Generation of electrical energy using piezoelectric material from train wheels: Bangladesh perspective

Scientists are desperately searching for renewable and green sources of energy to produce electrical power. In past several years, researchers have begun using piezoelectric material for structural vibrations suppression. These materials transform mechanical energy to electrical energy and vice versa. The objective of this paper is to present an effective method for producing usable electrical energy from available sound energy from train wheels. We have observed that huge amount of sound energy is wasted in train movement (traction) System. In this paper an approach has been made to make fruitful application of the wasted sound energy. The proposed conversion circuit was tested in sound sources of train wheels and a comparison was made between other sources using this conversion circuit and a better result from train wheels have observed. The output of conversion circuit is around 12 volt which is sufficient to charge a rechargeable DC battery where a fully discharged 9 volt dc battery was found to be fully charged within half an hour from transduced electric power. The proposed electric power supply can be used to run low power electrical equipments like light, fan etc. in train compartments.