Design of a device for energy harvesting in water pipelines

Abstract

Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (Riunet)

[EN] Energy harvesting systems have been emerging over the last years and continue to grow at rapid pace. As a result of the low power consumption of developing technologies, some sources initially disregarded emerge now as potential areas of energy research. In this thesis, it has been studied the feasibility of harnessing pressure pulsations in water pipelines with a view to providing enough electrical energy to run low power consumption devices. In order to get an idea of the potential belonging to pressure fluctuations, it has been accomplished a whole set of measurements along Cranfield University mains. With those results, appropriate mechanic relations and MatLab codes for signal processing, power output has been estimated. It has been proposed a design of an electromagnetic generator to transform this signal into electrical energy. It consists of a corrugated rubber diaphragm with a rigid centre on top of which it is placed a Neodymium magnet and coil windings. The potential of the system as well as its applications are mentioned in the end along with a proposal of further improvements that could be done to seize this pressure. This principle is also valid to scavenge any kinetic energy coming from a wasted source and could lead to an extension of the lifetime and reliability for electrical equipment.