By Maria Emília Tostes and Emanuel Loureiro*
More than 47 scientists, researchers and students from the faculties of Naval, Electrical, Computer Engineering, Telecommunications, Mechanics and Chemistry, Information Systems and Architecture courses at UFPA (Federal University of Pará) participated in an innovative project that gave rise to .
Started in 2019, it consists of 2 electric buses and a boat, a geolocation application, photovoltaic panels, charging stations and infrastructure management software.
Implemented in Belém, the city that will host COP 30 in November, the system has already been the subject of 5 doctoral theses, 10 master’s dissertations and 14 undergraduate conclusion works, in addition to having been published in 18 articles from national and international congresses and seminars and in 10 texts from specialized magazines.
Financed by Norte Energia, concessionaire of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant, in the Research, Development and Innovation Program, Sima (Amazon Multimodal Intelligent System) was born from the observation of the territory where it would be implemented. One of his products, the Poraquê catamaran, should even be used by the Government of Pará, during the conference, to transport participants.
In the system, an electric bus travels between the UFPA Castanhal and Belém campuses. Previously, the 75 kilometers were covered in a conventional model, powered by diesel. Another collective transports students within the university city, as does the vessel, which has capacity for 23 passengers and 2 crew. Both modes use solar energy and storage batteries to get around.
The boat was designed to sail 750 meters along the Guamá River, on a route with 3 stops: at the Mirante do Rio building, at university restaurants and at the UFPA health sector. The crossing lasts 15 minutes and, at the end of the day, the boat can travel up to 40km, at an average speed of 13 km/h.
Geolocation and cloud
An application, named Norte Rotas, was developed to help university employees and students plan their trips. Furthermore, to store and process data in the cloud, via the Dojot platform, .
The project also included the Mirante do Rio building, also within the campus, which has 64 rooms and the capacity to serve more than 2,500 undergraduate students simultaneously. The system has the capacity to meet the building’s energy demand in a “Zero Energy” model, that is, .
Up to 100 tonnes of CO2 less per year
SIMA can serve up to 2,000 people per day. While the use of electric buses has the potential to avoid the emission of up to 61 tons of CO₂ per year, in the case of the vessel, this number can reach 100 tons of CO₂ in the same period. As a result, the system has the potential to avoid the emission of up to 161 tons of greenhouse gases, the equivalent of that emitted by 30 popular cars in 12 months.
In addition to its scientific legacy, Sima promotes the decarbonization of transport in the Amazon by . In addition to having started, in a pioneering way, in 2019, the implementation of a large living laboratory for training in human resources in the electrification of two types of transport modes that previously ran on diesel, the initiative seeks to demonstrate, in a practical way, decarbonization through changing the energy matrix in transport services, in addition to promoting discussion about the sustainable energy transition for the Amazon.
The Poraquê catamaran
One of the highlights of the project, the Poraquê catamaran – named after the electric fish from the Amazon – uses 2 electric motors of 12 KW each, which correspond to a 20 hp combustion engine.
The catamaran is 12 meters long, 6 meters wide and has a draft of 72 centimeters – part of which is at the waterline. Autonomy reaches 8 hours. A charging station was installed on the campus pier.
The structural design of the hull, made of naval aluminum, needed to consider the additional weight of the battery system and electric motors, in addition to its applicability in Amazon rivers. This is because the boat weighs 7 tons, one ton of which is just batteries.
In addition to the benefits to the environment, the system brings more comfort to users as the vehicles are quieter, have less vibration and do not cause the smell of smoke.
The project results in enormous gains for the academic world and for the State of Pará itself, based on the training of new human resources, the quantity and quality of publications on Sima and the registration of new technologies developed in the capital of COP 30.
*Maria Emília Tostes is a researcher and professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at UFPA (Federal University of Pará) and director of the (Center of Excellence in Energy Efficiency of the Amazon). Emanuel Loureiro is a researcher and director of the Faculty of Naval Engineering at UFPA.
