Summer Research Fellow Spotlight Binit Bipul Singh
"Gas turbines are extensively used in power generation around the world. Based on the data from US Energy Information Administration, Natural gas takes 42% of US electricity generation. Even a small improvement in the efficiency of gas turbine can save money and minimize green house emission. Current problems associated with gas turbines are high fuel consumption, sensitive to ambient temperature and high waste of energy. Most of the gas turbines are combined with steam turbines. Water gas coming out of gas turbine is used to generate steam which operated the steam turbine. This solves one of the problems, but we still have room to minimize the fuel consumption. I plan to investigate a theoretical method to integrate Concentrated Solar Panels (CSP) with gas turbines. The world is admiring to move toward green energy but economically it is not feasible to entirely changer our infrastructure. This approach will not require to replace our current infrastructure but rather add an additional CSP unit into our current energy infrastructure to minimize fuel consumption, greenhouse gases and maximize efficiency."
Q: How did you first get interested in undergraduate research at UK?
A: "I learned about multiple research projects professors work on while attending their classes which dragged my interest in undergraduate research."
Q: How long have you been engaged in undergraduate research?
A: "Approximately 1.5 years"
Q: Describe what a typical day of remote summer research activity looks like for you. How does this differ from your pre-COVID research activity?
A: "It is little challenging to continue research from home. Previously, I used to go on campus and sit together with other graduate students of my lab. I used to get instant help if I was confused on something. Now, I work throughout the week and make a list of problems to discuss during the group Zoom meeting."
Q: What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?
A: "The most exciting aspect of my research so far is I got to learn a software called Engineering Equation Solver. It is fascinating to use this software and solve thermodynamic problems quickly which would have taken days to be solved on paper."
Q: What advice would you give to other UK students thinking about doing research?
A: "Please just don't think about doing research; talk to a professor today and get started."
The UK Office of Undergraduate Research's Summer Research & Creativity Fellowship program provides undergraduates with the opportunity to study in a wide variety of disciplines while doing intensive and self-directed research under the supervision of a faculty mentor.