Performance study of an array piezoelectric energy harvester for pressure pulsation vibration energy in water hydraulic system

Abstract

In this paper, an array piezoelectric energy harvester (APEH) is designed for energy collection from water hydraulic system. The APEH is arranged in a spatial axial array, exhibiting excellent insulation and waterproof properties. The effects of connection modes and pressure pulsation parameters on the output performance of APEH are investigated through theoretical analysis, simulation and experiment. The results show that the output electric energy of each piezoelectric disk is consistent, and it is generated by the deformation caused by pressure pulsation. The connection modes show significant differences at different resistances. Series and parallel connections have the same maximum output power. The parallel connection has a smaller optimal resistance and has advantages in practical engineering applications. Both the pressure amplitude and the pulsation frequency affect the output voltage and power and increasing the pulsation frequency leads to the decrease of optimal resistance. By employing parallel connection, APEH can achieve higher output at lower load resistances. When the resistance is 12 kΩ, the average power and power density are reach as 997.63 μW and 2.54 μW mm−3, respectively. In summary, the APEH proposed in this paper offering a viable solution for energy recovery in water hydraulic systems and the sustainable power supply of the sensors, along with providing relevant theoretical references and practical schemes.