Development of an Indoor Airflow Energy Harvesting System for Building Environment Monitoring

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely used for intelligent building management applications. Typically, indoor environment parameters such as illumination, temperature, humidity and air quality are monitored and adjusted by an intelligent building management system. However, owing to the short life-span of the batteries used at the sensor nodes, the maintenance of such systems has been labor-intensive and time-consuming. This paper discusses a battery-less self-powering system that converts the mechanical energy from the airflow in ventilation ducts into electrical energy. The system uses a flutter energy conversion device (FECD) capable of working at low airflow speeds while installed on the ventilation ducts inside of buildings. A power management strategy implemented with a circuit system ensures sufficient power for driving commercial electronic devices. For instance, the power management circuit is capable of charging a 1 F super capacitor to 2 V under ventilation duct airflow speeds of less than 3 m/s.

FLEHAP: A Wind Powered Supply for Autonomous Sensor Nodes

“…An alternative method to harvest energy from a wind is based on the fluttering instability effect, in which moving bodies are typically connected to elastic materials (bluff bodies [1][2][3], T-shaped cantilever [4]), or in which the body can be directly deformed by the incoming fluid (elastomeric belts [5,6], piezoelectric flags [7]). …”

Karman Vortex Creation Using Cylinder for Flutter Energy Harvester Device

“…Notably, turbulent flows show various spatial and temporal scales, which provide a unique opportunity for ambient energy harvesting. Voltage can be generated by an electromagnetic energy harvester device that is attached to a belt inside turbulent boundary layers [ 20 ]. This output voltage is dependent on the design of the device inside the flow field.…”

“…Among micro-wind energy harvesters in the literature, the Windbelt has shown several advantages, such as its small size; its low cost, the fact that it does not require high manufacturing technology or unique materials; is easy to repair and maintain, and; generates higher output power. However, all studies have applied direct airflow without investigating the influence of obstacle bodies inside the airflow tunnel before the belt structure [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. In particular, the Windbelt is a new development and still has many areas for improvement.…”

“…The Windbelt device is a taut belt with high aspect ratio that flutters in low-speed winds [ 21 ]. Fei et al [ 20 ] proposed a similar device where the mechanical vibrations are transformed into electrical power via an electromagnetic transducer. These devices motivated the present study of the pre-flutter characteristics of a belt with high aspect ratio (i.e., a membrane strip) in low subsonic flows.…”

Environmentally Powered Multiparametric Wireless Sensor Node for Air Quality Diagnostic

“…Advances in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), electrochemical gas transducers and wireless sensor networks technologies have permitted the development of highly efficient, lowcost (and low-power) air quality monitoring systems (dedicated to pollutant detection and analysis) and their deployment in real environments. (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) Moreover, the combination of an air monitoring system with wireless sensor network technology is expected to reduce installation cost and enable rapid and simple reshaping of data acquisition/control arrangements. Moreover, networked monitoring systems dedicated to air pollutants ensure low-cost and continuous observation.…”