Electricity Generation by Capturing

Wind Energy On Highways.

Name:1)Devang Marvania(U12ME066).
2)Yash Desai(U12ME056).
Year:B.Tech-II.
College:NIT-Surat.
Branch:Mechanical.
Introduction:
In now a days energy demand is going high day by day.
Along with this environmental pollution is also a major issue.
This scenario leads to devlop the ways to produce more and more
CLEAN ENERGY.
This project proposes an idea to capture ambient energy available on
highways in the form of wind energy.
Vision behind the project:
My project and idea basically concerns for producing energy from non-
conventional sources and to recover some extent of energy which is
dissipated to overcome the drag force provided by air.
The Spark:
Once going through an article I found that a typical car of mass 1000 kg
while going on highway at speed of 110 kmph consumes around 86.08%
of its total fuel to overcome the air drag force.
If this drag force can be somehow reduced or some energy which is
dissipated for overcoming the drag can be recoverd than it will be of great
advantege.
This thought finally inspired me to propose this project.
Tools required:
Helix Wind Turbine
Generator
Gear Box
Common tools
Principle and working:
The HELIX turbine placed in between middle of the two lanes
experiences the drag and it rotates which is coupled with generator via
gear box arrangement.
In this case HELIX turbine is preferred as it is inexpensive,reliable and
simple.
It is based on the design of SAVONIUS Turbine.
It catches wind from all directions creating smooth powerful torque to
spin the electric generator.
The wind speed of as less as 10 mph is also capable to produce electricity
from wind.
Here is the computer generated picture of realization.
This picture explains the working of turbine.
The PROS:
Compact structure.
Small power need for lighting and other stuffs can be fulfilled which
reduces cost of transmission lines if it is done conventionally.
Extra energy generated can be stored in Batteries which will serve as
recharge station at certain intervals.
Does not depend on natural wind speed available at perticular location.
The CONS:
High initial capital investment.
Future Prospectus:
The same tower can be used for mounting solar panels .So no need to
establish extra tower for panel and cost can be reduced.
Same arrangemet can be also implemented in city roads as it is compact
in size.
Power generated by this method can be used for the need of nearby
motels and villages.