Rain Power: New Technique Shows Promising Potential

Tiny water droplets may not seem like powerful energy generators, but a new approach developed by researchers at the National University of Singapore shows how simple tubes can turn falling rain into a source of electricity. In lab tests, the technique was able to light up 12 LED bulbs.

Limitations of Traditional Water-Based Sources

When it comes to generating clean energy from water, hydroelectric power is usually the first thing that comes to mind.However, these turbines require large volumes of water, which limits the locations where engineers can install them. Wave energy is also gaining traction, but it faces similar restrictions due to its dependence on specific environments.

Rain, on the other hand, is a phenomenon that occurs nearly everywhere. Now, researchers have shown that it’s possible to harness the energy of raindrops simply by channeling them in a strategic way.

When water falls through a vertical tube, it can generate a significant amount of electricity if it follows a specific flow pattern called plug flow,” explains Siowling Soh, lead author of the study. “This kind of flow could be the key to turning rain energy into clean and renewable electricity.

Building the Experiment in the Lab

To test the concept, the team built a rain simulator in their lab. The experiment used a metallic needle to release raindrop-sized droplets into a 32-cm-tall tube with a diameter of 2 mm, made from an electrically conductive polymer.The droplets hit the tube and broke into smaller ones, leaving air pockets between them — forming what’s known as plug flow.

As the water and air moved down the tube, the electric charges in the water separated. Wires connected to the top of the tube and to a collector cup at the bottom harvested the electricity generated. This segmented flow was five times more efficient than a continuous flow and managed to convert about 10% of the falling water’s energy into electricity.

The team also tested the method using two tubes, which doubled the energy output — enough to keep 12 LEDs lit for 20 seconds. Although this system doesn’t yet match the output of a hydroelectric dam, the researchers believe it could power buildings with clean energy if implemented at scale — for example, on urban rooftops. They also point out that the droplet flow in the lab was slower than real rainfall, meaning the system could perform just as well or even better in real-world conditions.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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