A STUDY ON THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PIEZOELECTRIC TREE AS AN ENERGY HARVESTER IN RURAL INDIA

Dhruba Jyoti Purkait*, Tathagata Guha Mazumdar**,Shrinwanti Banerjee#, Prof. Malay Gangopadhyaya( Professor at Institute of Engineering and Management)

The Problem
Low population density, rampant pilfering, extensive transport problems, huge distribution losses and low per-capita use. absence of power adversely affects lifestyle, hinders education schemes and leads to a general degradation in the quality of life in the countryside. The deadline for the 2007 Rural Electrification Programme (RGGVY) drawing near.

A Solution
Renewable sources of energy are pivotal in the rural context. Owing to their scalability, i.e. their capability of providing energy on a small scale coupled with economics considerations. Hydel power has specific environmental and sociological concerns whilst not providing truly localized solutions of the energy deficit.

A Solution
The renewable source of energy under focus here is wind energy. Small scale systems and harvesting wind energy in ambient conditions using mechanical vibrations. Harvesting energy from ambient wind flows by exploiting fluttering phenomena.

Our Study
To investigate the principles and feasibility of the harvesting energy from the wind in constrained spaces. Using devices that have the capability to extract energy from low velocity irregular wind flow. To obtain an alternative system of domestic renewable power generation to conventional rotary wind turbines.

Proposed System
A flexible piezoelectric material film sandwiched between two metallic electrodes. Electricity generated is then stored in a storage cell and is discharged when required. A standard domestic inverter based design customized to operate at the concerned voltage levels and power requirement is used to supply power from the storage cell.

Choice of material
Piezoelectric materials show spontaneous polarization due to a time dependent external mechanical stress as induced by ambient wind flow. Polyvinylidene Fluoride(PVDF) in this case, allows the leaf to withstand the mechanical stress induced by erratic wind flows.

Experiments Conducted
A Theoretical study of the general response of leaves or vibrating elements in increasing wind velocity conditions An experiment to determine the most efficient shape for the polymer leaf part of the energy harvester An experiment to determine the response of the vibrating element to different alignments with respect to the direction of flow of the wind. An experiment to determine the most efficient size of the stalk onto which the piezoelectric film would be attached in the leaf-stalk system.

Studies undertaken
A two day study in a typical Indian rural setting to determine the voltage response of the piezoelectric leaf and thereby analyze practical feasibility of such a system in the rural context. A theoretical study to investigate further improvements in design of the leaf to negotiate anomalous changes in wind and weather patterns and a theoretical design of an implementable piezoelectric tree comprising individual branches which host a bunch of regularly spaced piezoelectric leaves.

Experiment #1

Procedure

The nature of response of leaves or any vibrating element exposed to wind is studied and it is found that any vibrating element exposed to wind shows a general characteristic response curve with three distinct response regions.

Experiment #1

Observations

Three distinct regions of response of any vibrating element were identified. Bi-stable at low wind velocities. A critical or point is obtained from the response. Chaotic or multimodal at excessive wind speeds.

Experiment #2

Procedure

Wind flow was simulated using a standard hair dryer. Using an (Kestrel 3000) anemometer the response to wind was studied for the range 0-12 m/s. Wind flow was taken to be horizontal with respect to the vibrating element. Using this setup different shapes of the vibrating element were tried and the most effective shape was arrived at. All polymer shapes had the same area and thickness. Four possible shapes of the polymer shape were investigated.

Experiment #2

Observations

The average voltage response of the equilateral triangular leaf was 26% more than the square leaf, 40% more than the round leaf and 56% more than the rectangular leaf.

Experiment #2 - Data
Observation Wind Velocity (in m/s) Voltage value for Square Leaf( In V) 0 0.6 1.9 3.3 4.2 3.6 2.7 Voltage value for Round Leaf ( in V) 0 0.8 1.7 2.9 3.7 3.1 2.5 Voltage Value for Equilateral triangular Leaf( in V) 0 0.9 2.1 3.4 4.7 5.1 4.4 Voltage Value for Rectangular Leaf( in V) 0 0.3 1.3 2.6 3.5 3.1 2.4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Experiment #3

Procedure

Two possible alignments of the leaf-stalk system were studied: The leaf system, where the direction of the wind is parallel to the vibrating element(parallel flow stalk).

The leaf system, where the direction of the wind is perpendicular to the vibrating element. The direction of the leaf is no longer the same as that of the stalk but is still the same as that of the wind(cross flow stalk).

Experiment #3

Observations

The maximum response generated in both alignments was in the 8-10 m/s range with the parallel stalk flow exhibiting a maximum of 5.2 Volts while the cross stalk flow exhibiting a maximum of 11.0 V across the 10M internal resistance of the oscilloscope.

Experiment #3
Observation Wind Velocity ( in m/s) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Data

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Value of Voltage in Parallel Stalk Flow (in V) 0 0.8 2.5 3.6 4.4 5.2 4.6

Value of Voltage in Cross Stalk Flow (in V) 0 0.9 5.2 7.4 10.3 11.0 7.9

Experiment #4

Procedure

This experiment deals with the relative efficiencies of stalk of different lengths:
The Long Stalk: ( 70 mm in length). The Short Stalk: ( 40 mm in length).

The internal resistance of the oscilloscope was utilized to simulate the external load.

Experiment #4

Observations

The response band of the short stalk system was found to be limited compared to the long stalk system. The long stalk system, despite having a lower maxima, had a wider response range.

Experiment #4
Observation Wind Velocity (in m/s) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Data
Value of Voltage for the Long Stalk(in V) 0 1.2 5.5 7.7 10.0 11.4 8.3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Value of Voltage for the Short Stalk (in V) 0 0 0 6.3 10.0 14.1 16.4

Inference based on experiments 1,2,3 and 4

Best response is obtained using a triangular bluff boy representing the leaf blade. Using a cross flow stalk gives a better response to wind flow. The long stalk system, despite having a lower maxima, had a wider response range.

Feasibility study

Approach

A typical Indian rural community, the village of Ramnagar in Malda district of West Bengal was chosen for the study. Net population was 570 with the total number of families being 75. The predominant usage of power in the village was found to be for running low power domestic systems and quasiagricultural equipment.

Feasibility study

Procedure

Tests were conducted on a vertical cross flow stalk and leaf. wind velocity was recorded using a standard anemometer . Electrical energy generated by the induced mechanical vibrations was rectified and stored in a storage capacitor. Measurements were taken from 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 PM after every hour.

Feasibility study

Observations (Day 1)

Voltage readings taken were much greater than those obtained by the oscilloscope. The velocity of wind varied from 1.2m/s to 10.1m/s on Day 1. Output voltage varied from 2.3V to 23.4V on Day 1.

Feasibility study
Observation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Time of day 08:00 AM 09:00 AM 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 12:00 PM 01:00 PM 02:00 PM 03:00 PM 04:00 PM 05:00 PM 06:00 PM 07:00 PM 08:00 PM 09:00 PM

Data (Day 1)
Value of Voltage (in V) 6.5 2.3 9.2 13.0 7.5 9.0 11.5 13.2 16.1 21.5 23.0 17.0 11.3 6.2

Velocity of Wind ( in m/s) 2.5 1.5 3.0 5.1 2.8 3.1 4.5 5.2 6.5 8.5 10.1 6.7 4.5 2.2

Feasibility study

Observations (Day 2)

The wind velocity ranged from 1.2m/s to 7.6m/s. The output voltage showed a maximum of 20.3V and a minimum of 4.2V.

Feasibility study
Observation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Time of day 08:00 AM 09:00 AM 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 12:00 PM 01:00 PM 02:00 PM 03:00 PM 04:00 PM 05:00 PM 06:00 PM 07:00 PM 08:00 PM 09:00 PM

Data (Day 2)
Value of Voltage (in V) 5.6 4.2 6.4 7.7 9.1 5.8 10.4 13.6 15.5 15.1 20.3 18.1 12.0 7.2

Velocity of Wind ( in m/s) 1.8 1.2 2.0 2.6 3.1 1.7 4.0 5.2 6.0 5.7 7.6 6.6 4.3 2.1

Discussion