A piezoelectric water-wheel energy harvester utilizing magnetically coupled axial triggering for tapping water flow energy

Li Zhang, Zhonghua Zhang, Shijie Lin, Kangqi Fan, Jianwen Yang, Shuyun Wang and Junwu Kan

Energy, 2025, vol. 322, issue C

Abstract: Piezoelectric transduction, which harnesses energy from the environment, is gaining increasing attention for its potential to enable the development of wireless, self-powered systems designed for monitoring water quality in rivers. Unlike the majority of current magnetically-plucked piezoelectric energy harvesters, a piezoelectric water-wheel energy harvester (W-PEH) is proposed for harvesting kinetic energy of water flow, which is characterized by utilizing magnetically coupled axial triggering to achieve controllable unidirectional deformation of the PZT-vibrator. The structural feasibility of W-PEH was confirmed through theoretical models, simulations and experiments. The findings revealed an optimal magnet number ratio of 0.66 and an optimal magnet configuration mode of 3AR, which contributes to the maximization of the harvester output voltage. In addition, a higher output voltage can be achieved by reducing the magnet interval distance, proof mass, PZT- vibrator pre-bending distance, spring compression and stiffness. Besides, the power output as a function of load resistance showed that the W-PEH equipped with 6 magnets could deliver a peak power of 8.29 mW to a load of 100 kΩ under water flow velocity of 1.15 m/s. Furthermore, the W-PEH could illuminate 160 blue LEDs, which demonstrates that the harvester has great application potential in self-powered sensing devices.

Keywords: Piezoelectric transduction; Water flow energy harvesting; Durability; Indirect axial triggering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:322:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225012873

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135645

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