Design and concept of renewable energy driven auto-detectable railway level crossing systems in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s railway system mostly uses typical manual railway crossing techniques or boom gates through its 2955.53 km rail route all over the country. Accidents frequently happen at railway crossings due to the lack of quickly operating gate systems, and to fewer safety measures at the railway crossing as well. Currently, there are very few automatic railway crossing systems available (without obstacle detectors). Additionally, all of them are dependent on the national power grid, without a backup plan for any emergency cases. Bangladesh is still running a bit behind in generating enough power for its consumption; hence, it is not possible to have a continuous power supply at all times all over the countryside. We aim to design and develop a smart railway crossing system with an obstacle detector to prevent common types of accidents at railway crossing points. We use two infrared (IR) sensors to operate the railway crossing systems, which are controlled by an Arduino Uno. This newly designed level crossing system is run with the help of sustainable renewable energy, which is cost-effective and eco-friendly, and applied under the national green energy policy towards achieving sustainable development in Bangladesh as a part of the global sustainable goal to face climate change challenges. We have summarized the simulated the results of several renewable energy sources, including a hybrid system, and optimized the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and the payback periods

Adaptation to flooding in low‐income urban settlements in the least developed countries: A systems approach

This study aims to use a whole systems approach (1) to understand the processes of adaptation to flooding of the urban poor; (2) to identify new knowledge of how low‐income settlements might better adapt to climatic risks; and (3) to begin to develop appropriate guidance on this. Low‐income urban settlements in the least developed countries (LDCs) present an extreme case where catastrophic natural hazards and chronic social hazards overlap. These low‐income urban populations face the greatest adaptation challenges as they often occupy informal settlements that are particularly exposed to hazards, and have multiple vulnerabilities arising from their lack of basic services. There is a dynamic complexity of issues arising from the many levels of actor involved and multiple social and physical factors. Analysing such a complex phenomenon calls for a specific conceptual framing, and a systems theory approach is suggested to provide a holistic perspective. The case study for this research is located in Dhaka East, where there is both high vulnerability to flooding, and a significant low‐income population. The research has adopted a mixed methods approach involving different data collection methods governed by the different scales and actors being investigated. The research develops new systems understandings of perceptions and experiences of the local population about adaptation processes in low‐income urban settlements, and how these processes may be positively influenced by integrating bottom‐up and top‐down approaches

Finite element modeling of steel piles and suction caissons in sand under lateral and inclined load

The behavior of a steel pipe pile in sand subjected to lateral load is examined by three-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses using the commercially available software package ABAQUS/Standard 6.10 EF1. The sand around the pile is modeled using a modified form of Mohr-Coulomb soil model. The modifications involve the nonlinear variation of elastic soil modulus with mean stress and the variation of mobilized angle of internal friction and dilation angle with plastic shear strain, which are implemented in ABAQUS/Standard using a user subroutine. Numerical analyses are also performed by using the LPILE software which is based on the p-y curve approach and widely used in design for estimating lateral load capacity of pile foundations. The FE and LPILE results are compared with the results of two full-scale tests available in the literature. It is shown that the FE model better simulates the response of a pile under lateral load. Comparing the numerical results with the full-scale test results, some limitations of the p-y curve method are highlighted. -- In the second part of the study, finite element analyses are performed to estimate the pullout capacity of a suction caisson subjected to oblique loading. Three-dimensional finite element analyses are performed using ABAQUS/Standard 6.10 EF1 finite element software. The effects of two key variables, loading angle and mooring line position, are investigated. The finite element results are compared with centrifuge test results available in the literature. The maximum pullout capacity is obtained when the mooring line is attached at approximately 75% depth of the caisson for the cases analyzed in this study

Design and concept of renewable energy driven auto-detectable railway level crossing systems in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s railway system mostly uses typical manual railway crossing techniques or boom gates through its 2955.53 km rail route all over the country. Accidents frequently happen at railway crossings due to the lack of quickly operating gate systems, and to fewer safety measures at the railway crossing as well. Currently, there are very few automatic railway crossing systems available (without obstacle detectors). Additionally, all of them are dependent on the national power grid, without a backup plan for any emergency cases. Bangladesh is still running a bit behind in generating enough power for its consumption; hence, it is not possible to have a continuous power supply at all times all over the countryside. We aim to design and develop a smart railway crossing system with an obstacle detector to prevent common types of accidents at railway crossing points. We use two infrared (IR) sensors to operate the railway crossing systems, which are controlled by an Arduino Uno. This newly designed level crossing system is run with the help of sustainable renewable energy, which is cost-effective and eco-friendly, and applied under the national green energy policy towards achieving sustainable development in Bangladesh as a part of the global sustainable goal to face climate change challenges. We have summarized the simulated the results of several renewable energy sources, including a hybrid system, and optimized the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and the payback periods

Design and Concept of Renewable Energy Driven Auto-Detectable Railway Level Crossing Systems in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s railway system mostly uses typical manual railway crossing techniques or boom gates through its 2955.53 km rail route all over the country. Accidents frequently happen at railway crossings due to the lack of quickly operating gate systems, and to fewer safety measures at the railway crossing as well. Currently, there are very few automatic railway crossing systems available (without obstacle detectors). Additionally, all of them are dependent on the national power grid, without a backup plan for any emergency cases. Bangladesh is still running a bit behind in generating enough power for its consumption; hence, it is not possible to have a continuous power supply at all times all over the countryside. We aim to design and develop a smart railway crossing system with an obstacle detector to prevent common types of accidents at railway crossing points. We use two infrared (IR) sensors to operate the railway crossing systems, which are controlled by an Arduino Uno. This newly designed level crossing system is run with the help of sustainable renewable energy, which is cost-effective and eco-friendly, and applied under the national green energy policy towards achieving sustainable development in Bangladesh as a part of the global sustainable goal to face climate change challenges. We have summarized the simulated the results of several renewable energy sources, including a hybrid system, and optimized the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and the payback periods

Rooftop PV or Hybrid Systems and Retrofitted Low-E Coated Windows for Energywise and Self-Sustainable School Buildings in Bangladesh

The electricity crisis is a common issue in Bangladesh; however, recently the electricity scenario has been getting worse due to various reasons including power generation and distribution all over the country. Meanwhile, the large number of people requires a huge amount of energy which is not possible to be met by the national grid due to the limited power generation from different plants. Among all renewable energy sources, the solar photovoltaics (PV) system is the best choice as a generation source, either off-grid or with a grid-tied connection, to reduce the pressure on the national grid. In Bangladesh, there are more than 175,000 schools, and it is possible to generate a huge amount of renewable (solar) power to supply all the schools by using rooftop PV systems. We propose a new approach that combines solar energy harvesting and savings to make the schools self-sufficient and energywise. We performed a Hybrid Optimization Model for Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) pro simulation and find that it was possible to generate approximately 200 megawatts (MW) of power. We conducted a feasibility study on generating power from rooftop PV systems on school buildings and reduced the power consumption using retrofitted thin-film-coated glass by around 16–20% per day depending on the school size, which can help the national power grid system by either making all the schools off-grid or grid-connected to supply power to the national grid. In addition, we perform a HelioScope simulation to investigate the maximum upscaling of PV sizing for the rooftops of school buildings in Bangladesh to realize how to make each school a mini solar power station in the future. The HelioScope simulation performance showed that it was possible to generate approximately 96,993 kWh per year from one school building

Rooftop PV or Hybrid Systems and Retrofitted Low-E Coated Windows for Energywise and Self-Sustainable School Buildings in Bangladesh

The electricity crisis is a common issue in Bangladesh; however, recently the electricity scenario has been getting worse due to various reasons including power generation and distribution all over the country. Meanwhile, the large number of people requires a huge amount of energy which is not possible to be met by the national grid due to the limited power generation from different plants. Among all renewable energy sources, the solar photovoltaics (PV) system is the best choice as a generation source, either off-grid or with a grid-tied connection, to reduce the pressure on the national grid. In Bangladesh, there are more than 175,000 schools, and it is possible to generate a huge amount of renewable (solar) power to supply all the schools by using rooftop PV systems. We propose a new approach that combines solar energy harvesting and savings to make the schools self-sufficient and energywise. We performed a Hybrid Optimization Model for Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) pro simulation and find that it was possible to generate approximately 200 megawatts (MW) of power. We conducted a feasibility study on generating power from rooftop PV systems on school buildings and reduced the power consumption using retrofitted thin-film-coated glass by around 16–20% per day depending on the school size, which can help the national power grid system by either making all the schools off-grid or grid-connected to supply power to the national grid. In addition, we perform a HelioScope simulation to investigate the maximum upscaling of PV sizing for the rooftops of school buildings in Bangladesh to realize how to make each school a mini solar power station in the future. The HelioScope simulation performance showed that it was possible to generate approximately 96,993 kWh per year from one school building