KINETIC ROADS
Electricity is one of the important factors on which world development is based. Every City, State, and Country is trying to achieve a constant flow of electricity throughout the day.
But, our reserves, responsible for electricity production, are depleting faster than ever before. Fossil fuels such as Coal, Petroleum and its bi-products petrol, diesel, and many more are becoming costlier because of the depleting of the crucial system of fuel production happening till now.
But will this situation continue in the Future? To what extent do we have to face these issues? Will it ever get resolved? Okay, alright, many questions in mind, but what are the solutions?
Walking into current trend and near Future, we are developing many new alternative sources replacing the traditional way of producing electricity. Many sustainable and yet so powerful and effective sources are coming to light.
Many sustainable ways of generating electricity came to light. Energy is everywhere. It is in the air(Wind Energy), in Water(Hydropower), in Light(Solar power), in organic mass(Biomass), in oceans, and even in the Earth heat(Geothermal energy). Windmills, solar panels, power-generating turbines, gas obtained by decomposing biomass(not ecofriendly), heat obtained by burning biomass(not ecofriendly), turbines converting ocean waves into electricity(tidal power), and many more ways are there. However, we are doing a case study on Kinetic Roads”: Energy generated by converting Kinetic energy of vehicles into electricity.”
Traffic is one of the significant issues in the current world. From Australia to the United States, we can see traffic everywhere in the world. It is a new way of generating electricity developed in the recent past. Roads are constructed with specific equipment where Kinetic Energy of Vehicles dissipates into surroundings when brakes are applied. The cutting-edge technology used will collect the energy dissipated from vehicles, store it and allow us to use it whenever needed. So let us dive into Kinetic Roads with a deeper understanding.
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?
Road Power Generation (RPG) is a system design to capture waste and kinetic energy from all vehicles. The mechanism of this device is it converts kinetic energy into electrical energy. Now let us discuss the process involved in it.
Firstly we install pressure plates on the ramp. When a moving car passes over this ramp, the vehicle applies some pressure on the plate to press the ramp in the downward direction. The pressure plates connected to the shaft using the Rack and Pinion mechanism convert the pressure plate’s linear motion into angular motion and rotates the shaft. This shaft is connected to Gearbox, and that Gearbox is connected to the flywheel and the DC alternator. That alternator converts the rotational energy to electrical energy.
The general Block diagram of RPG is as shown below.
The flip plate is connected to the belt and flywheel system, which provides mechanical input to the DC generator. This energy is stored in batteries and can be used for lighting purposes, etc.
Road Power Generation is a new type of unconventional source of energy. It is a type of vibration harvesting. It uses the energy of vehicles that would otherwise get wasted and converts kinetic energy to electric power.
Benefits
The units have a minimal visual impact on their surrounding environment.
An RPG emit also has no noise. The RPG unit has a relatively low setup and maintenance costs. And also, RPG units can be located close to services and the power grid. RPG has a low-budget electricity production. It also needs less floor area. One more benefit is it has no obstruction with traffic.
We can easily maintain it, and it is also suitable in the parking lot of multiplexes, malls, tollbooths, signals, etc.
What amount of electric power could RPG generate…????
We can’t answer that question at this stage, but we can say that the wasted energy from our roads is an enormous untapped power source for sure.
Could RPG be prompt to vehicle manufacturers and the government to pursue electric cars and motorbikes actively…????
RPG is a possible answer for the battery charging station. It may be possible that the electric vehicle can be recharged with green power, and power coming from electric cars earned wasted kinetic energy.
The higher the frequency of the passing vehicles, the higher the electricity generated by road.
Conclusion:
The demand for sustainable energy is increasing day by day. So, RPG proves to be a viable mechanism that can tap the wasted kinetic energy of the vehicle and, in turn, produce electrical power. This generated energy can light the street lights and can be used to charge batteries for cars. The same design was carried out, and the results proved that a compact RPG system could be used to get a reasonably good amount of energy. Similarly, different constituent parts were designed, and different results were obtained based on the design.
We are developing many new techniques, and Kinetic roads are definitely one of the world-changing inventions in terms of how power is generated and utilized.
Road power generation — SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/yateesh1592/road-power-generation
