Galfenol Energy Harvester for Wireless Sensors

Advanced power generation facilities benefit from the ability to track operational parameters as a means of increasing efficiency as well as diagnose faults. Sensors, which include temperature, pressure, and chemical composition analyzers, distributed throughout the facility provide an on-line means of tracking performance. Current power generation facilities may capture the benefits of on-line operation parameter tracking using a deployed sensor system coupled with wireless communication technologies. A wireless sensor with an appropriately sized power source, would allow for rapid upgrade of existing power generation facilities to improve efficiency and aide in maintenance efforts. An energy harvesting system will be designed to convert ambient vibrations into useful electrical energy to power the wireless sensor system. The proposed device is based on an innovative use of the magnetostrictive effect which has been demonstrated in the laboratory environment and has the potential to outperform devices using conventional piezoelectric approach. The device will be developed and designed for use with an appropriate wireless sensor configuration for demonstration in the proposed effort. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: A successful effort will demonstrate the ability of the proposed innovative energy harvesting device to power a wireless sensor and may be applied to numerous civilian and military applications. Such devices are desired for sensors associated with structural health management of civil structures such as buildings and bridges. For military applications, such devices have been investigated for monitoring of naval vessels. The proposed device will be designed to be robust with ability to the tailored for the specific operation environment.