A Magnetoelectric Composite Energy Harvester and Power Management Circuit

This paper proposes a ferro-nickel (Fe-Ni)/PZT H-type fork magnetoelectric (ME) composite structure and an energy management circuit for ME energy harvesting. The resonant fork composite structure with a high Q value shows a higher ME voltage coefficient and a stronger power coefficient compared with the conventional rectangular composite structure. The resonant fork composite structure can obtain an output power of 61.64 μW at an ac magnetic field of 0.2 Oe. The ME sensitivity of the fork structure reaches 11 V/Oe. For weak magnetic-field environment, an active magnetic generator and a magnetic coil antenna underground are used for producing an ac magnetic field of 0.2-1 Oe at a distance of 25-50 m. A management circuit of the power supply with matching circuit, energy-storage circuit, and instantaneous-discharge circuit is developed suitable for weak electromagnetic energy harvesting. The management circuit can continuously accumulate weak energy from the fork composite structure for a long period and provide a high-power output in a very short cycle. While the voltage across the storage supercapacitor is over 0.36 V, the instantaneous-discharge circuit can drive a wireless sensor network node with an output power of 75 mW at a distance of over 60 m.

[1]  Hui Shao,et al.  A charge based computation system and control strategy for energy harvesting applications , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[2]  Rajeevan Amirtharajah,et al.  Self-powered signal processing using vibration-based power generation , 1998, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[3]  Claude Richard,et al.  Synchronized switch harvesting applied to self-powered smart systems: Piezoactive microgenerators for autonomous wireless receivers , 2007 .

[4]  Ping Li,et al.  Enhanced magnetoelectric effects in composite of piezoelectric ceramics, rare-earth iron alloys, and ultrasonic horn , 2007 .

[5]  Loreto Mateu,et al.  Appropriate charge control of the storage capacitor in a piezoelectric energy harvesting device for discontinuous load operation , 2006 .

[6]  Ahmadreza Tabesh,et al.  A Low-Power Stand-Alone Adaptive Circuit for Harvesting Energy From a Piezoelectric Micropower Generator , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[7]  Y. Wen,et al.  Self-powered piezoelectric wireless micro-sensors by absorbing electromagnetic energy , 2004, Proceedings of IEEE Sensors, 2004..

[8]  Loreto Mateu,et al.  Review of energy harvesting techniques and applications for microelectronics (Keynote Address) , 2005, SPIE Microtechnologies.

[9]  Y. Inoue,et al.  A self-powered sensor module using vibration-based energy generation for ubiquitous systems , 2005, 2005 6th International Conference on ASIC.

[10]  Li Xing-sheng.  Study on the Power Management Circuit of a Magnetoelectric Self-Powered Wireless Sensor , 2008 .

[11]  W. Liao,et al.  On the efficiencies of piezoelectric energy harvesting circuits towards storage device voltages , 2007 .

[12]  L. Ball,et al.  Radio Transmission to and from Underground Coal Mines - Theory and Measurement , 1973, IEEE Transactions on Communications.

[13]  Hideaki Itoh,et al.  An analysis of frequency of a quartz crystal tuning fork by Sezawa's approximation and Winkler's foundation of the supporting Elinvar alloy wire , 2000, Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE/EIA International Frequency Control Symposium and Exhibition (Cat. No.00CH37052).

[14]  Pedro Lluís Miribel-Català,et al.  Power-Conditioning Circuitry for a Self-Powered System Based on Micro PZT Generators in a 0.13-$\mu\hbox{m}$ Low-Voltage Low-Power Technology , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[15]  Heath Hofmann,et al.  Optimized piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit using step-down converter in discontinuous conduction mode , 2003 .

[16]  Sang-Gook Kim,et al.  Self-Powered Wireless Sensor System using MEMS Piezoelectric Micro Power Generator , 2006, 2006 5th IEEE Conference on Sensors.

[17]  Luca Benini,et al.  Modeling and Optimization of a Solar Energy Harvester System for Self-Powered Wireless Sensor Networks , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[18]  Jan M. Rabaey,et al.  A study of low level vibrations as a power source for wireless sensor nodes , 2003, Comput. Commun..

[19]  Heath Hofmann,et al.  Adaptive piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit for wireless remote power supply , 2002 .

[20]  Heath Hofmann,et al.  Adaptive piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit for wireless, remote power supply , 2001 .

[21]  Ping Li,et al.  Self-Powered Wireless Sensor by Collecting Electromagnetic Energy in Inhomogeneous Structure , 2005, IEEE Sensors, 2005..

[22]  Peter Glynne-Jones,et al.  An investigation of self-powered systems for condition monitoring applications☆ , 2004 .

[23]  Ping Li,et al.  A magnetoelectric energy harvester and management circuit for wireless sensor network , 2010 .

[24]  Adrien Badel,et al.  A comparison between several vibration-powered piezoelectric generators for standalone systems , 2006 .

[25]  Joseph A. Paradiso,et al.  Energy scavenging for mobile and wireless electronics , 2005, IEEE Pervasive Computing.