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Team 48

Team Members

Faculty Advisor

Michael Quinn
Nadine Masayda
Gwenyth Lileika
Ryan Ferris

Thomas Mealy

Sponsor

Saint Thomas Aquinas Church

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St. Thomas Aquinas Church Storrs CT: Heating System Diagnosis and Performance

St. Thomas Aquinas is a church located at the University of Connecticut’s Storrs Campus. The church utilizes a heating system that receives steam from the UCONN Co-Generation plant. The lack of functioning thermal controls within the church causes temperatures to rise far beyond the ideal comfort range. There are two main deliverables for this project. One is to determine the faults of the steam heating system and propose a viable solution. The second is to create new mechanical system drawings utilizing AutoCAD and Revit because the existing construction documents containing the piping and HVAC system drawings are outdated and incohesive. Testing revealed the locations of steam valves and the temperature distribution present in the Nave of the church. The Nave of the church receives the majority of its steam supply from radiators connected in parallel that each have their own lever or radiator valve. However, these radiators are covered by wooden panels that are not easily removed. One current proposed solution is to improve accessibility for manual valve control by having the radiator covers on hinges. The second proposed solution is to replace the manual valves on each radiator with electromechanical control valves that respond when the ambient temperature is above or below the set point. Further surveying, testing, and research will allow for recommendations to improve the convenience and efficiency of control.