Energy harnessing methods from rainwater using various smart materials have come into research, thus widening the scope of using these materials for the implementation in modern use. The piezoelectric materials present a brief idea of voltage generation whenever the material is deflected. The purpose of the study is to visualize an interconnection in parametric analysis of piezoelectric effect based energy harvester using two different commercially available piezoelectric materials, PZT-4A and PZT-5H, through series of implicit and explicit method simulations of FEM on COMSOL and ANSYS. The dynamic loads of different rainwater droplets sizes are investigated analytically. To calculate the variation of different methods in terms of deflection and voltage output, the implicit and multi-body explicit dynamic simulations are implemented separately.
TopIntroduction
In the present world, the requirement of energy in our day to day life is rapidly increasing and so the necessity of production of energy by various alternative sources. Among the various alternative technologies rain water harvesting and its utilization are an environmentally sound and a very economical solution. Rainwater harvesting, in its broadest sense, is a technology used for collecting and storing rainwater for human use from rooftops, land surfaces or rock catchments using simple techniques such as jars and pots as well as engineered techniques. Rainwater harvesting has been practiced for more than 4,000 years, owing to the temporal and spatial variability of rainfall. It is an important water source in many areas with significant rainfall but lacking any kind of conventional, centralized supply system. It is also a good option in areas where good quality fresh surface water or groundwater is lacking. The application of appropriate rainwater harvesting technology is important for the utilization of rainwater as a water resource (Dos Anjos, 1998).
Piezoelectric materials are smart materials which are widely used to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Contacts are attached to the material; a quantity of electric charge proportional to the applied force can be measured. Piezoelectric effect occurs only in non-conductive materials (Ramsden & Dix, 2003).
Figure 1 shows the piezoelectric effect when compressed or stretched.
Figure 1.
. Development of an internal electrical field by a piezoelectric material when compressed (A) or stretched (B) (Ramsden & Dix, 2003)
There is a tremendous amount of vibrational and kinetic energy which can be utilized by the falling of rainwater droplet on piezoelectric plate, which might be in the form a Bimorph viz. two active layers of one piezoelectric material and another that of structural steel or any other metal. It has been explained how the kinetic energy of raindrops can be converted into electricity by using piezoelectric materials (Biswas, 2009). This chapter explains the behavior of raindrops at impact and of piezoelectricity.