The Teruel Polytechnic University School (EUPT) could reduce its energy consumption by renewing the ventilation system of its servers and by replacing the fluorescent tubes that illuminate the building with led lights.These are some of the proposals raised by Holbein Hortua León, an Electronic and Automatic Engineering student, in his final degree project (TFG) in which he carried out an energy audit of these university facilities.

The EUPT is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and was one of the first centers of the University of Zaragoza to achieve its sustainability certificate with which constant improvement is sought and for this reason it also works in this line from research. Branch Flexible Duct

The Holbein Hortua project was directed by professors Raúl Igual and Agustín Lorente.The young engineer explained that at first he only considered doing a thermography of the façade -measuring temperatures on the façades and on the walls of the building to check if there were heat leaks to control energy efficiency-, however, the study was It expanded and became an energy audit with measurements of the network and lighting with the aim of seeing how costs can be saved and greenhouse gas emissions reduced.

The student pointed out that he chose this project for his TFG because he really liked the subject of renewable energies.

The recent graduate explained that with the measurements made with the thermographic camera it was determined that there were not abundant sources of energy inefficiency in the outdoor areas, but it was detected that the walls of some classrooms need better insulation.Likewise, the insulation of the windows of some offices is not entirely correct.

The network analyzer was another of the devices used for this work."It is connected to the transformer that reaches the University to see the network consumption and a very high consumption was found during the night, which was due to the servers that consume a lot and do not have a good ventilation system," Hortua explained.

Precisely, one of the proposals of this audit was that this ventilation system in the server room could be replaced by an alternative such as free-cooling that would use outside air and would be more efficient and effective.

Regarding positive aspects, the measurements allowed us to verify that the photovoltaic solar installation on the roof of this building meets its objective of reducing consumption during the day.

The student also used a digital wattmeter to measure the electrical power or the rate of supply of electrical energy of a device in watts and an ammeter clamp, an electrical measurement instrument, which gives the possibility of measuring current intensities in unloaded conductors. need to disconnect the electrical circuit.

Another of the measures recommended by the young engineer was to replace the fluorescent tubes installed throughout the center with led lights, since he explained that the installation with all the luminaires on at the same time would have a consumption of more than 40 kW, while which with led could go down to about 17 kW.He also proposed replacing the current coffee machines with more efficient ones.

Holbein Hortua acknowledged that his study had "limitations" since, due to the timing of the TFG, measurements could not be taken in winter, which would be ideal, and also pointed out that some of the measurement instruments "were a bit outdated".

Therefore, he pointed out that the idea is that some other student can continue with this task with another final degree project that deepens this audit.This university center on the Teruel Campus aspires to a constant improvement in its facilities in order to be as sustainable as possible, and for this reason, this detailed analysis of the building is essential, which will later facilitate the adoption of improvement measures.

"Engineering basically helps us to live better, to achieve better objectives with less cost and that is what we have applied", highlighted the graduate of the Polytechnic School who assured that the completion of this TFG helped him "a lot" because It meant the practical application of everything that he already knew from his training throughout the years of his degree.

Holbein Hortua highlighted that the field of renewable energy and efficiency opens up many professional possibilities for engineers.“Energy efficiency is increasingly taken into account.The University of Zaragoza was one of the first in Spain to enter into a plan in this area and little by little it has been improving its energy efficiency, like other universities, and it is also being seen in companies and even in homes", he explained. .

Holbein Hortua continues to train, now he is doing a master's degree in Mechatronics Engineering in Valencia, another of the technical specialties that interest him the most.

Regarding his time at the Teruel Polytechnic School, the young engineer assured that he has received "very good training" and stressed that the best thing about this center is that they give "personalized treatment" that is "very different" from other universities.

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Flexible Explosive-Proof Ventilation Duct Edited: Teruel Press SL - Legal deposit: TE-2-1961