A novel energy harvesting actuator for self-powered environmental sensors

Thermal Energy Harvesting from Slow Variations in Environmental Temperatures

“…In previous published work [ 6 ], it was shown that this type of actuator design showed great potential for energy extraction from this difference in the behaviour of gases compared with air when exposed to a temperature change. It also showed a high degree of tuneability, with numerous design factors that could be adjusted to change the behaviour and output of the actuator.…”

“…This publication presents an energy harvesting system that utilises the phase change of gases to provide a variable force from which an electrical energy output can be extracted. Previous publications in this field have explored the performance of the actuator [ 6 ] and a proposed energy conversion system [ 7 ]. In this publication, the energy output of this energy harvesting system was optimised and its performance was verified in both controlled tests in an environmental chamber and uncontrolled tests in a real environment.…”

A Tuneable Pressure-Based Energy Harvester for Powering the Environmental Internet of Things

“…In this paper, previous developments of a tuneable actuator [10] are harmonised with an energy extraction system to harness the energy available from diurnal temperature change into electrical energy. The system is constructed, tested and further tuneable factors identified to allow this type of energy harvester to be applied to a wide variety of outdoor environments across the globe.…”

“…In previous work, we initiated work into this use of other gases to drive a variable force output. A novel energy harvesting actuator for self-powered environmental sensors [10], defined an actuator which could be used to interface any gas with a favourable pressure response to a mechanical energy conversion system. Utilising this actuator, the gas mixture can be tuned to allow for favourable response, removing previous constraints on energy harvester designs to only use Chloroethane and obsolete spare parts with limited supply.…”