- Sun May 10, 2009 6:24 am
#15738
I am appending below an extract, pertaining to a traffic generated system, taken from a paper i had submitted for an energy conference about 3 years back. I believe that my idea is not only technically and economically feasible but is of even greater significance but, unfortunately, I do not have the resources to try this out in actual conditions. I am hoping however that some of those who read this post would be better placed to try out this idea and commercialize it.
Extract from the article submitted in Dec �06:
[Quote]
TRAFFIC GENERATED POWER SYSTEMS
Only a small proportion of the fuel energy used in road traffic is actually utilized for locomotion while the larger part is actually wasted in overcoming air resistance and ground friction. The magnitude of this wastage can be readily gauged from the tremendous traffic that is already ever on the move on our roads today, and the rate at which this traffic is increasing every year. A significant portion of this waste energy can however be constructively harnessed by some innovative modifications to some of our already existing technologies.
Some attempts, mostly in the form of ground levers with ratchet & pinion and gear assemblies coupled to electric generators, have been made to generate power from the movement of vehicles across the roads. These have however not been very successful due to various reasons. A more promising approach would be to provide a number of curved humps, laid along the width of the road, and connected to pistons in air chambers embedded widthwise across and below the road. When a vehicle�s wheels pass over these humps they would be pushed down and would compress the air inside the air chambers. The compressed air, after reaching a preset pressure would be allowed to exit, through one-way pressure release valves located at the bottom of the chambers, into lateral air pipes connecting together all the widthwise humps at any location. Air intake into the chambers below would be through one-way air valves located at the upper ends of the chambers. Springs located at the upper end of the air chambers would then return the humped tops back to their original position on the road once the wheels have crossed over, and this action would be repeated endlessly as long as there is traffic movement over the roads. Power generation would then be achieved through wind turbines, at select locations, driven by the release of air under high pressure coming in collectively from a number of interconnected lateral air pipes. Such a system would then be akin to a huge spring loaded bicycle air pump which forces air out under pressure when the handle is forced down, and returns the handle back to its original position when the force on it is released.
This system would not only be flexible enough to work in all traffic conditions, but would also work irrespective of the direction of the traffic. Further, the power generation capacities too could be readily tailored to the traffic conditions, as desired, by suitably varying the number of such �air pumps� connected together and their air release pressures. The forced air exhausts could be used for other applications too besides power generation, such as pumping up of water, driving pneumatic machines and the like.
These systems could also be used in lieu of the conventional speed breakers provided on roads and could therefore be best located wherever there is a need to slow down vehicles, such as before traffic lights or zebra crossings, before turnings on roads, or on those portions of the road that have steep downward slopes, and so on. The power generated can then be ideally used for powering the traffic lights and warning signals ahead, and even for road lighting at select locations, or for other uses as necessary.
[Unquote]
Krishan
Reward: This is for public good so no reward is needed, though it will be appreciated if those using this idea can attribute it suitably and also give me a feedback of the results achieved. Queries/clarifications/feed back are welcome!
Extract from the article submitted in Dec �06:
[Quote]
TRAFFIC GENERATED POWER SYSTEMS
Only a small proportion of the fuel energy used in road traffic is actually utilized for locomotion while the larger part is actually wasted in overcoming air resistance and ground friction. The magnitude of this wastage can be readily gauged from the tremendous traffic that is already ever on the move on our roads today, and the rate at which this traffic is increasing every year. A significant portion of this waste energy can however be constructively harnessed by some innovative modifications to some of our already existing technologies.
Some attempts, mostly in the form of ground levers with ratchet & pinion and gear assemblies coupled to electric generators, have been made to generate power from the movement of vehicles across the roads. These have however not been very successful due to various reasons. A more promising approach would be to provide a number of curved humps, laid along the width of the road, and connected to pistons in air chambers embedded widthwise across and below the road. When a vehicle�s wheels pass over these humps they would be pushed down and would compress the air inside the air chambers. The compressed air, after reaching a preset pressure would be allowed to exit, through one-way pressure release valves located at the bottom of the chambers, into lateral air pipes connecting together all the widthwise humps at any location. Air intake into the chambers below would be through one-way air valves located at the upper ends of the chambers. Springs located at the upper end of the air chambers would then return the humped tops back to their original position on the road once the wheels have crossed over, and this action would be repeated endlessly as long as there is traffic movement over the roads. Power generation would then be achieved through wind turbines, at select locations, driven by the release of air under high pressure coming in collectively from a number of interconnected lateral air pipes. Such a system would then be akin to a huge spring loaded bicycle air pump which forces air out under pressure when the handle is forced down, and returns the handle back to its original position when the force on it is released.
This system would not only be flexible enough to work in all traffic conditions, but would also work irrespective of the direction of the traffic. Further, the power generation capacities too could be readily tailored to the traffic conditions, as desired, by suitably varying the number of such �air pumps� connected together and their air release pressures. The forced air exhausts could be used for other applications too besides power generation, such as pumping up of water, driving pneumatic machines and the like.
These systems could also be used in lieu of the conventional speed breakers provided on roads and could therefore be best located wherever there is a need to slow down vehicles, such as before traffic lights or zebra crossings, before turnings on roads, or on those portions of the road that have steep downward slopes, and so on. The power generated can then be ideally used for powering the traffic lights and warning signals ahead, and even for road lighting at select locations, or for other uses as necessary.
[Unquote]
Krishan
Reward: This is for public good so no reward is needed, though it will be appreciated if those using this idea can attribute it suitably and also give me a feedback of the results achieved. Queries/clarifications/feed back are welcome!