Francisco Duarte

A new pavement energy harvest system

At the present time there is a need to change the paradigm in electrical energy generation due to the increasing cost of fossil fuels and their adverse effects on the environment. It has become increasingly evident that the fossil fuels used to generate energy are not unlimited and that their use is harmful to the environment due to the greenhouse effects. This paper describes a new pavement energy harvest system developed in Portugal by the Waydip Company with the collaboration of the Pavement Mechanics Laboratory of the University of Coimbra.

Road pavement energy harvesting: An evaluation methodology for new and existing vehicle-derived mechanical energy collectors

Research into energy harvesting technologies has increased considerably in recent years, particularly energy harvesting on road pavements is a very recent area of research, with different technologies having been developed in recent years. However, none of these has presented high conversion efficiencies nor technical or economic viability. This paper deals with the technical study of the existing road pavement energy harvesting solutions using hydraulic systems to transmit the energy received from the device surface to an electrical generator and the development of a new system that combines mechanical and hydraulic actuation to be implemented in such devices. The main goal is to develop a systematic model to quantify the energy harvesting, transmission, and conversion efficiency of the new system and compare it to the existing systems. Conclusions about each systems efficiency and the maximum theoretical efficiency of the proposed system are presented.

Software to Support the Development of Road Pavement Energy Harvesting Devices

This paper deals with the development of a software to support the development of road pavement energy harvesting devices, allowing to define the device parameters and simulate the entire process from the vehicle-device interaction to the electric energy generation and consumption. This allows to quantify the forces induced and energy released from vehicles to the device in different vehicle motion scenarios, the energy harvested by the device surface, the energy transferred by the mechanical system and the energy generated and consumed by the electrical system. It enables the user to quantify the energetic efficiency of the process. A practical study is presented in order to show the effectiveness of the software, as well as its potential applications.

Software Tool for Evaluation of Road Pavement Energy Harvesting Devices

This paper deals with the development of a software tool to evaluate road pavement energy harvesting systems technically and economically, as well as performing cost benefit analysis for the application of this type of energy generation solution as the energy source for different applications. The software also allows the user to perform a sensitivity analysis by selecting a key variable and defining its different values. Some case studies are also presented to demonstrate the software application and how it can be used to evaluate this technology.

Integration of a mechanical energy storage system in a road pavement energy harvesting hydraulic device with mechanical actuation

With the growing need for alternative energy sources, research into energy harvesting technologies has increased considerably in recent years. The particular case of energy harvesting on road pavements is a very recent area of research, with different technologies having been developed for this purpose. However, none of them have presented high conversion efficiency rates nor technical or economic viability. Looking at other renewable energy technologies, the inclusion of not only electrical but also in some cases mechanical energy storage units has led to an increase in global efficiency and, consequently, economic viability. This paper deals with the technical study of the integration of mechanical energy storage systems in a road pavement energy harvesting hydraulic device with mechanical actuation in order to evaluate the impact on global efficiency. The main goal is to quantify the efficiency of the energy storage and the overall efficiency of the system, including the harvesting, transmission, and c...