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Pavement Energy Harvesting and Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 11974

Special Issue Editors

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: pavement design; pavement maintenance management; maintenance and rehabilitation of pavements; pavement energy harvesting; pavement management systems; transport infrastructure management; road safety management systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: Pavement Energy Harvesting, Renewable Energy, Energy Conversion, Energy Storage, Energy Efficiency

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing mobilization of people to live in cities, known as urbanization, has led to an increase in the consumption of the planet resources. Energy, in particular electric energy, is a resource whose consumption has increased considerably, and which has associated a huge environmental impact, because most of its production is made on the basis of non-renewable resources. Also, its production is made in a centralized way, outside cities, meaning that it is far from the places where this energy is mostly consumed, leading to energy losses due to transportation. Within this context, energy harvesting in the urban environment can play a very important role to change the current paradigm, so that electric energy can be produced inside cities, minimizing the energy losses and maximizing the energy efficiency.

To achieve an interesting level of renewable energy generation within cities, it is not enough to have one or two technologies working. An energy mix is required that takes advantage of all available sources. Road pavements are permanently exposed to energy sources, both solar radiation and the kinetic energy from moving vehicles. From both, it is possible to harvest energy and convert it into electric energy, which can be stored and delivered to electric loads when required, using different technologies. Based on this, there can be created sustainable solutions both to energy production, as well as to an efficient energy consumption, which is directly associated to the energy needs of the place.

Articles are welcome on this Special Issue which enhance stakeholders' capacity to make strategic and more informed decisions regarding the integration of energy harvesting solutions in the cities' network, that would ultimately enhance the sustainability of the urban electric grids. Specifically, the studies of this Special Issue are expected to address cutting edge research and development in the following topics:

  • Pavement energy harvesting systems.
  • Railway energy harvesting systems.
  • Integration of energy harvesting systems in urban micro grids.
  • Energy storage systems for energy harvesting devices.
  • Energy efficiency solutions based on energy harvesting devices.
  • Life-Cycle Assessment of energy harvesting systems.
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of energy harvesting systems.

Prof. Adelino Adelino Ferreira
Dr. Francisco Duarte
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Pavement Energy Harvesting
  • Railway Energy Harvesting
  • Energy Conversion
  • Energy Storage
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Sustainability
  • Life-Cycle Assessment
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • Experimental validation
  • Simulation Models

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 7155 KiB  
Article
Design and Evaluation of Double-Stage Energy Harvesting Floor Tile
by Don Isarakorn, Subhawat Jayasvasti, Phosy Panthongsy, Pattanaphong Janphuang and Kazuhiko Hamamoto
Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5582; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11205582 - 10 Oct 2019
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4485
Abstract
This paper introduces the design and characterization of a double-stage energy harvesting floor tile that uses a piezoelectric cantilever to generate electricity from human footsteps. A frequency up-conversion principle, in the form of an overshooting piezoelectric cantilever, plucked with a proof mass is [...] Read more.
This paper introduces the design and characterization of a double-stage energy harvesting floor tile that uses a piezoelectric cantilever to generate electricity from human footsteps. A frequency up-conversion principle, in the form of an overshooting piezoelectric cantilever, plucked with a proof mass is utilized to increase energy conversion efficiency. The overshoot of the proof mass is implemented by a mechanical impact between a moving cover plate and a stopper to prevent damage to the plucked piezoelectric element. In an experiment, the piezoelectric cantilever of a floor tile prototype was excited by a pneumatic actuator that simulated human footsteps. The key parameters affecting the electrical power and energy outputs were investigated by actuating the prototype with a few kinds of excitation input. It was found that, when actuated by a single simulated footstep, the prototype was able to produce electrical power and energy in two stages. The cantilever resonated at a frequency of 14.08 Hz. The output electricity was directly proportional to the acceleration of the moving cover plate and the gap between the cover plate and the stopper. An average power of 0.82 mW and a total energy of 2.40 mJ were obtained at an acceleration of 0.93 g and a gap of 4 mm. The prototype had a simple structure and was able to operate over a wide range of frequencies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pavement Energy Harvesting and Sustainability)
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Review

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15 pages, 2639 KiB  
Review
Aircrafts On-Ground Dynamics Models and Simulation Software: State-of-the-Art
by Diogo Correia and Adelino Ferreira
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9147; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13169147 - 16 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2856
Abstract
The aircraft is a means of transportation that operates mainly in the air; however, it starts and ends its journey on the ground. Due to the aircraft’s structural complexity, simulation tools are used to understand and to predict its behavior in its movements [...] Read more.
The aircraft is a means of transportation that operates mainly in the air; however, it starts and ends its journey on the ground. Due to the aircraft’s structural complexity, simulation tools are used to understand and to predict its behavior in its movements on the ground. Simulation tools allow adjusting the observation parameters to gather a greater amount of data than real tests and explore interactions of the aircraft and their individual components with external objects such as pavement imperfections. This review aims to collect information on how to simulate the aircraft interaction with traffic-dependent energy harvesting systems. The specifications and framework to be met by a conceptual design are explored. The different configurations for simulating the aircraft configuration result in the selection of the two-mass-spring-damper model. For the components, especially the landing gear, a deployable element for on-ground movements, several existing models capable of translating the tire are also presented, resulting in a selection of point-contact, Fiala and Unified semi-empirical models. It is verified which software can address the proposed simulation, such as GearSim from SDI-Engineering and Matlab/Simulink/Simscape Multibody from MathWorks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pavement Energy Harvesting and Sustainability)
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20 pages, 1754 KiB  
Review
Energy Harvesting on Airport Pavements: State-of-the-Art
by Diogo Correia and Adelino Ferreira
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5893; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13115893 - 24 May 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3607
Abstract
Society is dependent on transport systems, not only to meet its daily needs with short journeys but also to meet their arising needs with longer distances. The ability to connect remote regions and the trip duration makes the aircraft a mode of transport [...] Read more.
Society is dependent on transport systems, not only to meet its daily needs with short journeys but also to meet their arising needs with longer distances. The ability to connect remote regions and the trip duration makes the aircraft a mode of transport for distant travel. However, it impacts greenhouse gas production. The survey for new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions emerges from the contribution of energy harvesting systems. Energy harvesting technology has been presenting prosperous solutions and applications in road pavements. Due to the similarity between road pavements, this paper addresses state-of-the-art technologies for airport pavements and road pavements, aiming to analyze which ones can be developed for application in airport pavements. An analysis is presented not only for the density, efficiency, and energy generation, but also for each energy harvesting technology’s implementation and technology readiness level. The photovoltaic technology, to be incorporated into airport pavements, will allow sustainable energy generation dependent on the airport location. The hydraulic/pneumatic technology, to be incorporated into the airport pavements, will generate electrical energy based on aircraft movement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pavement Energy Harvesting and Sustainability)
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