Introducing Speed Breaker as a Power Generation

Unit for Minor Needs

C. K. Das1, S. M. Hossain2, M. S. Hossan3
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology
Chittagong-4349, Bangladesh.
*1
choton46@yahoo.com, 2soneteee@gmail.com, 3manikeee07@gmail.com

Abstract— Man in his lifetime, uses energy in one form or the from speed breaker by converting vehicle kinetic energy to
other. Energy demand continues to grow, year after year. In the mechanical energy. As the vehicle passes over the speed
present scenario power becomes major need for human life. But breaker wasted kinetic energy can be converted into the
the extensive usage of energy has resulted in an energy crisis, and rotational motion of roller to generate electricity, this is the
there is a need to develop methods of optimal utilization, which main concept of this research. This new mechanism provides
will not only ease the crisis but also preserve the environment higher efficiency and higher output at a lower cost than the
from the negative impacts of global climate change. Energy mechanism used previously. A roller having some kind of grip
conservation is the cheapest new source of energy. It is an is placed between the speed-breaker. So when vehicle pass
attractive technology for optimal use of available sources. This
over the breaker, it rotates the roller. This movement of roller is
research shows the possibility of tapping the wasted energy in the
used to rotate the shaft of DC generator by the help of chain
road speed breaker. The wasted energy can be converted to the
electrical energy by roller mechanism through several energy drive using 1:4 speed ratios. As the shaft of DC generator
conversion processes. In this research, the obtained electrical rotates, it produces electricity. This generated electricity is
energy is in KW range which is sufficient to lighten the street stored in a battery and used to lighten the street lamps on the
lights and traffic signal. As the number of vehicle is increasing road.
day by day, the designed system will be effective to solve the
power crisis of Bangladesh to some extent. II. METHODOLOGY
Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most
Keywords- Tapped energy, Speed breaker, Roller mechanism, widely used forms of energy. A large amount of energy is
Energy conversion, Street lights. wasted at the speed breakers through the dissipation of heat and
also through friction, every time a vehicle passes over it. In this
I. INTRODUCTION
research, a roller is fitted in between a speed breaker and some
Energy infrastructure of Bangladesh is quite small, kind of a grip is provided on the speed breaker so that when a
insufficient and poorly managed. The per capita energy vehicle passes over speed breaker it rotates the roller. Through
consumption in Bangladesh is one of the lowest (136 kWh) in this rotation of the roller kinetic energy of the vehicle is
the world. Noncommercial energy sources, such as wood fuel, converted to the rotational energy of the roller which is
animal waste, and crop residues, are estimated to account for displayed in Fig. 1.
over half of the country's energy consumption. Bangladesh has
small reserves of oil and coal, but very large natural gas
resources. Commercial energy consumption is mostly natural
gas (around 66%), followed by oil, hydropower and coal.
Electricity is the major source of power for country's most of
the economic activities [1]. Therefore, we have to investigate
some approximate, alternative, new sources for the power
generation, which is not depleted by the very few years. It
suffers all the living organisms of all kinds as on the land, in
aqua and in air. Power stations and automobiles are the major
pollution producing places. Therefore, we have to investigate
other types of renewable sources, which produce electricity
without using any commercial fossil fuels, which is not
producing any harmful products. Already there existing such
systems using renewable energy such as solar, wind etc. for
power generation. The latest technology which is used to
generate the power by such renewable energy is “power
generation using speed breaker” [2-6] where crank-shaft and
spring mechanism is applied. In this system, a new mechanism Fig. 1. Conversion of kinetic energy to rotational energy
called roller mechanism is introduced to generate electricity

978-1-4799-0400-6/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE

This rotational energy is proportional to the speed vehicle and
also the mass. The rotational energy of the roller
r is converted
into the mechanical energy of the shaft throough the gear ratio
1:4 for some mechanical advantages. As the dynamo shaft
rotates with certain rpm, the mechanical ennergy is converted
into electrical energy. The conversion will be b proportional to
traffic density. This process is displayed in Fiig. 2.

Fig. 4. Connectioon diagram of the system

Fig. 2. Conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy

III. SYSTEM DESIGN

The whole system can be represented by a block diagram as
displayed in Fig. 3 where dissipated powerr of the vehicle is
captured by the roller as rotational energy which
w is converted
to the mechanical energy through chain drivve later. After that,
this mechanical energy is converted to eleectrical energy by
using dynamo which is being stored in the baattery.

Fig. 5. Oveerall design layout

IV. CONSTRU
UCTIONAL DETAILS
All the equipment used in thiis system is displayed in Fig. 6

Fig. 3. Block diagram of the total system

s

The connection among all the equipment’ss from top and the
coupling between roller and dynamo shhaft through chain
drive from side is shown in Fig. 4. In thist system, roller
design is very important. In Fig. 5, notch type roller is used
for getting higher number of rotation and gripping.
g
Fig. 6. Equipment usedd in the system implementation
A. Speed Breaker Arrangement VI. EXPERIMENTAL DATA
A COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
The height of the speed breaker and the placement
p of roller A. Data Collection
as a speed breaker should be well managed. There should be a
minimum height of the speed breaker and it must
m be accurately The total implementation off the research can be represented
measured. The height of the speed breaker shhould never exceed by several steps.
8 inch. There must be a minimum gap betweeen roller and speed When vehicle passing the speeed breaker with a velocity of 39
breaker to obtain the maximum amount of o rotation and to km per hour having two passeengers. In fig. 8 at the first step,
capture the maximum energy. there is no current flow and nearly zero voltage at the terminal
before the vehicle passing overr the speed breaker which shows
B. Roller no charging operation to the batttery.
Iron made roller is used and outer surfacce of the roller is
covered by rubber to provide gripping. Rolller strength should
be strong enough to bear the vehicle weight.
C. Gear
Gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, which mesh
with another toothed part to transmit torquue and produce a
mechanical advantage through a gear ratio off 1:4.
D. Chain Drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechhanical power from
one place to another. It is often used to connvey power to the
wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles.
E. Dynamo or DC Generator
A dynamo, originally another name for an electrical
generator, now means a generator that produuces direct current
with the use of a commutator. It converts mechanical
m rotation Fig. 8. Meter reading beffore passing over speed breaker
into a pulsating direct electric current throughh Faraday's law.
In the second step, vehicle has just passed the speed breaker as
F. Battery a result a high torque is induuced in roller. Due to this high
The generated electrical energy is stored in the battery and torque, maximum number of rotation
r is induced in the roller.
can deliver to the load. This rotation produces maximuum terminal voltage and causes
charging current to flow towardds battery. So battery is charging
V. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATTION with a high terminal voltage which
w corresponds to high power
This system is implemented in Chittagoong University of during this process. At that mom
ment in Fig.9 terminal voltage is
Engineering and Technology (CUET), Chiittagong- 4349 of 12.83 V and charging current value is 1.7 A.
Bangladesh. During the system implemeentation an auto-
rickshaw (CNG) is used as a vehicle which iss shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9. Meter reading after veehicle passing over the speed breaker

In the third step, as the vehhicle passes through the speed

Fig. 7. Implementation of the system using vehicle (CNG) breaker rotation of the roller deecreases which also decrease the
terminal voltage to 10.72 V. Buut the charging period continues
to increase with higher current amplitude and gain a value of
2.3 A. The decrement of the terminal voltage is not similar to
the increase rate of charging current. In the fourth step, after
2sec of passing vehicle through rotation of the roller decreases
which also decrease the terminal voltage to 10.71 V. But the
charging period continues to increase with higher current
amplitude and gain a value of 2A. In the fifth step, after 3sec of
vehicle passing, rotation of the roller decreases which also
decrease the terminal voltage to 1.098V very sharply. At that
time the charging current amplitude starts decreasing. In the
final step, after 4sec of vehicle passing, rotation of the roller
decreases which also decrease the terminal voltage to
approximately zero volt. At the same time, charging current
amplitude starts decreasing and becomes approximately zero.
All the data of the above moments are given in Table II.
B. Data Analysis
In this research, the experimental data are taken by using an
auto-rickshaw (CNG) as a vehicle for different types of load
(kg) where loads are varied in Table I by changing the number
of passenger to vary the load. Variation of the output with the Fig. 11. Variation of charging time (sec) to the vehicle load (kg)
load is shown in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 where it is clear that
terminal voltage and charging time (i. e. total power) increase VII. RESULT ANALYSIS
proportionally with the increase of vehicle load.
A. Theoretical Analysis [7]:
TABLE I. EXPERIMENTAL DATA OF THE IMPLEMENTATION For an auto-rickshaw (CNG) with one passenger,
Vehicle mass, M = 250 kg
Vehicle
Maximum
Mean Charging Height of roller above speed breaker, d= 2 inch. = 5 cm
Generated Mass of roller, m = 60 kg
Load(kg) Power(Watt) Time(sec)
Voltage, VT
Roller radius, r = 6 inch. = 15.24 cm
205 10.73 7.99 3.9 No. of rotation per minute for roller = N1
No. of rotation per minute for dynamo shaft = N2
250 12.83 9.47 4 Gear ratio = N1/N2 = 1/4
320 13.05 10.5 4.1 When vehicle passes over the speed breaker induced torque on
roller, τ = Force × Distance
400 14.91 11.21 4.2 = M × g × 0.05
= 122.63 Nm
Again, Induced Torque in Roller
τ = roller mass × (angular velocity) 2 × roller radius
= 60 × (2πN1/60)2× 0.1524
Here, N1 = 35 rpm
N2 = 4 × N1 = 140 rpm
If 15 vehicle pass in 1 minute, Number of rotation of dynamo
shaft, N= 15 × 140 = 2100 rpm
Rating of the Dynamo used:
Rated Voltage V= 12V, RPM=1800,
Current capacity = 35 A
Internal generated voltage EA is obtained from Fig. 12 using
the equation,
EA/EA0 = N/N0
Or, EA = (N×EA)/N0 = 14 V

Armature Current, IA = Load Ampere Hour (Ah)/60

= 35/60 = 0.583 A
Terminal voltage, VT = EA – IA = 13.97 V
Fig. 10. Variation of maximum terminal voltage (VT) to the vehicle
load(kg)
Output Power = VT IA = 8.1 watt.
 TABLE II. OBSERVATION DATA FOR ONE VEHICLE PASSING

Observation No. Voltage(V

V) Current(A) Power(W)
01 0.929 0 0
02 12.83 1 12.83
03 12.83 1.5 19.245
04 10.71 2 21.42
05 10.73 2.1 22.533
06 10.73 2.3 24.679
07 0.949 2.6 2.4674
08 0.949 2.7 2.5623
09 1.098 2.8 3.744
10 0.977 2.6 2.5402
11 0.922 2 1.844

Fig. 12. Internal diagram of dynnamo 12 0.922 0.5 0.461

So, 1 vehicle pass in 4sec over the speed breaaker power
generated (8.1×4×15)/60 watt. = 8.1 watt
Now, total minute of a day = 24 × 60 = 14400 min
Considering useful minute in a day = 400 miin
Power generated in 400 min = 400 × 8.1 = 32241 watt.
B. Practical Analysis [8]:
As the vehicle passes over the speed breeaker the speed of
rotation of roller changes very quickly whiich corresponds to
the change of induced voltage and curreent. For 250 Kg
weighted vehicle, 4 second charging periood is found. This
whole charging period is divided into severaal observations due
to the large variation of voltage and currennt in a small time
interval. From this charging period mean generated
g power is
calculated by using the data of Table II. Foor a small period,
variation of voltage and current is displayed in Fig.13.
∑=113.65
Now, from Table II mean powwer is calculated which is given
below,
Mean Power = 113.655/12
= 9.47 watt
w
VIII. SCOPE OF
O THE SYSTEM
Now from Table III it is cleear that this system can be very
effective in those areas wherre large no. of vehicle moves
around. These vehicles can produce sufficient amount of
energy to lighten the street ligght for the full night. Through
this process electricity can bee saved which can be used to
lighten this street light. Now--a-days our country is facing a
disastrous condition in the suppply of electricity properly due to
the shortage of the power geeneration. So in this condition
generation of electricity for street light using speed breaker
will be beneficial for the counttry like Bangladesh to fulfill the
future demand of electricity.

TABLE III. NUMBER OF YEAR WISE REGISTERED MOTOR VEHICLES IN

BANGLAADESH [9]

Type of June
2008 20009 2010 2011
Vehicles 2012

Motor Car 16927 214461 20690 12473 5060

Jeep 6537 90027 8040 5792 2450

Taxi 9 1
12 0 0 3

Bus 1342 11184 1233 1506 632

Minibus 307 3220 311 333 122

Truck 2609 65561 10056 10068 4293

Auto-rickshaw 19071 149902 19018 18002 8571

Motor-Cycle 93541 85142 88499 107927 48187

Fig. 13. Variation of voltage, current and poower to the time
 IX. ADVANTAGES
This system has several advantages, such as
• Energy available all year round.
• Simple construction, mature technology.
• No manual work necessary during generation.
• Pollution free power generation.
• No fuel transportation problem.
• No obstruction to traffic.
X. CONCLUSION
The utilization of energy is an indication of the growth of a
nation. This research introduces a generation system for
harnessing energy from speed breaker while keeping the
engineering environment in check. It produces electrical energy
proportional to traffic density which shows more possibility of
collecting large amount of energy in busy cities. This method is
suitable to develop the country like Bangladesh by utilizing
wasted energy of the vehicle in a more useful manner. In this
research, speed breaker is introduced as a small generating unit
for minor needs such as street lights and traffic signals. By
adopting this arrangement, the future demands of electricity
can be minimized to some extent.
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