Design of underground micro energy harvesting device

ZHAO Duan1; ZHAO Jinjin1,2; HE Yongxin1,2; ZHUO Minmin3; CHEN Hui3

doi:10.13272/j.issn.1671-251x.17768

Gong-kuang zidonghua (May 2021)

Design of underground micro energy harvesting device

ZHAO Duan1,
ZHAO Jinjin1,2,
HE Yongxin1,2,
ZHUO Minmin3,
CHEN Hui3

Affiliations

ZHAO Duan1: 1.The National Joint Engineering Laboratory of Internet Applied Technology of Mines, Xuzhou 221008, China
ZHAO Jinjin1,2: 1.The National Joint Engineering Laboratory of Internet Applied Technology of Mines, Xuzhou 221008, China; 2.School of Information and Control Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
HE Yongxin1,2: 1.The National Joint Engineering Laboratory of Internet Applied Technology of Mines, Xuzhou 221008, China; 2.School of Information and Control Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
ZHUO Minmin3: 3.Tiandi(Changzhou) Automation Co., Ltd., Changzhou 213015, China
CHEN Hui3: 3.Tiandi(Changzhou) Automation Co., Ltd., Changzhou 213015, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13272/j.issn.1671-251x.17768
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 47, no. 5
pp. 24 – 29

Abstract

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Underground wireless sensor nodes have limited energy. Hence, energy harvesting technology can be used to convert underground environmental energy into electrical energy to supply power to the sensor nodes, thus extending the life cycle of wireless sensor nodes. The light intensity in the low light environment of the underground roadway is tested and analyzed. The results show that the light intensity is 50-170 Lux in the range of 1-2 m from the light source, which is in line with the working range of photoelectric materials such as amorphous silicon and perovskite. It verifies the feasibility of converting the underground low light energy into electrical energy. An underground micro energy harvesting device is designed by using 30 cm×40 cm amorphous silicon photovoltaic panels, BQ25505 power management chip and lithium batteries, which can convert the underground low light energy into electrical energy and store it. According to the characteristics of discontinuous energy in the underground environment, an energy caching mechanism is designed. In this mechanism, a rechargeable lithium battery with smaller capacity is used as the energy caching battery, and a lithium battery with larger fixed capacity is selected as the backup battery. When the voltage of the rechargeable lithium battery reaches the design value, the sensor node is powered by the rechargeable lithium battery. And when the voltage is insufficient, the backup battery is switched to supply power to ensure the normal operation of the wireless sensor node. The micro energy harvesting device has been tested in the laboratory and underground. The results show that the device can output milliwatt power with the light intensity above 50 Lux. When the underground light intensity reaches 170 Lux or more, the device can use the converted energy to power the low-power wireless sensor node without backup battery. When the light intensity does not reach 170 Lux, the energy caching mechanism coordinates the rechargeable lithium battery and the backup battery to power the wireless sensor node, which improves the node life cycle effectively.

underground wireless sensor network; wireless sensor node; underground environmental energy; energy harvesting; photovoltaic cell; energy caching

Published in Gong-kuang zidonghua

ISSN: 1671-251X (Print)
Publisher: Editorial Department of Industry and Mine Automation
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Technology: Mining engineering. Metallurgy
Website: http://www.gkzdh.cn/en.htm

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