Solving Power and Control Using Wireless Transmission Systems for Hard to Access Electrochemical Sensors

Abstract

The Industrial setting is considered as a harsh environment for sensors. These sensors form the part of the Industrial internet of things (IIoT). For the IIoT to materialize, the simultaneous power supply and electronic control of electrochemical sensors is one of the major challenges. This can be solved using the concept of simultaneous wireless power and data transmission (WPDT). The authors present a brief overview of the coupling based wireless power transmissions and wave-based systems. The authors lay special emphasis on the Zenneck wave (ZW) and single wire (SW) transmission systems. Both ZW and SW systems have specific advantages over existing methods when supplying power and data to electrochemical sensors under industrial settings where metal forms the bulk of the environment. Traditional wireless systems undergo power and signal loss due to Faraday-shielding, whereas ZW and SW system operate effectively under these conditions. The authors demonstrate that a power of 40 watts can be successfully transmitted across metal shielded environments. This kind of power supply is desirable for wireless potentiostats.