Comments on: Asphalt Power: Unlocking 4 Million Miles of Solar Energy

By: Mike Chino

Mike Chino — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:57:11 +0000

Thanks for correction mkengineer!
I’ve updated the post accordingly.

By: mkengineer

mkengineer — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:43:34 +0000

Hi – Just wanted to make a correction – It is actually Worcester Polytechnic Institute, not “Worchester”. You can also call it WPI or even Worcester Tech. Worcester is pronounced, “Woosta”.

I actually had Prof. Mallick as a Civil Engineering major at WPI for a couple classes and some friends have worked for him – he is very passionate about his research and extremely knowledgeable. The applications seem like they could potentially have some impact especially in urban centers where highways are very close to the end user.

This site got a lot of good press from both GreenBUILD this week and from the WPI Alumni Newsletter, The Bridge.

By: GaryBB

GaryBB — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:06:15 +0000

The technology for any of this equipment is there. The trransfer media in the system could even be fed by the run-oof from the roads itself.
Excellent concept.

By: eryll jalipa

eryll jalipa — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:25:15 +0000

how do the heat exchangers manage under the weight of cars and trucks? asphalt roads crack and develop potholes, which is normal road wear-and-tear, does that mean the heat exhcnagers need to be replaced everytime the road is re-done?

what is the life span for these heat exchangers?

By: pritchet1

pritchet1 — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:12:15 +0000

See http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Solar_Pavement

By: Dallas Ward

Dallas Ward — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:22:09 +0000

Water would be used because it’s readily available and it’s has superb thermal transfer properties for this type of project. It would quickly and readily absorb more heat than any other comparably available or comparably priced heat transfer media (air, etc.).

This is a brilliant idea. In addition, potable water wouldn’t need to be used. Were it not highly corrosive, sea water could be used whenever it is available. Gray water could be used. Water pumped into cities could suck heat away from the highways and into a power generation facility before being filtered and treated for being drinking water. There are a lot of possibilities to tap into an otherwise wasted resource. To criticize this concept because it uses water is short sighted.

By: hereitcomesagain

hereitcomesagain — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:39:39 +0000

Mixed feelings on this one, also. My first thought is that asphalt paving is an environmental horror to begin with, the surface water and air heating included, and the idea of promoting it for any reason is backwards. Reground tires would be much better. I even thing concrete is better, although one can argue that either way, certainly.

On the other hand, one has to admit that if you are going to have these streets, some of that heat should be captured. Use hot water not in a stream but in a closed loop to generate electric power, in my view.

By: WBrooke

WBrooke — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:58:18 +0000

This is a great concept, but a large proportion of highway infrastructure is too far from populations to provide building heating. It would work for the large parking lots which surround malls and big box stores, but the highest heating occurs in the summer when you need to cool the buildings rather than supply heat to them. In the winter when you need to heat the building, the asphalt is frozen.

You might be able to use the summer heat to drive an absorption chiller to cool the building. Or you might be able to use the heat in an Organic Rankine Cycle power plant.

The problem is that even though the asphalt is baking hot, it is still a low-temperature heat source.

By: nwilliam3

nwilliam3 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:21:19 +0000

I agree that a non-water option would be nice, but I don’t think we would be using drinking water for this. It sounds like the water is just being used to transport and store the energy. I would think there are various forms of re-purposed non-potable water that could be used.

I know when I lived in AZ the roads got hot and stayed hot for a very long time. We never had “Cold” water in the summer it was always warm. Hopefully these researcher will be able to find a way to make this technology efficient and affordable so states and municipalities will start using it.

By: icehawk

icehawk — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:05:48 +0000

While this sounds real cool, I don\’t understand why they want to use water for this. This planet already has massive drinkable water shortages in some areas, pumping it all through our highway system would just make the shortages much worse. I\’d think there would be another way to convert the heat into energy.