Modeling and field testing of an electromagnetic energy harvester for rail tracks with anchorless mounting

Teng Lin, Yu Pan, Shikui Chen and Lei Zuo

Applied Energy, 2018, vol. 213, issue C, 219-226

Abstract: This paper presents the design, modeling, lab test and field demonstration of a railroad energy harvester featuring rapid anchorless mounting. By harvesting energy from rail track deflections, the proposed system can be used as an alternative energy source along the trackside of railroads. Compared to the widely electrified passenger rails, most freight rails are still lack of cost-effective access of electricity because of the long haul and remoteness of the geographic location. This paper aims to address two challenges: increase power capacity and ease of installation. A spring preload and reset mechanism is used to eliminate the need of anchoring the harvester into the railroad foundation, allowing the harvester to be installed rapidly without affecting the track substructures. A dynamic model including the AC generator, the mechanical motion rectifier, and the spring preload is created and the design parameters are obtained from numerical simulations. Lab and in-field tests are carried out to verify the model and simulation. In-field test results show 7 W (average)-56 W (peak) electrical power are generated with a freight train traveling at 64 km/h (40 mph) under 5.7 mm deflections. The proposed harvester has the potential to support many track-side electrical devices and serves as an alternative energy source to enhance rail operational safety.

Keywords: Electromagnetic; Energy harvesting; Mechanical motion rectifier; Railroad; Railway; Vibration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261918300321
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:213:y:2018:i:c:p:219-226

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.01.032

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().