Heterogeneous tiny energy: An appealing opportunity to power wireless sensor motes in a corrosive environment

Guofu Qiao, Guodong Sun, Hui Li and Jinping Ou

Applied Energy, 2014, vol. 131, issue C, 87-96

Abstract: Reinforcing steel corrosion is a significant factor leading to the durability deterioration of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The on-line monitoring of the corrosion of RC structures in a long-term, human-free manner is not only valuable in industry, but also a significant challenge in academia. This paper presents the first of its kind corrosion-monitoring approach that only exploits three heterogeneous tiny energy sources to power commercial-off-the-shelf wireless sensor motes such that the corrosion-related data are automatically and autonomously captured and sent to users via wireless channels. We first investigated the availability of these three tiny energy sources: corrosion energy, a cement battery, and a weak solar energy. In particular, the two former energy sources inherently exist in RC structures and can be generated continually in the service-life of RC structures, which beneficial for the prospects of long-term corrosion monitoring. We then proposed a proof-of-concept prototype, which consisted of a Telosb wireless sensor mote and an energy harvester in order to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the ultralow-power ambient energy as a type of power supply in corrosion monitoring applications. The critical metrics for the holographic monitoring of RC structures, including electrochemical noise, humidity and temperature, were successfully acquired and analysed using a post-processing program. This paper describes a unique and novel approach towards the realisation of smart structural monitoring and control system in the practical engineering.

Keywords: Holographic durability monitoring; Wireless sensor; Self-powered; Heterogeneous sources; Tiny energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.06.018

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