File picture of Kanak Gogoi with the power generator

June 10: Kanak Gogoi’s latest innovation, the rumble-strip power generator, has caught the attention of a Dispur bogged down by power woes.

The state government has evinced interest in developing a prototype of the power generator for carrying out fullscale field trials.

Power minister Pradyut Bordoloi recently met the innovator and asked him to submit a proposal for developing the prototype for trials.

For the unique power machine, Gogoi welded a five-metre-long speedbreaker with three identical movable metal plates at the centre instead of the conventional bitumen-and-stone-chip rumble strip.

The plates, inclined by a spring-loaded hydraulic system, are pushed down when a vehicle moves over them, bouncing back to the original position as it passes.

As the plates come down, they hit a lever fitted to a contraption similar to a ratchet wheel. This rotates a geared shaft, whose output is linked with a dynamo to generate power.

“The minister has requested me to submit a proposal to develop the prototype and assured that the government will fund the project. I am preparing the proposal in consultation with the department of design of IIT Guwahati,” Gogoi said.

He had held a demonstration of the unique contraption, built “using the simple principle of converting potential energy into kinetic energy to produce electricity”, here on April 25.

“The prototype we propose to design for fullscale trials will have the capacity to generate 15 to 20 KW of electricity, with the help of five rumble-strips,” Gogoi elaborated.

The pilot project will examine the feasibility and actual performance of the model, which has the advantage of zero operating cost.

“If the pilot project becomes a success, the power department will commission it for generation of electricity,” the innovator said. “The model will work best on roads with a heavy rush of traffic.”

The IIT department of design has calculated that a vehicle weighing 1,000 kg moving up an inclined plane of 10 cm produces approximately 0.8 KW power.

Constant flow of traffic and storage of electricity generated from the movement of vehicles will ensure a steady pool of power.

According to IIT estimates, the cost of generating such power would work out at below Rs 1 crore per MW. Comparatively, thermal energy and hydropower cost between Rs 5 and Rs 8 crore per MW.

“When the entire state is reeling under a power crisis, I will be very happy if my innovation can play a role in mitigating the problem,” Gogoi smiled.