PEH25w

Harvesting Vibrational Energy with the Volture™

The wireless Volture™ Piezoelectric Energy Harvester converts vibrations into electrical energy.

The Volture™ Piezoelectric Energy Harvester uses the piezoelectric effect to convert normally wasted mechanical energy in the form of vibrations into useable electrical energy. Any application where sensing is needed and there is a consistent vibration to harvest from can benefit from the Volture™. Midé prides itself on providing low cost effective energy harvesting solutions for all applications.

Clamping and Connecting

The PEH25WG should be mounting to a vibrating structure using the four mounting holes. The picture at rights shows the dimensions of the mounting holes.

To connect electrically to the PEH25WG simply attach to the two conductors exiting the body. The white wire is the positive conductor and the black wire is the negative conductor. The PEH25WG electronics provide a variable DC output based on vibration energy input and electrical load. These electronics work well when charging a large capacitor or a super capacitor.

For more advanced electronics for charging specific batteries please contact Midé.

Diagram

PEH25w

PEH25w

Natural Frequency

For optimized energy harvesting, the natural frequency of the PEH25WG needs to be matched to the vibration frequency of the structure that the PEH25WG is being mounted.

Performance

The performance data was obtained using a LING laboratory shaker.  Sinusoidal vibration profile with amplitude and frequency varied as shown on the plot to the right.  The resistive load used for these tests was 20 kΩ.

PEH25w

Energy Harvesting Applications

Helicopters
A vibration rich environment and a great need for sensing make helicopters one of the great applications for vibration based energy harvesting. Helicopters are complex systems which require extensive sensing to remain working at peak efficiency. Providing power to these sensors is not only costly and complex, it also adds a significant amount of weight to the vehicle which the helicopter operators can not afford. Midé’s robust energy harvesting devices are a cost effective means to enable wireless power and sensing for helicopter applications.

Oil and Gas
From down hole drilling to refining plant operations, vibration energy harvesting is a low cost and highly effective means to improve the efficiency of and protect high value operations and assets. The cost and complexity associated with replacing batteries in a wireless sensor network assisting an oil and gas operation operate efficiently is not worth the investment. However, if the sensor nodes can harvest vibration energy from the environment and use that energy to power the wireless node, the true value in the sensor network can be fully realized. Midé’s robust energy harvesting systems are perfectly suited for these harsh oil and gas applications

Building and Plant Automation
Every business and individual is striving to improve their efficiency and reduce their footprint. This is achieved by operating assets more effectively and efficiently. The best means to do this is to have detailed knowledge of all parameters affecting your system and respond based on the most detailed information. For many applications and systems such as building and plant automation this means outfitting equipment with many different types of sensors. These sensors need power. Hardwired power can be costly to install. Battery power is costly to maintain. A device that can harvest energy from the environment to power the sensor system enables large scale wireless sensor networks that can drastically improve the efficiency of operations.