Charge Battery With Rainfall - Report Example

CHARGE BATTERY WITH RAINFALL Project Proposal Supervisor: Student name: Date: Abbreviations and Acronyms A.C Alternating Current Ah Ampere hour D.C Direct Current RPM Revolutions per minute PFM pulse-frequency modulation PWM pulse-width modulation Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 1.0.Introduction 3 1.1.Objectives 4 1.2.Problem statement 5 1.3.The outcome(s) expected 5 1.4.Justification 5 2.0.Background information 6 3.0.Literature review 6 3.1.Hydropower technology 6 3.2.Benefits 7 4.0.Design theory 7 4.1.Factors to consider when designing and sizing the battery rainfall charging system 7 4.2.Operation of the rainfall charging system 8 5.0.Methodology 8 5.1.Integrated circuit components 8 5.2.Design features 12 5.3.Design considerations 13 5.4.Harnessing water and battery charging process 15 5.5.Design procedure 15 5.5.3.Design calculations 17 5.6.Budget and Materials 20 5.7.Work plan 21 6.0.Conclusions 22 References 24 1.0. Introduction Engineers discovered and built machines that can generate electrical energy from oil, gas, Water Rivers, wind, and radioactive materials. While developing the science, systems need developments that aim to reduce emissions to the ambient. In this report, I will develop a battery charging system that uses rainfall as the main source of energy to charge the battery. I have thought on how to use rainfall to produce electrical energy and in return use it for a number of various low-power appliances (Cutler, & Christopher, 2009). When rainfall has surfaced the houses, we will allow that water flow through the pipe and pass on turbine connected with D.C motor. The force that will turn the turbine to drive the shaft of the dynamo and then allowing the dynamo to produce energy is from the rainfall. Moreover, the falling rain water on the roof tops maybe harnessed and stored for a future use when there is no enough rainfall to drive the motor (Scott, 2010). Rainwater provides importance source of energy numerous merits as equated to a different source that generate electrical power. Designing and installing correctly a rainfall charging system beats other sources of energy by ensuring that there are remarkably few environmental risks. This is to mean that, using this type of energy provides reliable and cheap source of green electricity (Scott, 2010). 1.1. Objectives The design aims at designing a machine that will utilize hydromechanical energy to electrical energy for storage. The design captures the maximum energy at the lowest cost possible, that is, rainfall is free and hence it will generate the required energy. The design is made to ensure that there is reduced environmental pollution that would have resulted from other sources of energy such as using a diesel generator The design aims at ensuring that there is free and cheap energy for use by everyone in the society that will require low maintenance costs. This design will have achieved the most efficient means to charge the battery to the expected charge level without failing. 1.2. Problem statement As there are, many negative environmental impacts caused by some sources of energy such use of diesel generators that cause pollution. I decided to develop the rainfall battery charging system that will help to generate the same amount energy to be stored in a battery. Moreover, because of the rise petroleum products costs and other sources of energy to community, the rainfall battery charging system serves as the alternative for cheap and free source with almost zero emission to the ambient. 1.3. The outcome(s) expected The fact that, for generations, the main source of power has been hydropower for both commercial and home use, it is clear that the project success lies in this fact. The rainfall charging system uses the same theory to generate power by mechanical force of falling water, which is converted to electrical energy through a D.C motor to a battery. The electricity harnessing through this method will be the cheapest means to tap electrical energy at the long-term referable to cut down on maintenance costs and efficiency. 1.4. Justification Battery charging needs stable D.C flow. Therefore, use of the rainfall charging system provides stable D.C flow due to a constant flow to the motor driving the motor to charge the battery. Moreover, this system ensures zero emission to the ambient as there are emissions released by the charging system (Craig, 2012). 2.0. Background information The rainfall battery charging system uses the theory of the Hydro power plant systems. These systems use stored water in the dams, and the potential energy of the dam water drives the turbines installed at the lower head thus transferring the mechanical energy developed to the generator. This in turn generates electrical energy, which may be used at the mains supply as AC supply, which is converted to DC for use by most of the home appliances and battery charging. 3.0. Literature review 3.1. Hydropower technology Turbines and water wheels are the best designs that utilize the kinetic energy extracted from the moving water and converting it to mechanical energy in small-scale hydro schemes. The mechanical energy created by the moving water generates the power output by driving an electrical generator (motor). For maximum power generation, the water flow must have enough power at a particular point particularly at the vanes of rotation. The kinetic energy from the moving water rotating a hydroelectric system generates electrical energy, which is converted to be saved in the battery. It is ideal to determine the power potential in the system that comes from harnessed rainwater. Therefore, it is significant to decide the waterfall distance and the flow rate at a point. This power is calculated using the following relationship: Where Q is in  H in meters, and  Is the gravitational constant  Due to Friction and other inefficiencies, the turbine is not perfect, and the more or less power gets lost in the system. Therefore, efficiency of 80 to 95% is the ideal efficiency for the system to counter the losses, which may result in the system. 3.2. Benefits Free source of energy Low maintenance costs Reliable Battery Charger 4.0. Design theory The rainfall charging system will require technical skills and theoretical knowledge to design it. The design will be based on technical design modeling, where numerical modeling will be the base for the system design of the machine, which will entail use, gathered data gathered during the analysis stage. 4.1. Factors to consider when designing and sizing the battery rainfall charging system Energy requirements Amount of rainfall/day Efficiency of the motor Speed of rotation of the motor The installation site 4.2. Operation of the rainfall charging system The bridge rectifier (fig 3) that comprises D1 to D4, which is then passed through capacitor C1 to make the flowing current ripple free, rectifies voltage. A voltage of 18V DC is used for the aim of the battery charging, which is controlled and regulated to 9V at the IC1 (see fig 3). The relay is driven by the IC2, which is used as a comparator as the voltage passes through the sneer diode ZD making a non-inverting input to the battery charger. As the charging continues, the battery charge rises to 13.5 V, which is the maximum charge for a 12V battery. This creates a lower voltage at Pin 2 than Pin 3 increasing the voltage output at IC2, and this makes the relay contacts break stopping the charging. This is cut off voltage and ensures that the battery does not overcharge thus preventing damage to the battery. 5.0. Methodology The battery charging system will include a connection the components and connections as shown in figures discussed in this section. 5.1. Integrated circuit components MAX 1771 chip This is a step up converter, and it takes voltages as low as 2V and stepping it up to 12V. The supply current can be as little as 110µA. Transistor This is a MOSFET N-channel power transistor, and it ensures that the system has the highest efficiency possible to drive the current in the circuit. Capacitors Input Bypass Capacitor Proper gate charge that helps in reducing peak current and the motor noise from the machine is developed by this capacitor. Ceramic Capacitor This capacitor helps in moderating noise peak and bypassing the integrated circuit between V+ and GND pin. Reference Capacitor This capacitor helps in bypassing the REF pin, which may supply up 100µA. Output Filter Capacitor This works at low ESR. It allows tolerance for ripple voltages thus allowing multiple ESRs. Diode The diode acts as a frequency modulator for the supply current acting as PWM and PFM modulations for low current. Resistor The resistor is set as high Ohmic level to deliver higher power for the charging system. Inductor This is manually made and adjusted to 22µH. For an ideal start up and filtering of the unwanted current ripple in the load, this component helps in counteracting these problems. MAX1771 Schematics Figure 1: integrated circuit (Marc, 2011) BLOCK DIAGRAM Figure 2: Block diagram of the rainfall battery charging system. Block Description: Water Water is harnessed from the rooftop it falls on cup of the turbine driving the turbine. The main source of water is rainfall and collected through the gutter to the storage container. Turbine The turbine rotates at a speed of approximately 20-110 RPM. As the waterfalls on the turbines cup, it exerts a force that causes the turbine to rotate, which rotates the motor to generate electrical energy. This energy conversion is through conversion of falling water energy to mechanical energy by the turbine. Gear Box The motor must be controlled to ensure it runs at a stable speed. Therefore, in case there is reduced waterfall flow rate the gearbox governs the speed of the motor. Shaft This acts as the connector to the turbine from the motor thus generating electrical energy, which is used in charging the battery. Motor This will include DC motor, which will be the generator. The motor will turned by the turbine thus creating alternating fields that will be induce current in the rotor windings which converts rotational energy to electrical energy. 5.2. Design features The rainfall battery charging system uses the theory of mini- hydropower plants system (Trevor, 2008). Thus, the theory of operation is the same putting into consideration that the battery shall store the power generated. Therefore, this system shall consist a number of features to attain the desired results. The system shall have: Four slots for battery recharging slots Automatic switch for connecting the batteries Simpatico with a good range of rainfall volumes Adjusted for a number of low-power devices 5.3. Design considerations Since the battery, charging system-using rainfall uses the concept of the mini hydro, and then it will have water wheel with cups positioned around to the wheel at an angle of  to the waterwheel to capture the maximum amount of falling water (Rajput, 2006). This way the waterwheel will be able to develop enough energy that will drive the motor to generate maximum electrical power to charge the battery. The design should be as shown in fig below. (a) Side view (b) Top view Figure 2: Alignment of the waterwheel cups (Paul, 2005) The design considerations associated with the device is the number of cups fastened around the wheel, the wheel radius and the size of the cup. Careful experimentation and analysis shall be devoted to each of these points with respect to their impact on the operation of the turbine (Kaveh, 2010). This will be explained in calculation section in more details; the RPM of the turbine is maximized when twenty cups are fastened around the wheel of the turbine. Each cup has a capacity of 130ml and a radius of 325mm (Fig 2 (a)). The torque on the turbine from the falling water can be determined using calculation in the calculation section. (a) Side view (b) Top view Figure 3: dimensions, volume and the size of the cup (Raymond, & John, 2007) 5.3.1. The DC Motor A static magnet DC motor is employed as the generator. The motor is rated at 90 V and at speed of 1750 RPM. The rotor experiences switching fields that cause a current to develop in the windings of the rotor and create electrical energy from the rotational energy (Paul, 2005). The generator yields voltages at definite range of 0-16V contingent upon the amount of rainfall at that moment. 5.3.2. Integrated Circuit An integral aspect of the design ‘the Integrated Circuit’ is the most complex and needed element of the Battery Charger that is power by Rainfall. The IC transforms the power from the motor generator into a make usable to charge the battery. This circuit steps up the generated voltage from a range of 2.5-16 V to the required 12 Volts charging voltage. The enforced circuitry in the machine helps in the bootstrap configuration in the system. Minimal input percentage of current helps in powering the device. The IC functions at 90% efficiency and ensures a smooth conversion of generated voltage from the generator before it goes to the storage unit of the battery. 5.3.3. Battery 12V DC lead acid batteries at 3A-H store the generated current, which takes 9 hours at a rate of 4 watts per hour. The power is usable in powering sidewalk lights, emergency lights and phone charging, and other household appliances (Rick, 2006). It is pertinent to note that a threshold voltage of 12 V is used to charge the battery. The machine is idle and the battery does not charge when the machine is not able to generate the anticipated 12V output. 5.4. Harnessing water and battery charging process Rooftop water is harnessed through the gutters to the storage container. The water in container runs the turbine, which links to run the generator that generates electricity. The generator generates the current used to charge the battery. 5.5. Design procedure The design of the rainfall battery charging system involves the connection of the waterwheel, cups, rotor, motor, and the relay and the switching board. 5.5.1. Setting the charging system Before charging, the battery is essential to test and set the charging voltage to a desirable voltage level that will be safe for the battery. This is an importance aspect to consider for safe operation of the system, which would otherwise ensure long life for the design working as expected (Dell, & Rand, 2001). Therefore, ensure that the input charge is set to IC2 by using a fully charged variable power supply before connecting the battery to be charged. When switching on the power to charge the battery check that switch S1 is off, this is to avoid power outage or failure in the system. Test points TP while observing the polarity by connecting a fully charged variable power supply. Use pin 3 of the IC2 and determine the voltage across the flow at that point. 5.5.2. Charging Raise the voltage by adjusting VR1 until the voltage of pin 3 of IC2 is high enough to the desired level. At this critical point, the relay is able to power the Red LED and allow it to turn on. Once done with setting the voltage flow, put on switch S1and connect the battery. When the battery has charged, it draws current from pin 3 of IC2, hence at that pin current will be because has been drawn by the battery while charging. This switches the connected relay off. While the relay is off, the battery charges and the battery charge rises until it is above 13.5V. Beyond this level no more current that will pass to preclude harm to the battery; thus, there is voltage build at pin 3 of IC2 and this turns on the relay. 5.5.3. Design calculations Power calculations Assuming that: Rainfall amount is minimum 8mm/hour Maximum 12mm/hour An average rooftop has  Rainfall duration is 9hours per day Gutter efficiency is 90% Height of the rooftop from the ground is 8 meters Water turbine efficiency 85% Motor efficiency 90% Efficiency of the Circuit control unit 92% Therefore, Max water flow = max collected water/s Min water flow rate = min water collected/s Waterpower will be given as: Max power will be Min power will be Thus, the average captured power =  Battery storage= captured power/battery voltage Torque calculations Each cup holds of water Water takes 1.12 sec to fall 8 m Turbine radius is the 260mm (radius of a bike wheel) Taking turbine displacement as 3m Then fall time = Velocity of falling water K.E of falling water  P.E of the falling water  Total energy of falling water =  Total force on the turbine cup =  Assuming that the cup efficiency is 75% then turbine torque will be: Turbine torque  Generator torque  5.6. Budget and Materials The list of components to use in the design and the quoted price list for the specific parts necessary for the design are as follows. Part Qty Description Price 12 V DC Motor 1 Generator $95.00 Stainless steel shaft 1 Links the turbine to motor $15.00 12V, 2Ah Batteries, 4 To store energy $70.00 Connecting Wire 1roll 1000mm Circuit connection $10.00 Relay Switch 1 An Automatic switch $5.00 Rectifying Diode 4 Used with circuitry $5.00 200 liters container 2 Collecting and storing rain water $10.00 Logic gates 1 Used with circuitry $7.00 Gutters 2 m long 4 Plastic or aluminium $12.00 Battery holders 5 Rubber type $20.00 MAX1771ESA (converter) Power transformer $16.00 Total $285 5.7. Work plan Table 1: work plan events PERIOD ACTIVITY WEEK 1 & 2 Material acquisition WEEK 3 Fabrication of parts WEEK 4 Assembly and installation WEEK 5 Testing and analysis WEEK 6 Finalising the project report writing WEEK 7 Report writing and submission Table 2: Order of events of the project development ACTIVITY PERIOD Material acquisition Fabrication of parts Assembly and installation Testing and analysis Finalising the project report writing Report writing and submission 6.0. Conclusions This project aims to design a charging system that can transform hydro mechanical power into electrical power, and then this is manageable by the project specifications (Colin, & Brian, 2011). With high operation and efficiency levels in the design procedure of the system, the objectives of this project design would be achievable from the design features. Although the project design may be complete and serve the meant use, there is a call to have a room for improvements to the design, which may otherwise improve its efficiency, and reliability for commercial use. This design will have the turbine-gearbox-shaft apparatus, which will smoothly operate with minimal power loss. Moreover, the design motor shall output a substantial amount of power that will be enough to charge the battery for use in the operations. This system uses an integrated circuit D.C-to-D.C converter that operates optimally and is idealistic light load execution of this machine. This is possible from an apparatus that has manual attenuation for several electrical capacitances are a point of futurity advances. The result verification and testing prove a high efficiency that widens the entailments for the generated electric power. Researches on higher levels hydroelectric power impression on its transition may act as an assumption for the exploitation of optional sources of energy in the society. Therefore, the use of the rainfall water to generate electricity would be the ideal means of power generation to use as a renewable source of energy. This would result to reduced negative environmental impacts (Donna, 2002). The design shall have a shaft linking the gearbox and the motor. This shaft will extend from the turbine axle to the chain of the gearbox. The gearbox has a 3:1 ratio; meaning that the shaft of the motor spins at a speed that is higher than that of the turbine. This way there would be full power generation while applying less wheel’s kinetic energy. This happens as a result of forces that are frictional and are related with the gearbox due to the energy losses, which are necessary components for optimal operation of the machine (Bert, et al, 2012). These losses are taken care of by the system efficiency allowance, which should be 80 to 95% of the machine operational speed. References Bert, D., et al, (2012). Balancing Renewable Electricity: Energy Storage, Demand Side Management and Network Extension from an Interdisciplinary Perspective. New York: Springer. Colin, B. & Brian, H. (2011). Transmission and Distribution Electrical Engineering. New York: Elsevier. Scott, D., (2010). Serious Micro Hydro: Water Power Solutions from the Experts. Canada: New Society Publishers. Craig, L., (2012). Sustainable Practices in the Constructed Environment. New York: Elsevier. Cutler J. C. & Christopher, G. M., (2009). Dictionary of Energy. New York: Elsevier. Donna, S., (2002). Integrated Solutions for Energy & Facility Management. Sydney: The Fairmont Press, Inc Dell, R. M. & Rand, D., (2001). Understanding Batteries. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry Kaveh, M., (2010). Hydropower Systems Modeling. New York: Lambert Academic Publishing. Raymond A. S. & John W. J., (2007). Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, Volume 2. New York: Cengage Learning. Rajput, R.K. (2006). A Textbook of Electrical Machines. New Delhi: LAXMI publications. Trevor, M. L., (2008). Future Energy: Improved, Sustainable and Clean Options for our Planet. New York: Elsevier Paul, B., (2005). Power Generation Technologies. New York: Elsevier Rick, A. (2006). MGB Electrical Systems. Veloce Publishing Ltd. Scott, D., (2010). Serious Micro hydro: Water Power Solutions from the Experts. Canada: New Society Publishers. Read More

It is ideal to determine the power potential in the system that comes from harnessed rainwater. Therefore, it is significant to decide the waterfall distance and the flow rate at a point. This power is calculated using the following relationship: Where Q is in  H in meters, and  Is the gravitational constant  Due to Friction and other inefficiencies, the turbine is not perfect, and the more or less power gets lost in the system. Therefore, efficiency of 80 to 95% is the ideal efficiency for the system to counter the losses, which may result in the system. 3.2.

Benefits Free source of energy Low maintenance costs Reliable Battery Charger 4.0. Design theory The rainfall charging system will require technical skills and theoretical knowledge to design it. The design will be based on technical design modeling, where numerical modeling will be the base for the system design of the machine, which will entail use, gathered data gathered during the analysis stage. 4.1. Factors to consider when designing and sizing the battery rainfall charging system Energy requirements Amount of rainfall/day Efficiency of the motor Speed of rotation of the motor The installation site 4.2. Operation of the rainfall charging system The bridge rectifier (fig 3) that comprises D1 to D4, which is then passed through capacitor C1 to make the flowing current ripple free, rectifies voltage.

A voltage of 18V DC is used for the aim of the battery charging, which is controlled and regulated to 9V at the IC1 (see fig 3). The relay is driven by the IC2, which is used as a comparator as the voltage passes through the sneer diode ZD making a non-inverting input to the battery charger. As the charging continues, the battery charge rises to 13.5 V, which is the maximum charge for a 12V battery. This creates a lower voltage at Pin 2 than Pin 3 increasing the voltage output at IC2, and this makes the relay contacts break stopping the charging.

This is cut off voltage and ensures that the battery does not overcharge thus preventing damage to the battery. 5.0. Methodology The battery charging system will include a connection the components and connections as shown in figures discussed in this section. 5.1. Integrated circuit components MAX 1771 chip This is a step up converter, and it takes voltages as low as 2V and stepping it up to 12V. The supply current can be as little as 110µA. Transistor This is a MOSFET N-channel power transistor, and it ensures that the system has the highest efficiency possible to drive the current in the circuit.

Capacitors Input Bypass Capacitor Proper gate charge that helps in reducing peak current and the motor noise from the machine is developed by this capacitor. Ceramic Capacitor This capacitor helps in moderating noise peak and bypassing the integrated circuit between V+ and GND pin. Reference Capacitor This capacitor helps in bypassing the REF pin, which may supply up 100µA. Output Filter Capacitor This works at low ESR. It allows tolerance for ripple voltages thus allowing multiple ESRs.

Diode The diode acts as a frequency modulator for the supply current acting as PWM and PFM modulations for low current. Resistor The resistor is set as high Ohmic level to deliver higher power for the charging system. Inductor This is manually made and adjusted to 22µH. For an ideal start up and filtering of the unwanted current ripple in the load, this component helps in counteracting these problems. MAX1771 Schematics Figure 1: integrated circuit (Marc, 2011) BLOCK DIAGRAM Figure 2: Block diagram of the rainfall battery charging system.

Block Description: Water Water is harnessed from the rooftop it falls on cup of the turbine driving the turbine. The main source of water is rainfall and collected through the gutter to the storage container. Turbine The turbine rotates at a speed of approximately 20-110 RPM. As the waterfalls on the turbines cup, it exerts a force that causes the turbine to rotate, which rotates the motor to generate electrical energy.

Read More