Exploring Electricity Generation From Turnstile Gears

[makovx]

ELECTRICITY GENERATION THROUGH THE CONVERSION
OF ENERGY PRODUCED BY REVOLVING
GEARS OF A TURNSTILE


As the title implies, do you think it's feasible?
I'm working on it as a topic on my research subject, but I'm having a hard time. I didn't know that there are lots of principles involved and lots of things to be considered.

The system goes like this, as a person turns the turnstile (faregate), the gears will multiply the shaft rotation, then the mechanical energy was converted by the generator into electrical energy and I'm thinking if the electrical energy should be stored into a supercapacitor or to a car battery.

The basis of this study is the Japan Railway passengers generate electricity at train stations due to piezo elements embedded in the floor under the ticket gates, which generate electricity from the pressure and vibration they receive as people step on them. And another from the revolving door that generates electricity that was made by Boon Edam.


I'm wondering what type of gears can be used and what laws and principles can be applied to this.

And also, since the electrical energy harnessed from the turnstiles is very small, I'm thinking if all turnstiles in one train station can be connected to one generator only.

Please tell me what do you think of this.

Any recommendations and criticisms are welcome. Thank you.

 

[Drakkith]

Hrmm. I'm wondering if the amount of electricity generated would be worth the cost of constructing all this. Doesn't really seem like you would be generating enough power to run anything large. Are you trying to help power the subway itself or just some small area such as the lighting or something?

 

[russ_watters]

Estimate the radius of the turnstile and the force you want each person to apply. From that you can calculate the energy from each person going through (assuming they each turn it 120 degrees).

Gearing is a design feature that is irrelevant for the conceptualization stage. It does not affect the power output, it is only to mate the generator to the turnstile.

 

[makovx]

Hrmm. I'm wondering if the amount of electricity generated would be worth the cost of constructing all this. Doesn't really seem like you would be generating enough power to run anything large. Are you trying to help power the subway itself or just some small area such as the lighting or something?

Yes, I don't think that the amount of energy harnessed from that will contribute a big amount of energy so basically, the generated energy will only power lighting and small loads.

But we will just modify the turnstile, like adding a gear system that will connect the turnstile to the generator which I just don't know how to do and how much it costs.

 

[makovx]

Estimate the radius of the turnstile and the force you want each person to apply. From that you can calculate the energy from each person going through (assuming they each turn it 120 degrees).

Gearing is a design feature that is irrelevant for the conceptualization stage. It does not affect the power output, it is only to mate the generator to the turnstile.

Thank you. Are there laws that can be applied in this kind of 'project proposal'. Like 2nd law of motion, or first law of thermodynamics, or even principle of energy conversion? I'm not very familiar with scientific laws, but I have to defend this proposal.

How to calculate energy with that kind of information - knowing the radius and the force and the angle?Do you think it's possible to connect all gear systems from each turnstile into one generator only?

 

[russ_watters]

Really all you need at this point is the definition of rotational work.

Sure, it is possible to connect all to one output shaft.

 

[makovx]

Thank you for answering my questions immediately.

 

[Artman]

You might want to look into a flywheel arrangement where each turnstile adds their rotational energy to a flywheel for storage to then turn the generator.