Abstract – Science means constantly walking a increases. To overcome this energy demand we need to
tightrope between blind faith and curiosity; between implement the methods of optimal utilization of energy
expertise and creativity; between bias and openness; sources and use of nonconventional resources. But such
between experience and epiphany; between ambition sources require high financial investments and low
and passion; and between arrogance and conviction - in power output. Railway stations are one of such places
short, between an old today and a new tomorrow. So, which need electricity for the working of various
from the perspective of better tomorrow our project is appliances. The utilization of waste energy from
based on power generation with the help of piezoelectric railways locomotive and coaches is very much relevant
material by placing it beneath the railway sleeper in form of vibration, it will be very useful energy source.
track,so converting abundance of mechanical energy The power generated will be very much useful for the
into electrical energy. India being a country whose sole nearby railway stations thus eliminating the stations
& most important method of transportation is railway dependence on the other sources. In recent trends, there
can reduce its dependency on oil and fossils for meeting has been more focus in harnessing mechanical vibrations
its energy requirements by adopting these smart energy to generate power. So here we are using piezoelectric
generation technologies. Hence, we are planning to set effect which converts mechanical vibrations into
up power generation mechanism alongside railway so equivalent electrical energy which can be stored in
that our dependency on oil imports and non-renewable batteries and used further.
sources can be reduced which will not only make India a
green abode but will also boost its economy significantly
So, from the wisdom of our research related to this II. PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS:
project we can assure that if this methodology of power
generation is adopted and implemented successfully then Piezoelectric materials are materials that can produce
the electricity rates in our country will be thrashed to electricity due to mechanical stress, such as
significantly low value. compression. All piezoelectric materials are non
conductive in order for the piezoelectric effect to occur
and work. They can be separated into two groups:
Keywords- [1].Piezoelectric materials Crystals and Ceramics. Some examples of piezoelectric
[2].Piezoelectricity [3].Boost converter [4].Cf l material are PZT(also known as lead zirconate titanate),
inverter[5] Railway sleepers & tracks. barium titanate, and lithium niobate. These manmade
materials have more pronounced effect than quartz and
other natural piezoelectric materials. Compare PZT to
I. INTRODUCTION
quartz. PZT can produce more voltage for the same
amount of applied mechanical stress. Conversely,
Now a day’s energy is one of the most important issue
around the world. The rate of population growth of India applying voltage to PZT instead of quartz provides more
is much higher as compare to other countries (1.1% movement. Quartz, a well-known piezoelectric material,
annual change in India, 0.6% annual change in is also the first known piezoelectric material. The Piezo
China).With the increase in population the load demand electric material used is circular piezo dics of PZT (Lead
1
Zirconate Titanate).Disc dimensios are of diameter IV. BLOCK DIAGRAM
35mm and thickness is 1.1mm.The discs are connected
in parallel to increase the current generated.Output
voltage of each disc is 3.5 volts.
PIEZOELECTRIC
BLOCKING DIODE BOOST CONVERTER
SENSOR
Piezoelectric Sensor:
8.Weight of train=
1 DC Battery(for 6V, 5A
storage) Speed of train= 10rpm
12V, A.3 Ah/20
Lead Acid Hr Length of the train=0.5feet
Battery(For
Running Train) Time period of train=0.166sec
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TYPES OF RAILWAY SLEEPERS:
1)Wooden Sleepers:
These are commonly 254mm wide by 127mm thick in
cross section by 2600 mm long. The sleepers are first
seasoned (drying for up to 12 months so that to remove
the juice/sap) and treated with preservative. Problems
with wooden sleepers include rot, splitting, insect
infestation, plate-cutting .Their useful life is short about
12 to 15 years.
4)Concrete Sleepers:
They have design life of up to 40 years. They can easily
be moulded into the required/design shape to withstand
stresses induced by fast and heavy traffic. The weight of
concrete sleepers is about 2.5 to 3 time the wooden
sleepers. Pre-tensioned concrete sleepers are usually
preferred now days. Concrete sleepers have become
more common mainly due to greater economy and better
support of the rails under high speed and heavy traffic
than wooden sleepers.
2)Steel Sleepers:
RECENT TRENDS :
With the development of wireless technology and micro-
electro-mechanical technology, the flaws of
electrochemical batteries as power sources have
gradually appeared. On the contrary, piezoelectric
vibration energy harvesters receive more attention
because of their advantages of simple structure, no
pollution .Beginning with the piezoelectric materials and
their piezoelectricity, the piezoelectric vibration energy
3)Cast Iron Sleepers: harvesters were reviewed on the aspects of structure
design and energy harvesting circuit design. Based on
Cast iron sleepers are widely used in the world the directivity and response band of the piezoelectric
especially in Indian railways. CST 9 type sleepers more vibration energy harvesters, the improvements on the
famous in Indian railways. Cast iron is expensive in structure design were introduced in detail. In view of the
market when compared to some other sleeper materials. energy harvesting efficiency, the improvements of the
Hence it is uneconomical. energy harvesting circuit design were also introduced.
The development perspective of the piezoelectric
vibration energy harvesters was summarized. The study
will be helpful for the researchers who are engaged in
the studying on the piezoelectric vibration energy
harvesting.
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FUTURE SCOPE: 3. Wafi Danesh, Sandip Bhowmick, Nomir
Muktadir, Md. Shamaul Amal “ A proposal for
1.Security of railway tracks.
large scale electricity generation from high
2.Maintainence of tracks. pressure applications using piezoelectric
3.Minimizing electricity bill. materials,” International Journal of Science and
Advanced Technology, Vol 1 March 2011
4.Helpful in RF Communication.
4. Young-Ku Jin, Subrata Sarker, Ki-Seong Lee,
5.Helpful in Shifting focus from conventional towards
Hyun Woo Seo, Dong Min Kim, Piezoelectric
non conventional.
materials for high performance energy
harvesting devices”, IEEE Transactions on
2015
ADVANTAGES OF PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT:
High frequency response 5. Xiaoguang Yang, Yuanyuan Wang, Yingying
Energy will be generated throughout the year without Cao, Shan Liu, Zhenghan Zhao, and Guoya
depending on other factors. Dong, “A New Hybrid Piezoelectric-
Self generating ,so no need of external source Electromagnetic Vibration-Powered Generator
To Store the electricity in DC rechargeable source and Its Model and Experiment Research,”408
IEEE Transactions On Applied
During power generation, no man power is required.
Superconductivity, vol.24, no. 3, pp. 5000204-
Economical as generation cost is less.
5000207, June 2014.
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