In the 8 Feb 07 edition of Today, I found the following
contribution. Mr Tan suggested that MRT trains can generate
compressed air in the tunnels to power turbines to generate
electricity.
This story was printed from TODAYonline
Electricity from thin air?
Thursday February 8, 2007
Letter from tan kok tim
We have been told that SMRT has been generating electricity to
light up the MRT stations by tapping the friction and momentum of
the train wheels.
It is a simple technology and electricity is generated easily. It
saves costs however minimal.
SMRT should go for even bigger savings. With so many kilometers of
MRT tunnels, has the transport operator thought of using the air in
the tunnels to generate electricity? Will it be feasible?
When a train moves at a fast speed in the narrow tunnel, it pushes
a strong force of air forward into the tunnel. The air can be
compressed to make it more forceful.
If the end of the tunnel is closed with a "flap door", the gush of
air will be compressed. The compressed air can be channeled into an
auxiliary tunnel to propel turbine fans to generate
electricity.
It is a simple technology to release compressed air and convert it
into energy. The "flap door" should be made to open automatically
before the train reaches the tunnel exit, with a "fool-proof safety
release" to prevent the train from crashing into the "flap
door".
With many trains running in the tunnels, there will be a constant
supply of compressed air power to tap and convert into energy ?a
cheap but precious source of untapped power.
Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.
This guy seems to have his physics wrong. At current speed, the
only fan that the breeze from MRT train can power are paper
windmills. At higher (perhaps jet) speed, the power needed to
compress the air will be greater than the power recovered through
turbin fans, and the MRT
I don't mean to disparage Mr Tan's efforts to think out of the box,
but I believe that the editors of Today should exercise due
diligence in screening out silly ideas from the serious print
media. Mr Tan's contribution is more suitable for the online
forums.
