Tamil Nadu   

Power from rails possible

If the Ministries of Power and Railway acknowledge the findings of four students of Syed Ammal Engineering College in Ramanathapuram on `Electricity From Rails,' it could become a revolution in the energy sector.

The four final-year students of Electrical and Electronics Engineering stream claimed that electricity could be generated when the train is about to stop at railway stations or other places.

Their contention is that the waste energy, obtained from the train during the braking process, could be converted into useful electrical power by establishing the mechanical arrangement underneath the track.

T.A. Arun, O.A. Syed Ibrahim, S.G. Syed Ahmed and S. Dinesh Kumar, have not only tested on railway tracks to study the amount of energy being wasted when the train is about to stop, but also established a mini-train track and mini0train to run on it. Whenever the mini-train crosses the elevated portion of the track, the bulb set up on the output side glows, signalling production of electricity. The weight of the train acts as an input for producing the power. The huge energy generated while applying brakes of the speeding train is sent to the generator to get the power.

Dinesh Kumar said around 1.2 MW of power could be produced from one train movement. If the system was installed at busy stations such as Chennai, Mumbai and others, power shortage could be solved to a great extent.

Moreover, except capital cost to install the system, there was no necessary for input cost, as the waste energy would act as input. It would also be an eco-friendly system of power generation.

The project would require gear arrangement, special track portion and generation system. The operation and maintenance costs would also be definitely much less than other types of power generation, Dinesh Kumar said.

K. Pandiarajan, guide and Head of Department, EEE, and M. Murugesan, Assistant Professor, who motivated the students to design the new power generation technology, said students were ready to demonstrate the new design in front of experts.

They had also approached the various authorities concerned to prove the technology.

The students were also engaged in the project to enhance its efficiency.

Aiming at providing free education to students in D. Pharm course, Sankaralingam Bhuvaneswari College of Pharmacy in Sivakasi conducted an aptitude test for science students, who have completed Plus Two.

Based on their performance in the test, first five rank holders would be given free education. The test was conducted on May 6 and students from various placed attended the test for which the results were announced the same day. The Principal, V. Ganesan, counseled the selected students and their parents.

The Department of Biotechnology of Sri Kaliswari College, Sivakasi, organised a three-week summer training programme on `Techniques of modern biology' from May 10.

The Principal, K. Rajkumar, presided over the inaugural function.

The course director, P. Theriappan, welcomed the gathering. M. Jeyaprakasam, Department of Biochemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, inaugurated the camp and spoke on `Industrial applications of enzymes.'

C. Jaishankar in Ramanathapuram and

S.S. Kavitha in Madurai

Contributions from C. Jaishankar in Ramanathapuram and S.S. Kavitha in Madurai

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Power from rails possible
All for food
Year augurs well for delta farmers
Protect culture of Tamil Nadu: Uma Bharti
Cauvery: delta farmers look to Karunanidhi
Namakkal hatcheries begin production once again
Case against DMK chief dismissed
Too many aspirants for CLP leader's post
54 refugees reach Rameswaram
Small swing would have altered fortunes
Free colour television scheme to be launched in September
Briefly

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu