Study on field experiments of forest soil thermoelectric power generation devices

Huang, Yongsheng; Xu, Daochun; Kan, Jiangming; Li, Wenbin

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221019

Cited by 26 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Solar and nascent developments in night-time photovoltaic cells (Deppe and Munday 2020) offer potential options but require a clear view of the sky for optimum performance. Thermoelectric power generation utilizing the temperature difference between the soil and the air can power wireless sensors (Huang et al 2019). Research in biophotovoltaics (Tschörtner et al 2019) is still at an early stage, as is that of harvesting cosmic rays (Vanamala and Nidamarty 2020).…”

Section: Data Collection and Wireless Data Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new generation of sensors and monitoring tools to support climate-smart forestry practices

et al. 2021

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Climate-smart forestry (CSF) is an emerging branch of sustainable adaptive forest management aimed at enhancing the potential of forests to adapt to and mitigate climate change. It relies on much higher data requirements than traditional forestry. These data requirements can be met by new devices that support continuous, in-situ monitoring of forest conditions in real time. We propose a comprehensive network of sensors, i.e. a wireless sensor network (WSN), that can be part of a world-wide network of interconnected uniquely addressable objects, an Internet of Things (IoT), which can make data available in near real time to multiple stakeholders, including scientists, foresters, and forest managers, and may partially motivate citizens to participate in big data collection. The use of in-situ sources of monitoring data as ground-truthed training data for remotely sensed data can boost forest monitoring by increasing the spatial and temporal scale of the monitoring, leading to a better understanding of forest processes and potential threats. Here, some of the key developments and applications of these sensors are outlined, together with guidelines for data management. Examples are given of their deployment to detect early warning signals (EWS) of ecosystem regime-shifts in terms of forest productivity, health and biodiversity. Analysis of the strategic use of these tools highlights the opportunities for engaging citizens and forest managers in this new generation of forest monitoring.

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Section: Data Collection and Wireless Data Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new generation of sensors and monitoring tools to support climate-smart forestry practices

et al. 2021

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“…If the condensed fluid returns to the evaporator part only due to gravity, the heat exchanger is known as thermosyphon, while if a wick material is introduced so that it can work in any position, the term heat pipe is used. Lawrence, Wang et al, and Huang et al also used phase change heat exchangers, specifically heat pipes, to absorb heat from the soil and transfer it to the thermoelectric modules [ 27 , 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

Section: Operation Of a Geothermal Thermoelectric Generator (Gteg)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The heat that is not transformed into electricity by the thermoelectric modules needs to be dissipated into the environment, again with a heat exchanger with a minimal thermal resistance so that the cold side of the thermoelectric modules approach the ambient temperature. In the previous examples [ 27 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], fin dissipators in natural convection were used due to their simplicity and low cost. Nonetheless, in this case, heat exchangers based on phase change will be again used since they have demonstrated to be the most suitable ones for the cold side of the modules, leading to low thermal resistances without requiring auxiliary consumption [ 43 , 44 ].…”

Section: Operation Of a Geothermal Thermoelectric Generator (Gteg)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a solution, Wang et al proposed the utilization of thermoelectric generators to provide a stable power supply, taking advantage of the mentioned temperature difference between the ground and the air [ 33 ]. Huang et al improved the previous micro-generator and performed field experiments under natural conditions in two different locations [ 34 ]. The results obtained over six months reveal that the location influences the power generation that can be obtained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental Evidence of the Viability of Thermoelectric Generators to Power Volcanic Monitoring Stations

Catalán

Garacochea

Casi

et al. 2020

Sensors

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Although there is an important lack of commercial thermoelectric applications mainly due to their low efficiency, there exist some cases in which thermoelectric generators are the best option thanks to their well-known advantages, such as reliability, lack of maintenance and scalability. In this sense, the present paper develops a novel thermoelectric application in order to supply power to volcanic monitoring stations, making them completely autonomous. These stations become indispensable in any volcano since they are able to predict eruptions. Nevertheless, they present energy supply difficulties due to the absence of power grid, the remote access, and the climatology. As a solution, this work has designed a new integral system composed of thermoelectric generators with high efficiency heat exchangers, and its associated electronics, developed thanks to Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Thus, the heat emitted from volcanic fumaroles is transformed directly into electricity with thermoelectric generators with passive heat exchangers based on phase change, leading to a continuous generation without moving parts that powers different sensors, the information of which is emitted via LoRa. The viability of the solution has been demonstrated both at the laboratory and at a real volcano, Teide (Canary Islands, Spain), where a compact prototype has been installed in an 82 °C fumarole. The results obtained during more than eight months of operation prove the robustness and durability of the developed generator, which has been in operation without maintenance and under several kinds of meteorological conditions, leading to an average generation of 0.49 W and a continuous emission over more than 14 km.

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“…On the one hand, some proposals combine traditional geothermal plants with thermoelectric generators installed on the pipes to power different sensors or actuators [39][40][41]. On the other hand, others use the temperature difference between forest soil and the environment to power sensors, as proposed by Stokes et al [42] and put into practice by Huang et al using heat pipes as heat exchangers [43][44][45]. Nonetheless, the use of fumaroles as heat source is proposed for the first time in the present paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects of Autonomous Volcanic Monitoring Stations: Experimental Investigation on Thermoelectric Generation from Fumaroles

Catalán

Araiz

Aranguren

et al. 2020

Sensors

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Fumaroles represent evidence of volcanic activity, emitting steam and volcanic gases at temperatures between 70 and 100 ∘ C . Due to the well-known advantages of thermoelectricity, such as reliability, reduced maintenance and scalability, the present paper studies the possibilities of thermoelectric generators, devices based on solid-state physics, to directly convert fumaroles heat into electricity due to the Seebeck effect. For this purpose, a thermoelectric generator composed of two bismuth-telluride thermoelectric modules and heat pipes as heat exchangers was installed, for the first time, at Teide volcano (Canary Islands, Spain), where fumaroles arise in the surface at 82 ∘ C . The installed thermoelectric generator has demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed solution, leading to a compact generator with no moving parts that produces a net generation between 0.32 and 0.33 W per module given a temperature difference between the heat reservoirs encompassed in the 69–86 ∘ C range. These results become interesting due to the possibilities of supplying power to the volcanic monitoring stations that measure the precursors of volcanic eruptions, making them completely autonomous. Nonetheless, in order to achieve this objective, corrosion prevention measures must be taken because the hydrogen sulfide contained in the fumaroles reacts with steam, forming sulfuric acid.

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Study on field experiments of forest soil thermoelectric power generation devices

Cited by 26 publications

References 23 publications

A new generation of sensors and monitoring tools to support climate-smart forestry practices

A new generation of sensors and monitoring tools to support climate-smart forestry practices

Experimental Evidence of the Viability of Thermoelectric Generators to Power Volcanic Monitoring Stations

Prospects of Autonomous Volcanic Monitoring Stations: Experimental Investigation on Thermoelectric Generation from Fumaroles

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