A Green wind Energy Harvester from Traffic Movement
Electric Energy is necessary for economic growth, better quality of life and for human progress. Conventional energy sources like Oil, gas, coal and thermal are major sources of environmental stress at global as well as local levels.
2025-06-28 16:30:05 - Adil Khan
A Green wind Energy Harvester from Traffic Movement
Project Area of Specialization Artificial IntelligenceProject SummaryElectric Energy is necessary for economic growth, better quality of life and for human progress. Conventional energy sources like Oil, gas, coal and thermal are major sources of environmental stress at global as well as local levels.
To overcome these issues the world is moving towards non-conventional forms of energy. Wind energy is one of the non-conventional forms of energy available in affluence. Wind power is a clean source of renewable energy that can be relied on long term future. Highways can provide a considerable amount of wind to drive a turbine due to vehicle traffic. Vertical axis turbines on highways can be used to generate electric power. They require less wind speed and small infrastructure due to their compact size. We will design vertical axis wind turbines which will utilize low wind speed.
Pakistan has a vast network of highways, by placing these turbines on these highways we can generate a lot of Electric Power which can be used for night lights, security cameras toll plazas and traffic signals. Automobile industry is moving towards electric fuel we can also use these turbines to charge our vehicles.
Our Basic Idea is to Use to the wind pressure created by Traffic on Highways to drive Vertical Axis Wind Turbine and Extract Electrical Energy from Wind Energy. Our Prototype design is made for 24V D.C Night lights on motorways and we have extracted 50 W power from our Turbine. The advantage of this Vertical Axis Wind Turbine is that it requires no Confined Space it could be placed on Highway Dividers and Road Side and it is environment friendly.
This project is made to harvest energy from the highways. This system uses Savonius turbine. The Savonius turbine has the benefit over Darrius and other turbine. It requires no initial force to rotate. It has Unidirectional Rotation. It can rotate at very low wind speeds which makes it very good for the low wind speed and highways. In this project the turbine is connected to the gear drive train to regulate the speed according to wind speed. The output from the generator is connected to the maximum power point tracking controller to get power and constant voltage. The inverter is used to invert DC into AC. The DC is stored in the battery bank for the load.
We intend to design a vertical axis wind turbine to harvest energy from the natural winds and the wind speed created by traffic movement. So after going through different turbine designs we will design Savonius model of helical shape. The main idea behind opting this design is that this is best suited to rotate with the air drag and it produces greater torque at lower speed.
Helically shaped Savonius turbine has no dead weight of blades whereas, in simple Savonius turbine air drag acts on one blade and the other blades resist the rotation so efficiency is reduced. It has 2 blades instead of 3 blades so the weight is reduced thus increasing the efficiency. This Helical turbine will be shaped in such a way that it automatically rotates in only one direction. For safety purpose we will design a wind speed measurement system and rpm meter will be attached to the rotor, for tripping the generator to avoid havoc during thunderstorms or if wind speed increases a certain limit. Generator will be connected with the shaft of the turbine so it will in turn rotate the turbine and hence voltage will be produced.
The output voltage from the generator will be variable. MPPT (Maximum power point tracking) controller will be used to regulate the variable voltage to constant 24 DC. We have basically used a charge Controller which has inbuilt regulator, maximum power point tracker and battery charger inside it. For backup power rechargeable battery will be used for energy storage so that it could be used further when there is not enough wind to rotate the turbine. We have also Fabricated Inverter. It will invert DC-AC so that AC loads could be driven. A portable and light weight stand will be used for ease of installation at different places.
1. Clean and cheap energy.
2. Environment friendly solution.
3. Long term solution (Reliable).
4. No Confined Space (Could be placed on Highway Dividers and Road Side)
5. Can be installed on highways as well as on roof tops.
6. sixteen hours Running Time.
7. Components could be mounted on Ground Level (Ease of access, Lighter Weight Towers)
8. High Mechanical Stability
9. Charging of Electric Cars
10. IOT Platform to transform into Smart Highways (E-Challan, Wi-Fi)
Technical Details of Final Deliverable
FYP-1
1): RPM measurement system of Turbine.
2): Vertical Axis wind Turbine.
3): Bearing assembly for the turbine.
FYP-2
1): Electric Generator assembling with Turbine.
2): DC-DC Converter
3): Inverter for AC applications
3): Battery Charger
4): Storage system for Backup
5): Box for generator and Electronics
6): Portable Stand for Harvester
7): Braking System for safety
Type: Vertical Axis Wind Generator
Rated power: 50W
Max. power: 100W
Rated Voltage: 12V
Start-up wind speed: 2m/s
Rated wind speed: 9m/s
Survival wind speed: 45m/s
Rotor diameter: 0.5m
Rotor Height: 1m
Blades Material: Glass fiber
Shaft Material: Stainless Steel
Number of blades: 2
Generators: Low Rpm Permanent magnet generator (Ametek 50V 1000W DC. Generator)
| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 40220 | |||
| Fiber Glass(1.5P) | Equipment | 2 | 3000 | 6000 |
| Fiber Glass(2P) | Equipment | 1 | 2520 | 2520 |
| Stand | Equipment | 2 | 2500 | 5000 |
| Gear Drive | Equipment | 1 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Gear Installation | Equipment | 1 | 3000 | 3000 |
| Welding of Wind tyrbine | Equipment | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Generator | Equipment | 1 | 7000 | 7000 |
| Charge Controller | Equipment | 1 | 2000 | 2000 |
| Boost Converter | Equipment | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| DC-DCconverter, inverter | Equipment | 1 | 2500 | 2500 |
| RPM Sensor | Equipment | 1 | 2500 | 2500 |
| Backup Battery(7AH/28W) | Equipment | 1 | 2500 | 2500 |
| Transportation | Miscellaneous | 1 | 3000 | 3000 |