Hydrogen Generation Center Design - Case Study Example

Topic: Hydrogen Generation Center Design Name: Registration No. Institution: Tutor: Date of submission: 1. BREEAM Rating of the building 1.1. BREEAM rating of Accessibility, Landscaping and location of the building Accessibility to the building can be rated to be ‘very good’ and has been contributed by constructing the building near a wide access road that passes near the building. This rating has also been contributed by adequate parking spaces around the building where vehicles can be parked. There are also adequate circulation spaces that ensure hydrogen powered vehicles access the dispensing unit without restriction. The access roads to the building are also wide enough to be used during removal of machinery and hydrogen storage tanks by use of cranes and fork lift trucks. Landscaping of the location where the building is constructed can be rated as ‘very good’. This has been achieved by selection of a flat area with adequate flora and fauna coverage such as the use of landscaping grass that create an aesthetic view of the location of the building. Trees have also been planted around the buildings which provide additional beauty to the location where the building is constructed. The areas where production facility and research and demonstration centers are located are covered with top soil and turfs while the top section is covered with concrete (Thumann, 2010). This creates a firm foundation where the building is constructed and ensures stability of the building. 1.2. Design of the ground floor and first floor of the building The building will be made with two floors and there will be a single entrance into the building. The building will be partitioned into Production and Storage Facility (PSF) and Research and Demonstration Centre (RDC). Both sections of the building are rectangular in cross-section and identical in their structure and the Demonstration center measures 10400 mm by 14442 mm. Composite materials will be used to construct the floors of the building while the walls of the building will be made of steel structures. This will result into a BREEAM rating of the effectiveness of the floor to be ‘excellent’ owing to the ability of the floors to resist damaging forces and the ability of the walls to resist damage as a result of the strength provided by the steel materials. The result is that the occupants of the rooms in the building will be assured of safety while they are in the building and chances of collapse of the floors or walls of the building will be reduced. There is also a lobby that leads to the entrance to the building and measures 3300 mm by 2615 mm. This will create the ease of movement between the rooms in the building without resulting into congestion of the building. Health and well-being of occupants of the building will be contributed by the inclusion of a Research Office that measures 7885 mm by 10400 mm, female and male toilets, staff room that measures 2957 mm by 3333 mm, a lobby between the toilets and the lifts (Thomson, 2010). The functions of these sections will result into a BREEAM rating of health and well-being consideration of the building to be ‘very good’. 1.3. BREEAM rating of the views and sections of the building The building will be constructed with a fire exit that ensures easy exit from the building when fire breaks out. This will ensure the safety consideration rating of the building is ‘very good’. The roof of the building will be flat and slanting at an angle of 10o, aluminum profile cladding, ventilation grill, expansion joint. The ventilation grill will enable easy air circulation into the building and aluminium profiling will ensure resistance to corrosion while expansion joint will create additional space for expansion when there is strong heating that results into expansion of the steel structures used to construct the walls and roofs of the building. This will result into BREEAM rating of the roof of the building to be ‘excellent’. Power generation capability of the building will be rated ‘very good’ and this will be achieved by use of the solar PV cladding that are mounted over the roof of the building as well as those outside the building (Skaperdas, Heffner & Veverka, 1962). The design of the windows and roofs will be rated ‘excellent’ and this will be achieved by use of aluminium powder coated double glazed windows and aluminum profile insulated roof cladding. The efficiency of the design of the roofs will also be achieved by use of extract vents, roller shutters and louvred ventilation panels on the roofs. 1.1. BREAM-rating of the design of the Production and Storage Facility (PSF) The use of space during the construction of the Production and Storage Facility has been rated ‘very good’ and has been contributed by is dividing the space into three components that include a 40m2 that accommodates the Hydrogen Storage tanks, an area of 90m2 and designed to house machinery and equipment and an area of 20m2 area and designed to house workstations. The accommodation on the machinery is rated ‘excellent’ by enclosing them on three sides, with the open side designed to ensure there is adequate ventilation and directs the hydrogen into the atmosphere (Sivanagaraju, Reddy & Srilatha, 2010). The design of the hydrogen tank is rated ‘very good’ and has been facilitated by its design so that it is accessible to plant and equipment required to install, maintenance practices and removal of tanks when necessary can be done easily and it is protected from authorized access and separated from other sections of production units to ensure compliance with design requirements. The design of the production part is rated ‘good’ as a result of fitting with electrolyser, compression, monitoring and control equipment that include dispenser and lighting facilities. These fittings create additional enhancements for production activities in the building. 1.2. BREEAM-rating of the Design of the Research and Demonstration Center (RDC) The design of this section of the building has been rated ‘very good’ and has been contributed by designing the building so that it maximizes its capacity to minimize the use of energy and get power from the solar panels located outside the building (Siemons, 2002). The design shows that solar panels will be located on the roof of the building to assist in generation of power. It is expected that the solar panels will accommodate 15W peak PV and will be facing south. The design of the demonstration conference and training facility will be designed so that it is capable of hosting 50 people. This number is large enough and will be efficient for demonstration activities. Construction of the walls of this section of the building is rated ‘very good’ and has been facilitated by use of modern materials such as concrete, cement and sand will be used to construct the walls of the building to reflect an advanced technological nature, a ‘H’ shaped design will be used during illustration of the buildings purpose with the assumption that all required accommodation will be provided. Communication between the PSD section and the RDC section of the building is rated ‘excellent’ and will be facilitated by transfer of power from the PV to the electrolyser located in the PSD, transfer of power from the Hydrogen storage facility to the RDC via fuel cell and the telecom connection between the two buildings (Rajeshwar, McConnell & Licht, 2008). The power systems of the building is rated ‘very good’ due to its connection to the main power supply at Baglan Energy park that enable drawing on or supplying the national Grid if needed. In addition, there will be telephone provisions for up to 15 lines and the building will be adequately secured by use of broadband connections for up to 15 percent expandable. 1.3. Rating of operations of the building According to the design of the building, the operation of the building can be rated as ‘very good’ with regards to the features that exists in the design. For instance, the function of production of anticipated energy demands from renewable sources of energy will be facilitated by solar panels located outside the building as well as those located on the roof, conversion of excess electricity into hydrogen for storage and utilization during periods of inadequate supply will be facilitated by the Production and storage Facility (PSF) and the building will also be designed so that it is able to distribute hydrogen to fuel motor vehicles and have the ability to recycle and re-use natural resources such as rainwater during its daily activities of operations. The function of the Production and Storage Facility (PSF) is also rated as ‘good’ due to the existing space that will accommodate equipment and machinery that convert surplus electricity into hydrogen and store the hydrogen for use when there is low supply of power (Naterer, Dincer & Zamfirescu, 2013). The Research and Demonstration Center (RDC) will serve the function of creating a flexible accommodation for researchers, educational activities and conference activities. This will ensure any research activity is carried out successfully by using the existing space in the RDC section of the building. 2. Assessment of the building and Safety measures to be observed during construction There are a number of safety measures that have been put in place to ensure safety during the construction of the building. The aim of the safety measures is to ensure people in the building are not harmed and possibilities of accidents are minimized during construction of the building. An example of a safety measure that will be observed during construction of the building is that a particular safety factor will be assigned to the materials used to construct the floors so that the building is assigned a particular maximum load of tanks that can be used. This will be aimed at ensuring the floors of the building are not overloaded and chances of collapse of the floors are minimized. Furthermore, the areas where construction activities are done will be ventilated so that there is circulation of air and constructors are able to get fresh air during their activities. Substances that are likely to contribute to increased smoke production or dust production will be kept away from workers involved in the construction of the building. In addition, objects that are likely to cause harm to workers will be kept away from the site. For instance, sharp objects such as saws, hoes and forks used during construction process will be kept in specific places where they cannot cause accidents to employees involved in the construction of the building. The constructors will be trained on how to maintain equipment within the building so that they do not cause accidents while handling them. For instance, they will be trained to handle tanks containing hydrogen gas and maintenance practices that should be performed on them. In addition, only employees involved in the construction process will be trained on how to handle the tanks so that they do not cause accidents. The constructors will also be trained to use first aid facilities that assist in helping people who have been injured as a result construction activities in the building (Hu, 2013). This will ensure casualties are attended to at the right time in case of an accident within the building. Furthermore, the building will be assigned its own ambulance that will assist in transportation of casualties from the building in case of an accident while also transportation of urgently needed medical facilities to help those who have been injured during activities at the building. The building will also be designed in a manner that ensures occupants are able to escape in case of accidents such as fire outbreak. For instance, there are various escape doors in various locations that enable exit from the building in case there is a fire outbreak. There is also a wide lounge where occupants of the building can use to escape to the stairs at a time (Henry, 2010). There will also be communication systems within the building that enable workers at the construction site communicate with each other in the building so that they can assist each other in case of an accident or when their colleague falls . These communication systems will include telephone lines as well as broadband connections and remote monitoring systems for equipment within the building. Another safety measure that will be observed is to ensure all workers during construction process are provided with safety clothing that prevent them getting infected by dust from the construction site or getting in contact with construction materials such as cement and gravel which might have an impact on their heal. For instance, employees involved in the use of cement and sand during construction will be provided with overalls that serve the role of protecting them from getting into contact with the cement and gravel materials thus ensuring their safety. In addition, they will be provided with eye protection equipment that would ensure they do not come into contact with dust during construction. Another safety measure that would be observed is that workers will be provided with temporary stairs that would be used during construction of the first floor of the building and the stairs will be reinforced so that the possibility of collapse is prevented. Furthermore, workers at the construction site will be assigned a medical expert who will look into the issues affecting the workers at the site and the right medical attention will be provided. 3. Recommendations for proper design of the building This paper provides a description of the design according to the requirements of the client regarding the nature of the hydrogen station that would be useful in meeting the needs of electricity generation. However, there are certain recommendations that would be useful if implemented in the design so that the final building serves the functions for which it is designed efficiently and attains an overall BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’. For instance, it would be important if materials used to construct the walls and floors are assigned a particular safety factor so that the floors or the walls cannot collapse during construction. When a safety factor has been assigned, it will be possible to determine the maximum load that the floors can withstand such as the maximum weight of constructors that should be available during construction. Furthermore, it would be important if water drawn from the nearby pond is purified before use in the building by including a water purification system. This will ensure the water that enters the building remains pure and can be used for a variety of purposes and chances of infection are reduced. There is also the need to expand the roads entering into the building so that they can accommodate vehicles that carry hydrogen tanks without causing difficulty in overtaking oncoming vehicles. The building also needs to be assigned its own ambulance that enables quick response in case there is an accident or emergency situation in the building and there is the need to make a quick response. In addition, facilities used to get into upper sections of the building such as lifts and ladders should be inspected for functionality effectiveness so that they do not break down when being used by constructors of the building. These recommendations will ensure workers are safe during construction of the building and chances of collapse of the building or injury to workers in the building are minimized. 4. References Andexer, T. 2008. A Hypothetical Enhanced Renewable Energy Utilization (EREU) Model for Electricity Generation in Thailand. München, GRIN Verlag GmbH. Crabtree, R. H. 2013. Energy Production and Storage Inorganic Chemical Strategies for a Warming World. Chicester, Wiley. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=1132803. Henry, R. 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