“PiezoPort” Energy harvesting on airport runway using piezoelectric devices

Abstract

Exploiting ambient sources of vibration energy has become an emerging trend in the field of energy harvesting. There are several methods by which this can be achieved, out of which piezoelectricity has emerged as one of the efficient methods. For effective application of piezoelectric devices to harvest energy, it is important to recognise the sources or areas from where a large amount of vibration energy can be exploited. In this paper we present a multimorph piezoelectric device that would be employed to harvest vibrational energy from airport runways. We have explored the economical impact of our proposal by hypothetically employing our system on Heathrow Airport, London. Primarily the paper focuses on material selection, basic mechanical design and the economic impact of the piezoelectric harvester.