Kenneth A Ritter III PhD (original) (raw)
Papers by Kenneth A Ritter III PhD
Energies
In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried ... more In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried out in the Louisiana climate. During the calendar year of 2018, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette constructed and commissioned a 1.1 MW solar photovoltaic power plant for researching solar power in southern Louisiana and for partial energy demand of the university. It was one of the largest solar photovoltaic power plants in Louisiana when constructed and receives an annual solar insolation of 4.88 kWh/m2/d at latitude minus five degrees (25°) tilt. The solar power plant has a total of 4142 modules and incorporates three module technologies. Preliminary performance data from the system level are presented. The evaluation of different technologies is based on final yield, performance ratio, and capacity factor for one year from September 2019 to August 2020. An economic analysis is carried out using levelized cost of energy for the three photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Finally, the...
In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried ... more In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried out in the Louisiana climate. During the calendar year of 2018, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette constructed and commissioned a 1.1 MW solar photovoltaic power plant for researching solar power in southern Louisiana and for partial energy demand of the university. It was one of the largest solar photovoltaic power plants in Louisiana when constructed and receives an annual solar insolation of 4.88 kWh/m 2 /d at latitude minus five degrees (25°) tilt. The solar power plant has a total of 4142 modules and incorporates three module technologies. Preliminary performance data from the system level are presented. The evaluation of different technologies is based on final yield, performance ratio, and capacity factor for one year from September 2019 to August 2020. An economic analysis is carried out using levelized cost of energy for the three photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Finally, the results are compared with simulated results of System Advisor Model (SAM) and PVsyst. It was found that copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) has better performance ratio of 0.79 compared with monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon, which have performance ratios of 0.77 and 0.73, respectively. The simulation results correlated with the actual performance of the plant.
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research
Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can... more Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can be tedious and unproductive. However, letting a high school student engage in an interactive 3D game can not only stimulate general interest but can also captivate and educate. During 2013, several demonstrations were given in a virtual reality lab at the University of Louisiana that explained solar thermal power concepts and other alternative energy technologies. These were given on three 150 inch screens in a concave design, immersing the user in a 3D educational experience. Several software technologies were used in the creation of the game, the main ones being Solidworks, 3ds Max Design, and Unity 3D. The scene of the game was constructed using a scale model of the Cleco Alternative Energy Center in Crowley, Louisiana. This paper gives a literary review of educational games and explains the design process of the interactive 3D game and the educational experience from demonstrations ...
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 2015
As the interest in Virtual Reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits availa... more As the interest in Virtual Reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits available for various VR applications. Given that more games are being made with the Unity game engine than any other game technology, several of these toolkits are developed to be directly imported into Unity. A feature and interaction comparison of the toolkits is needed by Unity developers to properly suit one for a specific application. This paper presents an overview and comparison of several virtual reality toolkits available for developers using the Unity game engine. getReal3D, MiddleVR, and Reality-based User Interface System (RUIS) are analysed for VR interaction and display on multi-projection immersive environments like Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE)s. MiddleVR was found to have the highest performance and most versatile toolkit for CAVE display and interaction. However, taking cost into account, RUIS is the clear winner as it is available for free under the Lesser Gene...
International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2018
An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability o... more An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability of any proposed project. Although other researchers have reported maintenance costs for large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States [1 - 2], there is currently little information available specifically for small-scale CSP or solar Industrial Process Heat (IPH) plants. This paper discusses the maintenance of an operating small-scale CSP plant in Louisiana over a four year period. The results are also applicable to a small-scale IPH plant. Maintenance activities and costs are discussed for the collector field, the power block, and the cooling tower. For the collector field, a study of the degradation of mirror reflectance between washings was performed for three different types of reflective polymer thin films (3M 1100, 3M 2020, and Konica Minolta). Overall, the 3M 2020 film provided better reflectivity between washings than the other films. An optimized mirror w...
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 2020
The diversity of learners within education is neither linear nor constant. Educators are challeng... more The diversity of learners within education is neither linear nor constant. Educators are challenged to be responsive and understanding when encouraging learners to construct meaning while adhering to stringent standards. The objective of this study is to integrate science standards into authentic learning experiences, created in both a traditional teaching method and virtual reality (VR) platform, for 8th grade middle school students in Lafayette, Louisiana. The authentic experiences were based on oral histories of the residents of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, who have lost 98% of their ancestral homeland since 1955. These experiences were then tied to the National Science Standards (8-MS-ESS1-4, 8-MS-ESS2-2, and 8-MS-ESS3-1). The students were split into two groups and given either a PowerPoint or VR experience, both having the same content. The researchers tracked engagement, focus, interest, and how important the students thought the content was. Using an experimental approac...
2016 IEEE Virtual Reality (VR), 2016
2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 2013
— This paper presents a study on the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies for the purpose of ... more — This paper presents a study on the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies for the purpose of teaching concentrating solar power (CSP) to high school and university students. The main goal is to develop an interactive and immersive VR application to explain the main components and processes used in a CSP plant. The secondary goal is to test the effectiveness of this application by performing case studies. The studies are assessed with pre-test, post-test, and questionnaires. In the initial desktop version, there is a substantial improvement on the post-tests that demonstrates that this type of application can be used as an educational tool. The immersive application achieved testing results in the final study that were similar to other methods assessed and scored 88% positive results on the experience questionnaire.
High performance computing is increasingly common in technological industries and there are many ... more High performance computing is increasingly common in technological industries and there are many different solutions available on the market. Determining which computing solution is most cost-effective can be difficult. This study outlines the performance between a single-user, traditional high-performance workstation and a multiuser , virtualized workstation. Along with this direct performance comparison, the impacts of virtualization on rendering performance, GPUs, and the technological industry is evaluated in this study. Through the repeated rendering of two different Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models under varying test scenarios, a pool of data including render times and image quality is collected and analyzed. Two phenomena are observed and explained. One is a diminishing return in GPU power output that is observed after allocating four or more GPUs to a single rendering task. The second is a noticeable point of image-noise convergence during a render that could potentially be calculated and exploited to make rendering more time-efficient. These discoveries may impact the effectiveness of virtual GPU scalability and make time-consuming rendering more efficient for industry users. The NVIDIA GRID Visual Computing Appliance (VCA) is found to be cost effective for research laboratories that have several users with diverse needs.
An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability o... more An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability of any proposed project. Although other researchers have reported maintenance costs for large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States [1-2], there is currently little information available specifically for small-scale CSP or solar Industrial Process Heat (IPH) plants. This paper discusses the maintenance of an operating small-scale CSP plant in Louisiana over a four year period. The results are also applicable to a small-scale IPH plant. Maintenance activities and costs are discussed for the collector field, the power block, and the cooling tower. For the collector field, a study of the degradation of mirror reflectance between washings was performed for three different types of reflective polymer thin films (3M 1100, 3M 2020, and Konica Minolta). Overall, the 3M 2020 film provided better reflectivity between washings than the other films. An optimized mirror washing schedule was determined. Optimal mirror washing schedules are very site-dependent, but for this humid subtropical location, the most economical washing schedule was found to be every 114 days, or approximately three times per year. A recommended maintenance plan for small-scale CSP and IPH plants is presented and actual maintenance costs over a four year period are provided. It was found that maintenance costs for small-scale plants are substantially larger than for large-scale plants, and that maintenance costs for small-scale IPH plants are much lower than for small-scale CSP plants, making IPH applications significantly more attractive. The average annual maintenance cost for a small-scale CSP plant was found to be approximately 457/kWe,or457/kWe, or 457/kWe,or0.27/kWhe. For a small-scale IPH plant the costs were 3.72/m2,3.72/m 2 , 3.72/m2,7.81/kWt, and $0.005/kWht.
As the interest in virtual reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits availa... more As the interest in virtual reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits available for various VR applications. Given that more games are being made with the Unity game engine than any other game technology, several of these toolkits are developed to be directly imported into Unity. A feature and interaction comparison of the toolkits is needed by Unity developers to properly suit one for a specific application. This paper presents an overview and comparison of three virtual reality toolkits available for developers using the Unity game engine. getReal3D, MiddleVR, and Reality-based User Interface System (RUIS) are analysed for VR interaction and display on multi-projection immersive environments like Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE)s. MiddleVR was estimated to have the highest performance and most versatile toolkit for CAVE display and interaction. However, taking cost into account, RUIS has an
During the calendar year of 2012 the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in conjunction with CLE... more During the calendar year of 2012 the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in conjunction with CLECO Power LLC (CLECO) has constructed and commissioned a pilot scale parabolic trough solar thermal power plant for the first time in Louisiana. The large aperture trough (LAT) solar collectors were provided by Gossamer Space Frames and are coupled with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power block provided by ElectraTherm, Inc. for study of the feasibility of cost-effective commercial scale solar thermal power production in Louisiana. Supported by CLECO and providing power to the existing CLECO grid, the implementation of state-of-the-industry collector frames, mirrors, trackers, and ORC power block is studied under various local weather conditions which present varied operating regimes from existing solar thermal installations. The solar collectors provide a design output of 650 kWth and preliminary actual performance data from the system level is presented. The optimal size, configuration and location for such a plant in the given solar resource region are being studied in conjunction with CLECO's search for optimal renewable energy solutions for the region. The pilot scale size of the facility and implementation of the simpler ORC allow remote operation of the facility and flexibility in operating parameters for optimization studies. The construction of the facility was supported by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Department of Energy, and CLECO. The continued operation of the plant is supported by CLECO Power LLC and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can... more Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can be tedious and unproductive. However, letting a high school student engage in an interactive 3D game can not only stimulate general interest but can also captivate and educate. During 2013, several demonstrations were given in a virtual reality lab at the University of Louisiana that explained solar thermal power concepts and other alternative energy technologies. These were given on three 150 inch screens in a concave design, immersing the user in a 3D educational experience. Several software technologies were used in the creation of the game, the main ones being Solidworks, 3ds Max Design, and Unity 3D. The scene of the game was constructed using a scale model of the Cleco Alternative Energy Center in Crowley, Louisiana. This paper gives a literary review of educational games and explains the design process of the interactive 3D game and the educational experience from demonstrations during 2013.
Energies
In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried ... more In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried out in the Louisiana climate. During the calendar year of 2018, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette constructed and commissioned a 1.1 MW solar photovoltaic power plant for researching solar power in southern Louisiana and for partial energy demand of the university. It was one of the largest solar photovoltaic power plants in Louisiana when constructed and receives an annual solar insolation of 4.88 kWh/m2/d at latitude minus five degrees (25°) tilt. The solar power plant has a total of 4142 modules and incorporates three module technologies. Preliminary performance data from the system level are presented. The evaluation of different technologies is based on final yield, performance ratio, and capacity factor for one year from September 2019 to August 2020. An economic analysis is carried out using levelized cost of energy for the three photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Finally, the...
In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried ... more In this work, performance analysis and comparison of three photovoltaic technologies are carried out in the Louisiana climate. During the calendar year of 2018, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette constructed and commissioned a 1.1 MW solar photovoltaic power plant for researching solar power in southern Louisiana and for partial energy demand of the university. It was one of the largest solar photovoltaic power plants in Louisiana when constructed and receives an annual solar insolation of 4.88 kWh/m 2 /d at latitude minus five degrees (25°) tilt. The solar power plant has a total of 4142 modules and incorporates three module technologies. Preliminary performance data from the system level are presented. The evaluation of different technologies is based on final yield, performance ratio, and capacity factor for one year from September 2019 to August 2020. An economic analysis is carried out using levelized cost of energy for the three photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Finally, the results are compared with simulated results of System Advisor Model (SAM) and PVsyst. It was found that copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) has better performance ratio of 0.79 compared with monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon, which have performance ratios of 0.77 and 0.73, respectively. The simulation results correlated with the actual performance of the plant.
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research
Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can... more Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can be tedious and unproductive. However, letting a high school student engage in an interactive 3D game can not only stimulate general interest but can also captivate and educate. During 2013, several demonstrations were given in a virtual reality lab at the University of Louisiana that explained solar thermal power concepts and other alternative energy technologies. These were given on three 150 inch screens in a concave design, immersing the user in a 3D educational experience. Several software technologies were used in the creation of the game, the main ones being Solidworks, 3ds Max Design, and Unity 3D. The scene of the game was constructed using a scale model of the Cleco Alternative Energy Center in Crowley, Louisiana. This paper gives a literary review of educational games and explains the design process of the interactive 3D game and the educational experience from demonstrations ...
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 2015
As the interest in Virtual Reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits availa... more As the interest in Virtual Reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits available for various VR applications. Given that more games are being made with the Unity game engine than any other game technology, several of these toolkits are developed to be directly imported into Unity. A feature and interaction comparison of the toolkits is needed by Unity developers to properly suit one for a specific application. This paper presents an overview and comparison of several virtual reality toolkits available for developers using the Unity game engine. getReal3D, MiddleVR, and Reality-based User Interface System (RUIS) are analysed for VR interaction and display on multi-projection immersive environments like Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE)s. MiddleVR was found to have the highest performance and most versatile toolkit for CAVE display and interaction. However, taking cost into account, RUIS is the clear winner as it is available for free under the Lesser Gene...
International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2018
An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability o... more An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability of any proposed project. Although other researchers have reported maintenance costs for large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States [1 - 2], there is currently little information available specifically for small-scale CSP or solar Industrial Process Heat (IPH) plants. This paper discusses the maintenance of an operating small-scale CSP plant in Louisiana over a four year period. The results are also applicable to a small-scale IPH plant. Maintenance activities and costs are discussed for the collector field, the power block, and the cooling tower. For the collector field, a study of the degradation of mirror reflectance between washings was performed for three different types of reflective polymer thin films (3M 1100, 3M 2020, and Konica Minolta). Overall, the 3M 2020 film provided better reflectivity between washings than the other films. An optimized mirror w...
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 2020
The diversity of learners within education is neither linear nor constant. Educators are challeng... more The diversity of learners within education is neither linear nor constant. Educators are challenged to be responsive and understanding when encouraging learners to construct meaning while adhering to stringent standards. The objective of this study is to integrate science standards into authentic learning experiences, created in both a traditional teaching method and virtual reality (VR) platform, for 8th grade middle school students in Lafayette, Louisiana. The authentic experiences were based on oral histories of the residents of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, who have lost 98% of their ancestral homeland since 1955. These experiences were then tied to the National Science Standards (8-MS-ESS1-4, 8-MS-ESS2-2, and 8-MS-ESS3-1). The students were split into two groups and given either a PowerPoint or VR experience, both having the same content. The researchers tracked engagement, focus, interest, and how important the students thought the content was. Using an experimental approac...
2016 IEEE Virtual Reality (VR), 2016
2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 2013
— This paper presents a study on the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies for the purpose of ... more — This paper presents a study on the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies for the purpose of teaching concentrating solar power (CSP) to high school and university students. The main goal is to develop an interactive and immersive VR application to explain the main components and processes used in a CSP plant. The secondary goal is to test the effectiveness of this application by performing case studies. The studies are assessed with pre-test, post-test, and questionnaires. In the initial desktop version, there is a substantial improvement on the post-tests that demonstrates that this type of application can be used as an educational tool. The immersive application achieved testing results in the final study that were similar to other methods assessed and scored 88% positive results on the experience questionnaire.
High performance computing is increasingly common in technological industries and there are many ... more High performance computing is increasingly common in technological industries and there are many different solutions available on the market. Determining which computing solution is most cost-effective can be difficult. This study outlines the performance between a single-user, traditional high-performance workstation and a multiuser , virtualized workstation. Along with this direct performance comparison, the impacts of virtualization on rendering performance, GPUs, and the technological industry is evaluated in this study. Through the repeated rendering of two different Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models under varying test scenarios, a pool of data including render times and image quality is collected and analyzed. Two phenomena are observed and explained. One is a diminishing return in GPU power output that is observed after allocating four or more GPUs to a single rendering task. The second is a noticeable point of image-noise convergence during a render that could potentially be calculated and exploited to make rendering more time-efficient. These discoveries may impact the effectiveness of virtual GPU scalability and make time-consuming rendering more efficient for industry users. The NVIDIA GRID Visual Computing Appliance (VCA) is found to be cost effective for research laboratories that have several users with diverse needs.
An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability o... more An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability of any proposed project. Although other researchers have reported maintenance costs for large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States [1-2], there is currently little information available specifically for small-scale CSP or solar Industrial Process Heat (IPH) plants. This paper discusses the maintenance of an operating small-scale CSP plant in Louisiana over a four year period. The results are also applicable to a small-scale IPH plant. Maintenance activities and costs are discussed for the collector field, the power block, and the cooling tower. For the collector field, a study of the degradation of mirror reflectance between washings was performed for three different types of reflective polymer thin films (3M 1100, 3M 2020, and Konica Minolta). Overall, the 3M 2020 film provided better reflectivity between washings than the other films. An optimized mirror washing schedule was determined. Optimal mirror washing schedules are very site-dependent, but for this humid subtropical location, the most economical washing schedule was found to be every 114 days, or approximately three times per year. A recommended maintenance plan for small-scale CSP and IPH plants is presented and actual maintenance costs over a four year period are provided. It was found that maintenance costs for small-scale plants are substantially larger than for large-scale plants, and that maintenance costs for small-scale IPH plants are much lower than for small-scale CSP plants, making IPH applications significantly more attractive. The average annual maintenance cost for a small-scale CSP plant was found to be approximately 457/kWe,or457/kWe, or 457/kWe,or0.27/kWhe. For a small-scale IPH plant the costs were 3.72/m2,3.72/m 2 , 3.72/m2,7.81/kWt, and $0.005/kWht.
As the interest in virtual reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits availa... more As the interest in virtual reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits available for various VR applications. Given that more games are being made with the Unity game engine than any other game technology, several of these toolkits are developed to be directly imported into Unity. A feature and interaction comparison of the toolkits is needed by Unity developers to properly suit one for a specific application. This paper presents an overview and comparison of three virtual reality toolkits available for developers using the Unity game engine. getReal3D, MiddleVR, and Reality-based User Interface System (RUIS) are analysed for VR interaction and display on multi-projection immersive environments like Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE)s. MiddleVR was estimated to have the highest performance and most versatile toolkit for CAVE display and interaction. However, taking cost into account, RUIS has an
During the calendar year of 2012 the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in conjunction with CLE... more During the calendar year of 2012 the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in conjunction with CLECO Power LLC (CLECO) has constructed and commissioned a pilot scale parabolic trough solar thermal power plant for the first time in Louisiana. The large aperture trough (LAT) solar collectors were provided by Gossamer Space Frames and are coupled with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power block provided by ElectraTherm, Inc. for study of the feasibility of cost-effective commercial scale solar thermal power production in Louisiana. Supported by CLECO and providing power to the existing CLECO grid, the implementation of state-of-the-industry collector frames, mirrors, trackers, and ORC power block is studied under various local weather conditions which present varied operating regimes from existing solar thermal installations. The solar collectors provide a design output of 650 kWth and preliminary actual performance data from the system level is presented. The optimal size, configuration and location for such a plant in the given solar resource region are being studied in conjunction with CLECO's search for optimal renewable energy solutions for the region. The pilot scale size of the facility and implementation of the simpler ORC allow remote operation of the facility and flexibility in operating parameters for optimization studies. The construction of the facility was supported by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Department of Energy, and CLECO. The continued operation of the plant is supported by CLECO Power LLC and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can... more Raising awareness of energy issues to high school students using traditional teaching methods can be tedious and unproductive. However, letting a high school student engage in an interactive 3D game can not only stimulate general interest but can also captivate and educate. During 2013, several demonstrations were given in a virtual reality lab at the University of Louisiana that explained solar thermal power concepts and other alternative energy technologies. These were given on three 150 inch screens in a concave design, immersing the user in a 3D educational experience. Several software technologies were used in the creation of the game, the main ones being Solidworks, 3ds Max Design, and Unity 3D. The scene of the game was constructed using a scale model of the Cleco Alternative Energy Center in Crowley, Louisiana. This paper gives a literary review of educational games and explains the design process of the interactive 3D game and the educational experience from demonstrations during 2013.