Piezoelectricity, Research Paper Example

Piezoelectricity was discovered in 1880 by Jacques and Pierre.  Piezoelectricity is derived from piezo, which is the root word behind this technology whose translation from Greek to English gives the phrase “to squeeze” or “to press tight”. The source of piezoelectricity is a disc that when pressed to deformation, it results to the creation of a voltage. Piezoelectricity works by the action mechanically stressing piezoelectricity crystals to produce electrical discharge.

Piezoelectric effect is created that leads to the conversion of mechanical strain to an electric voltage that brings about an electric current. The sources of this strain are diverse and numerous including acoustic noise, human motion and seismic vibrations at low-frequency among other day to day examples.

The efficiency of piezoelectric effect is achieved in AC that has a requirement for mechanical resonance at time-varying inputs. The power produced by most commonly available sources of piezoelectric electricity comes in denominations of milliwatts which is an extremely small output to serve system application but can serve handheld devices like self-winding wristwatches that are commercially available.

Piezoelectric electricity is postulated to be applicable in micro-scale devices including micro-hydraulic energy device harvesting in which case hydraulic fluid flowing under pressure drives some pistons propped up by some three piezoelectric elements that serves the purpose of conversion pressure fluctuations to AC.

Piezoelectric electricity has however been harvested for use in two major types of transportation that facilitate production of energy in relatively large quantities. This has been practical in an Israel company called Innowattech that has powered most of their projects using piezoelectric electricity. They applied the technology for example in in a railway system with the use of two generators yielding an estimated 120kWh/h for every track kilometer with approximately 300 wagons per hour while fully loaded every day. Piezoelectric electricity has also found its application in the road system which is a further innovation of Innowattech.

Research in piezoelectric electricity has been ongoing since 1990 and to the current; it is an important emerging technology. Systems for production of piezoelectric electricity are able to convert human body parts motion to electricity. These include the motions of human arm and legs, blood pressure and shoe impacts to wearable sensors. There is however a need for careful design to minimize the extent of discomfort to the user and the potential impact associated with these sources of energy harvesting to the body of human beings. Piezoelectric materials have gained sufficient popularity in their role of power harvesting and transformation of energy from mechanical strain to electrical current. In practical application, it has become prudent to embed Piezo elements in walk ways for the purpose of recovering energy from the footsteps of people. Piezo elements are also being embedded in shoes for recovery of walking energy.

Development of a system involving piezoelectric road application using Innowattech’s studies as the background information is the target of the study. Available statistics indicate that approximately 200kWh/h can be produced by generators in every I kilometer road. The basis of these figures is footprints from two wheels of every lane having approximately 600 cars for every hour that travel at an approximate speed of 72km/h. sufficient compression of piezoelectric generators leads to the production of electricity as a result of deformations on roadways leading to vibrations to generators. Harvesting and storage of electricity is achieved through connection to electrical system that can be applicable in a power grid.