Authors:
P. Srinivasan, K. Arulvendhan
Addresses:
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Saveetha Engineering College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
The rapid growth of urban infrastructure has led to an increased reliance on elevators in high-rise buildings, making them a significant source of electrical energy consumption. Elevators operate through motoring and braking cycles, during which substantial energy is dissipated as heat via dynamic resistors. This study proposes an energy storage mechanism to harness regenerative energy produced during elevator operation for auxiliary power. A comparative analysis between geared and gearless elevators was conducted using simulation and experimental validation. MATLAB/Simulink models were developed, incorporating components such as a three-phase power supply, rectifier, inverter, DC–DC converter, and storage battery. A three-phase induction motor simulated the geared system, while a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) represented the gearless configuration. Simulation results showed that the PMSM drive produced higher DC voltages (170–220 V) than the geared drive. Experimental verification showed that the geared system with an 18.5 kW induction motor produced 0.68 kW of regenerative power per cycle, whereas the gearless PMSM achieved 6.65 kW. These results confirm the superior energy-recovery efficiency of gearless drives, due to their minimal mechanical losses. The proposed regenerative braking and battery storage approach offers a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative to reduce grid dependency in modern building elevator systems.
Keywords: Battery Energy Storage (BES); Regenerative Energy; Geared and Gearless Drives; Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor; Variable Voltage Variable Frequency.
Received on: 27/06/2024, Revised on: 07/08/2024, Accepted on: 02/11/2024, Published on: 09/06/2025
DOI: 10.64091/ATIAS.2025.000179
AVE Trends in Intelligent Applied Sciences, 2025 Vol. 1 No. 2, Pages: 96-107