Automating groundbreaking DC-Powered house.

‘Living lab’ provides blueprint for sustainable residential electrical systems that could reduce emissions by 55% and save homeowners up to 44% of annual energy costs.

Emerson’s Ovation™ software and technologies act as the ‘brains’ of a 1920s-era home in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, that has been converted to run entirely on direct current (DC) power. Graduate students live in the house full time while Purdue researchers (LtoR) Eckhard Groll, Jonathan Ore and Alex Boanta monitor the energy efficiency of its self-contained DC nanogrid. (Pic Perdue University)

Purdue University in West Lafayette (IND USA), is using global software and engineering leader Emerson’s advanced digital technologies to automate its Nanogrid House, a living lab for energy-efficient home research. Compared to today’s homes and businesses that are powered predominantly by alternating current (AC) power, the Nanogrid House can shift between AC and direct current (DC) power, which increases the ability to use renewable energy and lowers homeowners’ energy costs.

High-voltage AC power from the grid must be converted to DC power to run household devices, wasting time and money. And while new renewable energy sources such as solar and wind deliver DC power directly, this power is not compatible with existing home electrical infrastructure. The Nanogrid House enables researchers to develop technologies to address these challenges in anticipation of a future nationwide shift to DC power.

"As we continue to face extreme weather, a DC-powered home is uniquely suited to the future of energy generation, empowering homeowners to turn their houses into nanogrids of efficient, self-sufficient production and consumption,” said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson’s power and water business.

Using Emerson’s renewable power expertise and Ovation^™ software and technologies, Purdue University researchers have retrofitted an entire house to run on its own DC-powered nanogrid. The nanogrid integrates both AC power from local electric utilities and DC power from solar panels, wind turbines or battery storage.

These sustainable energy sources help reduce the house’s carbon footprint by an estimated 55% and lower annual energy costs by up to 44%. The Nanogrid House can also sustain itself for short periods of time by generating its own renewable energy and detaching from the grid through the help of on-site stored energy.

“As consumers add sustainable, DC-based electrical solutions to their homes, the need for a low-voltage, more energy efficient infrastructure will continue to increase,” said Eckhard A. Groll, William E. and Florence E. Perry head of mechanical engineering and Reilly professor of mechanical engineering, Purdue University. “Emerson’s expertise in automation software for power generation and sustainability helped us design a DC nanogrid solution that may someday become the national standard.”

Emerson’s Ovation software and technologies provide the project with a digital automation foundation integrating data provided by the home’s energy generation, heat and cooling production and battery storage assets. Ovation software operates as the “brain” of the home by managing voltage control, power distribution and load and intelligently optimising operation of the nanogrid equipment.

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Major investment in automation at US University.

The Purdue Integrated Process Education System (PIPES) laboratory has been fully designed and implemented through collaboration of industry professionals, faculty and a group of seniors from the Purdue Manufacturing Engineering Technology program

Many veteran automation professionals will remember the days of Dr Ted Williams and the pioneering efforts of Purdue University. to develop one of the finest schools for process control engineering in the U.S.

Purdue hosted Joint Automatic Control Conferences (JACC) and led the way in developing advanced control theory, much of which we see embodied in today’s process control equipment. It is heartening to see that this establishment continues to be an educational leader in process control and instrumentation.

The Manufacturing Engineering Technology (MFET) students and faculty in the Purdue School of Engineering Technology are celebrating the joint creation and development of the Purdue Integrated Process Education System (PIPES) laboratory during an open house hosted at the West Lafayette, Ind., (USA).

Through the generous support and donations from industry partners Endress+Hauser; Rockwell Automation; George E. Booth Co., Inc.; Kirby Risk Corporation and other suppliers (American Melt Blown and Filtration, Artek, Inc., BMWC Constructors, Lester Sales Company, Complete Controls, Hoffman, Samson Controls, Inc., Smith-Cooper International, StoneL, and Wilken Enterprises), Purdue University will be the new home to a state-of-the-practice process education lab for students.

Donations to Purdue University included process measurement instrumentation, a control system, control panels, servers, hardware, piping, large industrial water tanks, pumps, valves, cabling, and engineering guidance.

The fully operational system was designed and constructed during a yearlong capstone project undertaken by senior students of Purdue’s Integrated Manufacturing course sequence. Beginning in the fall of 2015, the system will be used to teach process measurement and continuous control, mostly from a technology and implementation perspective.

Grant Richards in the industrial controls lab.
(Pic: Perdue.edu)

“Our School of Engineering Technology (SOET) faculty are already in the process of designing the first course that will be available to students in all SOET programs,” said Brad Harriger, MET Professor at Purdue University. “The system will provide a key platform for exploring fundamental concepts of process control in our laboratory,” added Grant Richards, Purdue ECET Professor. The SOET programs include Manufacturing Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology.

A long-term goal is for the PIPES lab to be used for summer workshops available to industry – taught by both faculty and industry representatives – where practicing engineers would visit the university for two to five days to learn about and experience process control integration.

By partnering with Purdue University, the supporting companies strive to increase student exposure to fulfilling careers in the process industries and build sustainable industry connections. Many times students fail to recognize the diverse career choices available to them as new roles emerge through new technologies. Additionally, these academic teaching programs augment hands-on industry competencies and positively impact the problem solving abilities of students through real-world practice. In turn, graduates are more competitive in the job market and have direct connection with the industries they select for their career path.

“We at Endress+Hauser know that talented engineers and technologists have many options for careers,” said Don Cummings, Technical Talent Development Manager, Endress+Hauser. “At the same time, we know that many students don't know about the process industries that we serve, or the industry that serves them – the process automation and control industry. This Purdue laboratory project took money, and it took products – ours and others' – but it was the collaborative project aspect of working together that exposes students to our people, the work habits that businesses expect, the culture of mutual achievement that we enjoy together, and sets an example for how creative problem solving can lead to a lifetime of workplace satisfaction.”

“Rockwell Automation has a strong history of effective partnering with companies and schools, and the collaborative nature of this project brings additional richness to the teaching program at Purdue University,” said John Kacsur, Director of Global Accounts and executive sponsor of Purdue at Rockwell Automation. “Professors can use industry cases in the lab and ask students to develop actual applications on a control platform representative of the real world. In designing, fabricating and integrating this project with multiple industry partners, students will also experience the added complexities commonly faced throughout the industry.”