A Novel Distributed System of e-Vehicle Charging Stations Based on Pumps as Turbine to Support Sustainable Micromobility

Abstract

Recent statistics shows that CO2 emissions from road transport have been increasing. In addition, the paradigm of “more electric vehicles” does not seem to be positive from the environmental point of view. In fact, assuming the current energy mix system, studies focusing on Life Cycle Assessment and Well-To-Wheels analysis demonstrate that electric vehicles are less eco-friendly than traditional internal combustion-based engines. Then, it is mandatory to shift toward renewable energy sources to produce electricity with less CO2 emission. In this work, it is proposed to use a new e-vehicles charging system based on Pumps used as Turbine (PATs). This system uses the pressure in excess that could be available in a water distribution network (WDN). Such an excess of pressure is usually destroyed by pressure-reducing valves with the aim to reduce water leaks. PATs are also able to reduce water pressure and produce electrical energy that can be supplied to e-vehicles charging stations. Then, a bi-level methodology to design and optimize the e-charging stations system for (individual or shared) e-bikes and/or e-scooters is proposed. The method allows determining the optimal number of e-vehicles, charging stations docks, and PATs on the study area according to the WDN layout and hydraulic properties as well as the road network characteristics and demand of e-vehicles. The potential of the methodology is shown by an application to a real case study.

Statistical Optimization of E-Scooter Micro-Mobility Utilization in Postal Service

“…One study suggested that traditional delivery vehicles used for mail or package delivery have too much impact on CO2 emissions. Some studies shared some statistical results that road transport increases CO2 emissions [24]. Trucks and derivative vehicles used in the package or mail transport system are responsible for 24% of greenhouse gas emissions [19,20].…”

Sustainable Mobility as a Service: Framework and Transport System Models

“…Problems mainly related to the demand management are explored in [17]. Other problems are related to vehicles energies consumption ( [30,31]) and transit and dynamic optimal travel strategies simulation (i.e., ref. [32][33][34][35]).…”

Numerical investigation of unsteady pressure pulsation characteristics in an ultra-low specific-speed centrifugal pump as a turbine

“…The research results of centrifugal pumps are relatively mature and systematic, while those of PAT are relatively lacking. With the intensification of global climate problems in recent years, PAT has become one of the research hotspots in the field of hydraulic machinery and energy-saving energy storage (Balacco et al, 2021;Cao et al, 2021;El-Emam et al, 2022).…”