Mid Sweden University

Hydraulic pressure fluctuation energy harvesters are promising alternatives to power up wireless sensor nodes in hydraulic systems. The characterization of these harvesters under dynamic and band-limited pressure signals is imperative for the research and development of novel concepts. To generate and control these signals in a hydraulic medium, a versatile apparatus capable of reproducing pressure signals is proposed. In this paper, a comprehensive discussion of the design considerations for this apparatus and its performance is given. The suggested setup enables the investigation of devices tailored for the harvesting of energy in conventional hydraulic systems. To mimic these systems, static pressures can be tuned up to 300 bar, and the pressure amplitudes with a maximum of 28 Bar at 40 Hz and 0.5 bar at 1000 Hz can be generated. In addition, pressure signals found in commercial hydraulic systems can be reproduced with good accuracy. This apparatus proves to be an accessible, robust, and versatile experimental setup to create environments for the complete performance estimation of pressure fluctuation energy harvesters. 

The need for wireless sensor networks that can run for long times without the need of battery replacement has risen the need for energy harvesters. Industrial environments have plenty of energy sources that can be harvested; pressure fluctuations are a high energy density source that can be harvested using piezoelectric devices. Present devices have introduced flat metallic plates as the main force transmission elements for hydraulic fluctuations energy harvesters. In this paper, we analyze the force transmission efficiency of flat plates when used as the primary fluid coupling interface in hydraulic energy harvesters. Previous work has been focused on the optimization of circuit matching and pressure ripple amplification. In this work, we offer a look into the efficiencies of flat plates in different configurations and pressure loads. The analysis shows that despite the reasonable force transmission efficiency of flat plates in low-pressure environments, the overall efficiency of hydraulic energy harvesters can be improved if instead of flat plates, conventional hydraulic actuators, such as piston cylinders, could be used. 

Wireless sensor nodes in state of the art fluid power systems used in monitoring and maintenance prediction demand long lasting power sources that do not rely on batteries. Energy harvesting is a promising technology that can provide the required energy to power wireless sensors. Pressure fluctuation energy harvesters can be employed in conventional hydraulic systems to convert the acoustic pressure fluctuation to electrical power. Present studies have explored the overall efficiency of these devices while experimentally describing losses in piezoelectric and circuit interfaces, nevertheless there is no study on the fluid to mechanical force transmission efficiency. In this paper we investigate the pressure to force transmission rate of two types of fluid to mechanical interfaces: a flat metal plate and a conventional hydraulic piston. The interfaces are investigated in conditions similar to those found in conventional hydraulic systems. The study shows that flat plate exhibit good force transmission for low pressure applications with a constant rate across frequencies, while exhibiting a decrease in force transmission at higher pressures. On the other hand the piston exhibit a more robust pressure design, with a constant force transmission rate at all pressures but with a dampening of force at higher frequencies. It is shown that small differences in force transmission ratios can have a considerable impact on the power generation.

Pressure fluctuation energy harvesting devices are promising alternatives to power up wireless sensors in fluid power systems. In past studies, classical Helmholtz resonators have been used to enhance the energy harvesting capabilities of these harvesters. Nevertheless, for fluctuations with frequency components in the range of less than 1000 Hz, the design of compact resonators is difficult, mostly for their poor acoustic gain. This paper introduces a space-coiling resonator fabricated using 3D printing techniques. The proposed resonator can achieve a better acoustic gain bounded by a small bulk volume compared to a classic Helmholtz resonator, improving the energy harvesting capabilities of pressure fluctuation energy harvesters. The resonator is designed and evaluated using finite-element-method techniques and examined experimentally. Three space-coiling-resonators are designed, manufactured and compared to classic Helmholtz resonators for three frequencies: 280 Hz, 480 Hz and 920 Hz. This work displays the possibility of compact, high-performance pressure fluctuation energy harvesters and the advantages of the space-coiling printed resonators to enhance the harvesting performance.

Condition monitoring devices in hydraulic systems that use batteries or require wired infrastructure have drawbacks that affect their installation, maintenance costs, and deployment flexibility. Energy harvesting technologies can serve as an alternative power supply for system loads, eliminating batteries and wiring requirements. Despite the interest in pressure fluctuation energy harvesters, few studies consider end-to-end implementations, especially for cases with lowamplitude pressure fluctuations. This generates a research gap regarding the practical amount of energy available to the load under these conditions, as well as interface circuit requirements and techniques for efficient energy conversion. In this paper, we present a self-powered sensor that integrates an energy harvester and a wireless sensing system. The energy harvester converts pressure fluctuations in hydraulic systems into electrical energy using an acoustic resonator, a piezoelectric stack, and an interface circuit. The prototype wireless sensor consists of an industrial pressure sensor and a low-power Bluetooth System-on-chip that samples and wirelessly transmits pressure data. We present a subsystem analysis and a full system implementation that considers hydraulic systems with pressure fluctuation amplitudes of less than 1 bar and frequencies of less than 300 Hz. The study examines the frequency response of the energy harvester, the performance of the interface circuit, and the advantages of using an active power improvement unit adapted for piezoelectric stacks. We show that the interface circuit used improves the performance of the energy harvester compared to previous similar studies, showing more power generation compared to the standard interface. Experimental measurements show that the self-powered sensor system can start up by harvesting energy from pressure fluctuations with amplitudes starting at 0.2 bar at 200 Hz. It can also sample and transmit sensor data at a rate of 100 Hz at 0.7 bar at 200 Hz. The system is implemented with off-the-shelf circuits.