Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

The Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Applied Energy Research (AER) lab is working in partnership with Think Tank Water Heaters to develop a system to measure the temperature gradients in electric domestic hot water tanks (DHWTs) with smart controllers. Think Tank is an Atlantic Canadian company developing smart controls for the timing of water heating in response to electricity demand signals, to control demand on the electricity grid. NSCC will build an array of high precision thermal sensing elements, with a monitoring device to measure temperature differentials and temperature stratification, to be installed in a DHWT. Currently, the improvements implemented to DHWTs focus on design specifications and static / non-interactive applications, while this new controller allows dynamic demand response. The AER lab will build a temperature measurement apparatus for the inside of a hot water tank and use this apparatus to measure the temperature gradients in the tank. The research goal is to determine that the tank maintains minimum acceptable and safe temperature levels for human health, particularly safety against legionella bacteria. The AER lab is equipped with four DHWTs using various technologies to heat water, and a heat dissipation system for testing water heaters. The AER team has previously worked on a linear / one-dimensional temperature sensing array, and now recommends a higher precision three-dimensional (3-D) temperature sensing array be used for this work. The AER team will design the system, procure the materials needed, connect the monitoring devices, and complete a temperature survey for DHWT temperature verification. These measurements will be of value to Think Tank in developing the protocols for their smart hot water controller.*