Energy Generation from Staircases: A Sustainable Approach

Abstract

The 21st century is just begins and we find ourselves much advance than that off in past century. We are continuously progressing to make human life luxurious and advance. We set some goal and we moved with our full force to achieve it and mean while we are continuously using the resources we have and which we get easily and result the world is facing largest problem ever face by human race and it is ‘Energy Crises’. The conventional fuel is going to exhaust one day and human being can’t do any things in it.

The Proposed work is well take in discussion and every nation individually takes hard and firm step to tackle with this problem. Our world known scientist are continuously finding the way though this problem and they succeed in it and they find many way to generate electricity. Just in support with this vie this paper, we are going to present another way of generation of electricity and which we called generation of electricity from stair case and utilisation it to hybrid single acting reciprocating pump.

This paper contains simply the construction and working of stair case for electricity generation and utilising it for our well designed pump.

Introduction

Prove it that energy or especially electricity can be generated just by simple walking. We can convert human muscular energy directly to electric energy using piezoelectric crystals and stair case mechanism in this paper we basically going to focus on stair case mechanism as its result match with our expectation.

So many research happen in this field and scientist come up with an optimum design of stair case which include rack and pinion mechanism and further connected with energy generating system. While doing literature survey we come to know that the actual displacement of stair case in this system is much more and which is out of human comfort. So we elaborate this problem and try to solve it and we succeed to solve it. Just by implanting hydraulic system mean while between stair case and rack and pinion assembly. After lots of math we conclude that this system is more efficient than that of older one in both energy generation and comfort.

Construction

This power step of stair case as shown in Fig. No.1. consist of following components:

1. Master cylinder with piston
2. Stroke cylinder with piston
3. Rack and pinion Assembly
4. Frame
5. Guideways, Return and Motion arresting mechanism

Master cylinder: It it’s the actual cylinder placed just below of stair case and we say that actually the force applied on this case is transfer to this cylinder. A compression spring is simply but tightly attached to the centre of this master cylinder between piston and base. The whole cylinder fill with incompressible oil vie two inlet port attached with non-return valve. When stair step down; fluid from master cylinder displaced directly to stroke cylinder which gives us required displacement with expected force which further help in generation of torque.

Stroke Cylinder: The stroke cylinder is directly attached with master cylinder. In addition with it, to get return stroke a supplementary connection is placed between master cylinder and stroke cylinder which makes system run without fail. The piston rod connected with piston of stroke cylinder is directly attached with rack, in such a way that rack would move up and down without any type of friction.

Rack and pinion assembly: Rack and pinion assembly are mostly used to convert simple reciprocating motion into rotating motion which further feed to generator to generate electricity. In this system we use same concept of electricity generation by use of rack and pinion assembly.

Frame and other mechanism: The frame is basic thing on which we mount our whole system and all required mechanism. This system include following mechanism:

• Guiding mechanism: the guide way are created in such a way that stair must pass through this without fluctuating and smoothly
• Motion arrester: Basically it arrests the motion with screw and bolt mechanism to expected value.
• Return mechanism: Centrally attached spring help to get return strike with the help of hydraulic return stroke mechanism

Working Principle

Leveraging Pascal's Law and Archimedes' Principle, the system efficiently converts the force exerted on the staircase into electrical energy, with the hydraulic system ensuring optimal force transfer and comfort.

Implementation Aspects

The implementation involves several steps, from capturing the kinetic energy using the master and stroke cylinders to converting this energy into electrical power through the rack and pinion assembly. The system also incorporates an adaptive mechanism based on the Weber-Fechner Law to adjust the brightness of restored images, ensuring natural appearance and comfort.

Expected Results

The system is expected to generate significant amounts of electrical energy, particularly in crowded areas, with potential applications ranging from lighting street lights to water lifting in remote locations.

Calculations

While making calculation we consider two cases one is Crowdie place and other is less crowdie place. Crowdie place include highly crowdie area like railway stations and temple while less crowdie places are differentiate into places like hostels, mall and theatre’s. Initially, we consider every time a person of weight 50kg passes from stair which made stair to move down by 2 cm, so let’s find how much actual amplification we get with our hydraulic system.

Pressure intensity in master cylinder = Pressure in stroke cylinder

F1/A1 = F2/A2

Where,

F1 = force acting on Master cylinder or stair case = 50kg

F2 = force acting on stroke cylinder

A1 & A2= cross section area of master and stroke cylinder respectively

D1 & D2 = diameters of master and stroke cylinder

H1 & H2 = displacement in master cylinder (2cm) and stroke cylinder

So from above pascal law we get actual amount of force acting on the stroke cylinder and which is equal to,

F2 = 34.3689 N

Let T be torque generated in shaft attached with pinion at pinion centre,

We know that,

Torque = Force x Distance of point of application of force to centre of pinion

T = 34.3689 x Radius of pinion

T = 0.5155 N-m

Torque generated is given as 0.5155 N-m

By Archimedes principle, amount displaced in both cylinders is same, hence

V1=V2

A1 x H1 = A2 x H2

From this equation we get the value of H2,

And which is equal to,

H2 = 0.15 m = 15 cm

So when we compare our pinion with this displacement, we come to know that our pinion take 7 rotation per stroke.

Assume that nearly equal to 2000 people passing from the stair step with weight of 50 kg in 24 Hrs.

Means system take 2000 stroke in a day

So no of stroke happened per second is given as

= 2000/(3600 x 24)

= 0.023148 stroke per second

Now for one stroke piston pinion cover 7 rotations

So, in 1 second pinion rotates

= 7 x 0.023148

= 0.162036 RPS

i.e. no. of rotation N = 0.162036 RPS

Power developed per second

= 2 x Π x N x T

= 0.52483 Watt per second

Power generated per day =

= 0.52483 x 60 x 60 x 24

= 45345.45815 Watt

= 45.34545815 Kw

Power produced per year

= 45.3 x 365

= 16893.328 Kw

So, when reciprocating pump is going to use it lifts following amount of water,

Volume lift per second

= Stroke per second x actual amount of liquid lift per stroke

=0.023148 x 0.689

= 0.01594 lit per second

Hence,

Volume of water lifts per day

= 0.01594 x 60 x 60 x 24

= 1377.991 lit per day

And

Volume of water lifts per year

= 1377.991 x 365

= lit per year

Case 2: (Less Crowdie Place)

Assume that nearly equal to 200 people passing from the stair step with weight of 50 kg in 24 Hrs.

Means our system take 200 stroke in a day

So no. of stroke happened per second is given as;

= 200/(3600 x 24)

= 0.0023148 stroke per second

Now for one stroke piston pinion cover 7 rotations

So, In 1 second pinion rotates

= 7 x 0.0023148

= 0.0162036 RPS

i.e. no. of rotation N = 1.62036 RPS

Power developed per second

= 2 x Π x N x T

= 2 x Π x 0.0162036 x 0.5155

= 0.052483 Watt generated per second

Power generated per day

= 0.052483 x 60 x 60 x 24

= 4527.36 Watt

= 4.52736 Kw

Power produced per year = 4.5 x 365

= 1682.5 Kw

So, when reciprocating pump is going to use it lifts following amount of water,

Volume lift per second

= Stroke per second x actual amount of liquid lift per stroke

=0.0023148 x 0.689

= 0.001594 lit per second

Hence,

Volume of water lifts per day

= 0.001594 x 60 x 60 x 24

= 137.7991 lit per day

And

Volume of water lifts per year

= 137.7991 x 365

= 50191.15 lit per year

Application

1. Helpful at railway stations and temple where we have to lift water to certain height
2. Helpful for lightning street light aside of assembly
3. We can store the generated energy and utilised it whenever we need it.

Crowded Place Scenario:

• Power Generation: Approximately 45.34 kW per day, translating to 16,893.328 kW per year.
• Water Lifting: Approximately 1377.991 liters per day, amounting to significant annual water lifting capacity.

Less Crowded Place Scenario:

• Power Generation: Approximately 4.5 kW per day, translating to 1,682.5 kW per year.
• Water Lifting: Approximately 137.7991 liters per day.

Conclusion

This project demonstrates the feasibility of generating electricity and lifting water using a staircase mechanism. With higher efficiency in crowded areas, the system not only offers a sustainable solution to energy generation but also addresses water lifting needs in various settings. Future prospects include integrating this system with gym machines or placing it beneath speed breakers to harness more energy, paving the way for broader applications of this sustainable technology.

References

1. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 1 Issue 2 – ISSN: 2231-5381 - May 2011.
2. Electricity Generation from Footsteps; A Regenerative Energy Resource - Tom Jose V, Binoy Boban, Sijo M T - SCMS School of Engineering and Technology, Kochi - ISSN 2250-3153 - March 2013.