circulating pump, or fan. Tracking system-A mechanical system designed to rotate solar collectors so they receive maximum available solar energy. Utility intertie system-The direct connection through a control box of a wind or hydro electric generation system with the local utility electric power system. This enables the homeowner to almost always have electricity either from the wind or hydro system, or the local utility. Any power not used by the homeowner may be sold to the electric utility. Vapor barriers-A layer of material used to retard the movement of moisture and air from the warm insulated wall to the cold side. Because warm air can hold more moisture than cold air, a vapor pressure will occur in cold weather on the outside walls and ceilings of a house. The moisture can be forced through openings and permeable materials in the walls and ceilings. The moisture may then condense or freeze in the insulation, reducing the insulating value and causing moisture or wciter problems which are sometimes severe. Some common vapor barriers are poly- ethylene film (Visqueen) and aluminum foil. APPENDIX A Appropriate technology grants to libraries, 1980-1982 Grantee Location Amount* Cooperative Extension Service Anchorage $2,297 West High School Media Center Anchorage 213 Service Hanshew Resources Center Anchorage 390 Anchorage Career Center Anchorage 350 University of Alaska Anchorage 350 Angoon High School Angoon 1,244 Yukon Flats School District Arctic Village 350 BIA Bethel Regional Library Bethel 391 Cantwell Education Association Cantwell 550 Anderson Village Library Clear 350 Cordova Public Schools Cordova 530 Dillingham Public Library Dillingham 553 Dillingham City School District Dillingham 1,685 Eagle Library Eagle 350 Elim Community Library Elim 350 Fairbanks North Star Borough Fairbanks 1,150 University of Alaska, Rasmuson Library Fairbanks 905 Yukon Flats School District Fort Yukon 550 Glennallen School Library Glennallen 350 Copper Valley Community Library Glennallen 350 Haines Borough School District Haines 350 Haines Borough Public Library Haines 198 Tri-Valley School Library Healy 4,472 Homer Public Library Homer 374 Hoonah Schools Library Hoonah 300 Hooper Bay High School Hooper Bay 350 Alaska Conservation Society, Taku Chapter Juneau 350 Juneau Borough Library Juneau 618 Juneau-Douglas High School Juneau 372 Kake High School Library Kake 468 Kenai Junior High School Kenai 284 Kenai Central High School Kenai 319 Kenai Community Library Kenai 1,350 Kenny Lake Community Library Kenny Lake 691 Ketchikan Public Library Ketchikan 350 McQueen School Kivalina 320 A. Holmes Johnson Memorial Library Kodiak 650 Kodiak Island Borough School District Kodiak 450 City of Kotzebue Kotzebue 350 McGrath Community Library McGrath 350 Nenana Public Library Nenana 350 Kegoayah Kozga Library Nome 850 Mat-Su Community College Palmer 1,004 Palmer Public Library Palmer 350 Petersburg High School Petersburg 720 Petersburg Public Library Petersburg 1,050 Port Lions Public Library Port Lions 650 St. Mary's High School St. Mary's 175 Susan B. English School Seldovia 175 Seward High School Library Seward 670 Kettleson Memorial Library Sitka 622 Skagway City School District Skagway 175 Soldotna Public Library Soldotna 350 r Kenai Peninsula Community College Soldotna 300 Sutton Public Library Sutton 281 Talkeetna Public Library Talkeetna 350 Tanana Community Library Tanana 350 Tenakee Public Library Tenakee 350 Valdez City Schools Valdez 350 Valdez Public Library Valdez 320 Wrangell Public School District Wrangell 350 Irene Ingle Public Library Wrangell 1,300 Yakutat City Schools Yakutat 350 *Most current reported 1\73 APPENDIXB Appropriate technology edited videotape project material The Alaska State Film Library has available for viewing a number of AT project films, most compiled as news reports by the television media. These projects are listed below. KTOO-TV Petersburg Ram Pt. Baker Port Armstrong Thayer Lake Thayer lake Ken Cassell Hydro KIMO-TV Dallas Solar, Fairbanks Don Chaney/Mike Baumgartner Port Armstrong Hydroelectric McGrath Greenhouse H. jack Coutts john Collette KYUK-TV Hooper Bay Wind-3 parts june, 1983 June, 1983 june, 1983 September, 1982 September, 1982 September, 1982 june, 1983 May, june, 1983 June, 1983 May, 1983 june, 1983 june, 1983 May, 1982 Alaska Review #46 ':Alternative Energy: Alternatives for Alaskans" 29,14, 1982 ':Appropriate Energy Modes" 27:30, 1982 "Alternative Energy in Alaska: Everett Drashner's Homestead" 1981 "The Great Alaskan Warm-up" 29,30, 1984 ("Retrofit" and "Sunspace" segments) II 174 APPENDIXC Grant awards returned or not accepted Dan Denslow, Ambler, Wind Powered Freezer $ 3,500 Tom Miller, Kodiak, Insulating Shutter 675 Walt Cunningham, Bare Island, Alcohol Production 2,750 Ricardo Quiroz, Anchorage, Wood-Heat Systems 8,000 City of Tununak, Energy Conservation Workshops 4,414 Joann Schoonover, Anchorage, Rainwater System 15,000 Charles Vowell, Anchorage, Wind-Powered Heat Pump 8,200 Kodiak Community College, Ahkiok, Energy-Efficient Home Building 6,260 St. Mary's School District, St. Mary's Greenhouse 25,540 Alice Campbell, Fairbanks, Compost-Heated Greenhouse 290 Alas-Can Energy Expo 80, Anchorage, High School Energy Fair 2,000 William Major, Glennallen, Solar Collector 4,200 Lower Kuskokwim Coast Corporation, Kipnuk, Earth-Sheltered Office Building 50,000 Kodiak Mental Health, Kodiak, Greywater Heat Recovery 19,153 City of Dillingham, Dillingham, " Wind Monitoring Equipment 10,000 Matanuska Electric Association, Inc., Palmer, Wind Monitoring Equipment 1,458 Gary Nowobielski, McKinley Station, Hydraulic Ram 1,115 175 APPENDIXD Grant projects terminated before completion Craig H.F. Anderson, Palmer, Solar Collector Nome Veterinary Hospital, Nome, Solar Thermal Storage Arctic Technical Services, Inc., Kotzebue, Solar System William Arterburn, Willow, Air to Air Heat Exchanger Hughes Village Council, Hughes Alternative Energy Study Sandra Tahbone, Nome, Sod House James Keck, Fairbanks, Passive Solar William Hightower, Moose Pass, Methane Digester Patrick Yourkowski, Homer, Wood-Heat and Storage System John Hodge, Fairbanks, Hydrate Energy Storage System George Bennett, Fairbanks, Energy Efficient Garage/Shop Kodiak Winds, Kodiak, Wind Monitoring System Dean Jarosh, Takotna, Micro-Hydro System $ 400 2,576 24,900 2,162 3,000 1,266 313 1,922 3,081 183 7,860 8,251 2,710 ( l 176