Piezoelectric Vibration-Based Energy Harvesters for Oil and Gas Applications Available to Purchase

Monitoring and control of subsea systems in remote ultra deep water scenarios is challenging as well as an opportunity for development and application of new technologies. One of the major problems is providing continuous power to sensors and actuators, independent of electrical umbilical cables. A conventional solution is the use of electrochemical batteries. However, problems can occur using batteries due to their finite lifespan. The need for constant replacement in remote locations can become a very expensive task or even impossible. Piezoelectric energy harvesters have received great attention for vibration-to-electric energy conversion over the last years. The evaluation of the power output of devices for different excitation frequency and amplitude of vibration has an important role in the design of such devices. This work describes the methodology to design a prototype that can be used in a pipe subjected to flow induced vibrations. Numerical model has been developed to reproduce the electromechanical coupling mechanism aiming at estimating the output voltage of the piezoelectric harvester. The results show the potential of piezoelectric materials for this application.