Facilities

The Discipline of Civil Engineering houses a range of computational and experimental facilities for conducting research in the area of energy engineering.

Computational Facilities

Modelling Marine Environments:

The computational facilities include a wide range of well-recognised numerical modelling systems with applications ranging from deep ocean waters, to shallower coastal waters. Some of these modelling systems include:

• POM – a three-dimensional oceanographic model
• DIVAST – a two-dimensional depth-averaged coastal model
• TRIVAST – a three-dimensional shallow coastal model
• ECOMSED – a three-dimensional coastal model

State-of-the-art software packages such as SURFER, Tecplot, ArcGIS and AutoCAD are available for digitisation of bathymetric charts and data analysis, interrogation and visualisation. Finite element analysis software is available for modelling and analysis of offshore structures and high performance computing facilities, provided by the Irish Centre for High-End Computing, are also available for computationally intensive numerical modelling.

Modelling Building Environments:

There is expertise within the group in a large number of software packages such as:

• EnergyPlus (whole building energy simulation)
• Dymola (Modelica - for reduced order modelling of buildings)
• ANSYS CFX (computational fluid dynamic modelling of indoor environments and ocean waves)
• R (data handling and visualisation tool)
• Finite Element modelling tools, such as ANSYS and ABAQUS are available for modelling the structural and thermo-mechanical performace of energy devices and components.
• Matlab (for data manipulation and simulations)
• Programming languages, such as Visual Basic, C++, Fortran, etc.

Experimental Facilities 

1. Scale Model Laboratory

2. Case Study Buildings and Weather Station

Case study buildings are important for validation, testing and calibration of models. The Energy Engineering research group has access to a large number of academic, commercial and industrial buildings for case studies. One of these case study buildings is the new Engineering building at NUI Galway. Furthermore, there are a number of on campus weather stations. The group has access to a wide range of datalogging sensors (handheld and fixed, wired and wireless) for monitoring:tion
Case study buildings are important for validation, testing and calibration of models. The Energy Engineering research group has access to a large number of academic, commercial and industrial buildings for case studies. One of these case study buildings is the new Engineering building at NUI Galway. Furthermore, there are a number of on campus weather stations. The group has access to a wide range of datalogging sensors (handheld and fixed, wired and wireless) for monitoring:

• Temperature (air, soil, surface)
• Humidity
• Light
• Power
• Air velocity
• Differential pressure
• CO2

Further information can be found at IRUSE.