Atmospheric Pressure: The Untapped Unlimited Source of Green Energy (Vacuum Turbine)

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 12 Issue: 01 | Jan 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Atmospheric Pressure: The Untapped Unlimited Source of Green Energy (Vacuum Turbine)

R.

K. Jain1 , Dr. D. K. Jain2

1Retd. Chief Engineer, Indian Railways (IRSSE), Jabalpur, MP, India

2Ex. Professor, Lakshmi Narain College of Technology, Bhopal, MP, India ***

Abstract - The world is rapidly shifting towards the use of green energy sources to avoid the evils of fossil fuels which are not only limited in quantity but also cause pollutionand global warming. Hydroelectric power is mostly tapped, the use of wind and solar energy is expanding but still has to go a long way, and new sources of green energy are being explored. Atmospheric pressure can be an unlimited, always available source of green energy which has so far remained untapped. The present study explores how it can be used to generate power. Water flowing through vertical rainwater pipes under gravity is observed to develop additional force when a partial vacuum is generated at the top end of the pipe. This phenomenon may be used to generate green energy.

Key Words: GreenEnergy,RenewableEnergy,Sources of Energy,AtmosphericPressure,VacuumTurbine,FluidFlow throughVerticalPipe,RainwaterPipe.

1.INTRODUCTION

Thequestfornewsourcesofgreenenergyisgoingonthe world over to replace the fossil fuels which are limited in quantity, cause air and water pollution and lead to global warming.

The use of green energy sources like solar and wind energyisincreasingdaybyday,stillwearedepending on fossilfuelstomeetmorethan80%ofourenergydemand.

Atmosphericpressurecanbepotentiallyagreatsourceof greenenergy.Itisarenewable,unlimitedsourcewhichhas sofarremaineduntapped.

In this paper an effort is made to emphasize the possibilities of utilizing this untapped source of energy whichhasthepotentialtochangetheworldenergyscenario completely.

2.WORLD ENERGY SCENARIO

Theworldenergydemandisincreasingdaybyday.Ithas morethandoubledinthelast50years[1].Chart-1showsthe contribution of various sources of energy in the world in 2023asperthedatapublishedbytheEnergyInstitute[2].

Chart –1:Contributionofvarioussourcesofenergy

Theimportanceofrenewableandgreenenergysources likewindandsolarenergyisnowwellunderstoodandtheir use is increasing day by day. Still, it may take decades to replacethefossilfuelsastherateofgrowthofenergyfrom thesesourcesisverylow.

Itcanbeseenfromtheabovechartthathydroandother renewablesourcesofenergycontributetoabout14%ofthe world’s energy consumption. The composition of various sources of renewable energy is shown in Chart -2 (data source:Rahmanetal.[3]).

Chart –2:CompositionofRenewableEnergySources

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 12 Issue: 01 | Jan 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Hydropowerenergyresourcesarealreadylargelytapped. Solar and wind energy resources are increasingly being tapped.However,theavailabilityoftheserenewablesources dependsontheenvironmentalconditions.Windmillswillrun when the wind is blowing, solar panels will work when sunlightisthere,andhydroelectricpowerwillbegenerated onlywhenthereisenoughwateratthesource.

Atmosphericpressurecanbeabigsourceofgreenenergy. It is available all over the world. It does not depend on environmental conditions. It is unlimited and, so far, untappedascanbeseenfromCharts1and2.Howitcanbe usedtogenerateenergyisthethemeofthispaper.

3.ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE: THE POTENTIAL SOURCE

Thereishardlyanyneedtooveremphasizetheneedfor greenenergytoday.Letusexaminethegoodoldatmosphere as the probable newest source of green energy. The best thing about it is, it will never exhaust its reserves and it’s freeandavailableeverywhere.

Itisthesameenergythatpowersthewhirlpools,storms, tornadosandcyclones.We havebeenseeingforcenturies andmillenniumsthepoweroftheseheavenlyactivitiesand were too scared about them, but perhaps we had never thoughtofaskingthemtosharesomeoftheirpowerwithus. Thispaperexamineshowtoachievethatsharingofpower withthehugeandunlimitedenergyofatmosphericpressure.

Storms, tornados and cyclones are created by the differenceinairpressureintworegions.Thunderstormsand lightningsometimesaddtothesizeoftheseactivities.The difference in pressure is created by nature. How about creating our own storms by creating the difference in air pressureourselvesandcontrollingtheminsuchawayasto beabletousethepowergeneratedforourgoodinsteadof lettingitdestroyus.

4. HOW THE CONCEPT EMERGED:

Onefinedayinthemonsoonseasonthefirstauthorwent totheterraceofhishousetoremovetheaccumulatedwater, which could lead to seepage if not removed in time. However,hefoundthedrainholeblockedbythelooseleaves of surrounding trees. As he removed the leaves the water floweddownwithgreatforce.Itmadeahugenoiseasifan airplanewaspassingabovehishead.Hewassurprised.But therealshockingsurprisecamewhenintheeveninghesaw thatonthegroundfloor6tilesofthefloorwereuprooted nearthedrainchamberwherethedrainpipewasconnected. Thecoverofthedrainchamberwasalsodislodged.Thetiles wereotherwisefirmlyfixedtothefloorincement mortar, anditrequiredalotofforcetouprootthem.Theschematic diagramoftherainwaterpipesanddrainchamberisshown inFigure1.Theactualpicturesofthepipeinletsanddrain chamberareshowninFigure2and3respectively.

Tohismindthisforceofwaterwasmuchmorethanthat due togravityalone. While he wasstill strugglingtogeta suitableplumbertofixthetiles,theincidentrepeated.Again, whileremovingtheleavesfromthedrainhole,heheardthe hugesound.Butthistimerealizingtheheavyimpactitmight haveonthefloorstructure, heremovedtheleavesoneby one gradually to contain the flow of water downwards, guessingitfromtheintensityofsounditproduced.

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 12 Issue: 01 | Jan 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Afterhegotthetilesrefitted,onedaywhilesittingfree andthinkingabouttheincidentherealizedthatperhapsthe repeatoftheincidentistryingtotellhimsomething.Ashe thought,theforcewithwhichthewaterwasflowingdown the drainpipe was much more than what can normally be expected due to the gravity alone. Did it mean that this phenomenonwasgeneratingpower?

Toprovethatthisphenomenoncangeneratepower,it wasenoughtosuccessfullypumpthewaterdrainedfromthe outlet to the terrace where the drain hole was located by usingthepowergeneratedbytheoutflowofthedrainwater. This can be done by either sending the water back to the terracethroughapipedirectlyconnectedtotheoutletorby generatingelectricitythroughahydroelectricpowermodel from the outgoing water and then using the electricity to pumpthewaterbacktotheterrace.

Butbeforetheexperimentationletusexaminewhether this is possible in theory? The desired results will be obtainedifthewaterflowsoutataforcewhichismorethan thatduetogravityalone.Andtogeneratepower,theforce has to be so much more that it overcomes the efficiency factorofthereversepumpingmechanism(pumpingbackto terrace).Thevacuumcreatedbythedepositedleavesonthe draininletleadstoapushonthewaterbytheatmospheric

pressurecreatingawhirlpool(observedbythefirstauthor). Thispushduetoatmosphericpressureandthenormalpull duetogravity,bothactonthewatertowardsthedrain.Thus, theforceiscertainlymorethanthatduetogravityalone.But theextraforcemustbeenoughtogeneratepowerinexcess ofwhatisrequiredtopumpitbacktotheterrace.Thisneeds tobeexperimentedandestablished.

The experiment can be conducted by filling water in a tankwithadrainholeatthebottom.Thedrainholemustbe airandwatertighttodisallowanyleakagesofwaterorentry of air. The drainpipe can be connected to either a pipe feedingthetankdirectlyfromthedrainwateroritcanbe connected to a generator of electricity. The generator can pump the water back to the tank and give away the extra power if any. The figures 4 and 5 below show both these arrangements.

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 12 Issue: 01 | Jan 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

5. PROCESS:

Thetankisfilledfullywithwater,keepingthetapclosed atthebottom.Nowthedrainholeinthetankisclosedbythe palmofthehandoranyothermeans,suchthatnowatercan enter the hole. The tap at the bottom is now opened. The water in the pipe will flow down to some extent till it is prevented by atmospheric pressure from the bottom end. Thiscreatesapartialvacuuminthepipeequivalenttothe columnofwatergonedown.Atthisstagethebottomtapis closed,andthehandisremovedfromtheholeofthetankto allowthewatertoflowdown.Thewaterflowsdownwith great force which is the combination of atmospheric pressureduetovacuumandgravitationalpull.

Hereaquestionarisesthatsoonthevacuumwillbefilled bythewaterflowingdown,leadingtonormalizationofthe situation i.e. the flow of water with normal force due to gravity. But the observations as stated earlier did not support this normalization theory. Then what was happeningwiththeterracewaterasstatedearlier?

Bernoulli’sprincipleoffluidmechanicstellsusthatwhen fluidflowswithhighvelocitythroughanenclosedmedium (likeapipe)itcangeneratevacuum[4].Thismaypossibly explain our observations. The water in the drainpipe is pushedandpulledwithhighvelocityinthepipe.Whilethe water entry destroys the vacuum, the fast flow of water creates further vacuum. So, if we can create a vacuum becauseoffastwaterflowwhichisequaltoormorethanthe vacuumdestroyedbytheentryofwateritselfinthepipe,our fast flow of water will continue forever. And if it is fast enoughtogeneratepowerinexcessofwhatisrequiredto

feed the water back to the tank, we have created green power using atmospheric pressure. The following are the variablesinthisprocess:

1. Pipeheight

2. Pipediameter

3. Waterheadinthetank

4. Tankarea

5. Amountofvacuum

By varying these variables suitably, we may be able to achievethedesiredresults.Intheexamplewehavecreated vacuumbyclosingthehole withhand etc, butinpractical models we can create vacuum with the help of vacuum pumps. Closing of the hole may be done once or multiple timesasmayberequiredforachievingtheprocessbyusing mechanizedsolenoidsandtimersetc.

Thesevariablesmayalsoallowustodesigntheturbines forpowerplants,basedonthisconcept(whichwemaycall “VACUUMTURBINE”)ofvarioussizesaspertherequirement ofthesite,houseorindustry.

6. OTHER APPLICATIONS

Vacuum turbine is a concept which may materialize in futurethroughfurtherresearchandtesting.Meanwhile,the observations,asstatedearlier,leadtoadefiniteconclusion thatextraforceisgeneratedwhenwater(whichmaybeany otherliquidaswell)isflowingdownthroughaverticalpipe undergravityandapartialvacuumisintroducedattheupper end. This may be quite useful in situations where vertical flowoffluidisalreadytakingplacelikethatinthepenstock pipesofhydroelectricpowerplants.

As such, this phenomenon may find applications in generatingadditionalpowerinhydroelectricpowerplantsby introducingpartialvacuumattheupperendofthepenstock pipe.Thevacuummaybeintroducedbyusinggravitational forceactingontheflowingwaterbyclosingtheinletvalvefor awhileandthenreopeningthevalvequickly,orbyartificial means.Thismayrequirethoroughtestingandredesigningof thepenstockpipefortheextraforce.

7. CONCLUSIONS

The vacuum turbine connects us to the free, unlimited and ubiquitous source of green energy by using the atmosphericpressure.Theneedistodevelop appropriate implementabletechnology.Withthecurrenttechnological scenariointheworld,itshouldnotbeverydifficult.

Eventillthedevelopmentofsuchvacuumturbines,we mayusethephenomenontogenerateadditionalpowerin hydroelectricpowerplants

Atmosphericpressureisapotentiallyunlimitedsourceof greenenergy,anditcanbetapped.

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 12 Issue: 01 | Jan 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

REFERENCES

[1] T. Ahmad and D. Zhang, “A critical review of comparativeglobalhistoricalenergyconsumptionand futuredemand:Thestorytoldsofar”,EnergyReports, vol.6,pp.1973-1991,Nov.2020.

[2] Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy, 2024

[3] A. Rahman, O. Farrok, M. M. Haque, “Environmental impact of renewable energy source based electrical power plants: solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, tidal, ocean, and osmotic”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review, Vol.161, June 2022.

[4] R.Qin and C.Duan,“The principleand applications of Bernoulli’s equation”, Journal of Physics Conference Series,916(1),Oct.2017.

BIOGRAPHIES

R.KJainisaretiredChiefEngineer, IndianRailways(IRSSE)currently based at Jabalpur (MP). He has worked as a scientist in DRDO beforejoiningIndianRailways.He has published a book titled “PrinciplesofSynchronousDigital Hierarchy” with M/S Taylor and Francis US. (Email: rajeshjain2001@yahoo.com)

Dr D. K. Jain has been teaching civil engineering students in Bhopalforthelast10years Earlier heworkedasExecutiveEngineer, CivilConstructionWingofAllIndia Radio and took voluntary retirement to start teaching. (Email:dkjain.edu@gmail.com)