Chassis mounted single stage impulse turbine for wind energy harvesting on a cruising transport vehicle

Fossil fuels have been a means of energy source since a long time, and have tended to the needs of the large global population. These conventional sources are bound to deplete in the near future and hence there is a need for producing energy from renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, tidal etc. Technologies involving renewable energy are a growing subject of concern. The problem is the excessive pollution caused by conventional sources of energy and their impact on the environment. In particular, one of the main sources of pollution is harmful gases emitting out of automobiles. Wind energy is one among the renewable energy sources which is implemented in large scale energy production. A large amount of research has been done in this field to harness energy and power houses and other amenities are nearby wind farms. The purpose of this study is to consider the use of wind energy along with conventional energy sources to power automobiles. Specifically the concept of an impulse turbine mounted on the chassis of a typical vehicle structure is considered. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to validate the concept and also come up with a design that maximizes energy generation by such turbines.