William David Lubitz

School of Engineering
University of Guelph
50 Stone. Rd. E.
Guelph, ON, Canada
N1G 2W1



Information is posted here on the areas of

1. Teaching
2. Research
3. Publications
4. Miscellaneous

Research

Research Interests

Improving the accuracy of wind resource assessment methods used to site wind turbines.

An accurate prediction of the wind climate at a specific site is essential if a wind energy development (whether a single small turbine, or vast wind farm) is to be a financial success. This requires predicting the wind at the location, and height, of each wind turbine with great precision. The tools used to perform wind resource assessment include field instruments, physics-based computer models, wind tunnel studies and statistical methods. Research is ongoing to improve the accuracy and economy of these tools, with the goal of providing more accurate, less expensive wind resource assessments.

Wind-tunnel simulation of the atmospheric boundary-layer.

Wind tunnels are an excellent tool for simulating wind-driven phenomena around buildings or complex terrain features. Wind tunnels are an accepted diagnostic tool for evaluating wind loads on large structures, near-field dispersion from exhaust stacks and vents, and pedestrian-level winds. Having a boundary-layer wind tunnel dedicated for research purposes allows us to investigate many unique problems and extend the utility of these facilities.

Development of micro- and pico-hydro generators for low flow/low head sites.

There are many sites along waterways, in both Canada and other countries, that could be effectively utilized to generate small but reliable amounts of renewable electricity, if feasible and appropriate hydro generators can be developed that can achieve high reliability and low installed and operating cost. Research capability is being developed in this area: a pico-hydro testing lab has been installed to allow controlled, repeatable year-round testing of pico-hydro generators at heads up to 3.6 m.

Solar resources and applications.

Successfully implementing solar photovoltaic generation, solar thermal systems or energy efficient architecture requires understanding the nature of the solar resource, and having practical tools available to predict both the resource, and it's impact on engineered solar systems.

Energy efficiency and sustainable development.

There are many research possibilities in this field, including

• Adapting stove technoologies to utilize carbon-neutral biofuels
• Reducing energy use and environmental impacts of building practices
• Enabling technologies that distribute energy generation closer to points of use
• Integrating renewable energy technologies into practical energy-supply systems
• Energy usage in transportation, with an emphasis on active transportation (cycling and walking)

Guelph Wind Engineering Laboratory

The Guelph Wind Engineering Laboratory includes a boundary layer wind tunnel, CFD resources, a small wind turbine test site and infrastructure for measuring wind characteristics in the field.

Guelph Wind Engineering Laboratory Facilities

• Small wind turbine test site with 2 colocated 20 m towers, Bergey XL1 turbine, high resolution datalogging
• Open return boundary layer wind tunnel (4 ft by 4 ft cross-section, 24 feet of fetch plus spires) with turntable
• Hotwire anemometry (single and triple wires), 3D traverser
• Pitot tube and pressure transducer
• Helium bubble flow visualization
• Sonic anemometers (including Campbell CSAT3's), plus cups/vanes/other met sensors
• Towers up to 60 m
• CFD: Fluent

Example Projects

Pico-hydro generators for use in rural Cameroon

In partnership with Green Step (a German NGO), an existing pico-hydro generator design was fabricated and tested at the University of Guelph. Several possible improvements were identified, and new pico-hydro generator designs are now being developed.

Biocomposite Wind Turbine Blades

Wind turbine blades are traditionally made from composite materials that are ultimately derived from petroleum resources. We are developing wind turbine blades made from soy-based biocomposites. This research seeks to optimize the blade design to take advantage of the specific properties of the biocomposites, while also improving aerodynamic performance.

On-Farm Biodiesel Production

We have a multi-year collaborative project underway evaluating the engineering and economic feasibility of on-farm biodiesel production. This project includes the construction and operation of a farm-scale biodiesel plant at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown campus. The goal is to see how "closing the loop" in farm energy supply, by using crops to generate both fuel and feed, can be achieved. Engineering-related research projects include investigating methods of utilizing the co-products of the biodiesel process (glycerol, catalysts, wash water), improving the efficiency of extracting oil from soybeans, and developing quality-control tests for finished biodiesel that are effective, economical and can be performed in the farm setting.

Wind Resource Assessment Tools for Small Wind Turbines

Those interested in installing small wind turbines currently have few resources available to accurately predict the wind climate (wind speeds, directions and turbulence) at a potential small wind turbine site. This information is needed to predict whether a small wind turbine will make economic sense at a particular location. A project is underway that seeks to develop tools for this purpose. Research will be conducted in collaboration with industry partners, and will use field experimenst, CFD and wind tunnel modelling. The main focus of the research will be developing improving predictive models and developing low cost approaches that balance the needs for low cost and accuracy when measuring winds at potential small turbine sites.

Other Projects

Additional graduate projects are also being developed in the fields of waste energy utilization, aerodynamics of bicycles for transportation, heat-pump-based geothermal system design, wind resources in urban areas, and in predicting the long-term (several decades) variation in the wind resource at specific turbine locations. Contact me for more information.

If any of these projects interests you, please contact me.

If this research isn't quite what you're looking for, Dr. Curran Crawford does work in wind and tidal turbines and has open graduate positions at the University of Victoria.

Teaching

Courses

ENGG*1100 Engineering Design I
ENGG*2030 Traditional Energy Sources
ENGG*3100 Engineering Design 3
ENGG*3180 Air Quality
ENGG*6660 Renewable Energy

Guelph Engineering Journal

The Guelph Engineering Journal publishes reviews, studies and research results from University of Guelph, School of Engineering students and faculty. This peer-reviewed journal is freely availabe online at the GEJ web site: http://www.soe.uoguelph.ca/webfiles/gej/

Undergraduate Projects - 41X

There are many possible capstone projects in the renewable energy field. If you are interested in any of those listed below, or have an energy or sustainability related project idea of your own, contact me.

• Energy Conservation Systems. There are many "simple" ways to save energy in a house or workplace that turn out to be very difficult to do reliably, such as turning off lights when leaving rooms. Perhaps there is a "technological fix" for these concerns.... One idea: design a system that could be retrofit to an existing light switch, that interfaces with a photosensor and a motorized blinds. The switch is now used to "request more light" instead of "provide power to a light bulb." The "smart switch" might then raise the blinds instead of turning on the light (while factoring in concerns like excess solar heating of the room in summer, direct vs. diffuse light from the window, etc.)
• Plant Oil Stove. There is a great amount of interest in biodiesel and other fuels derived from biological materials. However, manfacturing biodiesel from plant oils still requires signficant effort and resources. Instead of changing the fuel, it might make sense to change the machine that uses the fuel. There would be a number of advantages to fueling a small stove with unmodified vegetable oils. The fuel is not expensive, toxic, flamable or explosive. It is available everywhere, can be carried in simple, lightweight containers, and can even be carried on airplanes. The design challenge here is that these very properties also make it difficult to design a reliable, easy-to-light burner.
• Solar Prospector. Design an inexpensive device that could be placed out on a roof in a potential solar panel location. The device would log insolation (the amount of sunlight) falling on the roof, and after a few months or a year, a person could bring the device inside and plug it into any computer. Software provided with the device would then walk the person through a feasibility assessment for solar PV or water heating systems, using the stored data to tailor the results to the site.

Publications

If you would like a copy of any of these publications, please contact me. (Some cannot be posted here due to copyright or other reasons.)

1. Theses

• Brunskill, A. A Neural Network Based Wake Model for Small Wind Turbine Siting Near Obstacles. May 2010.
• Ziter, B. Alternative Methods of Estimating Hub-Height Wind Speed for Small Wind Turbine Performance Evaluation. May 2010.
• Lamers, A. The Characterization of Biodiesel Wash Water and the Potential for Microbial Remediation. January 2011.

2. Articles in refereed publications

• Lubitz, W. D. Effect of Manual Tilt Adjustments on Incident Irradiance on Fixed and Tracking Solar Panels. Applied Energy. 88, 1710-1719. 2011.
• McIntyre, J. H., Lubitz, W. D., Stiver, W. H. Local Wind-Energy Potential for the City of Guelph, Ontario (Canada). Renewable Energy. 36, 1437-1446. 2011.
• Ziter, B., Lubitz, W. D. Predicting Hub-Height Wind Speed for Small Wind Turbine Performance Evaluation Using Tower-Mounted Cup Anemometers. Wind Engineering. 34 (6), 673-699. 2010.
• Leidl, C., Lubitz, W. Modeling Implementation of Domestic Water Heating Technologies: A Case Study of Drain Water Heat Recovery and Solar Water Heating in the City of Guelph. Technology in Society. 31, 244-256. 2009.
• Lubitz, W. D. Power Law Extrapolation of Wind Measurements for Predicting Wind Energy Production. Wind Engineering. 33 (3), 2009.
• Lubitz, W. D., White, B. R. Wind Tunnel and Field Investigation of the Effect of Local Wind Direction on Speed-Up Over Hills. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics. 2007 (95), pp. 639-661.
• Gu, Z., Chen, X., Lubitz, W., Li, Y., Luo, W. Wind Tunnel Simulation of Exhaust Recirculation in an Air-Cooling System at a Large Power Plant. International Journal of Thermal Science. Vol. 46, pp. 308-317. 2007.

3. Other refereed contributions

• Lubitz, W., White, B. California Regional Wind Energy Forecasting System Development, Volume 3: Wind Tunnel Modeling of Wind Flow over Complex Terrain. EPRI Final Report. 2006.
• Lubitz, W. D., White, B. R. Measuring Error in Wind Power Forecasting Using a New Forecasting System. AIAA Paper No. 2005-1330. Peer-reviewed paper. Proceedings of AIAA/ASME Wind Energy Symposium 2005, Jan. 10 - 13, 2005. pp. 510 - 520. Reno, NV, USA.
• Lubitz, W. D., White, B. R. Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Applications in Wind Turbine Siting. Proceedings of World Wind Energy Conference, 2004. Abstract-reviewed paper presented at Beijing, China, Oct. 31 - Nov. 4, 2004.
• Cheng, J., Lubitz, W., White, B. Wind tunnel Prediction of Wind Power Production in Complex Terrain. AIAA Paper No. 2004-1360. Peer-reviewed paper. Proceedings of AIAA/ASME Wind Energy Symposium 2004, Jan. 5 - 7, 2004. pp. 507 - 517. Reno, NV, USA.

4. Non-refereed contributions

• Lubitz, W. D. Effects of Tower Shadowing on Anemometer Data. Paper, 11th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering. San Juan, PR, USA. Jun. 22-25, 2009.
• Lamers, A., Lubitz, D., Nicol, R. Low Input Closed Loop Algae Culture as a Lipid Source for Biodiesel Conversion. Poster, Growing the Margins Conference. London, ON. Mar. 10-13, 2009.
• Brunskill, A., Lubitz, W. Improved Siting Guidelines for Small Wind Turbines. Poster presented at CanWEA Annual Conference. Vancouver, BC. Oct. 19-22, 2008.
• Ziter, B., Lubitz, W. Assessing Small Turbine Performance Through On-Site Power Curve Generation. Poster presented at CanWEA Annual Conference. Vancouver, BC. Oct. 19-22, 2008.
• McIntyre, J. H., Lubitz, W. D., Stiver, W. H. Wind Energy Resource Assessment Using Wind Atlas and Meteorological Data for the City of Guelph, Canada. Proceedings of World Wind Energy Conference 2008, June 24 - 26. Kingston, ON, Canada.
• Lubitz, W. D. Characterizing the Wind Climate Above a Barn Roof for a Small Wind Turbine. Presentation at Growing the Margins Conference 2008, April 2 - 5. London, ON, Canada.
• Lubitz, W. D., Hakimi, R. Effect of Roof Slope on a Building Mounted Wind Turbine. AIAA Paper No. 2008-1325. Proc. AIAA/ASME Wind Energy Sym. 2008, Jan. 7 -10. Reno, NV, USA.
• Lubitz, W. D. Rethinking the First Year Programming Course. Canadian Design Engineering Network (CDEN) Annual Conference. Winnipeg, Canada. July 22-24, 2007.
• Lubitz, W. D. Assessing the Accuracy of Extrapolating Measured Wind Speeds Upwards. CanWEA Annual Conference, Winnipeg, Canada. Oct. 22-25, 2006.
• Zack, J., Lubitz, D., et al. Wind Tunnel and Numerical Modeling of Wind Energy Generation at Altamont Pass. Poster. AWEA Windpower 2006 Proceedings. Pittsburgh, PA, USA. June 4-7, 2006.
• Lubitz, W. D. Near Real Time Wind Energy Forecasting Incorporating Wind Tunnel Modeling. Dissertation, University of California, Davis. Sept. 2005.
• Lubitz, W. D., White B. R. A Simple Method of Forecasting Wind Power Production at a Complex Terrain Site. Poster. AWEA Windpower 2005 Proceedings, Denver, CO, USA. May 15-18, 2005.
• Lubitz, W. D. Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Applications in Wind Turbine Siting. Proceedings of World Wind Energy Conference, Oct. 31 - Nov. 4, 2004. Beijing China.
• Lubitz, W. D., White, B. R. Prediction of Wind Power Production Using Wind tunnel Data: A Component of A Wind Power Forecasting System. Poster. AWEA Global Windpower 2004 Proceedings. Chicago, IL, USA. Mar. 28 - 31, 2004.
• Lubitz, W. Wind Anemometer Loan Program Protocol. California Wind Energy Collaborative Report #2003-004. Sept. 2003.
• White, B. R., Lubitz, D. Final Report: A Wind Tunnel Study of Expected Wind Speeds Above the UCDMC South Davis Tower Roof Area. UC Davis Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Facility Report. March 2003.
• Lubitz, W. D. Applicability of the St. Venant Equations to Accelerating Open Channel Flows. Masters Report, University of California, Santa Barbara. March 2001.

Miscellaneous