The new pump looks just like any other rubber speed bump but has a hidden trick: it also serves as a pump. GSE explains that “the rugged construction, from recycled tires, make this unit a strong competitor to portable 10-Hp dewatering, slurry, and light trash pumps,” adding that “the pump will also calm traffic, increasing worker and motorist safety, while making the work site safer by minimising production fuel requirements”.
GSE specialises in the design and manufacture of systems that harvest environmental energy for commercial and industrial applications. Its green energy systems operate with little or no conventional fuel or electricity and the company is the originator of many environmental energy designs, with patents and developmental generations of pumps and compressors since 1998.
It specialises in environmental energy sources including static gravity, direct gravitational phenomena (i.e. katabatic wind, hydrostatics, etc.), and relative, or contextual, sources such as animated masses (i.e. fluid flows, vehicles, animals, pedestrians, etc).
The new R-SBP100 pump forms part of the company’s R-series, or relative gravity energy series, which harvest energy from animated masses. Animated masses energy sources are absorbed by the atmosphere as heat or, in the case of roadways, as stress (wear).
The R-series systems can be readily applied to irrigation, livestock watering, seepage control, municipal air compression, and general fluid movement applications.
The R-series vehicle systems are designed for the usage of traffic maintenance crews. Designed like ordinary speed bumps and speed humps, they are optimised for a wide range of predictable traffic flows from 5-55 mph (8-89 Km/h). They can be employed to either pump water or compress air. The water pumping designs can pump from 1/2 to 2 [average] gallons (1.9-7.6 litres) of water for each vehicle that passes over the device.
GSE air compression systems can maintain high PSI in a compressed air storage tank, at rates equivalent to the continuous operation of a 60 Hp conventional air compressor.
Fuel savings of up to 30 litres an hour
R-series systems, compared to a 100 Hp diesel engine, will save approximately 5-8 gallons (18.9-30.3 litres) of fuel per hour. The energy requirements, for water pumping or air compression, are harvested from the passing traffic, rather than expensive diesel fuels.
“The minimization of pump or compressor fuel saves costs, as well as making the work site more efficient, safer, and more independent of central supplies. While the traffic calming introduction of speed bumps will reduce worker and motorist incidents. The R-series can also significantly reduce overall operations costs by controlling traffic speeds, reducing site protection delays and costs,” says the company.
The R-series include modular designs which allow systems to be linked to cover roadways of any width. The higher series models are also designed to work with a wide variety of both road and weather conditions.
For additional information:
Gravitational Systems Engineering
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