DESIGN IDEAS


 There is a certain synergy


to creating renewable energy from recycled items


WAVE ENERGY GENERATION FROM RECYCLED EQUIPMENT


Nottingham Trent University student generates enough tidal energy for phone charging using recycled domestic hardware


Old bicycle parts and a disused pressure cookerwere used in the project to create a wave energy harvesterwith enough power to charge amobile phone. Undergraduate Owen Griffiths and


Professor Amin Al-Habaibeh created the harvester to help people in developing countrieswith poor access to electricity. Designed for near-shore use, it can generate 5.6watts froma regular supply of 20 centimetre highwaves,making it capable of powering a regularmobile charger. “Many developing countries have a


limited electrical network, particularly those like the Philippineswhich are spread over a number of islands. But a small-scale product like this, partlymade fromreused goods which arewidely available, could help provide power to coastal areaswhich otherwisemay not have awide access to electrical energy,” says Griffiths. A pressure cooker,which by virtue of its


design is sealed air tight and floats onwater, is used as a buoy to bob up and downwith thewaves. A rackmade froman aluminium extrusion channel is fixed to the pressure cooker lid and creates linear energy as each wave passes beneath. Encased either side of the aluminium


extrusion channel are lengths of bicycle chainwhich are used as teeth for the rack. Two bicycle sprockets are used as pinions and interlockedwith the chains to convert the linear energy to rotational energy. As the rackmoves upwardswith awave,


the first sprocket turns and powers the generatorwhile the second is disengaged, likewhen a cyclist freewheels on a bicycle. As the rackmoves downwardswhen the


wave passes, the second sprocket turns and the first is disengaged. This allows the harvester tomaximise its efficiency by generating power fromboth the rise and fall of eachwave. After turning through a series of gears to


increase the centrifugal force, the rotational movement spins a small generator at 151rpm.which creates electricity. Professor Al-Habaibeh commented, “This


project shows howeveryday itemswidely available around theworld,which are often thrown awaywhen no longer used, could be transformed into deviceswhich can generate useful amounts of renewable energy. “Aswell as being of use in some


developing countries, this technology has the potential to be scaled up to create


larger quantities of power in countries such as the UK,which has a large amount of natural energy produced by a regular supply ofwaves fromthe North Atlantic Ocean.


 Read more and watch the video on our website at https://goo.gl/iNpFqT or scan the QR Code


August 2017 /// Environmental Engineering /// 7


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