Posted on 11/22/2009 7:34:38 AM PST by decimon
WASHINGTON, D.C. November 13, 2009 -- A group of researchers at the City College of New York is developing a new way to generate power for planes and automobiles based on materials known as piezoelectrics, which convert the kinetic energy of motion into electricity. They will present their concept later this month at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics will take place from November 22-24 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
About a half-inch by one inch in size, these devices might be mounted on the roof or tail of a car or on an airplane fuselage where they would vibrate inside a flow, producing an output voltage. The power generated would not be enough to replace that supplied by the combustion engines, but it could run some system -- such as batteries that would be used to charge control panels and other small electronic devices such as mobile phones.
Led by CCNY professor Yiannis Andreopoulos, the researchers are currently attempting to optimize these devices by modeling the physical forces to which they are subjected in different air flows -- on the roof of a car, for instance, or on the back of a truck.
When the device is placed in the wake of a cylinder -- such as on the back of a truck -- the flow of air will cause the devices to vibrate in resonance, says Andreopoulos. On the roof of car, they will shake in a much more unsteady flow known as a turbulent boundary layer. In Minneapolis, Andreopoulos and his colleagues will present wind tunnel data showing how the devices work in both situations.
"These devices open the possibility to continuously scavenge otherwise wasted energy from the environment," says Andreopoulos.
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The presentation, "Harvesting energy in the wake of a circular cylinder using piezoelectric materials" by Dogus H. Akaydin, Niell Elvin, and Yiannis Andreopoulos of the City College of New York is at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 22, 2009.
Abstract: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD09/Event/110728
The presentation, "Harvesting energy from turbulence in boundary layers by using piezoelectric generators" by Yiannis Andreopoulos, Dogus H. Akaydin, and Niell Elvin of the City College of New York is at 8:52 a.m. on Monday, November 23, 2009.
MORE MEETING INFORMATION
The 62nd Annual DFD Meeting is largest scientific meeting of the year devoted to the fluid dynamics, it brings together researchers from around the globe to present work with applications in engineering, energy, physics, climate, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics. It will be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis. All meeting information, including directions to the Convention Center is at: http://www.dfd2009.umn.edu/
PRESS REGISTRATION
Credentialed full-time journalist and professional freelance journalists working on assignment for major publications or media outlets are invited to attend the conference free of charge. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, please contact Jason Bardi (jbardi@aip.org, 301-209-3091).
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting Web site: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD09/Content/1629
Searchable form: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD09/SearchAbstract
Local Conference Meeting Website: http://www.dfd2009.umn.edu/
PDF of Meeting Abstracts: http://flux.aps.org/meetings/YR09/DFD09/all_DFD09.pdf
Division of Fluid Dynamics page: http://www.aps.org/units/dfd/
Virtual Press Room: SEE BELOW
VIRTUAL PRESS ROOM
The APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Virtual Press Room will contain tips on dozens of stories as well as stunning graphics and lay-language papers detailing some of the most interesting results at the meeting. Lay-language papers are roughly 500 word summaries written for a general audience by the authors of individual presentations with accompanying graphics and multimedia files. The Virtual Press Room will serve as starting points for journalists who are interested in covering the meeting but cannot attend in person. See: http://www.aps.org/units/dfd/pressroom/index.cfm
Currently, the Division of Fluid Dynamics Virtual Press Room contains information related to the 2008 meeting. In mid-November, the Virtual Press Room will be updated for this year's meeting, and another news release will be sent out at that time.
ONSITE WORKSPACE FOR REPORTERS
A reserved workspace with wireless internet connections will be available for use by reporters. It will be located in the meeting exhibition hall (Ballroom AB) at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Sunday and Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. to noon. Press announcements and other news will be available in the Virtual Press Room.
GALLERY OF FLUID MOTION
Every year, the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics hosts posters and videos that show stunning images and graphics from either computational or experimental studies of flow phenomena. The outstanding entries, selected by a panel of referees for artistic content, originality and ability to convey information, will be honored during the meeting, placed on display at the Annual APS Meeting in March of 2010, and will appear in the annual Gallery of Fluid Motion article in the September 2010 issue of the journal Physics of Fluids.
This year, selected entries from the 27th Annual Gallery of Fluid Motion will be hosted as part of the Fluid Dynamics Virtual Press Room. In mid-November, when the Virtual Press Room is launched, another announcement will be sent out.
ABOUT THE APS DIVISION OF FLUID DYNAMICS
The Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society exists for the advancement and diffusion of knowledge of the physics of fluids with special emphasis on the dynamical theories of the liquid, plastic and gaseous states of matter under all conditions of temperature and pressure. See: http://www.aps.org/units/dfd/
Don’t scoff...check out what Shawn Frayne aka Humdinger Wind Energy has been doing with the windbelt. Videos on Youtube or: http://www.humdingerwind.com/
There’s plenty of room for innovation.
But none of that has anything to do with this.
I kinda doubt they are researching what exists in a commercial product.
Energy from passing wind? The potential is boundless!
“I kinda doubt they are researching what exists in a commercial product.”
Go to humdingerwind.com
They use belts, while this group uses cylinders. Either way, its pretty useless, except perhaps as a sensor or diagnostic device.
I am glad these guys do not design airplanes.
The best way to conserve energy in a vehicle is to make it as aerodynamic as possible. These chips will cause more drag and net energy loss as they can not be 100% efficient.
I think these boys skipped their classes in Thermodynamics and they damn sure know nothing about boundary layer effect as related to drag and energy loss.
Also, mounting these on cars is a stupid idea, and I should know because I have had plenty! The drag induced by this device will require just a tiny bit more power output from the engine to maintain speed. How much more? Just a fraction more than what is generated by the device.
I hadn’t read your reply before posting mine beneath, but I agree.
I have idea for Booolsheeeet Pizzeo Energy Generator:
Take the output of the piezzzoo microphonies in Congress, rectify the current, charge batteries and sell it back to them, tax included.
I like it. Lots of Hot BS produced in congress.
How do you know it will induce drag without knowing how it will be mounted?
Piezoelectrics are also used in those portable propane torches, of the type that Burnz-O-matic makes.
They have a finger operated trigger connected to an impeller so that when you press it down the impeller will strike a piezoelectric crystal, the voltage produces a spark in the nozzle of the torch which lights the propane. All the energy to light the torch comes from your finger pressing down on the trigger. With no batteries, the lighting mechanism will last virtually forever.
Heyup. They work great for that. Its the propane that actually gives useful energy. The crystal just provides a convenient spark.
Take away the propane and you just have a parlor trick.
“How do you know it will induce drag without knowing how it will be mounted?”
If it doesn’t induce drag, it won’t generate any energy. That’s how the power is extracted. No free lunch.
This is just more BS to lull the masses I would think.
Only potential. Thats great in itself, and can be used to as a measure and a clock, it can act as a meter to lots of inputs but it doesn't produce any real workhorse energy, without amplification of current its pretty useless
No work gets done without current. Use this phenomena to sense a vibrating guitar string, and modulate a high power vacuum tube which regulates electron flow and Eureka! we have something of use.
I have an idea, we could hook up all the members of the house and senate, the cabinet members, all the czars, the president and vp and have them run generators like hamsters. We should be able to power at least one small city, in between running in the wheel they can sling enough BS to power another small city. Finally, a solution that works. They would be far more usefull and less likely to screw up American doing that then they do when actually doing their jobs.
I note the “Humdinger” is usable from 6 to 20 MPH wind conditions, anything out side of that is outside the designed resonance of the circuit.
Worthless IMHO as a power source
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