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Human Body Heat Based Thermoelectric Harvester with Ultra-Low Input Power Management System for Wireless Sensors Powering

Author

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  • Chengshuo Xia

    (School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China)

  • Daxing Zhang

    (School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China)

  • Witold Pedrycz

    (School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
    Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6R 2V4, Canada
    Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, 01-447 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Kangqi Fan

    (School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China)

  • Yongxian Guo

    (Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

Abstract

Energy harvesting (EH) technique has been proposed as a favorable solution for addressing the power supply exhaustion in a wireless sensor node and prolong the operating time for a wireless sensor network. Thermoelectric energy generator (TEG) is a valuable device converting the waste heat into electricity which can be collected and stored for electronics. In this paper, the thermal energy from human body is captured and converted to the low electrical energy by means of thermoelectric energy harvester. The aim of presented work is utilizing the converted electricity to power the related electronic device and to extend the working life of a sensor node. Considering the related characteristics of TEG used for human, a type of a novel power management system is designed and presented to harvest generated electricity. The proposed circuit is developed based on off-the-shelf commercial chips, LTC3108 and BQ25504. It can accept the lowest input voltage of 20 mV, which is more suitable for human thermoelectric energy harvesting. Through experiments, developed energy harvesting system can effectively power the sensor to intermittently transmit the data as well as perform the converted energy storage. Compared to the independent commercial chips applications and other microcontroller-based energy harvesting systems, the designed thermoelectric energy harvester system presents the advantages not only in high energy storage utilization rate but also the ultra-low input voltage characteristic. Since the heat from human body is harvested, therefore, the system can possibly be used to power the sensor placed on human body and has practical applications such as physiological parameter monitoring.

Suggested Citation

  • Chengshuo Xia & Daxing Zhang & Witold Pedrycz & Kangqi Fan & Yongxian Guo, 2019. "Human Body Heat Based Thermoelectric Harvester with Ultra-Low Input Power Management System for Wireless Sensors Powering," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:20:p:3942-:d:277467
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Shucheng Wang & Liuyang Han & Hanxiao Liu & Ying Dong & Xiaohao Wang, 2022. "Ionic Gelatin-Based Flexible Thermoelectric Generator with Scalability for Human Body Heat Harvesting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Sonia Bradai & Ghada Bouattour & Dhouha El Houssaini & Olfa Kanoun, 2022. "Vibration Converter with Passive Energy Management for Battery-Less Wireless Sensor Nodes in Predictive Maintenance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Massaguer, Albert & Massaguer, Eduard, 2021. "Faster and more accurate simulations of thermoelectric generators through the prediction of the optimum load resistance for maximum power and efficiency points," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    5. Mahmoud Wagih & Abiodun Komolafe & Bahareh Zaghari, 2020. "Separation-Independent Wearable 6.78 MHz Near-Field Radiative Wireless Power Transfer using Electrically Small Embroidered Textile Coils," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, January.

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