1. Therm-O-Bench
Presented by Team 4:
Cassian Whitehurst, Damon Grosso, and Suyoung Choi
2. Park Benches Now
O Heat up in sun
O Uncomfortable to sit on heated metal
O With continuous sunlight, users can run
the risk of burn on bare legs
3. Therm-O-Bench
O Button on bench arm triggers cooling
mechanism to cool the user
O Five minutes of continuous cold air project
from the bench surfaces
O Keeps user cool and refreshed on a hot
summer day
4. How will this work?
O A refrigerant in vapor form is sent into a
compressor hidden in housing
O The compressed vapor has a higher
temperature (because of the inverse
relationship between pressure and
temperature of gases)
O The hotter vapor is passed into a
condenser and expansion valve (also
hidden)
O The resultant liquid refrigerant is
passed into tubes inside and directly
outside the bench cooling the bench
and its user.
5. Bench Construction
O The bench will be constructed from steel
alloy
O Steel maintains a high thermal resistance
with a low cost
O Titanium would be more ideal because of
its higher thermal resistance, but is very
expensive if many benches were to be
produced.
6. Bench Logic
O This is the
basic system
logic that will
allow the
cooling system
to communicate
with the user
input (button)
7. Marketability?
O The bench will primarily be marketed to
parks and recreation departments of
major urban cities
O Cities will have a greater need for a larger
quantity of benches
O The will also be beneficial around
recreational areas so they can cool down
hard working athletes
8. Technologies We Need
O An easily cooled metal that is not heat
conductant from which the bench frame
will be constructed
O A small vapor compression refrigeration
system that will attach to the seat and
back rest of the bench to pump cold air
through the bench to the user
9. Energy Efficiency
O The cooling mechanism will run for 5
minutes continuously to prevent constant
cooling without a user
O If the user is sitting for longer than 5
minutes, they can simply repress the
button
O Benches will be not operational during
cold seasons to further conserve energy
