Abstract
A hybrid energy harvester is presented in this paper to harvest energy from water flow motion and temperature difference in an irrigating pipe at the same time. The harvester is based on the integration of thermoelectric and electromagnetic mechanisms. To harvest the water flow motion, a turbine fan with magnets that are attached on the blades is placed inside of the water pipe. Multiple coils turn the water flow energy into electricity with the rotation of the turbine. The thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are attached around the pipe, so as to harvest energy due to temperature difference. For a maximum temperature difference of 55 °C (hot side 80 °C and room temperature 25 °C), twelve serial-connected TEGs can generate voltage up to 0.346 V. Under a load resistance of 20 Ώ, the power output of 1.264 mW can be achieved. For a maximum water flow rate of 49.9 L/min, the electromagnetic generator (EMG) can produce an open circuit voltage of 0.911 V. The EMG can be potentially used as a water flow meter due to the linear relationship between water flow rate and output voltage. Under the joint action of TEG and EMG, the maximum terminal voltage for TEG is 66 mV and for EMG is 241 mV at load resistances of 10 and 100 Ώ, respectively, resulting in a corresponding power output of 0.435 and 0.584 mW.
Highlights
The irrigation systems have been widely used in agriculture [1]
A hybrid energy harvester is investigated to generate energy from the temperature difference and water flow motion in an irrigating pipe, which is based on thermoelectric and electromagnetic mechanisms
This paper presents a hybrid power generator applied in an irrigation system
Summary
The irrigation systems have been widely used in agriculture [1]. Instead of irrigating the crops by manpower, various auto-irrigation methods are developed. The maximum power output of 0.44 kW is available for an inlet temperature of 100 ◦C with matched load resistance He et al [9] proposed a prototype of thermoelectric module that can generate electricity from the hot water in the pipe heated by solar energy. Water flow motion can be utilized to generate electricity and power various sensor nodes in agricultural environment. Cho et al [21] proposed a hydro electromagnetic and piezoelectric energy harvester to power a smart water meter system by transforming the water flow motion in the pipe into electricity, which consists of a turn-buckle type stainless steel waterwheel and two pole magnets. A hybrid energy harvester is investigated to generate energy from the temperature difference and water flow motion in an irrigating pipe, which is based on thermoelectric and electromagnetic mechanisms. By integrating the TEG and electromagnetic generator (EMG), the self-powered sensor nodes of the irrigation system will be realized in future
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