Cornelia Lobmeier (AT) , Andreas Sigl (AT), Verena Wolfsöldner (AT)
u19 winner: Honorary Mention
The project of the three mechatronics students deals with alternative cooling systems for their partner school in Nicaragua.
“Our project’s objective was to gradually replace the obsolete, energy-inefficient air conditioning system at our partner school in Nicaragua with our alternative cooling system. Our primary consideration was to develop a system that’s as economical and energy-efficient as possible.”
The system was implemented with the help of Nicaragua’s natural resources. They also strove to maintain the space’s relative humidity in a comfortable range. The equipment functions without maintenance and is user-friendly. It’s completely automatic and can also be controlled manually.
The system was set up with two identical circuits that are independent of one another. These two circuits can be controlled with a flap system in such a way that one circuit cools the classroom while, simultaneously, the other can be used to dry the boxes of silica gel, which is necessary to dehumidify the air since dry air can be cooled much more energy-efficiently than the humid air of Nicaragua.
By the end of our fourth school year, they were highly motivated to finally be able to implement this project, and they developed an extraordinarily high level of dedication. They had already successfully tested the prototype in Nicaragua.
Cornelia Lobmeier, Verena Wolfsöldner and Andreas Sigl are 2017 graduates of Braunau Technical School’s Mechatronics program. Solar Cooling was their senior-year diploma project.
