Title of Seminar: 4th MVAC-RE TECHNICAL CONFERENCE

MVAC-RE Towards Nation Building: Evolve, Adapt, Innovate

Speakers’ Name and Topic

Engr. Danilo Kalingasan, PME – HVAC Design Utilizing the Carrier Hourly Analysis Program

Engr. Cesar Luis Lim, PME – Industrial Refrigeration Ammonia Safety

Engr. Armando Emata, PME – Industrial Ventilation An Occupational Health and Safety Requirement

Engr. Francis Guevara, PME – HVAC System Strategies During COVID-19 Pandemic

Date: June 26, 2021, 1:00 PM to 7:30 PM

Content/Summary of the Seminar

The PSME MVAC-RE Chairman, Engr. Wilfredo Estrella, delivered his welcome remarks as a start of the
webinar. He acknowledged the presence of the PSME National Board of Directors for 2021 and the
participants from different parts of the globe. Next, the PSME National President, Engr. Jerry Asuncion,
gave an inspirational message.

The hosts then presented the first resource speaker, Engr. Danilo Kalingasan, PME. Engr. Niño Falamig
discussed the Energy Simulation Software for LEED Building Certification. The first question he raised is,
“Why do we need to certify a building?” Certifications like this results to energy efficiency, bigger
market, great indoor air quality, prestige, and sustainability. ASHRAE 90.1 is the basis of LEED’s criteria
for Energy and Air Conditioning Equipment, which is a point-system criteria. Carrier;s Hourly Analysis
Program is one of the most widely-used simulation software that is capable of calculating peak cooling
and heating loads, HVAC system and equipment sizing, schematic energy modelling, detailed design
energy modelling, LEED documentation, and code compliance. The Hourly Analysis Program can also
generate tabular and graphical energy reports of hourly, daily, monthly, and annual data. Next, Engr.
Joseph Paulo Abarquez demonstrated how to navigate and input values on the Hourly Analysis Program.
After the lecture, the resource speaker answered some questions from the attendees. A Plaque of
Appreciation was given to the resource speaker after the Question-and-Answer part.

After the message from the sponsors, the next resource speaker, Engr. Armando Emata, PME, was
introduced. The topic objectives are what is industrial ventilation, know the different views of industrial
ventilation, why do we need to ventilate a space, learn the different components of an industrial
ventilation system and how they function, familiarize with the different ventilation system set-ups,
familiarize with the general principles of ventilation, learn the types of ventilation systems, know which
type of ventilation system is best for you, basic components of a ventilation system, and system
monitoring. The speaker emphasized that ventilation is like the concept of debit and credit in
accounting, you have to replace the air that you removed in the system. Industrial Ventilation is basically
bringing fresh outdoor air and removing contaminated indoor air. In the workplace, the primary purpose
of ventilation is to control exposure to airborne contaminants. It is commonly used to remove
contaminants such as fumes, dusts, and vapors, in order to provide a healthy and safe working
environment. Ventilation has significant purpose like providing continuous supply of fresh outside air to
maintain the ideal oxygen level, maintain temperature and humidity at comfortable levels, reduce
potential fire or explosion hazards, remove or dilute air-borne contaminants, and to remove any
undesirable odors from a given area. Ventilation is considered an “engineering control” to remove or
control contaminants released in indoor work environments. After the lecture, Engr. Emata gave a short
chorus quiz to the attendees and later on, questions are now coming and all are answered by Engr.
Emata, the resource speaker. A Plaque of Appreciation was given to the resource speaker after the
Question-and-Answer part.

Armacell, as one of the sponsors of the event, gave a brief advertisement and after that, the next
resource speaker was introduced. Engr. Cesar Luis Lim is an ASHRAE Standards Committee Member and
so his topic is about Industrial Refrigeration Ammonia Safety Seminar. He started by citing the previous
accidents related to using ammonia in industrial refrigeration in the Philippines. He said that the latest
incident was caused by a faulty valve. Ammonia refrigerant (R-717) is the most energy efficient
refrigerant available in the market since 1800s. R-717 is green refrigerant with an ODP and GWP of zero.
Ammonia is cheap compared to halocarbons and hydrocarbon refrigerants. Ammonia refrigerant should
have a purity of 99.95% or higher. The usual contaminant in an ammonia refrigerant that is below
99.95% is water as it is hygroscopic. Ammonia with water will produce ammonium hydroxide which is a
very corrosive substance. The fabrication of ammonia pressure vessel and installation of welding
procedure is the key to ammonia safety. Vessel should be manufactured using Automatic Submerged
Arc Welding using 7018 welding rods. Electronic Leak Detectors should be placed on top of the vessels
and compressors. After the lecture, Engr. Cesar Luis Lim answered questions and what struck me from
his answers is that since 1978, San Miguel Corporation haven’t had any accident regarding ammonia
refrigeration because of good maintenance procedures and modernized plants. Another thing I learned,
that’s why ammonia isn’t used in residential air conditioning because it would be very expensive
because we can’t use copper tubes, because ammonia would “eat” the copper and the compressors for
ammonia is expensive, too. The refrigerant used for transport of low temperature necessities like
vaccines, food, etc are halocarbons. A Plaque of Appreciation was given to the resource speaker after
the Question-and-Answer part.

After the message from the sponsor, ebmpapst, the next resource speaker was introduced. Engr. Francis
Guevara’s topic is about HVAC System Strategies during COVID-19 Pandemic. As a start, the speaker
cited his references, the newly released ASHRAE Position Document on Infectious Aerosols and ASHRAE
Position Document on Airborne Infectious Diseases. According to ASHRAE, ventilation and filtration
provided by heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems can reduce the airborne concentration of
SARS-CoV-2 and thus the risk of transmission through the air. Unconditioned spaces can cause thermal
stress to people that may be directly life threatening and that may also lower resistance to infection. In
general, disabling of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems is not a recommended measure to
reduce the transmission of the virus.

No. of hours duration

6 hours and 30 minutes

Reflection

As a future Mechanical Engineer, there is this uncertainty on what career path related to Mechanical
Engineering am I going to take for the reason that it is a broad profession which ranges from fire
suppression to manufacturing. This field of engineering emerged during the Industrial Revolution in
Europe in the 18th century and has continually evolved and overlaps with aerospace engineering,
metallurgical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, chemical
engineering, industrial engineering, and other engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineering
profession is still in high demand in this 21 st Century context.

To further help me in planning my career path in the future, I chose to attend this technical conference
about Mechanical Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration, in the hopes that it will introduce me
to one of the most popular mechanical engineering fields in the Philippines. This webinar was hosted by
the PSME MVAC-RE Technical Division and requires a fee of 100 php to avail the e-certificate. They also
announced that there will be a five raffle draw for a copy of Carrier’s Hourly Analysis Program.

The webinar has high-caliber engineers in the field of HVAC. They are very knowledgeable of their topics
and they are also inspiring resource speakers. I, myself, had some realizations during the webinar that
passing the board exams will be a minute detail in a future career. There will be much more than that in
every career. These people who I am watching has a lot of achievements and it will be difficult to replace
them in the industry. To be like them, is also what I aspire to be. To be hard to replace because of your
achievements and years of experience in the industry. When you’re a fresh graduate and you started
working, you can be easily replaced because you’re just another fish in the sea of fresh graduates. My
takeaways are that achievements do really matter. Those certificates or plaques isn’t just a piece of
paper or plastic, it represents a part of you that includes the things you’ve worked hard into.
Title of Seminar: Basic Grid Tie Solar Design for Residential and Commercial

Speakers’ Name and Topic

Speaker’s Name: Engr. Roel M. Bebero, PEE, CEM

Date: June 28, 2021, 6:30 PM to 11:30 PM

Content/Summary of the Seminar

The webinar started with a few discussions from the MEPF Chairman, Engr. Armando R. Diaz, MBA, PEE,
CPM. He then introduced the guest speaker, Engr. Roel M. Bebero, PEE, CEM, who first introduced
himself to the audience and quickly started his presentation. From his presentation, Photovoltaic system
has become the cheapest source of electrical power with a high solar potential. The prices of solar
panels have dropped by the factor of 10 within a decade which opened the path to a global transition to
sustainable energy to help mitigate global warming. Some reasons to have a solar photovoltaic system
are reducing monthly electrical bill, anticipation of power outages, lesser carbon footprint, and to
increase property value. Advantages of PV system includes environmentally sustainable, abundant and
free, widely used, and a reliable energy source, while disadvantages include availability is on daytime
only, unpredictability of weather, expensive technology, and needs a large area for manufacturing.

There are three types of photovoltaic system, Grid Tie or On-Grid Solar PV system, Off-Grid Solar PV
system, and Hybrid Solar PV system. Some solar power terminologies are also presented in the
presentation. Solar irradiance is the power per unit area received from the sun in the form of
electromagnetic radiation as reported in the wavelength range. Pyranometer is the device used to
measure the solar irradiance levels. The higher the temperature, the lower the output. The higher the
irradiance, the higher the output. Solar Insolation is the equivalent solar energy that can be harvested
from the sun.

Things to consider during design and installation of solar panels are sun position, shading, and the tilt.
There are two types of solar panels – monocrystalline and polycrystalline. Advantages of
monocrystalline solar panels are having the highest efficiency because they are made out of the highest-
grade silicon and their single-cell structure creates minimal resistance to the flow of electricity once the
electrons are excited by the sun, ideal for small roofs because they are space-efficient due to their
higher efficiency meaning they produce more electricity per foot, long lifespan because of a crystalline
silicon, and high efficiency levels despite the heat. The sole disadvantage of monocrystalline solar panels
are their cost, they are the highest-priced solar panels. The advantages of polycrystalline solar panels
are their affordability because the process used to make polycrystalline silicon is simpler and costs less
and higher heat tolerance because as heat increases, the output for this type of cell will fall less. The
disadvantages of polycrystalline solar panels are lower efficiency levels because of lower silicon purity,
and it’s not as easy on the eyes when compared to the monocrystalline solar panels.

There are also do’s and don’t in installation of solar PVs such as use the same type of solar PV module in
your system, mixing different models with different voltage or current will have an unbalanced output,
orient all modules in the same direction if possible and with the same tilt angle, and if the PV modules
wont’s fit on one side of the roof, consider the other side of the roof and use a dual string type
inverter/dual tracker or a separate inverter for each side.

No. of hours duration

5 hours

Reflection

As a 21st Century future engineer, I’m a fan of renewable energy technologies. I am a believer that those
technologies are the future of power production and that future as I foresee does not include the
massive usage of fossil fuel sources. As an engineer, it is our goal to discover or invent technologies that
doesn’t hurt our environment. We now need to use our resources smartly. We shouldn’t wait until we
depleted our resources in this world.

I chose to attend this webinar because it is about the basic solar design for residential and commercial
application. My fascination to renewable energy sources ranges from the wind turbines to solar
photovoltaic systems. I want to be an engineer who deals with these systems in the future. I also want
to incorporate solar photovoltaic system on my future home and I also want to encourage people to
switch, be amazed, and interested in renewable energy sources, too. Imagine if we have lots of home
installing solar panels, we could have an amazing world where the reliance to fossil fuel will lessen and
thus reducing our carbon footprints which will also slow down the global warming. We need to have
better government policies or incentives for people or the general public to be interested in renewable
energies.

After the webinar, it occurred to me to think about the future of these technologies because there are
so much things yet to improve and this puts pressure on the future engineers which is good, to keep
them motivated and inspired to further advance the technology in this world. What can these
advancements lead to or where will these advancements bring us?